Don’t forget Sarah! She too moved hither and yon, living in a tent her whole life. God didn’t forget.
Following Abraham’s return to the south, we have recorded some of his extended family. In other words, God’s promise just given, “I will multiply your descendants,” was already coming true! But then we read a significant obit: “Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. So Sarah died” (Gen 23:1-2). Interestingly, Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age is given at the time of her death. We will find much profit if we not only learn from the patriarchs but from the matriarchs as well! Some preachers are a bit hard on Sarah, but the New Testament always uses her as a good example. Of course, it’s just like the Lord to see us in the best light, isn’t it—“in the light of [His] countenance,” so to speak. Sarah is presented as the mother of the son of promise, representing all who become “the children of the free woman” by simple faith in God’s Word (Gal 4:22-31). She is also a good example of women who recognize their husband’s God-given responsibility, and trust the Lord in those difficult times when husbands are not what they ought to be (1 Pet 3:6). God is still faithful, as Sarah discovered both in Egypt and in Gerar. And Sarah also made it into God’s Hall of Faith (Heb 11:11). Of her husband we read that he was not weak in faith, but of Sarah it records, “By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed….” Lovely, isn’t it! The Lord isn’t just looking for the strong ones, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron 16:9). It was hard for her to look into the unknown future, so she looked back and “judged Him faithful who had promised.” And so can we.