Tim Boger
Upon hearing, directly from God, the announcement that Abraham was going to become a Daddy at 100 years old, while his wife Sarah was 90 years old. The scriptures record “Abraham fell on his face and laughed” Genesis 17:17.
We’ve all heard “Laughter is good for the soul,” but all of us have learned the hard way that laughing can often be misunderstood. On more than one occasion we have laughed when we shouldn’t have laughed and what one person thinks is funny is not always what the next person thinks is funny. (Which personally I think is very funny!)
For example, I love sarcasm, but many others do not. The reason I bring this up is that, surrounding the birth of Isaac, there is much laughing. While Abraham laughs in Genesis 17, Sarah laughs to herself in Genesis 18 and the name Isaac, their promised son, is derived from the Hebrew word “Yitzvah” which literally means “one who laughs or rejoices.”
Although there may be many questions we could ask about this text, one could be, “Was it a good thing for Abraham to laugh or not?” Or to put it another way “Was God disapproving of Abraham’s laughter?”
While there is no indication of it, we have seen on several occasions Abraham has clearly demonstrated faith. Abraham was promised by God many things, many blessings and he has believed in God. Abraham has trusted God on many occasions, but he has never laughed about it, until now. (At least that we know of!) Which leads us to this truth, faith will often lead you to believe the unbelievable.
But faith can be funny, in a “non-laughing” sort of way. Take the doctrine of heaven, it’s pretty big and most people believe in it. Yet, no one here has ever seen heaven. Not one of us has ever been to heaven. And I’m quite certain, no one has ever talked to someone who has been to heaven. Yet, most of us know people whom we believe with 100 percent certainly, are in heaven at this very moment. That is big, but yet we struggle with having faith that God will protect us tomorrow. We question if God really cares for us or if He really is going to “come through for us this time.”
It seems we can have faith in the big, but we too, often doubt the small. The same proves true for Abraham who totally trusts God enough to leave his home and follow Him in obedience (Gen 12). But now, he gets word about finally becoming a father and he literally laughs hard enough to fall over.
I don’t think for a moment this is an indictment of unbelief, rather he’s simply laughing over the fact that 90-year-old women don’t get pregnant! I think Abraham is reacting like many of us would. Remember, this is not a stretch for us; it is funny. I have read and learned it’s not that Abraham did not have faith, but his faith was limited.
The Apostle Paul affirms this when he wrote Romans 4:18-21 which reads, “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told… He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was 100 years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” Thus, God chooses the name and commands “You shall call his name Isaac” (One who laughs or rejoices).
One author, Allen Ross, described it like this, “Laughter will ironically engulf Isaac’s existence, beginning with his birth. The laughter was an expression of God’s blessing and their joy and also a reminder of the aged couples’ shocking doubts.” Isn’t that us? We may quickly say “God you are sovereign, we don’t doubt you! But really, how are you going to make ‘that’ happen?” We could easily surmise; lame people don’t walk; blind people don’t see, and the rebellious people don’t repent. But how wrong is that thinking? Limiting the unlimited.
As hard as the promises may have been for both Abraham and Sarah to believe, they were learning in real time, when God makes a promise, God keeps a promise. And it’s fulfilled in a bigger and better way than they could ever imagine. Earlier that very chapter God said, “I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” Genesis 17:7.
Thankfully, that covenant will ultimately point to the promise of a New Covenant that is fulfilled only in Christ. What a joy it is to know that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again so that now it is through our faith in His atoning work that our sins are forgiven, and we are given hope of eternal life in the very presence of God.
All because a laughable promise was made hundreds of years before and thankfully that promise was kept. Now, that is nothing to laugh about!
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Finding Faith is written by area pastors. This week’s column comes from Rev. Tim Boger, senior pastor of Big Woods Bible Church in Lock Haven.
