Abraham and Sarah's New Life - The Book of Genesis

In this Bible Story, God makes a promise to Abram and Sarai by changing their names. Sarai to Sarah and Abram to Abraham. Then he promises them a son despite their old age. This story is inspired by Genesis 18:1-15 & 21:1-7. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a year.

Today's Bible verse is Genesis 21:1 from the King James Version.

Episode 10: After 13 years, God appears to Abram and Sarai, reaffirming His promise and giving them a new name to reflect the new life that He has given them. In this encounter, God also commands Abraham, the men of his household, and all of his descendants to practice circumcision as the sign of the covenant between him and God.

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Bible Story narration by: Todd Haberkorn

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray, and the Lord visited Sarah as he
had said, And the Lord did unto Sarah as he
had spoken. Genesis twenty one one, My God, the master
of time, through to day's reading of Genesis eighteen. I
now make the declaration that I will not become a

(00:22):
victim of time. I will not go another moment believing
that the best of my life is behind me, or
that I missed my opportunity to become what You've called
me to become. Instead, I will look to Abraham and
Sarah and see your hand move outside the confinements of

(00:43):
man and create something supernatural. To day, I declare that
it's not too late. To day, I declare that I
will give birth to my dreams. To day, I declare
that God as the final say. I will not look
to others or to my circumstance to determine if my

(01:06):
breakthrough can occur through Christ. My answer is yes and Amen.
So if God said it, I choose to believe it,
and that settles it. Thank You for my new season
and for the birth of what's next. My new life

(01:27):
is upon me, and I will not laugh but rejoice
in the impossible becoming possible. Time is on my side
in Jesus's name. Amen. Thank you for making prayer a
priority in your day. To learn more about the Bible,

(01:50):
stay tuned for today's story, brought to you by Bible
in a Year dot com.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Abraham and Sarah's new life. Before this story, we learned
about Abram and Sarise slow descent into madness from impatience
with God's promises. Per Sarah's request, Abram slept with her
servant to have a son, Ishmaeir. In doing so, they

(02:23):
took the promises of God in their own hands and
furthered their dysfunction and woes. Now we will learn about
how God still makes promises despite their disobedience. As God
blessed them, he changes their names as inspired by the
Book of Genesis.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack Graham. With today's episode of the
Bible in a Year podcast. Yesterday, we learned that despite
Abram and Sarah's impatience with God and lack of faith
in his plans, God reaffirmed his promise to give them
a child that would bless the nations. Their sin wasn't
without consequence, of course, and as we join them in

(03:05):
today's story, it has been over a decade since Hagar
for Ishmael. Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God
giving people new names to signify a new start and
a fresh identity. This is what we find here, with
God once again reassuring Abram and Sarah of his covenant
and now giving them new names Abraham and Sarah. So

(03:29):
the theme of new beginnings is clear with the outset here,
but there are other themes to pay attention to. You
will see also how it is okay to question God
in faith when we have doubts, and even when we
wonder out loud or if he is able to deliver
on a promise. Faith in questions can exist in the

(03:50):
same mind and hearts without nullifying each other. You will
find this in today's story. We'll also see that God's
blessings are not limited. They are often different in nature
from one person to the next, but God has no
shortage of blessing to give to those who trust in Him.
And finally, today's story will mark an important step forward

(04:11):
in enacting God's plan to save the world through the
sacrifice of one of Abraham's descendants. Now let's get to
today's story of new life and reaffirmed covenant.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Abram and SARAHI, following their shameful attempts to fulfill the
will of God themselves, had waited thirteen years. They were
both growing old, and their already small chances of being
able to have children were all but lost. Abram was
ninety nine years old. Yet God is not a god

(04:47):
to fail on his promises. God spoke again to Abram, saying,
I am the Almighty. Walk with me, be blameless, and
I will make my covenant between us, and I will
multiply you greatly. Abram, in prayer to God, prostrated himself
in the dirt, face down on the ground. Abram responded

(05:12):
to God, broken and discouraged. God continued saying, MY covenant
is with you, and you shall be the father of
many nations. Behold, no longer shall your name be called Abram,
but your name shall be Abraham, because I have made
you a father of all nations. My promise to you

(05:35):
will last for thousands of generations in everlasting covenant. I
will be God to you and all your offspring. Abraham
looked to heaven. God had promised him again that he
would provide him a namesake, and through him all nations
would be blessed. God, knowing that Abraham needed reassuring, spoke again,

(06:00):
My promises are true, you will see. But first your
promise to me must be made. Go and circumcise yourself
and all the men in your family. This will be
a sign of our covenant that you will be mine
and I will be yours. From now on, when a

(06:21):
baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him.
Any male who is not circumcised will be estranged from
the people of God, since he has broken my promise
with you. God also spoke of SARAHI, saying, as for
your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah.

(06:44):
I will bless her abundantly, and I will give you
two a son, and you will call his name Isaac.
I will bless her, and she shall the mother of
nations to come. Abraham fell on his face again, but
this time it was not in worship. Abraham laughed at

(07:04):
the notion of his wife giving birth in her old age.
He said to himself, shall a child be born to
a man who is a hundred years old? Is my
ninety year old wife going to conceive? Abraham trusted God,
but saw plenty of reasons to doubt before him. This
is the struggle of man with God, trusting him despite

(07:28):
all circumstances. Saying the opposite. Abraham looked to God and said,
what of my son Ishmair, Could you just bless him instead?
I doubt we will be able to have children. No,
God said, but Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son,
and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish

(07:51):
an everlasting covenant with him. I will bless him and
all the children beyond him. As for Ishmair, I have
heard you. I have already blessed him and will make
him fruitful. He shall be the father of twelve princes,
and I will build a great nation through him. That
I will establish my covenant with Isaac, and Sarah will

(08:13):
bear him to you at this time next year. Abraham
believed in God, though he did not completely understand God.
Abraham and Sarah were victim to the time they felt
slipping away. Mankind was not built to endure the entropy
of age. Abraham, in faith, did as he was told.

(08:35):
He circumcised his family. The tearing away of the foreskin
was a symbol that Abraham's seed belonged to the Lord.
It was a strange sacrifice with eternal and metaphysical meaning.
Abraham and Sarah's family was blessed by God forever, and
he carried them through all the strife of living. The

(08:58):
whole world would soon come to know intimity Abraham's blessing
from God. One day, the sacrifice of a descendant of
Abraham would shower the entire earth with blessing. Yet for now,
they waited on the Lord.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
As a result of their impatience an attempt to control
the working out of God's plan, Abram and Sarah have
suffered thirteen years of waiting. As we open today's story,
Hagar has long since given birth to Ishmael, and God
has reaffirmed that it will not be through him that
he will deliver the promised blessing to the world. But

(09:38):
Sarah and Abram are now old, and though they are
still trusting God, the promise of Sarah getting pregnant seemed miniscal.
Did you notice that once again God makes a covenant
with Abram, But this time there is a big difference.
With the covenant comes a new name, a name that
further solidifies the promise. Listen to Genesis seventeen, verses four

(10:01):
and five. As God records the promise and the new
name Abram receives. As for me, behold, my covenant is
with you, and you will be the father of a
multitude of nations. No longer shall you be named Abram,
but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made
you the father of a multitude of nations. He also

(10:23):
gives Sarah a new name, Sarah. God does not tire
of reassuring those who trust in him. He knew Abraham
and Sarah were weary. He knew they were holding onto
something that, from a human perspective, seemed downright crazy that
an old man and an old woman would conceive and
have a child. So God lovingly restated his promise, and

(10:47):
he gave them new names and a visible new sign
of the promise, circumcision. This would be a constant reminder
that God has set Abraham and his descendants apart. And
although in his heart Abraham believed God and had faith
in him, this story shows that it is possible to
question God and wonder honestly how I promise will come about.

(11:10):
It's not as though God does not know of these doubts.
God can handle your questions. He can take care of
your doubt even your laughter at the seeming impossibility of
his plans. He is pleased by your honesty and will
comfort you as he did Abraham, even in the moments
of doubt. So Abraham falls on his face laughing at

(11:32):
the thought of him and Sarah having children. God is
not upset or angry. He once again confirms that indeed
they will be the parents of a child. We even
see Abraham trying to offer another alternative. Just use Ishmael
to fulfill it, he suggests. Again, making a suggestion or

(11:52):
an offer is an offensive to God. It was when
Abraham took things into his own hands without consulting God
that problem arose. But God told him, no, I will
do what I said. We also see here that God's
blessings are not limited. He promises to bless Ishmael, just
in a different way. So Abraham demonstrates his faith with action.

(12:16):
He circumcises the males in his household, and so finally
God gives Sarah and Abraham a son, Isaac. It is
through Isaac that God will bring about his great redemptive plan,
a perfect sacrifice once for all time. Holy God, your
timing and your plans are perfect, and we thank you

(12:37):
for this powerful story today that shows us just how
true this is that you keep your promises. Just as
you kept every promise to Abraham and his descendants, you
are faithful to keep your promises to us through Jesus Christ.
And we praise you for this, and we thank you
help us to honestly always come before you, even in

(12:58):
times of doubts and questions, fears and anxiety, and that
we would trust you and trust ourselves to your loving
care and for your assurance every day of our lives.
In Jesus' name. Amen, thank you for listening to today's
Bible in a Year podcast. I'm pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.

(13:18):
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(13:39):
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