Letter to the Hebrews Volume 127

 The Faith and the Faithfulness of Abraham Part 3

Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. KJV Note: MKJV= Modern King James Version

The writer of Hebrews in the previous verse spoke of Isaac but did not speak then of his Mother Sara, however, here in this verse 11 he speaks of the faith of Abraham's wife Sara who was at the time God promised to her that she would bear a son from her own womb 90 years old. Sara was past the age of child bearing seeing that her uterus was physically dead. She did not completely believe that it was possible for her (a 90 year old woman) to conceive a child through normal sexual relations with her husband Abraham (who at the time was 100 years old), here is the documentation of the encounter with the Lord God they both had when He disclosed to them that they would indeed conceive and bear Isaac a year later, "And He said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard in the tent door which was behind Him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, far gone in days, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After my being old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And Jehovah said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I, who am old, truly bear a child? Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the time appointed I will return again, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And He said, No, but you did laugh." (Genesis 18:10-15) (MKJV). Despite Sara's initial reaction of unbelief at the beginning of hearing these words from the Lord, Sara realized that she could always trust the Word of God and was afraid of her earlier doubt when the Lord God knew of her inward laughter (that no other human present could possibly know). So, Sara believed God and waited and just as she was promised it happened as now the writer of Hebrews documents for us with these words, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised." (Hebrews 11:11) (KJV). The English word 'received' is translated by the Greek word lambanō (as used here) is a primary verb meaning to get hold of or obtain. The English word 'strength' is translated by the Greek word dunamis which means force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself). In other words, the Lord God visited Sara with His very own Power granting unto her a miracle itself by resurrecting her dead womb to life (as if she were a 25 or 30 year old Sara again), as it is written and documented for us by Moses here, "And Jehovah visited Sarah as He had said. And Jehovah did to Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born to him (whom Sarah bore to him) Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who could have said to Abraham, will Sarah suckle children? For I have borne a son to him in his old age." (Genesis 21:1-7) (MKJV). Note: "To all of you 'fountain of youth' seekers, no this, that God/Jesus is the Fountain of Eternal Life and He will give such to each and everyone of us who are His adopted children forever, as it written, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are One.' (John 10:27-30) (KJV). We will never grow old or lose our strength again while we are with Him/Jesus in heaven."

Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of Hebrews 11:11, "The difficulties of Sarah's faith, which were very great. As, (1.) The prevalency of unbelief for a time: she laughed at the promise, as impossible to be made good. (2.) She had gone out of the way of her duty through unbelief, in putting Abraham upon taking Hagar to his bed, that he might have a posterity. Now this sin of hers would make it more difficult for her to act by faith afterwards. (3.) The great improbability of the thing promised, that she should be the mother of a child, when she was of sterile constitution naturally, and now past the prolific age. 2. The actings of her faith. Her unbelief is pardoned and forgotten, but her faith prevailed and is recorded: She judged Him faithful, who had promised, Hebrews 11:11. She received the promise as the promise of God; and, being convinced of that, she truly judged He both could and would perform it, how impossible soever it might seem to reason; for the faithfulness of God will not suffer Him to deceive His people. 3. The fruits and rewards of her faith. (1.) She received strength to conceive seed. The strength of nature, as well as grace, is from God: He can make the barren soul fruitful, as well as the barren womb. (2.) She was delivered of a child, a man-child, a child of the promise, and comfort of his parents' advanced years, and the hope of future ages." Here also is what Albert Barnes had to say of Hebrews 11:11, "The word 'herself' - implies that there was something remarkable in the fact that 'she' should manifest this faith. Perhaps there may be reference here to the incredulity (doubt about the truth of something) with which she at first received the announcement that she should have a child; Genesis 18:11 and Genesis 18:13. Even 'her' strong incredulity was overcome, and though everything seemed to render what was announced impossible, and though she was so much disposed to laugh at the very suggestion at first, yet her unbelief was overcome, and she ultimately credited the divine promise. The apostle does not state the authority for his assertion that the strength of Sarah was derived from her faith, nor when particularly it was exercised. The argument seems to be, that here was a case where all human probabilities were against what was predicted, and where, therefore, there must have been simple trust in God. Nothing else but 'faith' could have led her to believe that in her old age she would have borne a son."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…