‘By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore’ (Hebrews 11:11-12).

In verses 11-12 we get the first of the only two named women who are mentioned in this chapter. Rather interestingly Sarah, Abraham’s wife, is held up as an example of faith in relation to her bearing Abraham son, Isaac, in her old age.

This might cause us to raise our eyebrows, after all in Genesis 18:1-15 when the Lord revealed to Abraham that he would father a son in his old age, Sarah overhearing, found it laughable, was caught out and then lied to try and save face! So how is she seen as an example of faith?

The probable answer is far from spectacular, but that said, one that can provide believers with great encouragement. Over the period of time, and encouraged by Abraham’s belief in the promises the Lord made to him, she  grew in faith. After all she too was part of the Lord’s promise to Abraham which has been reflected in her change of name from Sarai to Sarah meaning Princess (Genesis 17:15).

There is some debate as to whether Sarah or Abraham is the main subject of verse 11 by how it is translated. Garth Lee Cockerill translates it: ‘By faith Sarah herself, although barren, receive power for the disposition of seed even though she was past the season for childbearing’.^[1] Those receiving the letter would have known their Old Testament and would have known that Abraham had had no problem impregnating Hagar (Genesis 16:1-4), which then does not particularly make this an act of faith on his part. So in my thinking the emphasis is on the: ‘power to conceive’ which strongly suggests that Sarah is the main subject of the verse, particularly in the light of Genesis 18:11which states: ‘Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah’ (a biblical way of saying she was going through the menopause). So it seems likely that in the course of time she believed God would make her capable of bearing a son.

After all, when we look at the story of Abraham and Sarah it is a bit of a rollercoaster ride as they do not always act as faithfully as we might expect for people God has chosen. But how refreshing this is for us as believers today.  Very often our faith is not formed by bold steps but by stumbling, falling, picking ourselves up by learning the lesson to seek the Lord’s forgiveness and trust him! But in the end, what a faith this was! In verse 12 the writer makes it clear that this is a major miracle. It could not have been as hard as raising the dead yet: ‘from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sands by the seashore.’

[1] Garth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews, The New International Commentary on the  New Testament, (Michigan, Eerdmans publishing company, 2012) 535.