Bill's Bible Blog

Genesis chapter 15. After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:“Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.” 

But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

Then the word of the Lord came to him again: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Then Abram believed in the Lord and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Genesis chapter 17. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Abram fell facedown in worship, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram (High Father), but your name will now be Abraham (Father of a Multitude), for I have made you a father of many nations.

 “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendents after you.”

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai (Barren One), her name will be Sarah (Princess). I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

Abraham laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” Then God said, “Yes, your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac (Laughter). I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” 

Genesis chapter 18. Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. And when he looked up, he saw three men standing there, and when he saw them, he bowed low to the ground in worship…

After a meal, they asked him  “Where is your wife, Sarah?” 

“There, in the tent,” Abraham said.

Then one of the men said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Genesis chapter 21. Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah, as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”