Dennis L. Finnan Commentator
"The World, the Word & You! Broadcast"

A MOTHER OF ALL NATIONS

“MOTHER’S DAY IS CELEBRATED THIS WEEKEND ALL OVER AMERICA. IT IS A DAY TO HONOR THOSE SELFLESS WOMEN WHO HAVE SURRENDERED THEMSELVES TO BRINGING FORTH NEW LIFE. NOW IN LIGHT OF THAT, WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER SHOULD WE HONOR?”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about a “MOTHER OF ALL NATIONS…”

…What’s in a name? When a couple learns that they are going to have a baby, immediately they begin the work of planning for a name for their baby. Now today names are usually chosen to honor a parent or relative, or simply something that sound nice and fits our fancy. But do you know years ago, especially in Bible times, names were chosen to fit what parents thought would be the strength or uniqueness of that new life to be born and lived. Strangely enough, many biblical names chosen for a child, usually fit their personalities and lives they lived.

Today on the broadcast in honor of Mother’s Day, I want to talk about one woman who became a mother. She was an ordinary woman, who amazingly enough, was chosen by God to be of all things – A MOTHER OF NATIONS! As a result, God Himself gave her a “new” name. Who is she? Well, after our second pause for another spiritual refreshment in song, a keyboard rendition of an old favorite from Rebekah Holman’s album, “MEDITATION,” I’ll return to tell you all about this MOTHER OF ALL NATIONS…

… Throughout Scripture, we find God records many names of the faithful and unfaithful. However, their names are usually uneventful names given at birth by their parents. Yet in Scripture, we at times find special names called sacramental names. These names were given after birth, and chosen specially by God Himself under His inspiration in association with a particular promise, covenant or declaration of His, as to the character, destiny or mission of those distinctly named. Thus, a sacramental name became a sign and seal of an established covenant between God and the recipient of such a name.  Now two Bible characters bear names such as these – Abraham & Sarah, both signifying the gracious purposes of God, and the glorious promises of God towards and through them.

Today, I want to look at one of those characters, a woman God named “Sarah.” This woman’s family originally named her Sarai, which translated means “my princess.” Apparently, she was wonderfully anticipated and loved by her father and mother, from the moment of conception and birth. Now, Sarai grew up to be a most beautiful woman in body and spirit. As a young woman she met a man named Abram, and they married in the hopes of bringing forth a wonderful family. You know in biblical times, women were raised for and lived with the hopes and desire to be a wife and mother. Indeed, motherhood was considered a great honor and glorious blessing. Sarai was no different in her desires and heart. 

Well, after she married Abram, her deep and most cherished desire was to have a child to carry on Abram’s name and family heritage. Sadly such thinking among modern woman has changed.  Although, this weekend honors Motherhood, the world of America no longer considers it a valued or purposeful blessing. Young girls in secular schools today are taught through the evolutionary mindset, that the desire to grow up and become a “mother” is a most demeaning and deprecating thing. Why our love affair with “abortion” proves this, for having a child is considered nothing more than removing a wart or malignant growth from a body! However, Sarai was not like that, of our macho women of today. She enjoyed her femininity, and did her utmost to keep herself up and to display that difference for her husband and community.  Apparently she did this very well for the Bible says she was a most beautiful woman even at the age of sixty-five.

However her beauty was not skin deep. Peter an apostle in the New Testament gives Sarah as an example of God’s vision of a beautiful wife and mother. We read in,

1 Pet 3:6 (NASB)  Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

In God’s eyes a beautiful wife and mother is one who follows the Lord’s teachings concerning her relationships and purpose. Sarah’s outer beauty penetrated deep into her soul and spirit too. So, we find she was a godly woman who feared the Lord and saw her place as a compliment to her husband rather than a competitor!  You know, more strife in the homes these days arises out of women trying to compete with their husband’s for the male role of leadership in the home.  Not so with Sarai, she was content to follow her husband’s leadership as God has ordained. We read of this too in scripture,

Eph 5:25-29 (NLT)  And you husbands must love your wives with the same love Christ showed the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism and God’s word … 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man is actually loving himself when he loves his wife. 29 No one hates his own body but lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body, which is the church.”

Eph 5:33 (TLB)  So again I say, a man must love his wife as a part of himself; and the wife must see to it that she deeply respects her husband—obeying, praising, and honoring him.

Yes, Sarai was such a woman and mother. In fact, this was one of her great character traits and strengths. She fully followed her husband’s leading, realizing she was his compliment. How many wives today have not learned this, and strife in the home ensues as they compete with each other to the detriment of their children and the peace of the home.

But this alone was not her only great character and strength, for we discover Sarai longed for a child to fulfill her destiny and hope. But alas, she waited a long time, in fact 90 years! Yet she never gave up hope that God would bless her with such a child, and when he did come, she faithfully loved him and dedicated her life to raising him to be all that God meant him to be. This then is a second great character trait of this godly wife and mother. She was faithful to her husband and child, regardless of circumstance and consequences!

Now the Bible tells us that before she gave birth to a child, she was barren beyond her years of child bearing. In other words, it was over for her to even consider having a child, unless God would intervene and He did! Sarai waited upon God and resigned herself to His sovereign right to her body and life. One day God appeared to Abram and Sarai, and spoke that He was going to change their names. Abram was to become Abraham, and Sarai to be called Sarah. The latter name is very similar to Sarai meaning “my princess, “ to “princess!” God prophesied she was to become a “mother of nations.” We read in,

Gen 17:15-17 (NIV)  God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 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.” 17 Abraham fell facedown; he 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?”

With God, of course, nothing is impossible. Within a year after God’s promise and prediction, God brought forth from a one hundred year-old man and a ninety year-old woman, a beautiful boy whom they named Isaac. In the New Testament God singles out Sarah and says,

Heb 11:11 (NLT)  It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sarah was barren. Abraham [and Sarah too] believed that God would keep his promise.

Here God praises Sarah for her faith not only to believe God’s promises, but to be faithful to her husband and child. Today faithfulness is a lost commodity in many marriages. It’s so easy to abandon the home and wedding vows, when the going gets tough. More than a million marriages annually in the United States are abandoned for the lack of faithfulness. Yet, God wants all marriages to last, and be monogamous for life. However, we understand this ideal is not always achievable; However, God’s standard stands. A great mother is one who sticks it out in marriage and rides the rough waves because it’s the right and godly thing to do. Now saying all that, I’m not an advocate of staying together at all costs, especially when there is violence in the home where there is wife and child abuse, or the sin of unrepentant adultery is going on. I believe God’s Word gives grace for such situations and recognizes the need for separation, but apart from these severe situations that threaten life, limb and the heart – God intends for marriage to be lifelong.

Sarah, the mother of nations to come, and the royal ancestor of the Lord Jesus Himself, was such a faithful woman. Now Sarah lived a long time as Abraham’s husband. She was faithful and carried on till her death at the ripe old age of 127 years. In fact, Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age at death is recorded in her honor.

Gen 23:1-2 (NIV)  Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

I believe God records this to note such a woman and mother of great faith, commitment, surrender, and love. Now, I don’t have the time on this broadcast to share with you the great exploits and happenings good and bad, in the lives of Abraham and Sarah, but it would be prudent for me to share with you the fact that this great mother and wife was not perfect as the rest of us aren’t either. Yes she had her weakness, failures and flaws.

For instance, although God records her a woman of great faith, she also had times of spiritual lapse. At times Sarah exhibited the weaknesses of jealousy, selfishness and hasty judgments. Yet, we need to take courage from this, that God knows our weaknesses. The Psalmist writes,

Psa 103:14 (NIV)  for he [God]  knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

How comforting to know that in spite of our failures to live for and love and serve the Lord and His calling for our lives, God will never abandon us because of our failures and sins. He understands our weakness and our sinfulness, and is willing to forgive us when we ask Him to. Now, this doesn’t mean God simply overlooks our sins, but that He is ready to forgive them through Christ’s death for our sins, and give us a new beginning.

Now Sarah’s lapse of faith at one time, was seen in the fact that when God announced she was to have a child, which she hope for, long for and prayer for, for 90 years, she “laughed” in her heart at God’s promise, even lied to Him that she didn’t laugh! We read in,

Gen 18:12-15 (NIV)  So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Now the point here is, at times it is difficult to believe the promises of God, especially when they seem impossible. Yet, God wants us to exercise faith in spite of circumstances to the contrary. At thyis point and promise, God renamed Sarai.  Her name was changed at this juncture of her life to be called the “mother of nations,” when in reality she was still a barren 90 year-old woman, who for her whole life, has been unable to bear a child. But “faith” brought God’s blessing and she was ready upon her failure to believe God, to now walk in faith. Herein, lies another great characteristic of this godly mother of olden days. She was able to turn her faithlessness into faith, and her sins were acknowledged.

You see, all God wants of us today is to also acknowledge our sins and failures when we experience them, and get back on our feet by confessing them to God who will forgive all sins of those who are His children. The Bible tells us,

1 John 1:9 (NIV)  If we confess our sins, he [Christ]  is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Have you failed God? Are you His child by faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ to die for your sins? If so, remember God is the God who gives us the second chance, the third chance, the fourth chance and so on. The only condition for this forgiveness is, we are His children by faith in Jesus Christ, who are willing to confess our sins and claim God’s forgiveness through the cross’ sin payment.

Now Sarah’s motherhood was intensely personal and faithful. She dedicated her days to living for bringing up Isaac to be a pleasure to God, his father and mankind. What a wonderful mother she became, and her love is shared with us throughout God’s account of her child’s life. Another weakness of Sarah was the fact that all too often she tried to work out the problems of her and her son’s life, on her own, without letting God work. She did this to bring about God’s promise to Abraham to have a son, by giving her handmaid Hagar to him as a substitute surrogate wife to bring forth a child. This ended in tragedy for their home life, but also brought us the Arab –Israeli conflicts we see to this day. Later on in Isaac’s life, she again went ahead of God to fulfill God’s promise to make Isaac the heir of Abraham’s fortunes by deceiving him to bless Isaac rather than Ishmael, his first-born. Yet, in spite of this God calls her a faithful wife and mother for all to take notice of.

In the New Testament the apostle Paul speaks of her in divine words by saying,

Rom 4:19 (NIV)  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.

Rom 9:9 (NIV)  For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

Here God counts Abraham and Sarah’s faith as “righteous.” Now it’s important here to see that Sarah’s faith was in God and His promises to bring forth not only a child, but through her child, the greater promise to Abraham of “One” who would save their nation and the world from their sins. Listen to the great Abrahamic Covenant God made earlier. We read of this in,

Gen 12:1-3 (NIV)  The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

That last part is the great prophecy says that through Abraham’s child, by Sarah, a man named Isaac, would in time come the promised Messiah of old, who would become the eternal blessing of the nations of the earth. Indeed, God fulfilled this promise through the faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah. Indeed she was a great woman, wife and mother.

In one more portion of Scripture, we find that God uses her life as an “allegory” or “picture” of things to come. Again we read in,

Gal 4:22-31 (NIV)  For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman[Hagar]  and the other by the free woman [Sarah]. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. 24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai [the Law] and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother… 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise… 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

What Paul was saying is through this great Old Testament picture, Sarah’s child came to her and the world by the “grace” of God. She neither deserved this child, nor could she have had it without God’s loving gracious intervention. So, in like manner is our salvation and forgiveness of sins. We cannot earn it, buy it, or obtain it in any way. Why? For we are not worthy, and as sinners under God’s judgment and cast out of His blessing and place by the guilt of our sins of breaking God’s laws we are not eligible. Yet, God has shown us His love, by providing a way for us to obtain salvation’s free gift of eternal life, and forgiveness of our sins. How? By God’s promise. We read of this great promise to all,

John 3:16-17 (NIV)  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Sarah received a child, by grace through faith, and she learned to believe God and wait upon Him, and within the year promised she brought forth a beautiful and healthy baby boy. In like manner, we too are to “believe God’s promises to us”. Have you this Mother’s day weekend? As we honor our mothers’ for their love, sacrifice and care to bring us into the world and rear us, have you believed God’s greatest promise to save you from your sins by His grace, His mercy and love? Then right now, acknowledge Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, Redeemer and Savior of the world, who died for our sins and offers His payment for them, particularly yours and mine. Yes, when you reach out in faith, and put your trust upon Him alone for heaven and God’s forgiveness and love, God accepts that, and counts it for righteousness as He did with Abraham and Sarah.

Yes Sarah, became a “mother of nations,” as God promised, and she represents the grace and mercy of God toward sinners. Her unending love and faithfulness to her husband and son, represents for us a great example of motherhood we can honor this weekend. However, a greater example is her “faith in God,” to bring her the promises He made. For this, God places her in Heaven’s hall of Fame found in Hebrews chapter eleven. We read,

Heb 11:11 (NLT)  It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sarah was barren. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise.

Heb 11:39 (NLT)  All of these people we have mentioned received God’s approval because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.

How wonderfully we discover this “mother of nations,” was used by almighty God, to bring forth the continuing line of chosen ones to bring us Jesus, the Savior. It is by faith through grace she lived, and by faith through grace all humanity can live eternally with God the Creator in heaven for eternity. Say friend, this Mother’s Day, the greatest gift you can give your mother is to tell her you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation and that you are dedicated to living for Christ. Every mother wants to see her children prosper not only in this life but for all eternity. Give her this great gift, this Mother’s Day, and if she is still alive call her or visit her, and honor her with your love and a testimony of faith. This is perhaps the greatest gift she could ever receive. So friends, let us remember a great mother of faith, a woman of extraordinary outer beauty that penetrated deep into her soul and spirit. Yet the sinner she was, like all of us, she conquered life by living for her God of grace and love, and her beloved husband Abraham and her child by God’s grace, her son Isaac. May God give us women and mothers today, like Sarah of old!..

…This Mother’s Day, be sure to visit or call your mother and thank her for your life and all that you are and have. God used her to bring you into this world, so you could, of all things, find Him and turn your heart towards His Son our Lord God and Savior. Make sure you will honor God and your mother with your tangible love and care, and don’t forget to honor God with your worship and love too.

·         Radio talk #1902

·         Broadcast date: May 12, 2002

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.