The Faith of Sarah

March 26th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 11:11-12 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.

Having highlighted the great faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham (vv. 4-10), a somewhat surprising example of faith is given in Sarah in 11:11-12—the once-barren wife of Abraham. R.T. France says, “The inclusion of Sarah’s ‘faith’ was a sort of footnote to the main focus of this passage, namely, the faith of Abraham. If Sarah was old, Abraham was still older (Gen. 17:17), though ‘as good as dead’ (cf. Rom. 4:19) rather exaggerates the point in view of his subsequent exploits and eventual death seventy-five years later (Gen. 25:7)! Unlike Sarah, Abraham believed God’s promise from the first (Gen. 15:6), and it was to be abundantly fulfilled, as our author reminds his readers…”

The reason Sarah’s faith is surprising in Hebrews 11 is that the narrative from which the author draws from is Genesis 18:10-15 where Sarah is skeptical and unbelieving. The author claims that Sarah “considered [God] faithful who had promised” in Hebrews 11:11, yet in Genesis 18:12, she laughed out loud at God’s promise that she would bear a child at the age of 90 and Abraham 100 (cf. Gen. 17:17; 21:5). Moreover, the Genesis 18 narrative clearly does not present Sarah as laughing out of pleasure but with cynicism, as any 90-year old woman would laugh if told she would bear a child. Abraham’s faith in the narrative shines through brightly, for he believed God, even rebuking Sarah for her temporary unbelief in the matter (Gen. 18:13-15).

Yet as the Genesis narrative unfolds, when Sarah does indeed become pregnant and bears a son (Isaac), her skeptical laughter turns to laughter of great joy, for Isaac (Heb. Yitschaq) means “he laughs.” The Genesis narrative, however, gives no indication that Sarah’s change of heart was the result of faith but only of the undeniable evidence of being pregnant. It therefore appears that the Hebrews author has mercifully judged Sarah by her entire ordeal, not simply the one incident recorded in Genesis 18:10-15. In his mind, the woman who once laughed at God’s promise came to not only trust God personally but proclaim Him loudly. After initially taking God lightly, she learned to take Him seriously. Perhaps this is why the author says, “even Sarah,” revealing his own admiration at how Sarah transformed from a skeptic to a believer. Sarah thus joins the ranks of the faithful women of the Bible, along with Moses’ mother (v. 23) and Rahab (v. 31), representing women of great faith in the OT. Peter likewise highlights Sarah in 1 Peter 3:5-6 as the representative of the godly wife, one which Christian wives are to emulate.

The “therefore” that begins v. 12 draws a conclusion concerning Sarah’s faith. That conclusion is that through her faith and the “one man” Abraham’s faith, who was himself an old man “as good as dead,” God worked what was impossible for them to work—the birth of a son from a barren 90-year old woman and a 100-year old man way past his prime! Thus God’s original promise to Abraham to make his name great and make his descendants “as the stars of heaven in number and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore” (Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 32:12) was fulfilled through their faith—both Sarah and Abraham.

Food For Thought
Thankfully, once our faith in Christ is expressed, God doesn’t hold our previous skepticism against us. Like Sarah, we are counted faithful in spite of how we once failed to believe. Our lives are therefore not judged by God in our worst moment but for our belief—our faith. The object of our faith is of course Jesus Christ. Belief in Him is our salvation, God’s grace to us.