How long did Abraham and Sarah have to wait for Isaac?
Abraham and Sarah had to wait for Isaac for a very long time. The Bible provides some key details that allow us to estimate the length of time they waited.
Abraham and Sarah were originally known as Abram and Sarai. When Abram was 75 years old, God called him to leave his home and go to the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-4). At this point, Abram and Sarai did not have any children.
In Genesis 15, when Abram was around 85 years old, God made a covenant with him and promised that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:4-5). Sarai was still barren at this time (Genesis 16:1).
When Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him again and changed his name to Abraham. God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. At this time, God promised Abraham that Sarah would have a son and that she would become nations (Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16).
A year later, when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the son God had promised (Genesis 21:1-5).
So in summary:
– Abraham was 75 when God first called him and promised descendants
– Abraham was around 85 when God again promised descendants despite Sarah’s barrenness
– Abraham was 99 when God specifically promises that Sarah would bear a son
– Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90
Therefore, the minimum amount of time Abraham and Sarah waited for the birth of Isaac was around 15 years – from when Abraham was 85 to when Isaac was born when he was 100.
However, if we start counting from when God first called Abraham at age 75, it was around 25 years that they waited for the fulfillment of God’s promise of a son.
The long wait Abraham and Sarah experienced speaks to two key themes:
1. God’s promises are fulfilled in His timing, not ours. Abraham and Sarah needed to exercise great patience and faith as they waited decades for God to fulfill His word.
2. God uses human weakness to showcase His power. The birth of Isaac was physically impossible from a human perspective. Sarah was elderly and barren. But God supernaturally intervened to bring forth life from her womb.
Abraham and Sarah’s story offers great encouragement for all believers waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled in their lives. Though the wait may be long and difficult, God remains faithful. His perfect timing and power to fulfill His word can be relied upon.
Abraham and Sarah’s long wait also increased their capacity to enjoy Isaac and savor God’s faithfulness when the promise was finally fulfilled. Their appreciation and joy would have been far less if Isaac had come right away. The many years of patiently persisting in faith helped prepare them to fully cherish the child of promise.
Additionally, their story gives us insight into God’s character. He often uses delays and waiting periods to shape His people’s faith and dependence on Him. The years Abraham and Sarah had to carry on without visible evidence that God would fulfill His promise taught them to walk by faith, not sight. Their trust in God’s faithfulness and timing grew.
Most believers can relate in some way to the experience of Abraham and Sarah. God often gives promises for the future – children, provision, healing, reconciliation – that require years of waiting to see fulfilled. Like Abraham and Sarah, we are called to cling to God’s character rather than our circumstances.
Though incredibly long, the 25+ years Abraham and Sarah waited were but a small span compared with eternity. The fruits of their persevering faith, most significantly the miraculous birth of the son of promise, still echo down through history as part of God’s redemptive plan.
Their story gives perspective. Our periods of waiting, no matter how lengthy, are an opportunity to let faith take deeper root in our hearts. The fulfillment of God’s promises is worth every ounce of endurance the journey requires.
Abraham and Sarah’s long wait reveals key aspects of God’s nature: He is faithful, powerful, patient, and intent on using waiting periods to spiritually strengthen His people. He is at work even when circumstances seem unchanging. He is worthy of our trust through years of silence and seeming unanswered prayers.
Though Abraham and Sarah’s emotions undoubtedly fluctuated between hope, discouragement and confusion, the biblical text emphasizes their posture of faith. “By faith Abraham obeyed” and “was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8, 10). Their eyes were ultimately fixed on what was unseen – the promises of God.
The long wait for Isaac trained Abraham and Sarah’s faith muscles. So too believers today build spiritual muscle as we trust God through our own extended waits for His promises. Their story inspires perseverance.
The years between God’s initial promise to Abraham and its fulfillment in Isaac’s birth were not wasted. God was sovereignly using that time to prepare both Abraham and Sarah’s hearts to receive the promise and steward it well. The long wait increased their appreciation and cultivated deeper dependence on God.
Though most believers will not wait decades like Abraham and Sarah did, their example offers perspective about God’s timing. Some of God’s purposes for our lives will unfold quickly, even miraculously. But other precious promises may require years of persevering faith before coming to pass. Abraham and Sarah’s story inspires patience and confidence in God’s faithfulness through long seasons of waiting.
The birth of Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old also highlights God’s miraculous power. He is able to do the humanly impossible, override the natural order of things, to fulfill His promises. Abraham and Sarah’s story proclaims God’s supernatural ability to bring life from barrenness, a message reiterated through the births of Isaac’s son Jacob and later Jesus, the ultimate promised son.
Though incredibly long by human standards, Abraham and Sarah’s wait was shaped by God to fulfill His purposes in and through them. Their story offers perspective about walking by faith when fulfillment of God’s promises is not yet visible. They model a persevering trust in God’s character and timing that believers today can emulate. The fruit of their patience was miraculously born out in God’s timing.
