Abraham’s Fourth Failure: Laughter at Divine Promise – Part 2

This study is a continuation of the post dealing with Abraham’s fourth failure. To read Part 1 of this study, click here.

Sarah’s Reaction and Abraham’s Response to God’s Promise

The reaction of Sarah, that she would become a mother of a son in her old age, is told in Genesis Chapter 18.

The Text: Genesis 18:1–5

“The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on — since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’”

This passage in Genesis is one of the rare instances in the Old Testament where God takes on human form (Gen 18:1–2). The primary purpose of God’s revelation is to reaffirm the reliability of the promise of a son by directly communicating it to Sarah herself. In Genesis 17, the promise was made to Abraham; here, the divine encounter shifts to include Sarah—the one whose body represents the impossibility of the promise and whose experience is vital to fulfilling God’s covenant.

God promises to give a son to Sarah: “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:10). Twice Sarah is told that she will become the mother of a son: “Sarah shall have a son” (Genesis 18:10, 14). This repetition acts as both reassurance and divine insistence—the promise is certain, even if human perception cannot yet see its fulfillment.

Sarah’s reaction to God’s declaration was to laugh: “So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, ‘After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?’” (Genesis 18:12).

Her laughter goes beyond amusement; it is the spontaneous release of long-held disappointment. It is the laughter of someone who has endured decades of unfulfilled hope. In the Hebrew text, Sarah mentions her worn-out body and describes Abraham as old. Her words reveal resignation—the quiet despair that settles in after years of waiting. In this way, Sarah’s laughter is not just disbelief but a profoundly human response to chronic suffering and thwarted longing.

God responds to Sarah’s attitude by addressing Abraham: “The LORD said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, and say, Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?” (Gen 18:13). Sarah’s laugh seems to indicate that Abraham never told Sarah what God had promised—that she would bear a son (Gen 17:5). Note that Abraham never answered God’s question.
This silence in the narrative is striking. Abraham, who earlier laughed at the same promise (Gen 17:17), now seems unwilling or unable to address God’s probing question. The text subtly reveals the tension within their household: both husband and wife struggle to accept a divine promise that contradicts biology, experience, and logic.

God reaffirms his promise: “Is anything too wonderful for the LORD? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son” (Gen 18:14). Sarah speaks to God and denied that she laughed at the announcement of her upcoming pregnancy: “But Sarah denied, saying, ‘I did not laugh’; for she was afraid. [God] said, ‘Oh yes, you did laugh’” (Gen 18:15).

Sarah’s fear shows that her laughter hid her deeper feelings: fear, vulnerability, and possibly shame. However, God does not rebuke her harshly. The divine response, “Oh yes, you did laugh,” is not condemnation but clarification. It reveals the truth to bring about change. The laughter that begins in disbelief will, in Genesis 21, become the joyful laughter of fulfillment.

Abraham and God’s Promises

Neither Abraham nor Sarah believed they would become parents to a child. This is shown in God’s affirmation that nothing is impossible with God: “Is anything impossible for the LORD?” (Gen 14 HSB). God’s question is meant to reaffirm that His promise to Abraham, that he would be the father of a son, would not fail.

God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah shows that God is the only source of hope when the future seems out of reach for both of them.

The biblical writer highlights how many times Abraham failed to trust in God. Abraham did not trust God to protect him when he put Sarah’s life in danger by passing her off as his sister. Abraham did not trust God’s promise that he would have a son when he adopted a slave, Eliezer, to be his son and heir. Abraham also did not trust that God would give him a son through Sarah when he married Hagar. Additionally, Abraham did not believe God when He told him that he and Sarah would become parents of a son in their old age.

This list reveals a consistent pattern: Abraham’s faith is genuine yet fragile; it is present but vulnerable to fear, cultural norms, and pragmatic reasoning. Sarah’s struggle parallels Abraham’s. Both embody the truth that faith in Scripture rarely appears as unwavering certainty. Instead, it is often hesitant, conflicted, and marked by human frailty.

After studying Abraham’s and Sarah’s response to God’s promise that they would become the parents of a son in their old age, “the narrative asserts that Abraham and Sarah did not believe the promise” (Brueggemann 1982:151).

The story of God’s revelation to Abraham highlights the tension between this inscrutable promise and the resistance and mockery of Abraham and Sarah, who doubted the word and could not believe the promise.

Unfortunately, in this story, Abraham and Sarah are depicted not as people of faith but as individuals who failed to believe and trust in God. Although God promised them a son, their lack of faith nearly prevented them from receiving the promised son. Abraham and Sarah’s reactions demonstrate how difficult faith can be. A Brueggemann writes, “Faith is not easy. It calls for a persistence which is against common sense. It calls for believing in a gift from God which none of the present data can substantiate” (Brueggemann 1982: 152).

Faith is not a response to what is normal, visible, and available. As the author of Hebrews explains, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” (Heb 11:1 NLT).

In response to Sarah’s laughter, God asked, “Is anything impossible for the LORD?” This question was meant to address Sarah’s doubt. Both Abraham and Sarah believed that their barren situation was hopeless. They had resigned themselves to living with a barren womb. They considered their hopeless situation as normal.

But God does not accept their resignation. The divine question shatters the possibility of a future they cannot even imagine.

“Is anything impossible for the LORD?” In the lives of Abraham and Sarah, only they could answer this question. Still, the outcome does not depend solely on their answer. God’s purpose to accomplish his work in the world is not reliant on Abraham’s and Sarah’s faith. God will fulfill his plan even if he has to call a foreign leader who does not know him to do his work. Abraham and Sarah learned that amid their unbelief and failures, the God who revealed himself to them was a “God merciful and gracious, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exod 34:6).

This leads us to the next part of our study. Next week, we will examine another instance where Abraham failed to trust in God, and in doing so, he again put the promise at risk by surrendering Sarah to another man.

As we shall see, God had to intervene again to help Sarah and to maintain the integrity of the promise.

Completed Studies on Abraham’s Failures

The Five Failures of Abraham (June 14, 2022)
Ur and Haran: Abraham’s Background (February 16, 2023)
The Failures of Faith in Abraham’s Journey
Abraham and Terah: Family Dynamics and Divine Calling
Abraham Before His Call: The Mesopotamian Context
The Call of Abraham: Divine Initiative and Human Response
Abraham and Lot: Separation and Its Implications
God’s Promises to Abraham
Abraham’s First Failure: Egypt and the Wife-Sister Deception
Abraham’s Second Failure: The Eliezer Solution
Abraham’s Third Failure: The Hagar Alternative
Abraham’s Fourth Failure: Laughter at Divine Promise – Part 1
Abraham’s Fourth Failure: Laughter at Divine Promise – Part 2
Abraham’s Fifth Failure: Gerar and Repeated Deception
The Testing of Abraham: From Failure to Faith

NOTE: For several other studies on Abraham, read my post Studies on Abraham.

Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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