One night, Abraham sat out in front of his tent, looking up at the stars. He thought back and
remembered that God had promised him and Sarah that they would be mother and father to a great
nation.
He also remembered that God had also promised them that they would come to rule the land that they
walked in.
Abraham sighed. They had both gotten very old. It seemed that they would never see the day when God
fulfilled his promises to them. Night after night, he saw the stars above his head as a reminder that the
promise had yet to be fulfilled.
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One afternoon, Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent and saw three men coming towards him,
beneath a grove of terebinth trees.
Terebinths are big bushy trees from the mediterranean that make
great shade!
He thought, “Wow, those men must be hungry and thirsty! It’s really hot out here today.”
Abraham walked out to meet the three men. “Hello, hello! Welcome! Come!” he said, bowing low
before them. “Please, my lords, honor me with your presence in my tent. My wife will cook you a
wonderful meal, and then you can go on your way.”
The three men looked at him and one of them said, “Do as you have said.”
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Abraham ran back into his tent and found Sarah. “Sarah, Sarah!” he shouted. “We have visitors!”
“Who are they?” she asked.
“I don’t know!” he responded.
“Are they rich men?” she asked.
“I don’t know!” Abraham responded.
“Are they poor men?” she asked.
“I don’t know! Let’s just feed them,” Abraham responded.
“You’re right,” Sarah said. “We need to treat everyone with respect. Imagine if they are poor men who
have not eaten in days! And they walk through the desert! We must give what we have to them.”
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“Please, my lords, have a seat in the shade under the terebinths and I will bring you a fine meal,”
Abraham said to the three men.
Abraham ran and grabbed a calf to cook for the strangers. Then he took some water, milk, and cheese
for them to eat while they waited. Meanwhile, Sarah was in the tent making bread for the men.
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Once it was all ready, Abraham brought the three men the grilled meat and bread.
As he waited on them, they asked, “Where is your wife, Sarah?”
Abraham, a little surprised that they knew his wife’s name, said, “She is back there in the tent!”
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Meanwhile, Sarah was listening in from the tent, having heard them mention her name.
One of the men turned to Abraham and said, “I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall
have a son!”
Now, Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah heard what the man had said, and couldn’t help laughing.
How could a woman of her age have a baby?
The man heard her from the tent and asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too wondrous
for God?”
It was then that both Abraham and Sarah realized that they had been visited by messengers from God!
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And a year later, Sarah bore a son. When she was deciding what to name him, she said, “God has
brought me laughter, everyone who hears will laugh with me! Who would have said to Abraham that
Sarah would have children? Yet, we have had a son in our old age!”
So she named him Isaac, which means to laugh in Hebrew. And Sarah and Abraham were very happy,
and their lives were filled with laughter with their son Isaac.
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