Sarah laughed because the promise of a son seemed humanly impossible when both she and Abraham were old and she was past childbearing.
In Genesis 18, Sarah overheard the Lord tell Abraham she would have a son, and she laughed within herself, saying, "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" The Lord immediately asked why she laughed and answered, "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?" Her laughter was the natural human response to a promise that contradicted her age and physical condition.
Genesis 18:12 — This verse records Sarah's exact inward thought, revealing her laughter was prompted by her old age and Abraham's old age.
Genesis 18:14 — God's answer to Sarah's laughter asserts that nothing is too hard for the LORD.
In Genesis 18, the LORD appeared to Abraham at Mamre and promised that Sarah would have a son. Sarah was listening inside the tent, and "laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" The question itself shows the reason: she considered both herself and Abraham too old for her to have pleasure and to bear a child. The LORD then challenged the laughter: "Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" And He posed the central question, "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?" He then reaffirmed that at the appointed time He would return and Sarah would have a son. The Bible therefore presents Sarah's laughter as the human doubt that arises when a divine promise seems impossible by natural means.
Les Feldick sets Sarah's laughter in the wider story of Abraham's long wait for the promised son. He points out that Abraham was about 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was 90, and he uses Paul's phrase "the deadness of Sarah's womb" to show the physical impossibility that Sarah faced. Abraham himself had laughed earlier, but Les describes that laugh as a laugh of joy and worship, not scorn. Les also describes how Sarah had become impatient enough to suggest Abraham have a child by Hagar, and that Abraham waited nearly 50 years from the first promises to Isaac's birth. By the time the LORD repeated the promise in Genesis 18, the situation looked impossible from the human side. Yet, as Les stresses, God kept His word: Sarah's son Isaac, not Ishmael, was the promised son, and Abraham "staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief."
Sarah said to herself, "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" Her words show that her laugh was not a response to a joke but to the perceived impossibility of bearing a child at her age and with Abraham's age as well.
Yes. In Genesis 17, when God promised that Sarah would bear a son, Abraham "fell upon his face, and laughed" and asked, "Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" Les Feldick teaches that Abraham's laugh was not scorn or ridicule, but a laugh of joy and worship. The two laughs are similar in that both come from human amazement at an impossible promise, but Abraham's is shown as joyful faith.
The LORD asked Abraham, "Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" The question revealed that God had heard Sarah's inward laugh and knew her doubt. He then answered with the rhetorical question, "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?" In Les Feldick's teaching, this same divine power is what kept Abraham from staggering at the promise, even when Sarah's womb was dead by human measure.
Years before, Sarah had told Abraham, "Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing; I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her." Les Feldick describes this as Sarah's impatience, and notes that Abraham waited nearly 50 years while "nothing happened." When the LORD finally announced that Sarah herself would have a child, her inward laugh reflected the same human perspective that had led her to take matters into her own hands.
Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord? Genesis 18 & God in Human Form
on the shores of, I think it's the Sea of Galilee, and I don't think the Lord had to wait for the fish out of Peter's net. I think the Lord already had fish cooking on the fire when they came there. But all of this just indicates that it is not some horrible thought that we're going to be able to eat and partake of food when we get to the new resurrected body, because here's the lesson clear and p…
Abraham's Joyful Laugh
Les explains that Abraham's laugh in Genesis 17 was not scorn or ridicule but a laugh of joy and worship, which helps readers understand the human response to God's impossible promise.
The Deadness of Sarah's Womb
Les shows that Abraham was about 100 and Sarah 90, and that Sarah's womb was 'dead'—yet Abraham did not stagger at God's promise through unbelief.
Abraham, Sarah, and the Allegory of Law vs. Grace | Genesis 20-21
Now I don't like to imply things that are not as they should be, but always remember that especially back here, and I think even into the present time, many of the tribes in the Middle East will not wean their children until they're three, four, sometimes even five years old.
Fifty Years of Waiting
Les points out that Abraham waited nearly 50 years between the promises and Isaac's birth, explaining the human tension behind both Sarah's earlier scheme with Hagar and her later reaction.
Isaac, the Promised Son
Les emphasizes that God explicitly promised Abraham a son through Sarah and named him Isaac, making clear that the promise Sarah laughed at was the covenant promise.
Abraham’s Test of Faith: Why God Asked for Isaac – Bible Study
Now remember, she's going to be coming on the scene ere long as Isaac's wife, and these eight, Milchoth, did bear to Nahor Abraham's brother. Now we go into chapter 23 in the few moments that we have left, and there's an interesting little tidbit here in verse 1, And Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years old. These were the years of the life of Sarah.
Sarah's Impatience
Les recounts how Sarah suggested Hagar because the LORD had restrained her from bearing, revealing the human impatience that precedes her laughter at the renewed promise.
Genesis 18:12: Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Sarah's own words give the direct reason for her laughter: her advanced age and Abraham's age made childbearing seem impossible.
Genesis 18:13: And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
The LORD's question shows He knew Sarah had laughed and exposes her doubt about bearing a child in old age.
Genesis 18:14: Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
This verse is God's answer to Sarah's laughter: nothing is impossible for Him, and He will fulfill His promise.
Genesis 17:17: Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Abraham also laughed at the promise, and Les Feldick identifies this laugh as one of joy and worship rather than unbelief.
Romans 4:20: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Paul's description of Abraham's faith stands in contrast to the human impossibility of Sarah's condition, showing that faith rested in God's promise.
Genesis 16:2: And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Sarah's earlier attempt to fulfill God's promise through Hagar reveals the human impatience that later shows up in her laughter.
Sarah laughed because she was old and past normal childbearing, and Abraham was old as well. When she overheard the Lord say she would have a son, she asked herself, "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?" Her laughter was the human response to an impossible-sounding promise.
Her own words and God's response indicate doubt. The LORD asked, "Wherefore did Sarah laugh?" and then asserted, "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?" Sarah's laughter is recorded as an inward human reaction to a promise that seemed impossible by natural means.
Abraham laughed in Genesis 17 when he heard the same promise, and Les Feldick teaches that his laugh was one of joy and worship, not scorn. Sarah's laugh in Genesis 18 is recorded with her words of doubt about her old age, and God immediately questioned it with "Is any thing too hard for the LORD?"
Yes. Sarah gave birth to Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old, just as God had said. Les Feldick notes that Isaac, not Ishmael, was the promised son through whom God would establish His covenant.
Watch the Teaching: Is Anything Too Hard for the Lord? Genesis 18 & God in Human Form