You And The 90 Year Old Barren Woman…

Have you ever thought of yourself as a barren woman in her 90s? Well, according to the Apostle Paul, that's exactly what you are! In a weird and slightly confusing section of Galatians 4, Paul uses the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar to illustrate something true about us. If we follow Paul’s argument, we see he is telling us something very important about the doctrine at the center of Christianity: justification.

In verses 22-23 of Galatians chapter 4, Paul writes:

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.

If you are familiar with the Old Testament, you know that the first son Abraham conceived was with one of his wife’s servants named Hagar. This was the solution proposed by Abraham’s wife, Sarah, to have the child that God promised them. Since Sarah was never able to have children, had always been barren and was now in her late 80s, God's promise seemed like quite an impossibility. But have no fear—where God’s promises delay, human ingenuity prevails! (hear the sarcasm there)

So Hagar gets pregnant and has a boy named Ishmael, who is not the son born of promise. He is not the son of faith. No, he is the son of effort. The son of human ingenuity. The son of self-sufficiency—an omen to all of us do-it-yourselfers out there! Put more accurately, Ishmael was the anti-promise. He was the son whose birth revealed a lack of trust in God’s clear promise and, worse, a rejection of the idea that God had the power to make something out of nothing.

Paul then gives a picture of what the barren, 90-year-old woman’s response to the promise should have been, quoting a passage from Isaiah 54:

“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”

Paul then adds, "Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise."

What then are we supposed to make of that?

The thing about barren women, you see, is that they are unable to have biological children. If they do not have the ability to bear children, why would they rejoice? And how can they have more children than a married woman in her childbearing years who nightly sleeps next to a very willing husband?

Well, the answer is that the barren, hopeless women have something more sure than a healthy married woman in her childbearing years. The barren woman in her 90s has… A PROMISE. She doesn't need to create a baby inside of her through the conventional method. She believes the one who promised can create it ex nihilo—out of nothing. And the one who made that promise doesn't need anything from the woman at all. Apparently, He does not even require that she believe He can do it! He will fulfill His promise in her and through her, and yet completely without her.

So what does that have to do with you and me? What does a barren woman in her 90s, holding on to the promise of being the mother of many generations, have to do with us?

A lot more than you’d think! The point Paul is making is that your ability to create a righteousness that God accepts and is pleased with is as likely as a barren woman in her 90s giving birth to a child. In other words, it's impossible!

Just like the barren 90-year-old woman, your only hope of righteousness is if God gifts it to you.

Imagine if a woman in her 90s wanted to have a baby and said, “Well, I think if I take my prenatal vitamins and use my fertility calendar, maybe…” You would break out into laughter at her, wouldn't you? And for good reason! That is exactly the same as you and I taking the commands of God and thinking we can create a righteousness that God would be happy with. It’s laughable.

Instead of being God’s little helper, we can simply believe that the one who promised is powerful and faithful. He has a righteousness for us—one that comes from outside of us and is gifted to us. He doesn't need a healthy womb. He doesn't need a womb at all. He will create this "baby" of righteousness in you ex nihilo. So go ahead, rejoice in your barrenness! Rejoice knowing that the promise is sure, the Promiser is faithful, and righteousness is yours. It's not your effort nor obedience that is counted as righteousness, but your believe in another’s righteousness for you- Christ our Savior. Hallelujah! Amen.