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Article: Living by the word.(Abraham and Sarah)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- June 5, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SARAH, SARAH, how much alike you and I are! A day full of agape love and unabashed joy when we've received the gift of a precious child. Then hours of fear and jealous rage concerning the future of the adored son.
Sarah has been through a lot. Because she is barren, she gives her slave girl, Hamar, to Abraham that an heir might be conceived, and Ishmael is born. Then God gives Sarah and Abraham a son, Isaac. As the Genesis reading begins, Sarah's jealousies have overtaken her. She fears that her slave's child will inherit the patrimony along with Isaac. After all, Ishmael is the oldest son. So Sarah demands that her husband banish Hagar and the child.
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