No Woman So Fair (41 page)

The three ran awkwardly away as the sky grew brighter and a terrible roar filled the earth.

****

Meri reached the house out of breath. She started to run inside, but the light above stopped her. She looked up and saw that the darkness of the sky was turning to an eerie white. “It's night,” she whispered. “That can't be the sun!”

And then she heard the sound. It was a keening wail, as of a woman moaning and screaming in pain. She had never heard anything like it, and she turned in terror, knowing she had made a terrible mistake. “Lot!” she cried, starting toward the gate. “Lot, I'm coming!”

But it was too late. A flashing brilliance struck the earth and exploded. Meri saw a fountain of white-hot sparks fly upward and she threw up her hands. Other missiles were striking the earth all around, and the intense heat engulfed her.

“Lot,” she gasped, “don't leave me!”

But as the fire from heaven fell upon the city, Meri, the wife of Lot, knew she was doomed.

****

Morning came, and Sarah crept out of the tent to stand beside Abraham. All night long they had watched in terror as the night sky glowed intensely in the east. Abraham had told her of the visitors' prophecies, and all night long they had prayed. But both knew their prayers were useless now.

Abraham stood absolutely still, then, his voice choked with emotion, said, “He's gone, Sarah. Lot is gone.”

“And those cities are both gone,” Sarah uttered in disbelief.

The two stood silently, letting the truth sink in, truth they found almost impossible to accept. Finally Abraham whispered, “I did not know that God was so hard. But we do know that He is just and will judge evil when He must, and He is strong and must be obeyed.”

****

Sarah and Abraham could no longer stay in the place where they had witnessed the terrible wrath of God poured out on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The smoke continued to rise from the remains of the cities for days, and every time they looked toward the horizon, they saw the haze hanging over the hills—a painful, daily reminder of the tragedy. They prayed fervently that Lot and his family had managed to escape, but when days passed and they heard nothing, they grievously assumed that Lot's family had not been spared.

“I cannot bear it any longer,” Abraham said to Sarah one morning after returning from a solitary time of prayer. He had stood on a high hill looking out over the Jordan Valley—now scarred and blackened where the city of Sodom had once teemed with life, weeping for the thousands of lost souls who had met such sudden judgment there. “We must move on to a place where we can find some peace,” he told her.

Abraham gave orders to the herdsmen to move the flocks and herds as far south as they could still find water, and the tribe packed up their tents and moved on. The scouts returned each evening to tell Abraham of what lay ahead, and he pushed them ever onward, until they reached the desert region of the Negev. They located a town named Gerar, near a large oasis, and settled on the outskirts, near enough so that they could water their animals.

The king of Gerar went out to greet the newcomers, and when he saw Sarah, he was greatly impressed by her beauty, even though she was by this time very old. The look in the king's eyes brought an icy fear to Abraham, and without thinking, he found himself telling the king that Sarah was his sister.

Sarah shot him a glance of disbelief, but she quickly recovered her composure and went along with the ruse.

When two of the king's guards rode out to their camp early one morning, Abraham watched their arrival with trepidation. “Sarah,” he said, his voice trembling, “get to Zara and Eliezer's tent as fast as you can and don't come out. I am terribly afraid that the king is sending for you!”

“Don't worry, husband,” Sarah said. “Didn't God protect us in Egypt when Pharaoh tried to make me his wife? You have told the king a foolish thing, but I have no reason to believe that He wants harm to come to us now.” Then she obeyed Abraham and quickly made her way to Zara's tent.

It was as Abraham had feared. The guards of King Abimelech demanded that Abraham bring out his sister. “The king wishes her for a wife,” they said.

The guards were armed with heavy swords, and Abraham knew he had no choice but to obey. With heavy heart, he fetched Sarah, whispering to her desperately, “We will find a way to rescue you.”

“Don't worry, my husband. I am trusting God himself to rescue me.”

And with that Sarah walked calmly to the waiting guards.

****

Abraham stayed on his knees all night, praying out to the Eternal One to have mercy on Sarah and begging God's forgiveness for his own sin in not being truthful with the king.

When the light of dawn touched the horizon, he lifted his head and could not believe his eyes. Approaching the camp was Sarah riding on a donkey, flanked by two guards on either side of her. Behind the riders walked a half dozen servant girls, and following them were several dozen head of cattle and sheep, being kept together by herdsmen on either side.

Abraham ran to meet them as fast as his old legs would carry him. When the entourage reached the edge of the camp, the guards helped Sarah dismount and she fell into her husband's waiting arms.

“I have so much to tell you, husband!” she said. “The Eternal One answered our prayers again. He spoke to the king in a dream, warning him to let me return to my people. He was so frightened by the vision, he did not wait for the light of day to fetch me and send me on my way! He has sent along these servant girls to us as a gift”—she made a sweeping gesture with her arm—“and all these cattle and sheep.”

Abraham could not believe what he was hearing. “But surely the king wants something of us in return.”

“No, my husband,” Sarah said. “He knows now that the hand of a mighty and powerful God is upon you, and he has told us we can live here in peace!”

****

Sarah and Abraham never forgot the tragedy they had witnessed of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they grieved the deaths of Lot and his family, but with each passing month the memory became a little less painful as they enjoyed a peaceful life near the oasis of Gerar.

One morning they arose and sat outside their tent, contentedly watching the camp come to life and the flocks and herds grazing on the nearby hillside.

“God has been so good to us, Sarah,” Abraham murmured.

“Yes…His blessings are more than we can count.” Then she put a trembling hand on his arm. “Husband,” she whispered, “I have something to tell you.”

Abraham turned to look into her eyes, which sparkled in the morning light. “What is it, wife?”

“Do you remember that the visitor said I would have a child, and I laughed? Well, I…I was wrong.”

Abraham did not understand. “What do you mean you were wrong?”

“I
am
going to have a child, Abraham.”

He looked at her, incredulous, and a smile crept over his lips. Her expression shone with the joy and pride of any new mother, and her eyes revealed the staggering truth. For so many years he had struggled to keep believing in God's promise, for they were both old. Now he began to tremble as he asked, “Is it true? Are you sure?”

“It is true,” Sarah said simply. “I waited to tell you until I could be sure.” She fell against him, and he held her tight as she cried out in joy, “The Most High has visited us! I know it's impossible in the flesh, but I am with child. We will have the son of promise, husband!”

Standing at the door of her tent, Sarah gazed out and watched gauzy clouds drift across the sky. The pale sun burned against the blueness of the horizon. A tremor went through her, and she put her hand on her rounded abdomen. A jubilance like nothing she had ever known filled her as she stood holding herself. The child within her had stirred!

He's alive! My son is alive! O Eternal One, how merciful you are and how faithful! Forgive me for doubting you. Bring this miracle son into the world, and put your hand on him every day of his life!

The smell of cooked meat wafted to her on the breeze, bringing a wave of nausea. During the first months of her pregnancy she had suffered wretched morning sickness. She had become so weak she had been unable to do more than simply lie flat on her back and wait for the nausea to pass. Abraham had prevailed upon Zara to help Sarah through her pregnancy. The young woman had become like a right hand to her, and Sarah had grown to love her like a daughter.

A dog suddenly appeared to her right, an ungainly yellow creature, rawboned, with an abnormally long, thin face. He was in pursuit of a smaller dog, and Sarah watched as they dashed through the center of the camp and then disappeared. As she listened to the sounds of the camp, to the murmur of voices and the crying of a child somewhere, memories drifted across her mind, like ghosts floating across a stage. She remembered how Abraham had first come into her life, and a smile turned the corners of her lips upward as she relived their courtship. How awkward he had been! And what a beast she had been to treat him so badly! She thought tenderly of their early days of marriage, remembering how thoughtful and kind Abraham had been. For all his strength he had been as gentle as a woman. He had awakened love in her that had grown over the years, though the early love she had felt for him had matured from a blazing fire to a warm bed of hot coals. She knew she would love him until the day she died.

Her back began to hurt, and she moved over to the chair that Abraham had asked his herdsman Dulog to make. Dulog was skillful with his hands and had built a lightweight chair out of wood, with a leather seat stretched across a frame. It was deep and comfortable, and Dulog had fashioned a cushioned back, so now Sarah settled back with a sigh, still watching the scenes of the camp.

Across from her tent she saw Dulog's wife, Mara, carrying a load of clothes down to the river to be washed. Mara smiled and waved at her, and Sarah waved back. She remembered that Mara, who had a three-month-old child of her own, had come to say, “If you do not have enough milk, I have plenty enough for your baby.”

Everyone's been so kind
, Sarah thought,
and it's unlikely that I'll be able to furnish enough nourishment for a baby, but there are half a dozen nursing mothers in the camp, and any one of them would be honored to nourish the child of Abraham
.

She thought of the child as Abraham's child. She was the bearer of the life, and the child would be hers as well as his, but God's promises were all tied to the seed of Abraham. Still, a fierce pride burned in her as she realized she was bringing a son into the world whose descendants would be more abundant than the stars of the sky.

Sarah sat quietly for a time but soon became uncomfortable even sitting in the soft seat. She rose and arched her back to ease the pain and began to walk around her tent. She knew her body did not have the resiliency of that of a young woman, and she wondered if she would have the strength to survive the birth.

“Good morning, mistress.” Zara had fallen into step beside Sarah. “Did you sleep well last night?”

“Well enough. You look refreshed this morning.”

“It's a beautiful day. I'm going to make your breakfast now. What would you like?”

“Nothing sounds good.”

“Well, I'll make it good.” Zara smiled. “I'll get some fresh milk and make you some of that lentil porridge you like so much.”

Sarah allowed Zara to cajole her into smiling, and a short time later she was sitting down in her chair, eating a bowl of porridge. She ate a few bites of it, then shook her head. “I don't think I can get any more of it down.”

“You must eat, mistress,” Zara said firmly. “I know you're not hungry, but you're eating for two now.”

Sarah suddenly smiled. “‘Eating for two.' You don't know how wonderful that sounds to me. To think that I'm carrying a life, a son for Abraham.”

“Everyone is so happy for you. No one's talked about anything else since you found out you were pregnant. And not only here,” Zara said, “but all through the land the word has gone out. Everyone's saying what a miracle it is.”

“You're right about that,” Sarah said. She took another bite and forced it down, then said, “I didn't tell you what I did when the three men visited us.”

“Who were those three men?”

“I'm not really sure, but I can't help thinking they were heavenly messengers. When their leader told Abraham that I was going to have a child, the strangest thing happened.”

“A strange thing? What was it?”

“I didn't actually laugh out loud, but inside I was laughing. You know how that is?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Well, it was as if that man knew exactly what was going on, for he told Abraham that I had laughed, even though I hadn't made a sound.”

“How strange.”

“I think they were messengers of the Eternal One,” Sarah said quietly. “After I knew that I was going to have a baby, I thought back on that day, and I remembered that I'd laughed at them. I felt so terrible about my unbelief.” She shook her head, and her lips formed a firm line. “I'll never laugh at anything God tells me again.”

The two women sat talking quietly, and finally Zara said, “Are you afraid, mistress?”

“You mean afraid to have the baby?”

“Yes. It's a hard thing even for a young woman.”

“I'm concerned but not afraid. That's one thing I've learned. When the God of all the earth sets out to do something, it will be done.” She reached over and took Zara's hand, and a light was in her eyes. “I know it will be hard at my age, but I don't mind, for I know the hand of God is on me.”

****

Night had fallen upon the camp, and Sarah lay panting in the heat. Abraham lay beside her, but he had fallen asleep long ago. As for Sarah, she could not get comfortable in any position, and she had tried them all. Laboriously she pulled herself over to lie on her side, then put her arms around the bulge in her stomach and tried desperately to drift off to sleep.