A BARREN WOMAN

In the night I heard this: ‘Has the church become a barren woman?’

The next morning I remembered some saved notes from Mitch Chase, pastor and professor:

‘Five Barren Women in the Old Testament:
First is Sarah. She’s Abraham’s wife. Genesis 11:30 tells us, “Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.”
Second is Rebekah. She’s Isaac’s wife. In Genesis 25:21 we read, “And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren.”
Third is Rachel. She’s Jacob’s wife. According to Genesis 29:31, “Rachel was barren.”
Fourth is Manoah’s wife. She’s unnamed. Judges 13:2, “And his wife was barren and had no children.”
Fifth is Hannah. She’s Elkanah’s wife. 1 Samuel 1:2 says, “Hannah had no children,” and the reason is in 1 Samuel 1:5: “The Lord had closed her womb.”

There were certainly barren women before and after the ones named above. So why do the biblical authors draw attention to the barrenness of these five women? In every case where a barren state is identified, the Lord overcomes the woman’s barrenness.

When we go to the New Testament, we read an interesting remark at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel. There was a priest named Zechariah, and his wife was Elizabeth. “But they had no child because she was barren” (Luke 1:7) As readers of the Old Testament pattern, we already know what’s coming. Elizabeth is barren, but not for long.

So… if the church has become a barren woman, the Lord can certainly by grace and power reverse the situation. Start buying pink and blue for our new brothers and sisters.

“When a woman gives birth to a baby, she has pain, because her time has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the pain, because she is so happy that a child has been born into the world.” Jesus