Infertility

Barrenness

Sarah laughed at the thought of bearing children at such an advanced age (Gen. 18:11–12). But she may have laughed more out of pain than surprise, for in the ancient world, to be barren, as she was, was considered a curse (Gen. 16:2; 20:17–18; Luke 1:25). It was even considered grounds for divorce.

Several women in Scripture illustrate the predicament of the childless woman. Yet it's interesting that each of those named eventually gave birth to a child.

• Rebekah conceived after her husband Isaac prayed to the Lord on her behalf; gave birth to twins, Esau and Jacob (Gen. 25:21).
• Rachel, driven by despair, used her maid Bilhah to compete with the other wife of her husband Jacob, her older sister Leah; eventually gave birth to Joseph and later Benjamin, whose birth caused her death (Gen. 29:31–30:24).
• Hannah prayed desperately for a son, whom she vowed to dedicate to the Lord; gave birth to Samuel, a judge of Israel (1 Sam. 1).
• Elizabeth conceived after her husband Zacharias was promised a son who would be the forerunner to the Messiah; gave birth to John the Baptist (Luke 1:5–25, 57–66).

From Barrenness to Bounty

Occasionally a couple who have tried for years to have children suddenly find themselves expecting twins or even triplets. Isaiah envisioned a somewhat similar situation for Israel. After years of barrenness following the exile, God's people would find themselves with so many offspring that they would have to expand their housing to accommodate the newborns (Is. 54:2–3).

Barrenness was considered a curse in the ancient world (see Gen. 18:11–12). A childless woman lived with shame and disgrace (Is. 54:4) and the sense that God Himself had abandoned her (54:6).

But God had not abandoned His people, at least not permanently. His “everlasting kindness” (Hebrew, chesed, Is. 54:8) meant that He would not only stand by them, but fulfill His promise to their ancestor Abraham and his barren wife Sarah to make their offspring as numerous as the stars of the heavens (Gen. 15:4–5).

In a sense, God's word to Abraham and Sarah and to the people of Isaiah's day is now being fulfilled spiritually in Christ. As people come to faith in Him, they join the ever-growing family of God. By the time the Lord returns to claim His own, that family will have reached the size foretold to Abraham: “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” (Rev. 7:9).

Pleading for a Baby

Isaac's earnest prayer for the Lord to help his wife conceive (Gen. 25:21) was probably motivated by many factors. He himself was the result of a promise (Gen. 18:10–14), and he knew that God had promised to bless Abraham with descendants as numerous as the sands of the seashore and the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5; 22:17). Furthermore, Isaac deeply loved his wife Rebekah (Gen. 24:67), and he grieved that she was childless, because barrenness was considered a curse in that day. Yet it was a condition that many women in the Bible experienced (see Gen. 18:11–12).