"YOU DID LAUGH"

 It was not long afterward that Hagar became pregnant by Abraham. Perhaps convinced her pregnancy made her more important than Sarah, Hagar began to despise her mistress. What a blow for barren Sarah! With Abraham's permission and God's backing, Sarah in some undisclosed way chastised Hagar. A son, Ishmael, was born to Hagar, and then years passed. (Genesis 16:4-9, 16) The next time the record reveals a message from Jehovah, Sarah was 89 years old and her husband 99. And what an amazing message they received!

 Again, Jehovah promised his friend Abraham that he would multiply his offspring. God also changed the man's name. Up to this point he had been known as Abram. But Jehovah renamed him Abraham, which means "Father of a Multitude." And now, for the first time, Jehovah showed where Sarah fit into the picture. He changed her name from Sarai, which may have meant something like "Contentious," to Sarah, the name familiar to us all. What does Sarah mean? "Princess"! Jehovah explained why he chose that name for this beloved woman:  "I  will bless her and also give you a son by her; I will bless her and she will become nations; kings of peoples will come from her." - GENESIS 17:5, 15, 16. 

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