Bible Timeline · Traditional count about 2066 BC
Isaac Is Born: The Promise Kept
Twenty five years after God's first promise, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90. His name means he laughs, because Sarah said God had made her laugh.
Read it in the Bible: Genesis 17:15-21 Genesis 18:9-15 Genesis 21:1-12 Romans 4:18-21 Hebrews 11:11-12 Galatians 4:28
Isaac was the son God promised to Abraham and Sarah. He was born when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, twenty five years after God first called Abraham. By the traditional count he was born about 2066 BC. His name means "he laughs," because both his parents laughed at the idea, and then Sarah laughed for joy when he came. Isaac is the child of promise, and through him the family line continued to Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel and finally Jesus.
How Long Did Abraham Wait for Isaac?
Abraham was 75 when God promised to make him a great nation. He was 100 when Isaac was born. That is twenty five years of waiting, watching his hair turn gray and then turn to nothing. Along the way he tried a shortcut with Hagar, and he had his doubts. But God's promise did not depend on Abraham's timing. It depended on God's faithfulness.
Why Did Abraham and Sarah Laugh?
When God told Abraham in Genesis 17 that Sarah would have a son, Abraham fell on his face and laughed.
Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?” Genesis 17:17
A little later, in Genesis 18, three visitors came to Abraham's tent. One of them said that Sarah would have a son by this time next year. Sarah was listening from inside the tent, and she laughed too.
So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” Genesis 18:12
The Lord asked why Sarah laughed, and she denied it. "No, but you did laugh," He said. Then He asked a question that echoes through the whole Bible: "Is anything too difficult for Yahweh?" in Genesis 18:14.
How Was Isaac Born?
Now Yahweh attended to Sarah as He had said, and Yahweh did for Sarah what He had promised. So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised. And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him. Genesis 21:1 to 3
Notice how many times these verses say God did what He promised. "As He had said." "What He had promised." "At the very time God had promised." The writer wants you to see it clearly. God keeps His word, right on time.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Genesis 21:5
On the eighth day Abraham circumcised Isaac, just as God had commanded in Genesis 17.
What Does the Name Isaac Mean?
Isaac, or Yitzhak in Hebrew, means "he laughs." God chose the name in Genesis 17:19, right after Abraham laughed. It began as the laugh of doubt. After the baby came, it turned into the laugh of joy.
Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.” Genesis 21:6
Imagine a 90 year old woman in the baby aisle. Everyone who heard the news must have laughed along with her. God took the very thing that had been her deepest sorrow and turned it into joy.
What Happened Between Isaac and Ishmael?
When Isaac was weaned, which in that culture could be around age two or three, Abraham threw a big feast. Sarah saw Ishmael, who was about 16, mocking Isaac. She asked Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. God told Abraham to listen to her, because "through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned," in Genesis 21:12. But God also cared for Ishmael and promised to make him a nation. You can read more in the Hagar and Ishmael article on this site.
What Does the New Testament Say About Isaac's Birth?
Paul uses Isaac's birth as a picture of faith.
Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. Romans 4:20 to 21
Paul says this even though Abraham laughed. Faith does not mean you never have a question. It means you keep trusting the God who made the promise. Hebrews honors Sarah's faith too.
By faith Sarah, even though she was barren and beyond the proper age, was enabled to conceive a child, because she considered Him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11
How Does Isaac's Birth Point to Jesus?
Isaac's birth was a miracle. He came by God's promise, to a woman who could not have children on her own, at the exact time God chose. Centuries later, an angel told a young virgin named Mary that she would have a son. When Mary asked how, the angel answered, "For no word from God will ever fail," in Luke 1:37. It is the same truth God told Sarah, that nothing is too difficult for Yahweh.
Isaac was the son of promise, and Jesus is the true Son of promise. In Galatians 4:28, Paul says that everyone who trusts Christ is, "like Isaac," a child of promise. You are not God's child because of what you achieved, but because of what God promised and did.
That is why Isaac's birth matters for you today. Some of God's promises take a long time. Abraham waited twenty five years. But God is never late. The God who made Sarah laugh is still able to do what He has promised.
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Questions People Ask
How old were Abraham and Sarah when Isaac was born?
Abraham was 100 years old, according to Genesis 21:5. Sarah was 90, according to Genesis 17:17. By the traditional count Isaac was born about 2066 BC.
What does the name Isaac mean?
Isaac means he laughs. God gave the name after Abraham laughed at the promise in Genesis 17:17. After Isaac was born, Sarah said God had made her laugh, and everyone who heard would laugh with her.
How long did Abraham wait for Isaac?
About twenty five years. Abraham was 75 when God first promised him descendants in Genesis 12, and 100 when Isaac was born.
Why is Isaac called the child of promise?
Isaac was born because of God's promise to Abraham and Sarah, when having a child was humanly impossible. Paul uses him in Galatians 4 as a picture of believers, who become God's children by His promise and grace.