Sarah, Rachel, Hannah and Elizabeth were all part of the club that no woman really wanted to be in because they were all barren. Like Volcano National Park on the big island of Hawaii, they were beautiful but there was a very big and ugly scar in the inside. As you drive around the park you go from lush tropical jungle to kind like desert to something you would expect on the moon. Likewise, with these women, they were beautiful not only on the outside but on the inside to, till they found out that they could not have children.
The feeling of being a failure to your husband in not providing a child is one of the hurts. Each of these women were also the point of the local gossip and shamed by the women because of some "secret sin" they were hiding that caused the barrenness. Not once did their accusers think that God could be using it to bring glory to Him. Not once did their accusers consider their own sin in bearing false wittness.
Another thing about having no children it meant that they would always have to be the one to get water and gather sticks for firewood, There was no one to look after the or take care of them in there old age or off their husband died. There was no laughter from little children but more like tears that were hidden when no one was looking. Many prayers went up hoping for what seemed to be the impossible and when they went unanswered the feeling of not finding favor with God would grow.
How much more was painful it had to be for Elizabeth, with her husband being a priest in the temple. The embarrassment of being advanced in age and not having any children. People pointing their fingers at her as to the blame and trying to guess the sin that she may have done to lose favor with God. Maybe even saying she was unfit to be the wife of a priest. Why had God turned His back on her much less His servant her husband? The pain of their stares and jeers. The hurtful hushes as she walked past or the turning of their eyes away from her. Why would no one but her husband believe in her?
The feeling of being a failure to your husband in not providing a child is one of the hurts. Each of these women were also the point of the local gossip and shamed by the women because of some "secret sin" they were hiding that caused the barrenness. Not once did their accusers think that God could be using it to bring glory to Him. Not once did their accusers consider their own sin in bearing false wittness.
Another thing about having no children it meant that they would always have to be the one to get water and gather sticks for firewood, There was no one to look after the or take care of them in there old age or off their husband died. There was no laughter from little children but more like tears that were hidden when no one was looking. Many prayers went up hoping for what seemed to be the impossible and when they went unanswered the feeling of not finding favor with God would grow.
How much more was painful it had to be for Elizabeth, with her husband being a priest in the temple. The embarrassment of being advanced in age and not having any children. People pointing their fingers at her as to the blame and trying to guess the sin that she may have done to lose favor with God. Maybe even saying she was unfit to be the wife of a priest. Why had God turned His back on her much less His servant her husband? The pain of their stares and jeers. The hurtful hushes as she walked past or the turning of their eyes away from her. Why would no one but her husband believe in her?