When the Lord called Abraham to leave his land, his relatives, and go to the place that would be shown to him, the patriarch immediately set out, taking his wife, who would one day be a mother, his father—whose name was Terah—his servants, and his nephew Lot (Genesis 12). In the middle of the journey, they decided to spend some time in Haran, where Terah passed away. After some time, Abraham headed toward Canaan, and there he settled. Two thousand years later, Jesus, the Savior, would be born of his line!

All of Sacred Scripture pointed to the Messiah, who would be born in Bethlehem of Judah. Immanuel would be His Name, which, translated, is God with us, as the Lord spoke through Isaiah: Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7.14). The other prophecies regarding the Messiah were fulfilled with the birth of Jesus, our Lord, the promised one of God.

The biblical accounts mention women who were barren but were healed by the Lord. Rebekah, who married Isaac, was an example of this, and from this union, Esau and Jacob were born. Rachel, Jacob's wife, bore Joseph of Egypt and Benjamin. She, however, died during the birth of Benjamin. One can also speak of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. God healed the barren, as if saying that one day a virgin would conceive, and that happened with Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Lord always fulfills His Word!

When the angel announced to Abraham that he would be the father of a boy with Sarah, that servant of God did take the information as something unexpected, for he was nearing a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. With that perspective, if it depended on them, it would be impossible: Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? (Genesis 17:17). However, the Lord sees no obstacle to carrying out His plans.

Upon hearing the angel tell Abraham that Sarah would have a son, she laughed and almost lost the blessing for insisting that she had not laughed: But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!” (Genesis 18:15). Her laughter was one of joy, for that pregnancy seemed impossible, but the Lord fulfills all His promises; after all, He is the Almighty. Whoever believes in His words enjoys the blessings.

Sarah gave birth to a boy whom they named Isaac, which means laughter. So, the promise was fulfilled, but he lacked descendants. Isaac married at 40 years old, and Rebekah, his wife, was barren. Faced with the problem, he began to pray and did so for 20 years. Esau and Jacob were born when Isaac was 60 years old. The Messiah would come from Jacob, from the tribe of Judah. God fulfilled it!

This family has gone through many hardships in all generations. The devil has always worked to prevent the heir of the promise from being born. A thousand years later, from the house of Judah came David, who became the most important king of his people. It took two thousand years for a descendant of this family to be born in Bethlehem of Judah, in order to fulfill the promise of the Most High to save us!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares