Page 36 - Sarah's Children

a chaste and respectful attitude toward their husbands even when the husband was
walking in disobedience to the word and will of God. He instructs wives to let their
husband be won, or persuaded back to a course of righteousness, “without a word,”
without nagging, or verbal reproof, as they observe a continued attitude of honor and
respect coming from the wife.

Peter declares these things in the midst of a passage on suffering. He says that a
woman should be willing to suffer for the sake of obedience and righteousness even
as Christ did when He went to the cross. Peter had also spoken about servants
obeying masters who were unreasonable, and exhorted them that it would find favor
with God if they bore up patiently when suffering unjustly.

This is the context of Peter’s words to women. It is also in this context that he
mentions that Sarah is an example of one who did what “was right without being
frightened by any fear.” I can think of a number of occasions in Sarah’s life spoken
of in Scripture that would support such an understanding of her life in the mind of
Peter. She followed Abraham obediently when he left Ur of the Chaldees to travel
through foreign lands as an alien and a stranger. She also continued to honor her
husband when his faith was wavering and he asked her to declare to others that she
was his sister, rather than his wife.

What could Sarah’s motives in this matter have been? There is no doubt in my mind
that Sarah loved her husband, otherwise the Scriptures would not elevate her as an
example of a godly wife. I suspect that in observing the fear in her husband, and
understanding his motives for asking her to declare that she was his sister, that her
love for him played a part in directing her to obey his directions. I also suspect that
her understanding of God’s will for women to honor their husbands also contributed
to her decision.

In submitting to the will of her husband in this matter Sarah would have to look to
God to protect her. She could confidently cast herself into the care of God if her own
conscience was clear in the matter, and I believe it was. There are certainly some gray
areas here that are difficult to discern. Was it transgression for Sarah to participate
in her husband’s deception in this instance, or was the responsibility completely
upon Abraham’s shoulders? After all, Sarah was not lying when she said she was
Abraham’s sister. Did God look at the motives of each person’s heart and find error
in Abraham while finding reason for praise in Sarah? Is it possible for two people to
be involved in the same action for different reasons and be judged vastly different in
the eyes of God? I think it is.

Lest we go too far in assuming that a wife should always go along with the counsel
of her husband, we need to look carefully at another testimony provided for our
instruction. The book of Acts speaks in detail concerning another husband and wife