Relevant Verses
Genesis 17
Genesis 17.17 Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”
Genesis 18
Genesis 18:12-15 Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child when I am old?’ Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes around, and Sarah will have a son.” Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” [[Gen-18#v13|]][[Gen-18#v14|]][[Gen-18#v15|]]
Genesis 21
Genesis 21:2-10 Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac (laughter), was born to him. Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking (laughing). Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.” [[Gen-21#v3|]][[Gen-21#v4|]][[Gen-21#v5|]][[Gen-21#v6|]][[Gen-21#v7|]][[Gen-21#v8|]][[Gen-21#v9|]][[Gen-21#v10|]]
Laughter
The Ambiguous Nature of Laughter
Laughter in Hebrew (and in English) can be quite ambiguous. Sometimes we laugh at a silly joke. But sometimes we laugh in a way that is mocking, sarcastic, or even scornful.
Laughter As Unbelief
Both Abraham and Sarah explicitly cite unbelief as their reason for laughing.
Genesis 17.17 Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?”
Genesis 18.12 Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
Can we blame them? God promised them something that was truly unbelievable. It was impossible. But with God, all things are possible.
Laughter As Rejoicing in God’s Blessing
It seems that the thesis of the Book of Genesis comes at the end of the book when Joseph says in Genesis 50.20 what you intended for evil, God meant for good. This is the pattern throughout the Book of Genesis, and indeed throughout the Bible and all human history: we sin and yet God subverts our sin and turns it into good.
Laughter is yet another example of this pattern. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed because of their unbelief. And yet God fulfilled His promise, thus bringing them laughter. Where before they laughed out of unbelief, now they laughed out of rejoicing.
Laughter As Mockery
Immediately after Sarah laughs in rejoicing, we see another kind of laughter: mockery.
Genesis 21.9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking (laughing).
It’s important to note here that this verse is ambiguous. In fact many English translations do not translate this as laughing. ESV uses laughing, but KJV and many others use mocking. (See here) The Hebrew word here is מְצַחֵֽק, and there is a strong case to be made that mocking or scoffing is a good translation here. But it should be noted that it comes from the root word צְחַק which is the same root that Isaac (יִצְחָק) comes from. This does not mean that these words mean the exact same thing. But it certainly means that they’re related. In English mocking is always negative, but it does not always involve laughing. But the Hebrew word used in Gen 21.9 certainly is related to laughing.
Laughter As Sexual Activity
King Abimelech Sees Isaac and His Wife, Rebekah
Genesis 26.8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing (מְצַחֵ֔ק) Rebekah, his wife.
This is the same word used in Genesis 21:9.
Potiphar’s Wife Accuses Joseph
Genesis 39.17 She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock (לְצַ֥חֶק) me,
Takeaways
What shall we learn from this theme? Why is any of this helpful? I can see these valuable takeaways:
Nothing is Ambiguous to God
Both Abraham and Sarah outwardly laugh (in Gen 17 and 18), but their laughter is not genuine. It is sarcastic and disbelieving. But God was not fooled. They spoke in their heart (i.e. thought) thoughts of disbelief and God heard these thoughts.
In life, we are often faced with people around us who laugh. It can be very difficult to tell if they are laughing with us or laughing at us. Are they laughing as our friend or are they mocking us as an enemy? What makes it even worse is that when we accuse them of mocking us, they often deny it. They claim that they are laughing as a friend. Worse yet, they have plausible deniability.
It should be comfort to us then that our God is a wise judge. He is not fooled by anything. He sees all things as they truly are, not as they merely appear to be. We can trust that He will make all things right.
Our God Brings Joyous Laughter
Genesis 21.6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
We serve a God who brings laughter. Not just any laughter, but joyous laughter. Here, I’m not talking about scornful or mocking laughter. God brought joyous laughter to Abraham and Sarah by miraculously providing their son Isaac in their old age. God fulfilled His promise to them.
Furthermore, Sarah says “Everyone who hears me will laugh with me.” I believe that she was speaking prophetically here. When you hear of her story, doesn’t it make you laugh with joy? But what should cause us even more joy is what was to come through Isaac.
Isaac begot Jacob (heel-grabber), who was also named Israel (struggles with God). Out of Isaac (laughter and joy), came Israel (pain and heartache). Israel (the person and the nation) experienced much pain. They also caused much pain. The Bible is woefully pregnant with story after story of abuse. Why? Why would a good God let all of this happen? We find our hope here:
Galatians 3.16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his offspring. He doesn’t say, “To descendants”, as of many, but as of one, “To your offspring”, which is Christ.
Isaac was Abraham’s offspring, but if you read his life, you’ll see that he was quite a disappointment. Jacob (Israel) was a disappointment too. So were all the descendants of Israel… except for one: Jesus the Messiah. Where all the others brought pain and suffering, Jesus brings us joy and laughter. Where Abraham and Sarah, responded with unbelief and sarcastic laughter, God subverted them and brought them joyous laughter. And now today, where you and I live in sin and rebellion against God, God is once again offering joyous laughter through Jesus. What we meant for evil, God meant for good!
This world has so much laughter to offer, but sadly, so much of that laughter is mocking, scornful and vengeful. I pray that you find real, genuine, joyous laughter but you can only truly find that from one Source. For your sake, I pray that you go to Him.