Genesis 18:13-15

"And Jehovah said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, who am old? Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the set time, I will return unto thee when the season cometh round, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh."

One may well sympathize with Sarah, for it is very hard to be questioned and condemned concerning what one was thinking or saying in his own heart, yet that is exactly what happened to her. Her untruthful response was sternly reprimanded in its emphatic denial by Jehovah.

"And Jehovah said ..." At this point, there could have been no doubt of the identity of the speaker. Only God can address the secret thoughts of the heart, and He did so in this question as to why Sarah laughed. Note the explanation of Sarah's falsehood here. She was afraid to tell the truth, but her fears could not hide it from the Lord.

"Is anything too hard for Jehovah? ..." What a magnificent thought this is. As Morris wrote:

"Verse 14 is one of the mountain-peak verses of the Bible. `Is anything too hard for the Lord?' To ask this question is to answer it. `With God all things are possible' (Matthew 19:26). He who created all things surely controls all things. He who enacted the laws of nature can change them if he wills."[17]

This concludes the first half of the chapter, the remainder being devoted to the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and with related events. As to the purpose of this episode, the big thing in it was apparently the strengthening of Sarah's faith and her enlistment as an enthusiastic partner in the achievement of God's purpose. Another very important purpose was that of revealing in advance to Abraham the impending fate of the grossly wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. We shall discuss the reasons why God evidently acted to give that revelation under Genesis 18:17-18.