The LORD Remembered Sarah and the Withered Tree That Blossomed

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 91:8

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And the LORD remembered Sarah" (Genesis 21:1). This is what Scripture says, "And all the trees of the field shall know" (Ezekiel 17:24) - these are the creatures, as you say, "For man is the tree of the field" (Deuteronomy 20:19). "That I the LORD have brought low the high tree" - this is Abimelech, "for the LORD had firmly closed up." "And have exalted the low tree" - this is Sarah. "I the LORD have spoken and have done it" - not like those who speak and do not act. "I have spoken": "At the appointed time I will return to you" (Genesis 18:14); "and done it": "And the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken." "Can a mortal be more righteous than God?" (Job 4:17) - is it possible for flesh and blood to be more righteous than its Creator? "Can a man be purer than his Maker?" - is it possible to be purer than one's Creator? Just as Elisha said to the Shunammite, "At this appointed time, at this season, you shall embrace a son" (II Kings 4:16), and what is written there, "And she conceived and bore a son at the appointed time of which Elisha had spoken to her" - if the words of flesh and blood are fulfilled, how much more the words of the Holy One, blessed be He: "And the LORD remembered Sarah." "Though the fig tree does not blossom" (Habakkuk 3:17) - this is Abraham, as it is said, "like the first fruit on the fig tree." "And there is no yield on the vines" - this is Sarah, as you say, "your wife like a fruitful vine." "The labor of the olive fails" - were those angels who brought tidings to Sarah liars? "The labor of the olive" means they made her face shine like an olive. "And the fields produce no food" - those breasts produced no milk. "The flock is cut off from the fold" - as you say, "You are My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are man" (Ezekiel 34:31). "And there is no herd in the stalls" - as you say, "Ephraim is a trained heifer." Sarah turned and said: shall I lose my hope in my Maker? Heaven forbid, I will not lose my hope in my Maker, but rather "yet I will rejoice in the LORD" (Habakkuk 3:18). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to her: you did not lose your hope, neither will I lose your hope, but "the LORD remembered Sarah." "The grass withers, the flower fades" (Isaiah 40:8) - the grass of Abimelech withered, the flower of Abimelech faded, "for the LORD had firmly closed up." "But the word of our God stands forever" - "And the LORD remembered Sarah." "God is not a man that He should lie" (Numbers 23:19). Rabbi Shmuel said: this verse - neither does its beginning fit its end nor its end its beginning. "God is not a man that He should lie," "Has He said and will not do?" Rather, when the Holy One, blessed be He, decrees to bring good into the world, "God is not a man that He should lie"; and when He decrees to bring evil into the world, "Has He said and will not do?" When He said to Abraham, "For in Isaac shall your seed be called," "God is not a man that He should lie"; and when He said to him, "Take now your son" (Genesis 22:2), "Has He said and will not do?" When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "I have surely remembered you and what is done to you in Egypt" (Exodus 3:16), "God is not a man that He should lie"; and when He said to him, "Let Me alone that I may destroy them" (Deuteronomy 9:14), "Has He said and will not do?" "He seats the barren woman of the house" (Psalms 113:9) - this is Sarah, "and Sarai was barren" (Genesis 11:30). "A joyful mother of children" - "Sarah nursed children." "And the LORD remembered Sarah as He had said" - what He said to her by speech; "And the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken" - by an angel. Rabbi Yehudah says: "The LORD remembered Sarah" - to give her a son; "And the LORD did to Sarah as He had spoken" - to bless her with milk. Rabbi Nechemiah said to him: had she already been promised milk? Rather, it teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, restored her to the days of her youth. Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yosi bar Chanina: I place the awe of her upon all the nations of the world, that they should not taunt her and cry out to her, barren one. Rabbi Yehudah in the name of Resh Lakish: she had no chief organ of the womb, and the Holy One, blessed be He, fashioned for her a womb. Rabbi Acha said: the Holy One, blessed be He, is a keeper of deposits. Amalek deposited with the Holy One, blessed be He, bundles of thorns, and the Holy One, blessed be He, returned to him bundles of thorns, as it is said, "I have remembered what Amalek did to Israel" (I Samuel 15:2). Sarah deposited with Him commandments and good deeds, and the Holy One, blessed be He, returned to her commandments and good deeds: "And the LORD remembered Sarah." Rabbi Yitzchak said: the Holy One, blessed be He, said: it is written, "If the woman was not defiled and is pure, she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed" (Numbers 5:28); and this one, who entered the house of Pharaoh and the house of Abimelech and came out pure, is it not right that she be remembered? Rabbi Yehudah bar Rabbi Simon said: although Rav Huna said there is an angel appointed over desire, Sarah needed none of these things, rather the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory remembered her, as it is said, "And the LORD remembered Sarah." "And the LORD remembered Sarah" - He and His council. What is written above the matter? "And Abraham prayed" (Genesis 20:17). A parable of a king who had a beloved friend whom he cherished exceedingly, and whatever the friend asked of him he would do. When they knew this, everyone who sought office would come to the friend, and he would ask of the king, and the king would do his desire; yet to that friend himself he had given no office. The members of his court said to him: our lord the king, this friend of yours seeks office for others and for himself he seeks nothing. The king said: it is only right that I give it to him.

Themes

SarahMiraclesProvidence

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