DELAYED CHILDREN OF THE COVENANT

For Christians (Covenant Children) who experience delay in child bearing, it is paradoxical to congratulate them in their childless state. However, it is a faithful and godly to greet them so, knowing that they are unworldly. It also takes faith for these Christian couples to accept such greetings because every word of God is true and should be trusted and accepted in faith. Isaiah 54:1 tells such couples to sing aloud and rejoice.

Isaiah 54:1

54 "Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman," says the Lord.

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Let us take a look at the children of the covenant who had delays in child bearing and what their children later became. Thank God He said there shall not be one barren in His house

Psalms 113:9

9 He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!

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 ABRAHAM

Abraham, the father of faith, also learnt to be unworldly and not to rely on medical report or menopause. The first time he heard that he was going to be a father, he was ninety-nine years; approaching his 100^th year birthday and Sarah was eighty-nine years approaching her 90^th year birthday. Such report of child bearing at that strange was strange to him being full of experience of life and so he laughed.

Genesis 17:15-17

15 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."

 

17 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?"

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But with time, he began to trust God and it was only Sarah that was left to laugh in doubt just as Abraham had done before.

Genesis 18:9-15

9 Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent."

10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 

12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying,"After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

13 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?'

14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."

15 But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!"

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At age hundred, Abraham became a father as Isaac was born unto him. And Isaac carried into fulfillment all the promises that God had said concerning him:

Genesis 17:15-19

15 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."

17 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?"

18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"

19 Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

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Isaac grew and became a great man of wealth and honour. He was also listed among the patriarchs.

 Genesis 26:13-14

13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14 For he had possession of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

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 ISAAC

Isaac, also a covenant child had the same issue his father had. His wife Rebekah was barren. It took a lot of praying from Isaac to get his wife to conceive. And finally, God heard him and gave him two great nations (the first ever twins); Jacob and Esau.

Genesis 25:21-23

21 And Isaac prayed much to the Lord for his wife because she was unable to bear children; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife became pregnant.

22 [Two] children struggled together within her; and she said, If it is so [that the Lord has heard our prayer], why am I like this? And she went to inquire of the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her, [The founders of] two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

AMP

These children turned out to be great nations just has God said. Esau became the founder of Edom called Edomites and Jacob became the founder of Israel called the Israelites.

 Genesis 36:1-2

36 Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

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JACOB AND RACHEL

Rachel, the second wife of Jacob was barren because Jacob loved her and hated Leah.

Genesis 29:31

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

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 After Leah had given birth to seven children; six sons and a daughter, God then remembered Rachel; but not without a blessing attached to the child (Genesis 29:31-35; 30:17-21).

Joseph became a dreamer and his dream came to pass even with the hatred of his brothers that threatened his dream. This led him to be governor in a strange land. The whole world served under him for sustenance. He made his father proud.

MANOAH AND HIS WIFE

Manoah’s wife was barren until God appeared to his wife with a promise of a child who was going to be a Nazarite. He was to save the Israelites from the hands of the Philistines.

Judges 13:3-5

3 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.

4 Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

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So it was according to the word of the Lord and Samson was born. We all know what he did. He tore a lion with his bare hands and killed hundreds of hundreds of the Philistines. He killed more Philistines at his death than his entire life time.

 Judges 16:25-31

25 So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, "Call for Samson, that he may perform for us." So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars.

26 Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, "Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them."

27 Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there — about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.

28 Then Samson called to the Lord, saying, "O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!"

29 And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left.

30 Then Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.

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 ELKANAH AND HANNAH

1 Samuel 1:1-7

1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the mountains of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.

3 This man went up from his city yearly to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there.

4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters.

5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, although the Lord had closed her womb.

 

6 And her rival also provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb.

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We can see according to the scripture above what Hannah suffered in the hands of Peninnah. If we read further we will see how Hannah prayed and how Eli blessed her. She made a vow that if God gave her a son she would return him to the Giver. He shall be a Nazirite; for no razor shall come upon his head.

God heard her and granted her desire. She also fulfilled her vow and the boy Samuel grew up to be the father of the prophetic ministry. He was a great prophet in Israel and none of his word fell to the ground.

1 Samuel 3:19

19 So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

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 ZACHARIAS AND ELIZABETH

Luke 1:5-21

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,

9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.

17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

18 And Zacharias said to the angel,"How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years."

19 And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.

20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time."

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This scripture tells the story of Priest Zacharias who disbelieved the prophecy of God from the mouth of angel Gabriel due to old age. He and his wife were childless but God had a plan for Himself and for them. John was to come in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. And he came through this old couple. He was a prophet well respected in his time. He baptized our Saviour. He had that singular honour.

The only woman recorded in the Bible that was barren for life was Saul’s daughter. This was because she despised her husband David who danced his heart out whole-heartedly before God.

2 Samuel 6:23

23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

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I guess her error was what Jesus told us in Matthew 12:31. She was not forgiven.

Matthew 12:31

31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.

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Wow! So much for the stories of the barren women of the Covenant. God had their wombs purged and prepared for great men to come into this world. If you are a child of God; a child of the Covenant, and you are still expectant of a baby; I say congratulations. Keep praying and rejoice because your laughter will be more than those who had their children easily. Know that you are a chosen vessel that God wants to use to bring forth special children for great assignments that will make you proud. You shall be called mothers of heroes.

Once again, I end this write up with the opening scriptures of this same piece:

Isaiah 54:1

54 "Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married woman," says the Lord.

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