Have you noticed how many women are barren in the Bible? In the Old Testament, it can seem like every other woman you encounter is suffering in some way with infertility. But, in the New Testament, there is only one, Elizabeth. Why is this? Why is there no teaching in the New Testament letters about present-day infertility? Why are no women healed from barrenness in the Gospels or Acts?
Many women (and men) still suffer from infertility and endure the painful loss of miscarriage. The Bible invites us to see ourselves in how these women suffered and were often mocked and seen as somehow forgotten by God. Yet, God mercifully heals each of them and they all bear sons who provide a type of salvation for God’s people.
Sarah, at age 91, gives birth to Isaac, the child of promise who offers his life as a sacrifice but is spared at the last moment when God provides a ram. As the father of Israel, Isaac’s death would eliminate the possibility of any future Israelites.
Rachel gives birth to Joseph, who is sold by his brothers, to Ishmaelites. God raised him from slave to Egyptian leader by working through him to interpret Pharaoh's dream and save Israel from famine.
Manoah’s wife gives birth to Samson, who fights against the Philistines, a neighboring powerhouse that suppressed the people of Israel. He lost all of his strength when Delilah had his head shaved but God remembered him and gave him strength for one final act of vengeance on the Philistines, dying with them as defeated enemies of Israel.
Ruth gives birth to Obed, who doesn’t work salvation in his life but he is identified as David’s grandfather, a warrior king who saves Israel repeatedly from surrounding enemies, bringing peace to the land.
Hannah gives birth to Samuel, whom she gives back to God to serve as priest and prophet. Samuel gathers the people of Israel and as he confesses sin on their behalf and offers a lamb sacrifice to the Lord, the Philistines gather near to fight them. But God thunders against the Philistines throwing them into a panic and saving the people of Israel, once again.
Elizabeth gives birth to John the Baptist, the final prophet of the old covenant who calls the people of Israel to repent from sins and prepare for the coming Messiah and his salvation. People flock to the wilderness to be baptized by him, including Jesus.
These once barren mothers resemble Mary in having miraculous birth stories. And their sons resemble Jesus in working to save the people of Israel. But Hannah’s prayer in response to the birth of her son, Samuel, leads us to think there is more to consider. Hannah prays,
“The LORD kills and brings to life;
He brings down to Sheol and raises up.”
1 Samuel 2:6
This is resurrection language. God healed Hannah from infertility and she praises Him for raising the dead. Jesus is the one God brings down to Sheol, the place of darkness where the dead go, and He is resurrected on the third day. Not only did God heal these women to show that He is the God of fertility or even to foreshadow Jesus’ miraculous birth, but also to show that God raises the dead. These are early rumblings of God pointing forward to Christ. All of these women had tomb-like fertility, they would try to get pregnant but they could not. Then God healed them and made their wombs resemble life-giving tombs that bring forth new life.
Jesus himself uses the mystery of birth as a metaphor for salvation. It confuses Nicodemus, causing him to ask how he can return to his mother’s womb, but it is the perfect illustration. In Jesus' ministry, we don’t see him healing barrenness, rather we see him raise a little girl from the dead and call Lazarus out of the tomb.
The New Testament is free from fertility healings not because God has ceased to heal barren women, on the contrary, he is making all things new. And no matter what your circumstance, God has not forgotten you. His love extends to all pain because Christ was held in loss and darkness.
Yet there is something greater than fertility healings, something the Bible is trying to tell us with its movement from a lesser thing to a greater thing. And that is: Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was brought down to Sheol, and then rose again. In his sacrificial act of love, he burst forth from the barren-womb-like-tomb so that we also may have new life with him.
“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)
ALETHA WACHTER / GUEST CONTRIBUTOR