Sarai, 'The Dominating One,' was the first Hebrew matriarch (Isaiah 51:2). Born in Ur of the Chaldeans to Terah, father of Abram her half-brother/husband (Genesis 11:29; 20:12), and grandfather of Lot (11:31), she moved with them to settle in Haran until the death of Terah (vv 31-32).
Tip: Abram married Sarai his half-sister, because the Chaldean tribes were organized on partiarchal and matriarchal lines, loyal only to their clans. After Almighty God established the Holy Nation of Israel however, such close relative marriages were prohibited by law (Leviticus 18:9).
In this light, the True Church of God would like you to know that Chaldea is synonymous with Babylon. Why is this factoid crucial? Keep on hitting this site and you will eventually find out!
Now, at Yahweh's command to her husband (Genesis 12:1-3), Sarai, Lot, and the rest of the clan, accompanied Abram on a 400 miles' journey to and across the land of Canaan where at that time, there was a terrible famine (vv 4-9). Deciding to set forth again, this time southward toward Egypt, Abram, in an attempt to save his wife, and spare his life, asked Sarai who was very beautiful, to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister (vv 11-13). But when Yahweh sent a plague upon the household of Pharaoh who had already taken her into his harem, Sarai and Abram departed form Egypt and headed back north to settle in Bethel (vv 14-20).
Think: Abram's wealth increased because of Sarai's beauty which according to the Aramaic test discovered in Qumran, was ledgendary. But was it worth the trauma she experienced in order to spare his life?
While Sarai's status within the clan was undisputed (Genesis 16:2, 6), her prolonged barrenness endangered the legacy of Abram's family (Genesis 11:30). Only why, after God promised to give her and Abram an heir (12:2, 7; 13:16; 15:4), did she still insist on abtaining children by her Egyptian maid (16:1-2), the Bible does not tell us. All we know is that the matriarch took matters into her own hands, and gave Hagar to Abram, only to blame her misery on him, when upon her pregnancy, the slave woman looked upon her with contempt.
Meditate: Had Sarai chosen to do things GOD'S WAY instead of bearing children by a surrogate, HER BABYLONIAN WAY, would there have been an Israeli/Arab conflict today?
After the birth of Ishmael, Hagar's son, Almighty God changed Abram's babylonian name 'The Exalted One', to Abraham 'The Father of Many; (17:5), and Sarai's 'The Dominating One', to Sarah 'Princess or Mistress' (17:15), then, and for the first time confirmed: "Sarah shall bear a son, and his name shall be Isaac" (v 19). Later on, the Lord appeared to Abraham in the flesh at the door of his tent and asked about Sarah, who was listening in the tent behind him. "I will surely return to you in the spring," the Lord told Abraham, "and Sarah your wife shall have a son" (18:9-10). At that, Sarah laughed scoffingly (v 12), only to be humbled by the Lord who berated her for denying that she did indeed laugh (v 15).
When Abraham moved to live in Gerar, he again asked his wife to say that she was his sister. But this time, when Sarah was taken by Abimelech, God came to him in a dream and asked him to restore her to her husband, lest he dies (Genesis 20).
When the Lord visited Sarah at the appointed time, she conceived as He said she would, and bore Isaac (Genesis 21:1-2). But did the matriarch praise Him for giving her a child in her old age? No! She thanked God for making her happy, then took all the credit for giving Abraham a son in his old age (v 7).
Note: Despite Sarah's attitude towards Almgihty God, He did not renege on His promise to give Abraham an heir by her. Not because He wanted to fulfill her wish of continuing her husband's legacy, mind you, but because that was His plan long before the matriarch messed things up.
On the day lsaac was weaned, Abraham prepared a great feast. When Sarah saw Ishmael, Hagar's son, playing with Isaac, her son, she asked Abraham to cast him and his mother out, as she did not want the son of the slave woman to be heir with hers. Again, although Yahweh had already assured Abraham that that would not happen (17:19-20), the arrogant matriarch had to have it her way.
After Abraham took Isaac to sacrifice him as a burnt offering unto the Lord, Sarah dropped out of the scriptures for a span of almost twenty years, until her death at age 127. Why? Assumptions have it that eversince, the matriarch could not find it in her heart to forgive Abraham who jeopardized the life of her son, in order to find favor with Almighty God!
Sarah was burried in the cave of Macphelah at Hebron in the land of Canaan.
Ponder: The words of Jesus Christ: "Any one who wants to be my follower must love me far more than he does his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters - yes, more than his own life - otherwise he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26).