I have reasons to believe it was due to the heavy consumption of meat - of any one or more of cattle or lamb, sheep or goat meat.
Ruminant meat was the staple food of nomads in those days with plant-based foods only as accompaniments – unlike the nomads of modern days that have more options like buying different foods to eat from commercial food sellers during their journeys.
As the cattle and other livestock grazed over large expanses of land, they must also have ingested trace elements of toxins or inorganic substances. Ingestion of worms is not just possible but a given.
In addition, the animals would have got stung by some insects or pests secreting toxins into them– not all toxins can be got rid of by cooking. In fact, cooking may even cause some toxins to be more inflamed and more toxic to the human consumers.
Sarah being the wife of the owner of all the livestock, would have had access to as much meat as she desired and could eat. She wasn’t lazy as there is at least a passage in the bible showing she was given responsibility of cooking.
But remember there were lots of servants and she had at least a personal maid. Apart from cooking or being in charge of such, she likely wouldn’t have had to undertake more rigorous activities.
So am I saying eat of ruminants’ meat especially beef is wrong? Noooo! But consuming meat as a staple food may be health hazardous, more so if the person is not involved in regular rigorous activities or exercises.
Also, there’s possibility of such meat being diseased which can affect the health of the regular consumers. In modern times, to address the issue of livestock meat being diseased, they are treated or vaccinated. Most of these drugs may make the animals look good and produce well in their short lifespans. But unfortunately they contain elements that can negatively affect the health of the human consumers.
Just a few years ago, I had the opportunity to do shopping at an Organic meat shop – they had a farm where they said confidently they reared their livestock and crops through organic means i.e. no chemical growth boosters.
Of course, their animals were reared within their farm spaces where there would be some level of control of what they ingested.
Also they probably gave their animals natural immune boosters like turmeric, organic ginger, black seed extracts instead of industrialised vaccines or drugs. I can attest to the fact that during the period of almost two years I bought meat regularly from the shop, I didn’t detect any negative health issues from eating such.
But they decided to close the shop for reasons I don’t know. I had to shop for beef from the open markets. I often detected some distress signals in my body afterwards.
Many people are not observant of such. Not taking notice of the effects certain foods or drinks or other things used on one’s body may just make the person be constantly giving free passes to toxic elements into one’s blood. This can later result in health issue(s) that are untraceable to the actual causes.
Women, even girls may check thoroughly their menstrual blood to get an idea of what may be going on. A lady detected that during a period of eating lots of livestock meat especially their skin (ponmo) that her menstrual blood that came afterwards was somewhat thicker, slimy and darker red – a woman had better not conceive at such a period even if possible, as her child’s blood would likely receive a share of the toxins from the mother’s blood.
Back to Mama Sarah’s story – when prophecy came as stated in Genesis18: 9 that she would bear a child she didn’t believe. She said she was too old to even have pleasure i.e. sexual intercourse. In that passage it was also said that it had seized to be with her after the manner of women – that implies menopause – no more menstrual flows.
Sarah in her unbelief also said her husband whom she called Lord was also too old – if a man is said to be too old to have sexual intercourse with his wife, doesn’t that imply he was no longer having erections?
Around that time Sarah was almost 90 years and Abraham almost 100. But sometime later – some months or few years, in Genesis 20, we can see how a king found a woman of almost 90years who believed she was old to be very attractive.
The king decided to make her his woman. Kings were not bound by the laws in those days so they trampled on people’s personal rights. Thankfully God intervened before the king touched her.
Even though Sarah was a naturally beautiful woman, would a king have been attracted to a rickety-old woman? So, between the time God gave the prophecy through one of the angels that visited Abraham and the time Sarah was taken by King Abimelech, there must have been a significant change in Sarah’s body and also likely that of Abraham.
Most people believe it was a miracle – no doubt it was a miracle of God. But a whole lot of times God works miracles by getting people to do the right thing(s) so the miraculous bodies He has given them can work miraculously according to His original intent.
You see the human body itself is actually a miracle that human beings thinking they are wiser than God, the Creator, are inadvertently or even wickedly destroying.
So what may have happened for the miracle to happen? Possibly, Abraham and Sarah may have reduced the intake of their livestock meat and/or cut off whatever thing(s) making their bodies weak.
It wasn’t clearly stated whether Sarah resumed menstruation before she conceived. But her reproductive organs would definitely have been resuscitated as her body was strengthened. Abraham also must have started having erections again or how else would he have impregnated his wife thousands of years ago?
God had and still has the powers for instant miracle. So why wasn’t the miracle of Abraham and Sarah instant?– He could have instructed them to have the intercourse immediately - at least as soon as the angels leave? 😀
In Genesis 18:14, it is said, is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son.Genesis 21: 1 and 2 Sarah got pregnant and bore a son.
Why do you think God allowed the timeline between the prophecy and the time she got pregnant? - a major reason – to allow their bodies heal completely and their reproductive organs to be fully resuscitated rather than just doing an instant miracle. If a woman's body becomes weak or diseased after pregnancy/childbirth, her health problem(s) has just been made more evident by the fertility issue.
In order for this aged couple's reproductive organs to be fully resuscitated, their bodies’ health or strength also had to be restored –hence the reason Sarah was able to live for 37 more years and nurture her son to ripe adulthood. She died at 127 years - Genesis 23:1
The story then gets even more interesting - a few years or so after Sarah died, Abraham who was said to be too old for pleasure at almost 100years, remarried and had more children, living till about 175 years or so. How?
During the period that God gave the prophecy and the complete healing and resuscitation of the aged couple’s bodies, there were likely some things they learnt about keeping their bodies strong or healthy.
What could that be?
To be continued...
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