Lesson: Abram Tries to Have Children

Tell students the story of Abram, Sarah, and Hagar. Includes a drama to read with your class and lesson questions.

Needed: (Optional: a copy of the drama for each of your students)

Lesson

We’ve been learning about Abram. Does anyone remember what God told Abram to do? (God told Abram to leave his country and his friends and his family and go to a new country.)

So Abram went to the country of Canaan. Does anyone remember what promise God made to Abram about the country of Canaan? (God promised that he would give the whole country to Abram’s children and grandchildren forever.)

But does Abram have any children in our story so far? (No, he doesn’t.)

And how old do you think Abram is in our story? (He’s eighty-six years old and his wife, Sarai, is very old too.)

Do you think Abram and Sarai can still have kids when they’re that old? (No.)

Let’s read our story. (Summarize Genesis 16-17 with the following drama, asking the included questions as you read.)

Characters: Narrator, Abram, Sarai, Hagar, Angel, Ishmael, God

Narrator: Abram’s wife, Sarai, had not had any children. So she said to Abram,

Sarai: Abram, take my servant, Hagar, and marry her. Maybe she can have children for you.

Teacher: Do you think Abram should marry Hagar? Is Abram allowed to have two wives? (No, he’s not. But let’s see what happened.)

Abram: Well, I do want to have children. So, I will marry Hagar.

Narrator: Hagar became pregnant. When Hagar knew she was going to have a baby, she started treating Sarai badly. She said,

Hagar: I’m a better wife than Sarai because Sarai couldn’t have babies and I can.

Teacher: Do you think Hagar should have been mean and treated Sarai badly just because Sarai couldn’t have babies? (No, she shouldn’t have.)

Narrator: Hagar’s attitude made Sarai very upset. She said to Abram,

Sarai: Hagar is being very mean to me. I don’t want her to be your wife anymore.

Abram: Okay. Then, you can do whatever you want with Hagar.

Teacher: What would you do if you were Sarai? What would you do if someone was being mean to you?

Narrator: Sarai was mean to Hagar back and, after a while, Hagar ran away from Abram and Sarai.

Hagar: I’m leaving.

Narrator: Hagar ran away into the desert. Then an angel came and found Hagar. The angel said,

Angel: Hagar, where are you going?

Hagar: I am running away from Sarai

Angel: Go back to Abram and Sarai and stop being mean to Sarai. You will have a son and you will name him Ishmael.

Narrator: Hagar did have a son, whom she named Ishmael.

Ishmael: Wah!

Narrator: But thirteen years later, God came and talked to Abram.

God: Abram, Sarai is going to have a son for you.

Narrator: Abram fell down he was laughing so hard. He said,

Abram: I can’t have any more children. I’m ninety-nine years old! And Sarai is ninety!

Narrator: But God said,

God: Sarai will have a son. And I am changing her name to Sarah, not Sarai, and your name will now be Abraham, not Abram.

Teacher: Do you think Sarah really will have a son, even though she’s so old?

Remember, God can do anything. But we’ll find out later.

This lesson is included in my book, Father Abraham: Children Sunday School Lessons on Genesis 12-50.

Abram Tries to Have Children (Student Script)