Isaac: His Life and Legacy          Genesis 26:6-11

What character traits have you inherited from your parents? I know I physically look a lot like my dad. Fiona looks very much like her mother. We have often thought of getting them both to stand beside each other and get a photo to know what we would look like as a couple in 30 years’ time. There are physical characteristics, but there are personality and character traits that are also passed down. I am held accountable, especially by my wife, to assess whether I am displaying a family trait of my dad – for better or for worse. This has always been the case. Family traits can be good or bad.

Background: Isaac was the promised son of Abraham. Abraham waited 25 years, had Isaac at 100, Sarah was 90 years old. She laughed when told she was going to have a child – Isaac means laughter.

A few years passed. God tested Abraham – God said to offer his son as a burnt offering – God able to restore life or prevent life being lost.

Isaac had a good example of faith with the ultimate test to compromise. He was the one who was bound on the mountain, and about to be sacrificed by his dad. He saw that his dad would put obedience to God’s voice before his love for his son. This obviously points to the heart of the Father offering up His only Son Jesus for us.

But Isaac was also faithful. Abraham was old and Isaac wasn’t a boy, perhaps a teenager or even a young man; he could have said, “Woah, wait Dad. No way!” but he submitted to the Father’s will. Isaac saw victory and provision that day. A ram was miraculously caught and offered up. Isaac witnessed what true faith looks like.

Sometimes we can overrule, and even better, what our parents have shown to us. Abraham, remember, couldn’t have children, took a concubine Hagar – Ishmael was born; gave rise to moral strife (Arab nations) with the line of Isaac through whom would arise Israel and ultimately the Lord Jesus. Even after Sarah had died, Abraham took another wife and other tribes came from that union, including the Midianites who would be enemies of Israel. Our prayer is that the next generation is better than the current one in following Christ. But Isaac only had one wife, Rebekah (no concubines) in a day when it was culturally accepted, even encouraged for wealthy men.

Isaac didn’t leave to find a wife, but stayed and waited for one to be given. He trusted God and he was blessed with Rebekah. He resisted the temptation to marry someone from the surrounding nations – but someone from their people. Trusting in God is tough.

A lesson for all of us, especially when God is telling us to do something that may not seem right to start with, but ends up being a huge blessing. Obedience always brings blessing.

Isaac got a wife – Rebekah, but like Sarah, her mother-in-law, she couldn’t have children. Rather than take another wife, like his father Abraham did, look at what it says, “And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.” (Genesis 25:21)

But some examples from our parents are not good. What about this part of the story of Isaac, like his father Abraham, travelling to Gerar to escape the famine? Here we see he followed his earthly dad’s example: he told Abimelech, this Philistine king, that his wife was his sister. Where did he first learn such a thing? We know it was from his father Abraham, who was known to say his wife was in fact his sister; in his case, it was a half-truth because Sarah was his half-sister, but for Isaac, Rebekah wasn’t even a half-sister; it was a blatant lie. This lie was said to the same person, Abimelech, that his father had told the lie to. Abimelech should have suspected this lying about the identity of the wife ran in the family.

God had promised through Isaac that there would be a blessing of inheritance, but like his dad, Isaac put the promises of God in jeopardy.

Isaac “laughed.” Isaac was a man who laughed with his wife, even though there was moral compromise by saying, “she’s my sister.” He, in some way, thought that eastern culture would see she was protected. Compromise affects the next generation. Our kids see our faith and how we practise it; when we compromise with our lifestyle, when our faith takes a back seat and we compromise. Give egs . Dad’s we can do this – even for a noble purpose – Eg climbing the corporate ladder, but avoiding church. Kids see compromise; they see your earthly focus; they make very quick assessments. Dads have a huge influence on their kids. We even see this with Isaac: Rebekah eventually had children – twins Jacob and Esau…but……

Unfortunately, Isaac had a favourite son, Esau. This was a problem within the family and also with his faith. Isaac was told the older Esau, would serve the younger Jacob. Isaac was deceived by his wife, Rebekah, and son, Jacob. When the time of blessing came, Jacob disguised himself as Esau. Isaac was blind at this point. Isaac disobeyed God through his favouritism and the Lord rebuked him for it. Lesson: God wants us to act like Him; when we don’t, God’s love overrules our will. “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

God still blessed Isaac’s words to Jacob, even though he thought it was Esau. Isaac was in rebellion here. He disobeyed God and God overruled. Important lesson here: don’t think you will win when you fight against God. But, even here, we know that at the heart of this act, Isaac had faith even though deceit was involved from Jacob’s part. Hebrews tells us, “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.” (Hebrews 11:20) Jacob was indeed blessed and Isaac saw the fulfilment of his prayers.

Faith was the gift that God blessed Isaac with and the same happens for us. We may have inherited some looks or some personality traits from our parents. Those things can either be a good thing or not.

But character traits that reflect and show the Heavenly Father is where the Lord wants us. God wants us to be like Jesus. To do that, we need to spend time with Him and each other.

Where’s Isaac now? He’s still laughing. Jesus acknowledged Isaac still lives. (Matthew 22:31, 32) Jesus said “And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living." Isaac is very much still alive.

Jesus is calling you to Himself today, through faith, so you can have life.