Isaac
July 14, 2011 (Thursday)
My dear departed friend, Josef Herschkowitz, a Jew who loved Jesus with all his heart, frequently prayed publicly during our church services in Rockport. Every prayer began with an address to God as Heavenly Father and “God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” God himself chose each one of those patriarchs.
We wrote about Abraham as a man of faith; today I am writing about his son, Isaac, the child of promise. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be numerous, but he grew old and had no children. In desperation, his wife Sarah asked him to father a son with her maidservant, Hagar. A child was born of Hagar, and he was named, “Ishmael.”
Against all odds, Sarah later gave birth herself, and she and Abraham named their son, “Isaac.”
When Isaac was 60 years of age, his wife, Rebekah, gave birth to twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Later, when Isaac was old and blind, thinking himself near death, he blessed his sons, giving the birthright to Jacob instead of Esau (the oldest by minutes). He thought he was blessing Esau, but Jacob and Rebekah had made Jacob appear hairy and gave him the smell of a hunter, deceiving Isaac. The New Testament makes clear that Jacob was God’s choice.
Isaac lived to be 180 years of age. Perhaps his obedience to God and his father on Mount Moriah when he was a boy gives us insight into the kind of person he was. He was willing to be sacrificed on an altar, but God provided another sacrifice instead. Both he and Abraham passed the test of obedient faith in God.
It seems that Abraham and Sarah had forgotten that God always keeps his promises, and, although they were around 100 years of age, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, just as God had promised. When the Lord predicted the birth, Sarah laughed, because she thought it impossible at her age. “Isaac” means, “he laughs.” God had promised them a son. Isaac’s birth was part of God’s great plan of redemption for us all. God kept his promise. He always does.