ISAAC


A. "AND GOD SAID, SARAH THY WIFE SHALL BEAR THEE A SON INDEED; AND THOU SHALT CALL HIS NAME ISAAC; AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH HIM FOR AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, AND WITH HIS SEED AFTER HIM" - GENESIS 17:19
  1. Isaac - the laughing one:
    1. The son of Abraham and Sarah, who was born at Gerar when Abraham was about one hundred years old; and Sarah was about ninety years old - Gen. 17:19-21; 21:3-12; 22:2-9
    2. He was the heir to the covenant God made with Abraham as we have seen in our opening text
  2. Isaac is one of the few cases in which God selected a name for a child:
    1. He did that in the case of Hagar's son - Gen. 16:11
    2. Solomon, too was named by the Lord - 2 Sam. 12:24
    3. Josiah - I Kings 13:2
    4. Cyrus - Is. 44:28
    5. Isaiah
B. ISAAC, THE MAN WHOSE BIRTH CAUSED A LAUGH
  1. His birth was totally providential:
    1. Sarah was beyond the years of childbirth and she laughed when the angel of the Lord announced the birth of a child - Gen. 18:11-13
    2. His birth was, in a way, supernatural, or beyond the natural capability of childbirth
  2. In this respect, the birth of Isaac was similar:
    1. To the birth of John the Baptist - Luke 1:1-18
    2. To the birth of the Son of man - Matt. 1:19-23
  3. We have no record of Isaac's life, save it be:
    1. That he was circumcised when he was eight days old - Gen. 21:4
    2. At the age of about 25 years, Abraham took him to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him there - Gen. 22:1-12
    3. At the age of about thirty-six, he was married to Rebekah - Gen. 24:1-63
  4. Isaac, too, had a similar weakness that his father had:
    1. Rebekah was very fair to look upon, and when Abimelech saw her, thinking that she was Isaac's sister, he was about to take her; but he saw Isaac sport with Rebekah, and he reprimanded Isaac for not telling the truth - Gen. 26:6-12
    2. Also, Isaac liked venison, and since Esau was a hunter, Isaac seemed to be partial to him
  5. Isaac and Rebekah were blessed with two sons:
    1. They were twins
    2. The one born first was named Esau
    3. The one born next was named Jacob - Gen. 25:21-34
C. A WONDERFUL LESSON IS OFFERED TO US IN THE LIFE OF ISAAC, THE SON OF PROMISE
  1. Not these wonderful attributes:
    1. His childlike submission to the will of his father, even though he was about twenty-five years old - Gen. 22:6-12
    2. He was a man of much meditation and prayer - Gen. 24:63
    3. Simple trust in God - Gen. 22:7-8
    4. Deep devotion - Gen. 24:67
    5. Given to much prayer - Gen. 26:25
    6. Faith in God's care - Heb. 11:16-17
  2. It is to be noted:
    1. The bible speaks of "the fear of Isaac" - Gen. 31:42-53
    2. That simply means that Isaac loved and reverenced the God of his father Abraham
    3. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" - Ps. 111:10
  3. What a wealth of spiritual information can be found in the study of the lives of the God-fearing men and women of the Bible:
    1. One cannot help but love Isaac
    2. He seems to have been a quiet, sort of retiring person - attempting to stay out of trouble with his fellow men
    3. But he was human, and there were moments in his life when humanity seemed to have the better of him as in the case of saying that Rebekah was his sister - or in being partial to Esau


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