THE GOD OF ISAAC
Genesis 25 – 26
“Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you.”
I can’t say that God commonly instructs us as directly and specifically as he did with Isaac but then Isaac did not have the benefit of Scripture as we do; all he knew of God were the stories told to him by his parents. What really touched my heart was that God set about to help Isaac know him; which tells me that this is fundamental in any relationship, let alone a relationship with the God of the universe.
Isaac did as instructed; he remained in Gerar. And he did what his father did: claimed his wife to be his sister. I can’t help but think that Isaac wanted to experience what his father experienced; the miracle of God’s protection and care but things turned out differently from his father’s experience. He stayed much longer and became immensely wealthy and powerful as the Lord blessed his ventures in farming and sheep rearing. And though there was potential for problems because he was not local, the Philistines recognised the hand of God upon him and reached out to make peace.
At the end of the period, Isaac himself “built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord.” God had become not just the God of Abraham, but also the God of Isaac.
The question before us is whether we, with all the advantages of Scripture, of the Holy Spirit, and of the example of countless Christians before us, whether we know God in this personal way. We have way more knowledge of God than Isaac ever did; but do we know Him and recognise his hand upon our lives and trust he blesses and continues to bless us?
“Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”