Title Isaac's Faith (Genesis 23:1)
Description Isaac was the oldest among the four patriarchs. Abraham lived to be 175 years old (Genesis 25:7), Jacob lived 147 years (47:28), Joseph lived 110 years (50:26), but Isaac lived 180 years old (35:28). He was the oldest man, but surprisingly, it is strange that the Bible record about him is the shortest.
It is the record of Abraham in twelve of the 50 chapters of Genesis, and the record of Jacob and Joseph is almost similar. However, although Isaac's records appear little by little over several chapters, there is only one Genesis 26 chapter that comes out entirely of his records. It is thought that this was probably because his life was the most simple yet ordinary among the life of the patriarchs.
In fact, Isaac's life was normal. Just as it is said that the truth is in the ordinary, we can find many religious lessons in our lives.
Now, as revealed in the Bible, let's look at what his faith and personality were like in each era he lived.
1. His Beliefs in Adolescence
Little Isaac was obedient until he came up to the altar as a sacrifice. It is clear from the following scriptures that he not only obeyed his father in the flesh, but was obedient to the end with faith in God.
In Genesis 22:7, when he said, "My father...there are fire and wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" His father's answer was, "Son, God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering. " (22:8) When he heard that, he spoke no more. At last, he bound Isaac and laid it on the wood of the altar, and he reached out his hand and took the sword to seize his son" (22:9,10), but Isaac had no rebellion. This clearly shows how great Isaac's faith was. He could have rebelled against his father, saying, "God himself will provide the lamb, but where is the lamb that he wants to offer me as a burnt offering?" It is clear that he firmly believed in
I really think it was a great faith.
2. His faith in his youth.
There is a saying in Genesis 24:63, "Isaac went out to the field at evening to meditate, and when he looked up, he saw camels coming." This is a record of the scene when the servant, whom his father Abraham had sent to find a mate for his son Isaac, returned. Isaac's age at that time was 40 (Genesis 25:20). If he was 40, he would have been able to choose a mate at will. In fact, at the age of 40, there is a case where two Canaanite women were taken. (Gen. 26:34). But Isaac was not. When choosing a mate, he not only entrusted it to his father, but also prayed earnestly before God for that matter. In the text above, we can see abundantly.
Those words, "Isaac went out to the field at evening to meditate" well describes how quietly he was a man who was quietly prepared for obedience and prayer in everything. He has done nothing great for the glory of God. Also, he did not suffer much for God. But he was also a great patriarch of faith.
He was obedient in silence in his ordinary daily life and prayed in silence to accomplish God's will. What a beautiful example of faith.
3. His Faith in Old Age
Genesis 25:21 says, "Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife because she was barren..." Indeed, I think it is a scripture that allows us to learn the faith of the great patriarch. Isaac was a man who prayed to God for his wife because she was barren. If you think about it at first glance, isn't that a normal thing? It is easy to think, but if you read the entire chapter of Genesis 25 silently, you can get a glimpse of what his heart and faith were at that time.
In Genesis 25:20 and 25:26, the ages of Isaac when he married Rebekah and when his wife Rebekah gave birth to a son are recorded respectively. That is, Isaac married at the age of 40 and had a son at the age of 60. Looking back, Isaac had no son for 20 years after marriage. Remember, he was the only son of Abraham. It was he who had been promised that his seed would multiply "as the stars in the sky and as the dust of the earth."
Nevertheless, he had not had a son for 20 years. By the time he was 60, he had no sons.
It really can be a big test.
Not only that. According to 25:1-4, Geturah, Abraham's second wife, had already had six brothers, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren were prospering. And not only that.
In 25:12, it is said that Ishmael, the son of Abraham's concubine, had already had 12 brothers and made 12 princes (25:16). Nevertheless, Isaac, the son of promise, had no son until he reached the age of 60. What a tedious test it must have been.
The Bible says, "Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren" (25:16). It is clear that the prayer was truly a long period of prayer for nearly 20 years. Why had God not given him a son for such a long time? Maybe it was because he had to train in faith to wait for a long time and pray in order to receive the promise. Yes! In Hebrews 10:36, there is a saying, ?쏽ou need me, that you may receive the promise after you have done the will of God.??Isaac had to wait and pray for 20 years to receive the promise. Abraham had a sad history of not being able to endure 10 years to get a concubine (Gen. 16:3). However, Isaac did not make that mistake again. After 20 years of patience and prayer, he was finally blessed. As Hebrews 6:14-15 says, "I will surely bless you and bless you, and I will multiply you and multiply you. And he endured so long and received the promise." He received the promised blessing.
There are other good examples of the faith he left behind. It's everywhere he goes. It was digging a well. Everywhere Abraham went. It is famous for building an altar, but Isaac is famous for digging a well.
In Genesis 26, he has the history of digging a well seven times (verses 15, 18, 19, 22, 25, 32). Why did he have to dig a well like that? It was because the enemies were jealous and wanted to fight whenever a well was dug and water was obtained. He didn't want to argue with anyone. If anyone wanted to fight, he gave the water away, and he moved it back and dug a new well. Having handed him over to do this seven times, he moved again and dug a new well, and he did it seven times. It wasn't that he didn't have the strength to fight.
Isaac's army was better than King Abimelech. The greater [strong] was, the Bible said (26:16). But instead of fighting, he moved back and dug a well.
He was truly the person who even took off his outer garments to those who asked for his underwear.
God blessed him for that. He blessed me wherever I went, so that I could get new spring water. Finally, even Abimelech realized that it was in vain to envy him. He, who had been tormenting him, finally came to his knees with his army minister.
In Genesis 26:28 we read, "They said, "We have clearly seen that the Lord is with you, so we will make an oath between us, between us and you, to make a covenant with you... sleep" he said. They finally realized that they could not stand against Isaac, whom God was with.
Finally, I got down on my knees and came to seek peace. But Isaac did not rebuke them in the slightest for what they had done in the past. On the contrary, Ban Ki held a [banquet] for them.
Genesis 26:30 says, "Isaac made a banquet for them, and they ate and drank and got up early in the morning, and after making an oath to each other, Isaac sent them away, and they went in peace." Truly, Isaac was a man who did not repay evil for evil, but returned evil for good (refer to Romans 12:17-18).
Finally, consider for whom the fact that Isaac dug a well was for.
It was entirely for himself, his family, his servants, his cattle and his flock.
It was never for God. But even though he did it for himself, he was glorifying God through it.
Even if we do what we do for ourselves and our family, if we do it all with the faith that thinks of God, it is God's work.
Through that work, God is glorified. Isaac was truly such a person.