Like Father Like Son
A famine in the land forced Isaac to head to Gerar. The Lord appeared to him and told him to sojourn in this land and he would receive the blessing promised to Abraham. God would give Isaac all the lands there, and by his descendants all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Why? Because Abraham had obeyed God, Isaac would reap the blessings. So, Isaac lived in Gerar.
Unfortunately, like father like son, Isaac told the citizens that his wife Rebekah was his sister, for the same reasons Abraham had lied about Sarah (Genesis 12:13). They were pretty, and their husbands feared they would be killed for their wives, but Abimelech, king of the Philistines, figured out the truth and became angry with Isaac for lying. After all, what if one of the men had lain with Rebekah? It would have brought guilt upon them, he said. Well, they would have been guilty anyway, but that’s a king’s logic for you. Isaac fessed up to the king and the king warned everyone not to touch Rebekah or Isaac.
Why was Abimelech so accommodating to Isaac? After all, Isaac had lied to him. But instead of punishing him, the king threatened the people saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Do you think he knew about the covenant between Abraham and God? Do you think he could see that Isaac was protected by God? Isaac didn’t exactly rear up to him looking for a fight. Maybe it was Isaac’s peaceful ways that prompted his mercy. Either way, Abimelech backed down, and Isaac was poised to inherit the blessings once promised to Abraham.
Isaac was blessed because his father had obeyed God. What inheritance will we leave our children? Will they be blessed by our behavior? Or just the opposite? It’s something to think about.
Walker Lane 