Yesterday we came to the end of Abraham's tumultuous life. Long and full of twists, it was ultimately a life lived by faith, not by sight. Now for Isaac. Will he prove to be a chip off the old block?
Sale of birthright
Genesis 25:27-34
Esau marries two Canaanite women
Genesis 26:34-35
Famine and covenant renewal
Genesis 26:1-5
Isaac lies about Rebekah
Genesis 26:6-10
Isaac's success at Gerar
Genesis 26:11-16
Isaac the well-digger
Genesis 26:17-22
Isaac makes an altar at Beersheba
Genesis 26:23-25
Isaac's truce with Abimelech
Genesis 26:26-33
Jacob obtains Esau's blessing
Genesis 27:1-46
What is it about pretending your wife is your sister? Abraham kept doing it, and now Isaac does as well. Both of them have run ins with Abimelech, who actually seems to be an honourable man. patient with the patriarch's machinations. But this land "flowing in milk and honey" is going through a drought time, and competition over water is scarce, so Isaac has to keep moving. God pops up to reiterate his promise "one day all this will be yours" but for the meantime, Isaac is a wanderer on the face of the earth.
As for his children, sibing rivalry might have been invented to describe them. Esau's marriage causes his parents grief, the children are so competitive with each other it's not true, and in the end it's the trickster who comes out on top. Esau's fatal flaw is that he's lazy, whereas Jacob will work hard on his devious schemes. Mind you, he got it from his Mum, who tricks blind Isaac good and proper, to make sure her favourite son gets the patriarch's blessing.
Loving 27:46! Sounds just like a domestic spat!
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