Day 6 | Isaac

Read Genesis 26:1-33

As the son of Abraham and Sarah in their old age, Isaac surely witnessed much in his life regarding how God interacted with his parents. Like others in the Old Testament, we can see Isaac as a “type” of Christ in that he exhibited similar attributes. The parallel is seen between Isaac bearing the wood for the sacrificial fire (Genesis 22:6) and Christ carrying His cross. Growing up the way he did, Isaac surely understood the covenants God made with his father, Abraham.

We see in Isaac that, as with most children, kids learn from the examples of their parents. Isaac no doubt heard the accounts from his father about his experiences in Egypt; for example, Abraham portrayed his wife as his sister to Pharaoh’s officials (see Genesis 12:11-13), and Isaac used the same ruse with his wife and Abimelech
(see Genesis 26:7-9). His father also had dealings with Abimelech and Phichol in the region of Gerar. Abraham often chose negotiation over direct conflict, and Isaac in this passage seems to do the same. He kept moving further away from Abimelech in order to find a peaceful place to settle. He finally got to a place where God confirmed to him by saying, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you” (Genesis 26:24).

As Christians, we often expect the world to leave us alone and accept our stance of faith in Christ Jesus. What we find in these passages is that jealousy was the driving force behind the conflict. This is often true today. The world cannot comprehend the “peace” we should exhibit in its chaos. The world loves conflict, fear, and power. We, however, are to pursue these: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (see Galations 5:22-23).

Pray for 10 minutes