A Worthy Successor

Genesis 26:1-11

Genesis 26:1–11 LSB

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And Yahweh appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your seed I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. “And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and I will give your seed all these lands; and by your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” So Isaac lived in Gerar. Then the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful in appearance.” Now it happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

The Relevance of Yahweh

Yahweh’s plan

Yahweh created the heavens and the earth

Yahweh had/has a plan for His creation

To worship, to praise, to honor

To love, to share, to work

Yahweh made promises

To Adam, To Cain, To Noah

To Abraham, To Isaac, To Jacob

Yahweh gives Salvation

The Reality of Faith

Involves confrontation with truth

Everyone will encounter Yahweh at some point in their life. Only the fool does not believe in the existence of God. In the time of Isaac it is not whether gods exist, but which god was/is real?

Involves life and death

Faith involves life and death decisions. Often people will base their decisions upon assumptions or presuppositions, instead of evidence. The author of Hebrews expresses the importance of faith being evidential and not assumed or presumed.

Involves the testing of character

A man’s character is revealed when confronted. He is either honorable or dishonorable. There is no middle ground. Isaac when confronted admits, David when confronted admits, the Ethiopian Eunuch when confronted admits, Philippian jailor when confronted admits. All of these admitted to arrogance or ignorance within the respective situations and circumstances. That is the beginning of faith.

The responsibilities of faith

The age old proverb of “you reap what you sow.” Abraham had an issue of lying, he seems to have passed this ability on to his son. However, Abraham also had the willingness to take the responsibility of the decisions he made. Isaac appears to following in the same way.

Responsibilities impact the generations around us, as well as, future generations.

Responsibilities have generational consequences both good and bad

These responsibilities are not limited to mankind, but to God as well. His responsibilities are not to you or I, but to Himself and sees in every dimension. Some of us humans can see in 3d, others are limited to 2d, and I believe that most are simply blinded they can not “see” at all.

Yahweh of the Bible

Yahweh has renewed His covenant with Abraham through Abraham’s son Isaac. This is an eternal, earthly, and physical promise, not an allegorical, meta-physical or spiritual promise. How does one prove in the existence of God, it is not through the testimony of oneself, but through the testimony of the Nation of Israel.