Isaac the Faithful Servant
Sermon: Isaac the Faithful Servant
Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
A CHART OF ISAAC’S LIFE OF FAITH
Isaac before Birth (Genesis 12:2; 13:14,17; 15:7; 17:8,17-19; 18:14)
Isaac at Birth (Genesis 21:1-7)
Isaac at age 8 days old (Gen.21:4)
Isaac at age 2-3 (Genesis 21:8-14)
Isaac as a teenager? (Genesis 22:7-10)
Isaac at age 37 (Genesis 23:1-2)
Isaac at age 40 (Genesis 24:67)
Isaac’s prayer of faith (Genesis 25:21)
Isaac at age 60 (Genesis 25:19-26)
Isaac at age 75 (Genesis 25:5-11)
Isaac’s faith is strengthened in Gerar (Genesis 26:1-6)
Isaac’s faith tested and failed (Genesis 26:7-11)
Isaac is blessed by God (Genesis 26:12-13)
Isaac’s faith strengthened in Beersheba (Genesis 26:23-25)
Isaac blesses Jacob and Esau (Genesis 27:1-41)
Isaac passes on the covenant promises to Jacob (Genesis 28:3-4)
Isaac at age 185 dies (35:28)
LESSONS OF FAITH FROM ISAAC’S LIFE
Lesson #1: By faith pass on the invisible things
Lesson #2: By faith keep the chain going
Lesson #3: By faith find victory and joy in the midst of delayed desires
Sermon: Isaac el Siervo Fiel
Hebreos 11:20 or la fe bendijo Isaac a Jacob y a Esaú respecto a cosas venideras (VP) Por fe, Isaac prometió bendiciones futuras a Jacob y a Esaú
TRAZA LA VIDA DE FE DE ISAAC
Isaac antes de nacer (Génesis 12:2; 13:14,17; 15:7; 17:8,17-19; 18:14)
Isaac en su nacimiento (Génesis 21:1-7)
Isaac a la edad de 8 dias (Génesis 21:4)
Isaac a la edad de 2-3 (Génesis 21:8-14)
Isaac a la edad de jóven (Génesis 22:7-10)
Isaac a la edad de 37 (Génesis 23:1-2)
Isaac a la edad de 40 (Génesis 24:67)
Isaac ora con fe (Génesis 25:21)
Isaac a la edad de 60 (Génesis 25:19-26)
Isaac a la edad de 75 (Génesis 25:5-11)
Isaac es fortalecido en su fe (Génesis 26:1-6)
Isaac es puesto a prueba y fracasa (Génesis 26:7-11)
Isaac es bendecido por Dios (Génesis 26:12-13)
Isaac’s es fortalecido en su fe (Génesis 26:23-25)
Isaac bendice a Jacob y Esaú (Génesis 27:1-41)
Isaac le pasa las promesas del pacto a Jacob (Génesis 28:3-4)
Isaac muere a la edad de 185 (Génesis 35:28)
LECCIONES DE FE EN LA VIDA DE ISAAC
Lección #1: Pásale a otros las cosas invisibles y eternas
Lección #2: Continua la cadena de fe
Lección #3: Por fe halla victoria y gozo en medio de los deseos que dilatan
Sermon: Isaac the Faithful Servant
Heb.11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
Isaac before Birth (12:2; 13:14,17; 15:7; 17:8,17-19; 18:14) Covenant Promises
Isaac at Birth (21:1-7) Miraclous
Isaac at 8 days old (Gen.21:4) Circumcised as part of the Covenant (17:9-14)
Isaac at age 2-3 (21:8-14) His father’s painful decision of faith
Isaac as teen? (22:7-10) his act of faith
Isaac at age 37 (23:1-2) death of his mother
Isaac at age 40 (24:67) marriage to Rebekah……..recipient of his father’s faith (v.7)
Isaac’s prayer of faith (Genesis 25:21) for his wife to conceive
Isaac at age 60 (25:19-26) birth of his sons
Isaac at age 75 (25:5-11) death of his father
Isaac’s faith strengthened in Gerar (26:1-6) by God’s Covenant Promises
Isaac’s faith tested and failed (26:7-11) when he betrays his wife
Isaac is blessed by God (26:12-15,16-22) $$$$$$
Isaac’s faith strengthened in Beersheba (26:23-25) as God speaks to him about his fears
Isaac blesses Jacob and Esau (27:1-41) mistakenly during deception
Entire family acted shamefully.The right outcome was result of His faithfulness, not their
Although 1st son was entitled to birthright, it was not actually his til the blessing was pronounced. Before blessing was given, father could take birthright away from oldest son and give it to more deserving son. But after blessing given, it could no longer be taken away. This is why fathers usually waited until late in life to pronounce the blessing.
When he pronounced the blessing, Isaac meant to give blessing of the firstborn to Esau, but he was deceived. Nevertheless, after the blessing given to Jacob, Isaac knew that it was binding and would not fail. Later blessed Jacob with full knowledge of what he was doing (Genesis 27:33; 28:1–4). The main thing is that by faith Isaac knew his blessing would be perfectly fulfilled in the future.
Isaac passes on the covenant promises to Jacob (28:3-4) by faith
Isaac at age 185 dies (35:28) and buried with his fathers (49:31)
Isaac was an old man when he blessed his sons yet his death came more than 40 yrs later
Lesson #1: Pass On the Invisible Things
Are you a “lake” Christian or a “river” Christian
Just as his father had done with him, Isaac passed on the blessings of God’s promise to his sons by faith. He had absolute certainty that they would come to pass. the promises were the inheritance, which the patriarchs cherished as much as most people cherish material possessions, fame, and power.
Heb.11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. (RVA) Por la fe abandonó Egipto, sin temer la ira del rey, porque se mantuvo como quien ve al Invisible.
Col.1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation
1 Tim.1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen
Lesson #2: Keep the Chain of Faith going (2 Timothy 2:2)
In Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph (Gen.48-49), we have four generations of faith.
Lesson #3: By Faith find victory and joy in the midst of delayed desires (deferred dreams)
(Heb.11:39-40)
APPLICATION: May I give you a blessing
*this blessing depended on faith; for Isaac had nothing which he could have bestowed on his children but the word of God.
*There is no hint in Isaac’s words in Genesis that he was talking about anything more than physical prosperity of Jacob’s descendants and their being honored by surrounding peoples
* Whatever the ups and downs of their lives, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph went out basking in the sunlight of true faith. What makes the dying faith of these three men so significant is that, like Abraham, they died without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promises. They passed them on to their children by faith. They had received the promises by faith and they passed them on by faith. In His covenant with Abraham, God had promised three things—possession of the land of Canaan, the creation of a great nation of his descendants, and the blessing of the world through these descendants. But Abraham never saw any of these things come to pass. He died in faith, saying, “Isaac, you will see the beginnings of these promises.” But Isaac also died in faith, saying the same thing to Jacob; and so Jacob also to Joseph. Hebrews 11:13 applies to all four men: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Yet they were so confident in God’s word that they passed on the promises to their children. They believed what they had never seen, and they passed on what they had never seen to their children. That is the assurance of faith. They had no inheritance to pass on but the promises of God, and these they considered a great treasure to bequeath their children. They had not seen the land possessed, the nation established, or the world blessed, but they saw the promises, and that was enough. These men never doubted that the promises would come true. They did not die in the despair of unfulfilled dreams, but in the perfect peace of unfulfilled promises, confident because they were God’s promises. They knew by faith that God would fulfill the promises because they knew He was a covenant-keeping God and a God of truth. They died saying, “They will come. In God’s time the fulfillments will come.” They died defeating death, knowing that, even though they died, God’s promises could not die. That is a magnificent kind of faith, the kind of faith God honors.
Gen 50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Exod 2:24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
Exod 6:8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"
Exod 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'"
Exod 33:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'
Lev 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Numb 32:11 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--
Deut 1:8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers--to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and to their descendants after them."
Deut 6:10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,
Deut 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.
11:20-22. The patriarchs mentioned here likewise looked to the future in faith. Isaac, trusting God to fulfill His promises to Abraham and his descendants, pronounced blessings on his own two sons Jacob and Esau regarding their future. So did Jacob in regard to Joseph’s sons, which was for him an act of faith in his old age. The readers too were to maintain their worship right to the end of life, persevering in faith in the future that God had foretold. Joseph too, nearing death, expressed confidence that God would in the future deliver the Israelites from Egypt. In similar fashion all believers should, in genuine faith, have confidence in the future of God’s people
11:20 Isaac. See Gen. 27:1–28:5.
11:20–22 Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph all believed until the ends of their lives in the unseen future God had promised
11.20 Isaac fue el hijo prometido a Abraham y Sara en su vejez. Fue por medio de Isaac que Dios cumplió con su promesa de dar a Abraham descendientes que no podrían contarse. Isaac tuvo hijos mellizos: Jacob y Esaú. Dios eligió a Jacob, el menor de ellos, para continuar, por medio de él, el cumplimiento de su promesa hecha a Abraham. Para mayores detalles acerca de Isaac, véase Génesis 22.
The son, grandson, and great-grandson of Abraham span the generations and centuries by faith. In their old age, with death approaching, the patriarchs Jacob and Joseph passed on blessings and instructions concerning the Promised Land.
20. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. In this verse and the next two verses, the author unfolds an interesting description of the patriarchal blessings. Note that in the case of Abraham’s sons, not Ishmael but Isaac received the blessing. Isaac was the son of the promise. In the next generation, not Esau, the first-born, but Jacob received the covenant blessing that God had given to Abraham and his descendants. Next, not Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, but Joseph received the blessings in his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. And last, not Manasseh, Joseph’s first-born, but Ephraim received the choice blessing. God’s electing love is independent of the rules and regulations concerning the right of the first-born (Deut. 21:15–17). The reason that the names of the patriarchs Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph appear in the list of the heroes of faith is that they exhibited their faith in God. Isaac knew that he was the recipient of God’s favor. God appeared to Isaac and repeated the promise he had made to Abraham: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed” (Gen. 26:4). And when Isaac sent Jacob on his way to Paddan Aram, Isaac blessed his son Jacob with a similar blessing. Said he, “May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham” (Gen. 28:3–4). Isaac virtually repeated the words of the ancient promise first given to Abraham. For this reason the author of Hebrews lists Isaac among the men of faith. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in faith (Gen. 27:27–28, 39–40). Jacob, not Esau, however, continued in the line of faith, as the writer notes afterward (Heb. 12:16–17). Even though Isaac was an old man when he blessed his sons, his hour of death came more than forty years later (Gen. 27:2; 35:28–29). He lived to be 180 years old. His son Jacob pronounced the patriarchal blessing on the sons of Joseph when he was ill and expected the end of his life (Gen. 48:1, 21) In Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, we have four generations of faith. These men sometimes failed, but basically they were men of faith. They were not perfect, but they were devoted to God and trusted His Word. Isaac passed the promises and the blessings along to Jacob (Gen. 27), and Jacob shared them with his twelve sons (Gen. 48–49). Jacob was a pilgrim, for even as he was dying he leaned on his pilgrim staff.
20. By faith Isaac. It was also the work of faith to bless as to future things; for when the thing itself does not exist and the word only appears, faith must necessarily bear rule. But first we must notice of what avail is the blessing of which he speaks. For to bless often means to pray for a blessing. But the blessing of Isaac was very different; for it was as it were an introduction into the possession of the land, which God had promised to him and his posterity. And yet he had nothing in that land but the right of burial. Then strange seemed these high titles, “Let people serve thee, and tribes bow down to thee,” (Genesis 27:29;) for what dominion could he have given who himself was hardly a free man? We hence see that this blessing depended on faith; for Isaac had nothing which he could have bestowed on his children but the word of God. It may, however, be doubted whether there was any faith in the blessing given to Esau, as he was a reprobate and rejected by God. The answer is easy, for faith mainly shone forth, when he distinguished between the two twins born to him, so that he gave the first place to the younger; for following the oracle of God, he took away from the firstborn the ordinary right of nature. And on this depended the condition of the whole nation, that Jacob was chosen by God, and that this choice was sanctioned by the blessing of the father
11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. Very briefly Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are presented as heroes of faith. Isaac blessed Jacob (Gen 27:27–29) and Esau (Gen 27:39–40). The whole story of deception by which Jacob stole the special blessing from Esau and had to flee for his life consumes Genesis 27. Their reunion is reported in Genesis 32–33. In Hebrews the term for the future, “the coming things” (μελλόντων, mellontōn) usually is used for spiritual things concerning the salvation which Christ brought (1:14; 9:11; 10:1), if not the future world (2:5; 6:5; 13:14). There is no hint in Isaac’s words in Genesis that he was talking about anything more than physical prosperity of Jacob’s descendants and their being honored by surrounding peoples. The blessing for Esau has only physical prosperity and eventually throwing off his brother’s yoke
Vv. 20—31. Isaac bendijo a Jacob y Esaú respecto a cosas venideras. Las cosas presentes no son las mejores; nadie conoce el amor o el odio teniéndolos o queriéndolos. Jacob vivió por fe y murió por fe y en fe. Aunque la gracia de la fe siempre sirve durante toda nuestra vida, especialmente es así cuando nos toca morir. La fe tiene una gran obra que hacer al final para ayudar al creyente a morir para el Señor, dándole honra a Él con paciencia, esperanza y gozo. —José fue probado por las tentaciones a pecar, por la persecución para mantener su integridad, y fue probado por los honores y el poder en la corte de faraón, pero su fe superó todo eso. —Es gran misericordia estar libres de las leyes y edictos malos, pero cuando no lo estemos, debemos recurrir a todos los medios legales para nuestra seguridad. En esta fe de los padres de Moisés había una mezcla de incredulidad, pero agradó a Dios pasarla por alto. La fe da fuerzas contra el temor pecador y esclavizante a los hombres; pone a Dios ante el alma, muestra la vanidad de la criatura y todo eso que debe dar lugar a la voluntad y al poder de Dios. Los placeres del pecado son y serán cortos; deben terminar en pronto arrepentimiento o en pronta ruina. Los placeres de este mundo son en su mayoría deleites de pecado; siempre lo son cuando no podemos disfrutarlos sin apartarnos de Dios y de su pueblo. Es mejor optar por sufrir, que por pecar; hay más mal en el pecado menor, de lo que puede haber en el mayor sufrimiento. El pueblo de Dios es, y siempre ha sido, un pueblo vituperado. El mismo Cristo se cuenta como vituperado en sus oprobios, y de ese modo los vituperios llegan a ser riqueza más grandes que los tesoros del imperio más rico del mundo. Moisés hizo su elección cuando estaba maduro para juicio y deleite, capaz de saber lo que hacía y por qué lo hacía. Necesario es que las personas sean seriamente religiosas, que desprecien al mundo cuando sean más capaces de deleitarse en él y de disfrutarlo. Los creyentes pueden y deben respetar la recompensa del premio. —Por fe podemos estar totalmente seguros de la providencia de Dios y de su graciosa y poderosa presencia con nosotros. Tal vista de Dios capacitará a los creyentes para soportar hasta el fin, sea lo que fuere que hallen en el camino. No se debe a nuestra propia justicia ni a mejores logros que seamos salvados de la ira de Dios, sino a la sangre de Cristo y a su justicia imputada. La fe verdadera hace que el pecado sea amargo para el alma, aunque reciba el perdón y la expiación. Todos nuestros privilegios espirituales en la tierra debieran estimularnos en nuestro camino al cielo. El Señor hará caer hasta a Babilonia ante la fe de su pueblo, y cuando tiene algo grande que hacer por ellos, suscita una fe grande y fuerte en ellos. —El creyente verdadero desea no sólo estar en pacto con Dios, sino en comunión con el pueblo de Dios, y está dispuesto a echar con ellos su suerte. Rahab se declaró por sus obras como justa. Se manifiesta claramente que ella no fue justificada por sus obras, porque la obra que ella hizo era defectuosa en su manera y no era perfectamente buena, por tanto, no respondía a la perfecta justicia o rectitud de Dios
20. Jacob is put before Esau, as heir of the chief, namely, the spiritual blessing. concerning things to come—Greek, “even concerning things to come”: not only concerning things present. Isaac, by faith, assigned to his sons things future, as if they were present. (β) The patriarchal blessings: the reversal of natural expectations (20, 21). The Faith of the patriarchs in looking towards the fulfilment of the promise was able to set aside the expectations which were based on the rules of human succession, whether, as in the case of Isaac, they accepted the divine will when it was contrary to their own purpose (v. 20), or, as in the case of Jacob, they interpreted it (v. 21). An element beyond human calculation entered into the gradual accomplishment of the promise as into its initial foundation. 20. The blessing of Isaac forms a crisis in the fulfilment of the divine counsel A choice is made between those through whom the promise might equally have been fulfilled. The choice was not, as in the case of Ishmael and Isaac, between the son of the bondwoman and the son of the free, but between twin brothers. And the will of God inverted the purely human order. Both sons were blessed, and the younger had the precedence and became heir of the promise. Compare Mal. 1:2, 1:3 (Rom. 9:13); 12:16. Isaac acknowledged the overruling of his own purpose (Gen. 27:33). Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau and that concerning things to come (Gen. 27.), concerning things to come as well as (καί) in regard to their immediate position. The blessing of Isaac reached beyond the immediate future which could be realised by his sons in their own life-time. His words pointed onward to a distant order . The faith of Isaac was shewn by his acceptance of the destination of his highest blessing, ‘the blessing,’ to the younger son which was against his own will; and by his later blessing of Esau. In itself the supreme value attached to ‘the blessing’ (12:17) with its unseen consequences was a sign of faith. Throughout the later history of the O. T. the fortunes of the children of Israel and of the children of Esau are in constant connexion and conflict.
FAITH THAT DEFEATS DEATH 20-22: By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones. (11:20–22) Matthew Henry said, “Though the grace of faith is of universal use throughout the Christian’s life, yet it is especially so when we come to die. Faith has its great work to do at the very last, to help believers to finish well, to die to the Lord so as to honor Him, by patience, hope and joy so as to leave a witness behind them of the truth of God’s Word and the excellency of His ways.” God is glorified when His people leave this world with their flags flying at full mast. If anyone should die triumphantly it should be believers. When the Holy Spirit triumphs over our flesh, when the world is consciously and gladly left behind for heaven, when there is anticipation and glory in our eyes as we enter into the presence of the Lord, our dying is pleasing to the Lord. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones” (Ps. 116:15). The three patriarchs mentioned in Hebrews 11:20–22 illustrate the power of faith in facing death. These men had not always lived faithfully. They trusted God imperfectly, just as we do. All three men’s names appear frequently and favorably in Scripture, and we are inclined to think of them as models of the life of faith. In some regards they were. Joseph especially stands out. Though he was hated by his brothers and sold into slavery, he trusted and obeyed God amid many temptations and hardships, while completely separated from his family in a pagan foreign land. The emphasis of this passage, however, is on the faith that Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph exhibited at the ends of their lives. Each one faced death in full, confident faith. For that they are in the Hebrews heroes gallery. Many believers find it difficult to anticipate and to face death. Yet a Christian who, for the most part, has walked with God faithfully often finds that the last hours of his life are the sweetest. Whatever the ups and downs of their lives, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph went out basking in the sunlight of true faith. What makes the dying faith of these three men so significant is that, like Abraham, they died without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promises. They passed them on to their children by faith. They had received the promises by faith and they passed them on by faith. In His covenant with Abraham, God had promised three things—possession of the land of Canaan, the creation of a great nation of his descendants, and the blessing of the world through these descendants. But Abraham never saw any of these things come to pass. He died in faith, saying, “Isaac, you will see the beginnings of these promises.” But Isaac also died in faith, saying the same thing to Jacob; and so Jacob also to Joseph. Hebrews 11:13 applies to all four men: “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” Yet they were so confident in God’s word that they passed on the promises to their children. They believed what they had never seen, and they passed on what they had never seen to their children. That is the assurance of faith. They had no inheritance to pass on but the promises of God, and these they considered a great treasure to bequeath their children. They had not seen the land possessed, the nation established, or the world blessed, but they saw the promises, and that was enough. These men never doubted that the promises would come true. They did not die in the despair of unfulfilled dreams, but in the perfect peace of unfulfilled promises, confident because they were God’s promises. They knew by faith that God would fulfill the promises because they knew He was a covenant-keeping God and a God of truth. They died saying, “They will come. In God’s time the fulfillments will come.” They died defeating death, knowing that, even though they died, God’s promises could not die. That is a magnificent kind of faith, the kind of faith God honors. Just as the saints mentioned in verses 4–19, these three men are presented to show that the principles of salvation by faith and of pleasing God by faith did not originate with the New Covenant. Faith has always been the way, never works. Without a single exception, every man of God has been a man of faith. Not Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or Joseph was saved by works. All were saved by faith. Without faith it has always been impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. (11:20) Just as his father had done with him, Isaac passed on the blessings of God’s promise to his sons by faith. He had absolute certainty that they would come to pass. For the time being, the promises were the inheritance, which the patriarchs cherished as much as most people cherish material possessions, fame, and power.
Isaac lived longer than any of the other patriarchs, yet less space in Genesis and Hebrews is devoted to him than to the others. Whereas Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph each have about twelve chapters in Genesis that center on them, Isaac has just over two-chapters 26 and 27 and about half of 25. Isaac was easily the least spectacular and the most ordinary of the four. He was less dynamic and colorful, being generally quiet and passive. And, overall, he probably had the weakest faith. We know more of his failures than of his successes.
Because of a famine, Isaac had moved his family to Gerar. While he was there, God spoke to him in a remarkable and encouraging vision. “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 26:3–4). In other words, the covenant promises to Abraham were passed on to Isaac directly by God. Those promises alone should have kept Isaac from worry and fear, for God could not have fulfilled them if Isaac were not protected. Not only that, but the Lord specifically told him, “I will be with you and bless you.” Yet at the first sign of possible danger, Isaac proved faithless. When the men of Gerar asked about Rebekah, he said she was his sister instead of his wife, for fear that one of those Philistines might kill him in order to have her (26:7). In that, of course, he was merely following in his father’s footsteps, because Abraham had twice lied in the same way about Sarah (Gen. 12:13; 20:2). Rebekah was beautiful and the Philistines were not above doing what Isaac feared. But rather than trusting the Lord for protection, he lied. Not only that, but he seems to have been more concerned for himself than for Rebekah. God disclosed to King Abimelech Rebekah’s true relationship to Isaac, and the king put them both under a protective order. Abimelech, a pagan Philistine, was more concerned about the ethics of the matter than was Isaac, a chosen man of God. He rebuked Isaac sharply, saying, “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” (v. 10). God’s grace prevailed, though it was through an unbeliever, with no help, or even expectation, from Isaac. The Lord continued to bless Isaac, who became wealthy. The envy of the Philistines caused them to keep filling up his wells until he finally moved out of their land, which seems to have been what the Lord wanted all along. At that point Isaac acknowledged God’s hand in the matter. “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land” (v.22). Yet even this statement shows little faith, because Isaac seems to be saying, “It’s about time!” Then he moved to Beersheba, which was part of the Promised Land, and perhaps the Lord now said, “It’s about time.” He had to get Isaac back into the land by the back door and almost by force. Again the Lord spoke to Isaac and repeated the covenant promises, and Isaac “built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there” (26:24–25). By His sovereign work, God brought the prodigal home. That is how grace operates. Isaac often was cowardly and spiritually weak, but he had earlier believed God and was established in the scroll of the faithful. He followed his father’s example in some good things as well as some bad. Like Abraham, he trusted God for a son. Rebekah was barren, just as Sarah had been, and Isaac prayed earnestly for a son. “The Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Gen. 25:21). Isaac was basically materialistic. He lived mostly by sight and by taste. He was partial to Esau, possibly because this son was a hunter and provided his father with many good meals. Even when Isaac was old and about to die, he asked Esau to go out and kill “some game and prepare a savory dish” for him before he pronounced the blessing on this eider son (27:7). He was thinking more of his stomach than of God’s promise. He must have known from Rebekah that God intended for Jacob to receive the inheritance rather than Esau (25:23), and he must have known from both his sons that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob (25:33). Yet he was determined to give the blessing to Esau. This story is of no credit to Isaac, Esau, or Jacob. Isaac insisted on giving the blessing to the son who he knew was not God’s choice. Esau, who had despised and sold his birthright, thought he could just as easily buy it back. And Jacob, at his mother’s instigation, tried to secure the blessing by deception rather than by faith. The entire family acted shamefully. Father and son tried to do the wrong thing in the wrong way, and mother and son tried to accomplish the right thing but in the wrong way. God produced the outcome that Rebekah and Jacob wanted, but not for their reasons or by their methods. He did not honor what they did any more than what Isaac and Esau did. God only honors faith, and none of these had acted in faith. The right outcome was the result of His faithfulness, not theirs. Not until the irreversibility of the blessing was obvious did Isaac begin to evidence faith. If Jonah was the reluctant prophet, Isaac was the reluctant patriarch. Only when he realized that the blessing was going to be on God’s man regardless, did he acquiesce. He finally said yes to God’s way. God had to box him into a corner before he believed; but he did believe. As he faced death, he blessed Jacob with the blessing that neither he nor his father had possessed and that neither Jacob nor his sons would possess. Isaac blessed Jacob in faith, knowing that God would fulfill the promises in His own way and in His own time. In some ways Isaac was a blot on the Old Testament record. But in the end he was God’s man. He submitted and believed and obeyed.
The Faith of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph (11:20–22) The thought of a faith still trusting in the very face of death leads the writer to focus on Abraham’s descendants—Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. They see their own deaths and yet look beyond in unwavering faith (vv. 20–22). The point about all three is that they clearly saw aspects of the future because they exercised faith in what was invisible at the present. Isaac, though not given to dramatic demonstrations of faith, could still foretell the subsequent character of his twin sons’ lives, Jacob and Esau, because he understood, by faith, how each would relate to the program of God (Gen 27:27–29, 30–40). Jacob, in his earlier years, often found it difficult to trust God explicitly. But with Joseph in Egypt, he too saw the true relationship of Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim in God’s purposes. He dared, by faith, to transfer the birthright from Manasseh, the firstborn, to Ephraim, the younger (Gen 48). He did this, worshiping all the while the God who had foreordained this in wisdom. And Joseph, whose life was filled with dramatic examples of the power of faith, did not let his impending death alter his certainty that God would fulfill his promises concerning Israel. He gave instructions that when Israel would leave Egypt (over two centuries later), they should carry his bones with them and bury them in the land of promise. This Moses did (Ex 13:19), and Joseph’s tomb is still visible at Shechem, as Joshua 24:32 records. These men were not dreamers or merely wishful thinkers; they “saw” invisible realities, and adapted their own lives and that of their descendants accordingly.
11:20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Other patriarchs are discussed in 11:20–22. The book of Hebrews notes that it was by faith that Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Isaac was the son whom God had promised to Abraham and Sarah in their old age. Through Isaac, God began to fulfill his promise to give Abraham countless descendants. Isaac had twin sons, Jacob and Esau. God chose the younger son, Jacob, to continue the fulfillment of his promise to Abraham (see Genesis 25–36 for the story of Esau; Jacob’s story continues to the end of Genesis). The ancient story of deception, greed, birthright, and blessing is of no concern here. Verses 20–21 focus on the “blessing” conferred by aged fathers on their sons. Before the father died, he performed a ceremony of blessing in which he officially handed over the birthright to the rightful heir. Although the firstborn son was entitled to the birthright, it was not actually his until the blessing was pronounced. Before the blessing was given, the father could take the birthright away from the oldest son and give it to a more deserving son. But after the blessing was given, the birthright could no longer be taken away. This is why fathers usually waited until late in life to pronounce the blessing. They were looking forward to the future as they conferred blessings on their children. They trusted in God’s future promises and were able to trust their children to the future. Faith in the promises of God allowed Isaac to bless his sons concerning things to come. More important in these verses, however, is the picture of these two fathers, Isaac and then Jacob, giving blessings “out of order.” For example, Isaac blessed his younger son, Jacob, over the older son, Esau.
Isaac’s Faith “By faith,” says the preacher, “Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future” (v. 20). Actually, when he pronounced the blessing, Isaac meant to give the blessing of the firstborn to Esau, but he was deceived (Genesis 27). Nevertheless, after the blessing was given to Jacob, Isaac knew that it was binding and would not fail. In fact, he later blessed Jacob with full knowledge of what he was doing (Genesis 27:33; 28:1–4). The main thing is that by faith Isaac knew his blessing would be perfectly fulfilled in the future.
(11:20) The Authorized Version omits the Greek word for “and” which gives emphasis to the following words. It is, “Isaac pronounced a blessing, and that concerning things to come,” namely, things beyond the lifetime of Jacob and Esau. The blessing was an act of faith.
Translation. By faith, and that concerning things to come, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau
*our life must be all faith, that is, the unseen things must e our life, the unseen God must be our life
*faith does not only mean a know thing that there is a covenant promise for our children and a pleading of it in prayer. When at times the vision tarries and the promise
*12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 4 Abram was 75 when he set out from Haran
15:3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.” *5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
cf 17:1 when Abram was 99 yrs old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless. *2 I will confirm my covenant with you and will greatly increase your numbers”
Gen 17: *19 Then God said, "Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year." …..
Gen 21:3 Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him. 5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” 8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. 9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac." 11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. 12 But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
Gen.22:1-12 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” 3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. 9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Cf 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
Gen.23:1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old (Isaac 37 when she died)
Gen 24:1 Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?” 6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter. 10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. 12 Then he prayed, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” 15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The girl was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever lain with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again. 17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.” 18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink. 19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful. 22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” 24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.” 26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
24:62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Gen 25:5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. 7 Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite….. 11 After Abraham's death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
19 This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. 27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Gen 26:1 Now there was a famine in the land—besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.” 8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.” 10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” 12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.” 17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” 23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. 26 Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” 28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the Lord.” 30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. 32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. 34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Gen 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. 2 Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3 Now then, get your weapons—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” 5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” 11 Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I’m a man with smooth skin. 12 What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” 14 So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17 Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made. 18 He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing.” 20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God gave me success,” he replied. 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” 22 Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied. 25 Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.” 27 So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. 28 May God give you of heaven’s dew
and of earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.” 30 After Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31 He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.” 32 His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud. 39 His father Isaac answered him,
“Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above 40 You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.” 41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44 Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides. 45 When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
Gen 28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2 Go at once to Paddan Aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, the land God gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8 Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9 so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had. 10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
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Gen 31:18 and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you." 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.
Genesis 32:9 Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said to me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,'
Gen 35:12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."
35:27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.
Gen 46:1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
Gen 48:16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm --may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly upon the earth."
Gen 49:31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah.
Gen 50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Exod 2:24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.
Exod 3:6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. 15 God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation. 16 "Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers--the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-- appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
Exod 4:5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you."
Exod 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.
Exod 6:8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"
Exod 32:13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.'"
Exod 33:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'
Lev 26:42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
Numb 32:11 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--
Deut 1:8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers--to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob--and to their descendants after them."
Deut 6:10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,
Deut 9:5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.
Deut 29:13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deut 30:20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deut 34:4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."
Josh 24:3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
1 Kgs 18:36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
2 Kgs 13:23 But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
1 Chron 1:28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
1 Chron 1:34 Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
1 Chron 16:16 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
1 Chron 29:18 O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
2 Chron 30:6 At the king's command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read: "People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria.
Ps 105:9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
Jer 33:26 then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.'"
Amos 7:9 "The high places of Isaac [ref to the No.Kingdom] will be destroyed and the sanctuaries of Israel will be ruined; with my sword I will rise against the house of Jeroboam."16
Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say, "'Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the house of Isaac.'
Matt 1:2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
Matt 8:11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 22:32 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
Mark 12:26 Now about the dead rising--have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?
Luke 3:34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
Luke 13:28 "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
Luke 20:37 But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
Acts 7:8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
Acts 7:32 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
Romans 9:7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 10 Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.
Galatians 4:28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
Hebrews 11:9 By faith [Abraham] made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.
James 2:21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?