Mon 12th Sept 2022 - Daily Reading:
Genesis 26
Like Father, Like Son
As we read through this chapter, it’s as though we’re reading a re-run of aspects of Abraham’s life, but this time played out through his son, Isaac. There are promises of blessing from God, but also the same failings, frailties and sins.
In choosing these aspects of Isaac’s life to write about, the writer is clearly encouraging us to make comparisons between Abraham and Isaac, and to see the similarities between them and in their relationships with the Lord. We notice that, like Abraham, Isaac could be fearful and sinful. We also notice that, as with Abraham, God was faithful to Isaac, blessing him and causing him to prosper, even down to ensuring that he found life giving water in the desert land.
Isaac no doubt benefitted from the blessings that God had poured out on Abraham. He inherited both the promise and the prosperity that had been Abraham’s. Yet he did not simply sit comfortably. Abraham made a treaty with Abimelech; Isaac made another treaty where the Philistines acknowledged his power and wealth. Abraham dug wells; Isaac re-opened Abraham’s wells and dug even more. Isaac may have faced similar tests as Abraham, and sometimes failed, as Abraham did, but in his time he expanded the wealth and power of his people, and put down even more roots in the land God had promised to his descendants.
Isaac often gets forgotten, sandwiched between his famous father, Abraham, and his famous son, Jacob, yet he was also part of God’s blessing and plan for his people. He was not perfect, but he did his part. If Abraham was a pioneer, leaving the land of his people at God’s call and establishing himself in Canaan, Isaac was a hardy settler, building on the foundations that Abraham had established. Isaac walked in Abraham’s footsteps, but he had a different job to do.
The Kingdom of God needs pioneers who will make dramatic moves. It also needs settlers who will commit to a plan and see it through even when the first excitement has faded. Although we may all walk in our Father’s footsteps, follow the same faith as each other, and make similar mistakes, we each have our own important role to play in God’s plans.