Mightier Than We Genesis 26:1-17
Even though we were first introduced to Isaac back in chapter 21, much of what we learned about him was incidental to the story of Abraham. Even when Isaac was the one God asked Abraham to sacrifice, little was said about Isaac himself. That story focused on the faith and actions of Abraham. Isaac’s role in history, up unto chapter 24, was to be a tool in the hand of God to strengthen and grow the faith of Abraham. Then in chapter 24, we noticed the shift. Abraham was still alive and had years ahead of him but the narrative has shifted. We read the story of Abraham’s servant and his quest to find a wife for Isaac. We marveled at the providence of God and the appointment of Rebekah to be the next woman to play a part in the promise to Eve. That brought us to chapter 25 and the mention of Keturah. Those final years of Abraham were only given two paragraphs mention by Moses. Truly, the story and as we’ll see today, the covenant promises, had been passed on to Isaac. At the end of chapter 25, Moses gave us a preview of what is to come for the children of Isaac. We have been given a glimpse of the struggles that are within that family. Esau was a wild man not interested in the family or leadership and Jacob seems to be consumed by selfish ambition willing to deceive and prey upon weakness. The story then shifts back, here, in chapter 26 to our friend Isaac.
Now, at our church we believe and teach at the Bible is the authoritative, infallible, perfect word of God in all of its parts and words. There are intent and meaning that are inherent to Scripture. Our job is to mine the truth from Scripture and not to read our thoughts back into Scripture. This being true, the order of the narrative is not accidental. There is a reason why Moses shifted to Jacob and Esau for a moment. There is a reason why we had to learn about the two nations that come from Isaac. We needed to learn about how Esau would be so quick to sell his birthright and Jacob would be so conniving. Now we know what the next generation is like that is coming after Isaac. That sets us up for our story today.
We are going to break 1-17 down into three parts. The first part in 1-6 I’ve labeled The Transferable Covenant because mainly we read about God pronouncing the covenant blessings over Isaac. Next, we’ll see Isaac’s Fear in 7-11. The proverb, The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, will be proven here. And finally, will look at Blessing and Envy in verses 12-17. The world doesn’t like when God blesses his children, and we see that in the life of Isaac.