WHAT ABOUT ISAAC?

“The covenant I made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” These are phrases with which we are very familiar. These are the patriarchs of our faith. We know all about Abraham. And perhaps we know even more about Jacob. But what do we know of Isaac?

He was the son of the promise, not Ishmael; the son of Sarah’s miraculous pregnancy.

He was almost sacrificed in God’s test of his father, Abraham.

Abraham’s servant found him a wife, Rebekah, through a number of providences of God.

He lied that Rebekah was his sister just as Abraham lied about Sarah.

He had a number of conflicts with the men of Gerar over wells his men dug.

He made a covenant with Abimelech.

He loved Esau more than Jacob but was deceived and ended up blessing Jacob.

And that’s about it. Not really very much, is it? Why? Why so little? Surely there had to be many more things that could be told about him. He almost comes off as a brief sidebar between his father Abraham and his son Jacob. Very little is said about Isaac that tells us about his faith. So I as again, “Why is this?”

I think I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. As I read through my Bible this year I’m struck with the same thought over and over again. The story of the Bible is about God, not men. God makes his covenant with Isaac for his own sake and for the sake of Abraham. God is faithful to Isaac because of his own name. God blesses Isaac for his own glory. God has a much bigger plan than Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. Little is said about Isaac and I think we are to realize that God is drawing our attention back to himself.

It feels as if the Lord is reminding me repeatedly, “It’s not about you. It’s about me!” Perhaps this is a lesson we all need to learn well!