Like Father, Like Son – And Not in a Good Way!



Genesis 26:1-11
1Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
2And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.
3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
6So Isaac settled in Gerar.
7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance.
8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife.
9So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’ ”
10Abimelech 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.”
11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

It’s hard to even know what to say when the same ridiculous event is repeated for a third time. Abraham claimed his wife as a sister to eliminate the fear of his enemies on two separate occasions, and now Isaac is repeating the action. And the victim of his lie is the same as his father’s – Abimelech. I feel sorry for the guy. He was really between a rock and hard place. Isaac has lied to him and Abimelech has enough respect for Isaac’s God to know that he can’t lay a finger on him for it. Isaac has behaved dishonorably but is on the same kind of faith journey as Abraham had to take.

For me therein lies the lesson for today. We all have to take our own faith journey. It would be great if my children didn’t have to repeat the same mistakes I made. But chances are they do. It would be amazing to impart the faith that the Holy Spirit has created in me into the lives of those I love without them having to experience the pains that I have endured. But I can’t. Each person’s journey is their own. I confess to a little frustration with Isaac. I mean really. He must have learned that trick from dad. Claiming Sarah was his sister rather than his wife was a mistake for Abraham, displaying an alarming lack of trust in God. And it was the same mistake for Isaac. But he had to make it for himself, I guess. As much as I would like to protect my loved ones from their mistakes, that would be to cheat them out of the growth that comes when we fail. God allows me to learn from my failures, so I must afford that same grace to others. So much for being disappointed with Isaac.

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