08 January

Bible in 365 Days

Genesis 25-26

Genesis 25

The record of the death of Abraham is full of beauty. His life had been spent in the realm of the supernatural, the region of vision, the power of the spiritual. The whole of it is summed up in the words which declared that he died, "an old man, and full." His life was satisfied and rounded out to completion. He had started out to find a land and to found a nation. He died with no possession but a grave, and no sight of his posterity other than his son Isaac and his grandsons Esau and Jacob. Yet he died "full", that is, satisfied.

In this chapter begins the section dealing more especially with the life of Isaac. Two divine appearances are recorded as having been granted to him and in each case they were for ratification. His faith was ever passive rather than active and produced rest rather than initiation.

In the account of the birth of Esau and Jacob, the brothers are placed in strong contrast; the first wild and romantic; the second, as the margin reads, "harmless" or "perfect," a dweller in tents. This is an interesting statement at the beginning of a story in which so much will be seen of Jacob that is mean and contemptible. Here, however, is the truth concerning him.

Degeneration in the character of Isaac is evidently marked in the statement that his love for Esau was caused by his eating Esau's venison. Neither Esau nor Jacob are to be admired. The one, profane, allowing the lower side of his nature to master him, sold his birthright to appease physical hunger; the other took advantage of that hunger to obtain the birthright.

Genesis 26

We have here the account of the first direct divine communication of Jehovah to Isaac. It came in a time of difficulty such as that which had caused his father to go down into Egypt. Warned against repeating that folly, he was thus saved from making his father's mistake. Strangely enough, however, he repeated the folly of his father in Gerar in connection with Abimelech. The story reminds us that there is no richer inheritance into which a man can enter than a godly parentage, but that, after all, every man has to fight his own battles and work out his own salvation.

The quiet patience of Isaac is manifested in the matter of the wells. He first proceeded to dig again the wells of his father Abraham. His servants then dug a new well, for which the Philistine herdsmen contended, and he called it Esek, that is, Contention. Still persevering, they dug another and this was followed by further strife. This well Isaac named Sitnah, which means enmity. Again they dug and no contention followed. All this was the calm persistence of faith.

Returning from Gerar to Beersheba, Jehovah made His second direct communication to Isaac. It would seem as though this communication followed Isaac's return to his own proper place. It was of the nature of the ratification of the covenant, and Isaac at once responded in a way which indicated his fidelity in heart to the principle of faith. He built an altar and pitched a tent. This action was followed by a visit from Abimelech and a covenant between him and Isaac very similar to that made between Abraham and Abimelech.

In the story we see how faith operates in the case of such quieter and less adventurous natures.