Jan 10 2009 Gen 25-26, Ps 6, Luke 10

Scripture
And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. Genesis 26:7

Observation
The similarities between what I’ve seen Abraham do in the past, and what I see Isaac doing here are amazing.

So Isaac, like Abraham, received God’s great promise of blessing and protection. Another famine hits the Promised Land and Isaac decides to go south toward Egypt. He probably would have made it that is until God stopped him. So he stays in Gerar and just like his Dad fearing for his life, he deceives Abimelech and lies about his relationship with his wife.

Application
“Like father, like son" is a saying that we are all familiar with and it certainly applies to this situation. Isaac had the same unjustified fear and deceptive reaction as Abraham did decades earlier.

This similarity should not surprise us or cause us to doubt the truth of this Bible passage. If we know anything about life it is that children are likely to make the same mistakes as their parents.
What bothers me the most about this story, and Abrahams for that matter, is immediately after Isaac’s sin was discovered and rebuked the Bible reports that he was supernaturally blessed.

Why can this be? It is confusing and disturbing. Why? Because deep down I want to believe that God blesses those who deserve it and those who sin don’t deserve it. This and many other passages of Scripture show me that this belief is often wrong. God doesn’t bless me because I deserve it but because of his love, mercy, and grace.

Under the law I would be treated as my sins deserve but under grace He does not treat me as our sins deserve.

Prayer
Lord, You are truly amazing. Continue to teach me more and more of Your mercy and grace. Thank you for Your rich blessing in my life and help me never to forget the reason you bless so much is not because of me, but because of You.