1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 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 26:1-7).
God appeals to Isaac to be faithful and listen to what God commands. Isaac though appears to be inpatient in this case. He ends up lying about Rebekah and telling Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister. You would think that Abimelech, after being burned in a likewise manner by Abraham, would have been suspicious of Isaac. Alas, like father like son. Isaac made the same lie to same man as his father. The problem here is not just deceit but the inability to allow God to provide. Although God does provide for Isaac and this situation works out in the end, it is hard to imagine that this is exactly what God wanted Isaac to do. But, God, who had already promised delivers in spite of what his people did.
God appeals to Isaac to be faithful and listen to what God commands. Isaac though appears to be inpatient in this case. He ends up lying about Rebekah and telling Abimelech that Rebekah is his sister. You would think that Abimelech, after being burned in a likewise manner by Abraham, would have been suspicious of Isaac. Alas, like father like son. Isaac made the same lie to same man as his father. The problem here is not just deceit but the inability to allow God to provide. Although God does provide for Isaac and this situation works out in the end, it is hard to imagine that this is exactly what God wanted Isaac to do. But, God, who had already promised delivers in spite of what his people did.
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