God appears to Isaac to affirm His Promise
- Ken Kalis
- Jun 9
- 4 min read
My father was an inspiration and model for me, but Isaac's was more so.
My Dad was 43 years old when I was born; Isaac's was 100.
I had Dad with me for only 29 years; Isaac had Abraham for 75.
I was my fathers last son, but after Isaac Abraham had 6 more!
Isaac needed encouragement to stand alone; read how the LORD gave it to him in today's blog.
God Appears to Isaac to Affirm His Promise
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The last theophany we looked at was the LORD's appearance to Abimelech in Genesis 20 in 1897 BC, shortly after He destroyed Sodom. We find no theophanies in the next few chapters of Genesis. Although God spoke to Abram twice, regarding his sons Ishmael and Isaac, and an angel spoke "out of heaven" to both Hagar and Abraham, there is no record of a visual appearance.
The next theophany we see comes in Genesis 26. 25 years have passed, Abraham* (1996-1821 BC) has died and Isaac* (1896-1716 BC) and Rebekah (unknown) have had two sons Esau* (1836-1689 BC) and Jacob* (1836-1689 BC) now 15 years old in 1821 BC. They were living in Beer-lahai-roi, near the well that God had shown Hagar, but now a famine struck the land. Thiswas about 100 years after the famine that struck Abraham* and sent him and Sarah* (1986-1859 BC) down into Egyypt
An asterisk* after a name means that person is in SPIRITUAL LIVES.
No doubt following in his father's footsteps, Isaac and Rebekah left southern Canaan and headed toward Egypt, the breadbasket of the world. On the way, they stopped in Gerar where Abimelech was king (this was the son or grandson of the Abimelech Abraham knew, it was a title every king of the Philistines used, as the Egyptian king used Pharaoh.
[1] And there was a famine in the land, besides 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 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. – Genesis 26: 1-5
The word" appeared" here is the Hebrew word for "see," so this was a visual encounter. The early church fathers appear to have no information on the nature of this appearance, and Puritan John Gill (1697-1771) presumes it was a dream.
John Calvin* (1509-1564) says this: And the Lord appeared unto him. I do not doubt but a reason is here given why Isaac rather went to the country of Gerar than to Egypt, which perhaps would have been more convenient for him; but Moses teaches that he was withheld by a heavenly oracle, so that a free choice was not left him.
Gill suggests partly to try his faith in him, and dependence on his providence for support in this time of famine, and partly lest he should think of continuing there,
Isaac had led a very special life infused with divine influence. His birth itself was a miracle, born to a father 100 years old and a mother of 90. His father Abraham was "the Friend of God," and the extreme differences in their ages magnified the reverence in which Isaac held him.
All of this was punctuated by the traumatic and frightening time he spent thinking this revered father was going to sacrifice him on the altar on Mt. Moriah. Isaac continued to live under the powerful shadow of his father well into adulthood. It was Abraham who found Isaac a wife, and after this, and Sarah's death, married again and had six sons, while Isaac's wife Rebekah was barren!
The first proactive event in Isaac's life that Scripture records was his prayer for his barren wife to have children, and thus, he began to assert himself as a man of God. This theophany was, I believe, God's way of affirming Isaac and installing him as the leader of God's people and assuring him that he now was the friend of God, the inheritor of God's covenant and His instrument for righteousness and salvation in the earth.
He loved her deeply and passionately, and Abimelech noticed him sporting with her (KJ), kissing her (ESV), making love (GNB) and demanded to know why Isaac told him Rebekah was his sister. He trotted out the line his father had used and probably taught him: He answered, "I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife." Genesis 26:9
Isaac obeyed the LORD's command to stay where he was, and NOT to go down into Egypt as his father and mother had done. God blessed him enormously for this:
And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. - Genesis 26:12-13
Isaac was now 75 years old and had lived those year contemptuously with his father. Now Abraham was dead, and Isaac was standing alone as his heir, but also a distinctly different character. His call came at the same age as his father's, but Abraham's call was to go, whereas Isaac's was to stay.
And they called Rebekah and said to her,
Will you go with this man?
And she said, I will go.
And they called Rebekah and said to her,
Will you go with this man?
And she said, I will go.
Whom having not seen, you love;
Believe and exult.
Whom having not seen, you love;
Believe and exult.
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