(Hebrews 11:20) By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
We’ve said a little of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah. There is so much in these verses. One cannot possible exhaust the blessings of these passages. I am only writing a few words that come to mind as I hit each personality that Hebrews 11 covers. The next is Isaac.
I think this verse may stir any parent that cares and loves their child and particularly desires that they would be saved and serve God all the days of their life; that they might know God and the power of his resurrection; that they might be filled with all the fullness of God; that their life might count for God. Teaching your children is an act of faith. We try to teach our children all that we know about God. But essentially we’re casting our bread upon the waters. I mean we’re trying to give them the evidence of things not seen and expecting them to just trust it.
God appeared before Abraham and spoke to him. There came a point (or maybe several points) in the life of his son, Isaac, that he was going to have to choose the god of his Father. I wonder if Abraham wondered if Isaac was going to believe the circumstances concerning his birth. I think about that day that I met God; the day he revealed my lost condition and his wondrous love. Are my children going to believe me? Are they going to believe that a small herd of swine ran across my yard minutes after God let me see the devils that plagued me? I hardly believe it!
We’re telling them that Jesus is preparing a place for us in heaven; that he’s going to come back. The dead shall rise and all of us together are going to meet him in the clouds. We believe all this. Praise God! But I’ll admit that to someone who has never heard, or never been saved, or is skeptical, this sounds a bit unbelievable. It sounds just a tad crazy. I’m not afraid to admit that. If it was so easy to believe, then why doesn’t everybody just believe? Isaac had to sit his kids down and tell them:
Jacob and Esau my sons, Let me tell you about that day that Grandpa took me took me up to Mount Moriah. God told him to sacrifice me. I was his only begotten son, but he obeyed. That whole time we were headed up there I kept wondering that we had the fire and the wood, but where was the lamb? I asked Grandpa and he said, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb.” Boy things got real serious. He had that knife in his hand. He looked me in the eyes and trembled. He raised it up to slay me. He paused there for a few seconds and I remember his face. It was as if he heard a voice from heaven and he said “Here am I!” He shook with fear as he stared into my eyes and all of a sudden he just put the knife down, he stopped shaking, and he looked up beyond me and there he was; a ram stuck by his horns in a thicket.
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. How we long for God to bless our children! How many times have we thought of all the wasted years, the sin, and the regrets? We’ve warned them that they don’t have to wait until they’re old to trust God and be blessed of God. Things to come? We want those things to be good things.
I wonder about Isaac. Scofield puts him about 20 years old when he went up to Mount Moriah. He obviously trusted his father Abraham. He didn’t fight him. He trusted his father Abraham that God would indeed provide a lamb. He trusted his father Abraham that he would return with him. But I think that after that experience, Isaac’s trust turned from his father to the Lord God of Abraham. While our children are little, they trust us. They trust the stories we tell them about God and trust that we are not leading them astray. But praise the Lord for that wonderful day that their trust turns to the living God. I pray that God give our children their own experiences that will seal their faith in him. (Psalm 145:4) One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. (Joel 1:3) Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
Leave a Reply