Wisdom Wednesday: The Wisdom of the Early Believers
Part 3: The Wisdom of Isaac
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.” (Gen. 35:28–29) NASB 95
We have proceeded from Job and Abraham examining the wisdom theme throughout their lives, and now we look at Abraham’s son of promise – Isaac. We look to see evidence in Scripture of the individual’s fear of the Lord (the first principle of wisdom) and both the wisdom and foolishness recorded about his life.
Isaac is difficult to study because, while we learn about events in his life, we do not have much direct information about his faith and actions; we must infer. Consider first these major events in Isaac’s life that show him as a submissive, peaceable, even passive man.
- Enduring Family Strife – Isaac was very aware of the household tension and pain over his older half-brother Ishmael, son of Hagar the Egyptian (Gen.16)
- Obedient Son – Generations acknowledged the Akedah(the Binding of Isaac) in Genesis 22, where Isaac allowed himself to be bound in preparation for sacrifice by his father, Abraham. As a grown man of 40, Isaac was obedient to his father in accepting the woman, Rebekah, who was chosen for him to marry. (Gen 24)
- Sensitive Man – It seems that Isaac was a tender-hearted man, as evidenced by his love for his mother, Sarah, his marriage to Rebekah, and the role Rebekah played in comforting him when his mother died. (Gen. 24:62-67; 25:20)
- Peaceful Man – Isaac avoided conflict and yielded to the Philistine pressure as they took his wells, and he moved his camp multiple times and dug new wells rather than defend his ownership of the wells. (Gen. 26:12-33). He always trusted the Lord would provide. He said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” ( 26:22) and the Lord spoke to him giving him assurance, … “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” (Gen. 26:24)
- Deceived, Disheartened Old Man- Isaac was deceived a plot by his own wife Rebekah and his younger son, Jacob, to steal the birthright blessing from his older Son, Esau. ( 27) Upon realizing the deceit and knowing he could not revoke it (Num. 23:20) Isaac “trembled violently” (27:33) realizing his family catastrophe.
In all of these things, we conclude he feared God and was obedient to Him. But Isaac, like his father Abraham, had one recorded foolish lapse of faith: when he traveled to Gerar because of a famine, he played a deception on the Philistine King, Abimelech, to protect himself, and was rebuked by the Pharaoh. (Gen. 26:1-17 and compare this to the same thing his father did in Egypt as recorded in Gen. 12: 10-18)
Isaac, like his father, realized that he and his family were strangers and sojourners in the land, yet were seeking a permanent, eternal dwelling place with God. Isaac demonstrated his Fear of God and wisdom as a sensitive, peaceful, and obedient servant of the Lord.