A ranch is not worth anything if you lose your values. How would you explain to your children that you gave them money but no character?”
–Cliff Hudgins (Viejo and the Outlaw)
“So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.'”
–Acts 16:31 (NKJV)
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Is Isaac complacent, an easy-going guy, or a meek man in the proper sense of the word? He has shown that he doesn’t care for confrontation, and that is good to an extent. He sees with a different perspective, and has made a treaty with Abimelech. We see also an important feature of Isaac’s life after the Lord met with him. “So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” (Genesis 26:25, NKJV)
Altars are significant, or should be. Abraham was a man that built an altar wherever he stopped to pitch his tent. Job would rise early in the morning to offer a sacrifice for his family, this must have been on an altar (Job 1:5) and he did this regularly. Altars are where decisions are made. To disregard the altar is to have little concern for eternity. “An altar is where you worship God and offer to Him your life. It’s a place of praise and sacrifice.” (Richard Dresselhaus) Can you remember that day of decision at the altar? Dresselhaus continues, “Altars celebrate the glory of God–His presence, His power, His ownership.” We know that Isaac was a man of faith, but now he is meeting with the Lord, a new and different relationship is starting. Throughout our lives we should make it a habit of going to the altar. “Build an altar. Do that at the significant intersections of your life.” (Dresselhaus) Do not take the Lord for granted especially in regard to major decisions and/or your family. By building altars, wherever they may be, you are showing that God is the center of your life.
Shortly after, we see that Esau was forty years old and he took wives from the Hittites. “And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.” (Genesis 26:34, NKJV) What happened? Someone has suggested that the treaty with the Philistines caused Esau to think it was okay to take foreign wives. “Isaac is trusting more on the oath with these unbelievers than trusting in God.” (Whitelaw). But was that truly the case? There has to be more. I remember a time when I gave a student a failing grade on a major paper. I was confronted by this boy’s father. He ranted and raved, and when I gave him my reasons, reasons he could not accept, he took up the issue, not with the proper authority, the principal and superintendent, but went above them to the pastor of the church that sponsored the school. Thankfully, the pastor didn’t give him any satisfaction either. A couple of years later, the boy was in all kinds of trouble, drugs, and mischief. The father had the audacity to come to me saying that it was my fault that his boy was the way he was. I pointed a finger at him, “I had him for nine months of his life, you had him for eighteen years and you try to blame me.”
The same is true here. Had Esau seen a double standard; did he feel neglected by his mother who favored Jacob? We don’t know, but we do see that she was grieved along with Isaac when Esau took foreign wives. No, there was a weak spot in the soul of Esau. Who would sell his birthright for a bowl of pea soup? Who acted upon his emotions rather than thinking calmly and rationally? Perhaps his marrying the Hittites helped Rebekah to formulate the plan of helping Jacob receive the blessing from Isaac. We do not know for sure, but we know that there is coming a large family split. One that will separate Esau from Jacob, and possibly Rebekah from Isaac, that is not explained or shown in Scripture.
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Is Isaac complacent, an easy-going guy, or a meek man in the proper sense of the word? He has shown that he doesn’t care for confrontation, and that is good to an extent. He sees with a different perspective, and has made a treaty with Abimelech. We see also an important feature of Isaac’s life after the Lord met with him. “So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.” (Genesis 26:25, NKJV)
Altars are significant, or should be. Abraham was a man that built an altar wherever he stopped to pitch his tent. Job would rise early in the morning to offer a sacrifice for his family, this must have been on an altar (Job 1:5) and he did this regularly. Altars are where decisions are made. To disregard the altar is to have little concern for eternity. “An altar is where you worship God and offer to Him your life. It’s a place of praise and sacrifice.” (Richard Dresselhaus) Can you remember that day of decision at the altar? Dresselhaus continues, “Altars celebrate the glory of God–His presence, His power, His ownership.” We know that Isaac was a man of faith, but now he is meeting with the Lord, a new and different relationship is starting. Throughout our lives we should make it a habit of going to the altar. “Build an altar. Do that at the significant intersections of your life.” (Dresselhaus) Do not take the Lord for granted especially in regard to major decisions and/or your family. By building altars, wherever they may be, you are showing that God is the center of your life.
Shortly after, we see that Esau was forty years old and he took wives from the Hittites. “And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.” (Genesis 26:34, NKJV) What happened? Someone has suggested that the treaty with the Philistines caused Esau to think it was okay to take foreign wives. “Isaac is trusting more on the oath with these unbelievers than trusting in God.” (Whitelaw). But was that truly the case? There has to be more. I remember a time when I gave a student a failing grade on a major paper. I was confronted by this boy’s father. He ranted and raved, and when I gave him my reasons, reasons he could not accept, he took up the issue, not with the proper authority, the principal and superintendent, but went above them to the pastor of the church that sponsored the school. Thankfully, the pastor didn’t give him any satisfaction either. A couple of years later, the boy was in all kinds of trouble, drugs, and mischief. The father had the audacity to come to me saying that it was my fault that his boy was the way he was. I pointed a finger at him, “I had him for nine months of his life, you had him for eighteen years and you try to blame me.”
The same is true here. Had Esau seen a double standard; did he feel neglected by his mother who favored Jacob? We don’t know, but we do see that she was grieved along with Isaac when Esau took foreign wives. No, there was a weak spot in the soul of Esau. Who would sell his birthright for a bowl of pea soup? Who acted upon his emotions rather than thinking calmly and rationally? Perhaps his marrying the Hittites helped Rebekah to formulate the plan of helping Jacob receive the blessing from Isaac. We do not know for sure, but we know that there is coming a large family split. One that will separate Esau from Jacob, and possibly Rebekah from Isaac, that is not explained or shown in Scripture.