Chapter 26 thoughts
Fleeing the land that God has revealed as your home did not work so well for Abram, so God is kind to Isaac and spells it out; Stay put! But unfortunately he didn’t also spell out that it never worked out so well for Abraham to pretend his wife, Sarah, was his sister. So Isaac felt he was in the clear on that, and went to task. Fortunately Abimelech saw “Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah” and was wise. Of course, this is the same Abimelech that Abraham tried to dupe into believing Sarah was his daughter so I’m guessing was he at least a shade doubtful of Isaac’s story in the first place.
Abimelech is right to be angry, and points out just how selfish Isaac was. I think that’s been the root of so many of my frustrations with Abraham too. Interesting how the failures of the father echo so loudly in the son.
God’s grace continues to land on Isaac and a resentment grew in Abimelech’s people. I wonder if it was at least in part the sort of resentment that comes from witnessing a hypocrite at work. The reconciliation between Isaac and Abimelech reinforces that view: this was not an apology, per se. More a recognition that God’s side is the right side, even when the wrong people seem to be on it. Kind of a ‘the friend of my God is my friend, even if he’s my enemy’ sort of proposition. Credit to Abimelech and company for again displaying the maturity I typically associate with God’s team (again, my deficiencies coloring my view of earned favor) and Isaac for accepting their peace offerings.
Thoughts on Genesis 26?
Tags: abimilech, genesis, genesis 26, isaac
January 5th, 2012 at 3:12 am
Sorry for the huge review, but I’m really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.