Introduction: Isaac does not have as much coverage in the Bible as his father, Abraham, or his sons, Esau and Jacob. He still lived for the True and the Living God, serving Him much as Abraham had done and Jacob would do later on. Isaac outlived both father and son, finally dying at the age of 180. He did make his share of mistakes and committed his share of sins, but he was faithful to the LORD all his life.
1 Isaac’s early years
Text, Genesis 22:7. KJV: 7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he (Isaac) said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
These are the first recorded words of Isaac, spoken while he and Abraham, his father, were on the way to a sacrifice—and he was the sacrifice! No wonder he asked Abraham where the lamb was for the burnt offering! But to his credit, he never resisted Abraham, even submitting himself to being bound and placed on the altar.
Although his age was not recorded, when this took place, he was probably old enough to resist, even to overpowering his father and running away if need be, To Isaac’s credit, though, he yielded to his father’s will and was willing to go through with this sacrifice. What a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who could have called “twelve legions of angels (thousands!)” according to Matthew 26:53 for protection. But He didn’t do so.
Imagine the relief when Abraham heard God say, “Don’t do it! Stop! You proved you wouldn’t withhold you son from Me.” Abraham found a ram for a sacrifice, offered it, then he and Isaac returned to their home near Beersheba (Gen. 22:19).
The next several years of Isaac’s life are hardly mentioned. After his mother, Sarah, died at 127 years of age (Gen. 23:1), Isaac seems to have stayed around the camp until a few years later when Abraham decided it was time for Isaac to have a wife. Genesis 24 tells the story how Abraham commissioned one of his servants to go back to Abraham’s home country and find a bride for Isaac. The servant did so, found Rebekah, and found her willing to go back with him and marry a man she had never seen.
And they were married, Isaac being 40 years old but Rebekah’s age is not given. They lived together as husband and wife, no hint of unhappiness (in fact, just the opposite took place: Isaac and Rebekah committed the same exact sin as Abraham and Sarah! Isaac claimed Rebekah was his sister but they engaged in some conduct that wasn’t exactly brotherly/sisterly! Abimelech, most likely a descendant of the Abimelech who knew Abraham, saw this and asked why Isaac had lied about Rebekah! As before, God intervened, and Abimelech promised nothing would happen either to Isaac or Rebekah (Genesis 26:6-11). How much this affected the relationship between Isaac and Rebekah is nowhere revealed. Sarah seemed to have forgiven Abraham—twice!—for doing this so perhaps Rebekah did too.
Even so, something was missing from Isaac and Rebekah’s life.
Children.
Isaac had received a promise from God in Genesis 26:2-5 which was very similar to the promise God had given Abraham in Genesis 15. There is some confusion as to whether this promise to Isaac came before his sons were born or after: in Genesis 26, there is no mention of any children either in the promise or in the text itself. This would mirror or parallel the promise of Genesis 15 when Abram (Abraham’s name at the time) had no children and was concerned his estate would pass to his steward, Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. 15:2-3). On the other hand, at the end of Genesis chapter 26, Esau is mentioned as being 40 years of age and taking two Hittite women for his wives. Jacob is not mentioned at all. So there is no contradiction, simply a literary device to project and review events as part of a narrative.
The important thing is that after 20 years of marriage, and 20 years of barrenness, Isaac prayed and the LORD answered. Rebekah did conceive and discovered she was finally pregnant!
With twins!
She noticed the children struggling even in her womb and asked (‘she went to inquire of the LORD”, 25:22) what this meant. Was she ever surprised to learn that A, she did indeed have twins (did she suspect this?) and B, her children were going to be very different people.
As years came and went, she saw this very clearly. As did Isaac.
2 Isaac’s later years
Text, Genesis 27, KJV (a long chapter, text mentioned but not posted to save space)
As chapter 27 begins, Isaac is now in his older years. He was at least 75 at this time, as he was born when Abraham was 100 years of age (Genesis 21:5); Abraham died at age 175 (Genesis 25:7) and both of his sons (Isaac and Ishmael) buried his body in the same place where Sarah’s body was buried (Gen. 25:9-10).
Esau and Jacob would have been 15, then, when Abraham died. How much influence he had on their lives is not known but if those boys didn’t take time to learn from their grandfather, then that would have been their mistake. Most likely many additional years would have come and gone between Abraham’s death and the encounter when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for what amounted to some bread and a bowl of stew (Gen.25:29-34). How they regarded that “bargain” at the time is not clear, but much later, Esau remembered and held it against Jacob.
But there’s another, very important, part in this story and it involves Isaac. Directly.
Chapter 27 presents Isaac as not just old—and he was—but also losing his sight. Isaac even explained to Esau that he was old and not sure how much longer he had to live. In light of that, he wanted Esau to go, hunt game (venison, KJV) and prepare a meal. After the meal, Isaac would give Esau the paternal blessing.
Much of the remaining text in the chapter details Rebekah’s and Jacob’s involvement in tricking Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing which Isaac had planned to give Esau, as Esau was the firstborn son. Jacob had just left Isaac’s tent before Esau came in with the meal Isaac requested (how did they miss each other?). Isaac was surprised to find out he had given Esau’s blessing to Jacob, but gave Esau a different blessing—not at all like either one of them had anticipated.
The chapter ends on a dark note. Esau decided that once Isaac died, he would kill Jacob. Oddly enough, Esau didn’t say anything about getting either his blessing or his birthright returned to him. Putting his brother to death seemed to be reward or satisfaction enough for him.
Rebekah decided to become involved, too. First, she told Jacob to flee or run for his life back to her brother Laban’s place and stay there for a few days (her words) until Esau settled down. Then she went to Isaac and complained about Esau’s Hittite wives. Perhaps deflecting a little, she asked Isaac what good it would be for her, if both of her sons took wives from the pagans around them (paraphrased). Isaac seems to have thought about it, summoned Jacob, and after giving him some a command, some fatherly advice, and another blessing, sent Jacob off to the land of Rebekah’s brother Laban (Genesis 28:1-5).
Of note, these words to Jacob are the last recorded words of Isaac in the Bible.
Conclusion: Isaac eventually died, at 180 years of age, and was buried in the same place as his father and mother. Jacob and Esau both took part in Isaac’s burial (Genesis 35:28-29 and 49:31).
Isaac is mentioned less in Scripture than either his father, Abraham, or his sons Esau and Jacob. Few of his deeds are recorded, even fewer of his words, but what he did still speaks to us today. He remained faithful to the LORD, and apparently tried to get some of the faith of his father into his children.
For those of us who are not “stars” or in high visibility, may we always remember Isaac. We can take comfort in knowing that even though others may not see or hear, the Lord does, and one day He will reward each of His children for faithful service. Faithful Isaac, we remember you!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
