Isaac and Rebekah’s Life

• Abraham’s Later Years – Isaac’s Formative Years

Isaac was born to Abraham when Abraham was one hundred years old (Genesis 21:5) and observed his father’s relationship with God and others for the next seventy-five years (Genesis 25:7). Those years deeply shaped Isaac’s view of God and family life.

• Problems of polygamy.
• Hagar and Ishmael had to be sent away to avoid strife in the family (Genesis 21).
• Lack of faith and yielding to sinful desires led to painful consequences.
• The “serial polygamy” of today creates similar family problems as it did four thousand years ago.

• Abraham’s Faith Tested (Genesis 22)

• In his obedience to God, Abraham was willing to sacrifice:
  • his son,
  • his only son,
  • the son whom he loved.
• The burnt offering became a powerful demonstration of his obedience and worship of God.
• Abraham showed that following God involves taking real risks—trusting God to fulfill His promise of many descendants, even if Isaac were to die.

• The Sins of the Father Passed On – Isaac’s Lack of Faith (Genesis 26)

• Isaac lied about Rebekah to the king of the Philistines out of fear for his own life.
• The seriousness of this offense is clear in Abimelech’s strong response.

• Isaac and Rebekah’s Marriage (Genesis 24)

• Trusting God to provide a spouse.
• Why was it so important for Abraham to find a wife for Isaac from Mesopotamia instead of Canaan?
• Why did Abraham send the servant, rather than Isaac himself, to find a bride?
• What qualities of a wife was Abraham’s servant seeking?
• Other qualities of a godly woman:
  • Purity in remaining a virgin.
  • Obedience to authority as she followed the decision of her father and brothers to marry Isaac.
  • Inner and outer beauty.
• Abraham demonstrated faith by trusting God to provide the right wife for Isaac.
• Isaac demonstrated faith by accepting the wife the Lord prepared for him, waiting on God until he was forty years old (Genesis 24:63).
• Rebekah showed faith by leaving her family and going to a distant land with a man of God: she said, “I will go” (Genesis 24:58).

• Yielding to Others – Isaac’s Desire to Live at Peace (Genesis 26)

Isaac sought to live at peace with the herdsmen of Gerar. He was generally non‑confrontational and often moved away from conflict.

Isaac dealt shrewdly and wisely in several ways:

• Re-digging his father’s wells.
• Respectfully giving the wells the same names Abraham had given them.
• Graciously and peacefully giving up wells that caused contention and disputes, moving on rather than fighting.
• Gratefully thanking God for the well named Rehoboth, “room,” recognizing the Lord’s provision.

Isaac illustrates what it means to trust God to work out every situation.

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

• The Bedside Scene (Genesis 27)

Isaac’s mistakes

Even though God clearly stated that the older would serve the younger (Genesis 25:23), Isaac planned to bless Esau instead of Jacob. He intended to go against God’s revealed purpose.

After realizing that he had blessed Jacob, Isaac trembled violently, knowing that his secret plan had failed and that God had overruled his intentions.

Rebekah’s mistakes

• She planned to deceive Isaac, demonstrating a lack of submission to her husband.
• Rebekah modeled deception for Jacob (Genesis 27:6–17).
• She acted out of fear and manipulation rather than simple faith in God’s promise.

Key lesson:

God demands our obedience to His methods and timing as well as to His goals. We do not need to “help” God by using deceit or compromise. The means must honor Him just as much as the final outcome.

Favoritism breaks down a family

• Isaac favored Esau because of his taste for game (Genesis 25:28). This weakness seems to have passed to Esau, who sold his birthright for food (Genesis 25:33).
• Rebekah favored Jacob.

The price of disobeying God

• Jacob paid a high price for his deception, living in exile for more than twenty years.
• Rebekah’s fear—“Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?” (Genesis 27:45)—in effect came true. Jacob fled, Esau left, and the family lived with long-term separation and tension.
• Deception spread through the family: Isaac did not trust Jacob, Jacob and Esau did not trust each other, and Rebekah relied on eavesdropping and manipulation.

The end result was a lack of trust and deep division in the family. Character flaws were passed down from generation to generation.

Lesson: God’s ultimate purposes are fulfilled despite human defiance and disobedience, but we can avoid many painful consequences by following His ways from the beginning.

A godly family is built by following the commands given in Ephesians 5:22–6:4.

Spiritual Decline in the Patriarchal Age