The Hall of Faith | Isaac’s Passing Faith – Hebrews 11:20
By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
The story of Isaac, Esau, and Jacob takes place in Genesis 27. Jacob, for all his life, had cheated and stolen his way into blessing and prosperity. Even in birth, he clutched the heel of his brother to enter the world on someone else’s strength. Esau, on the other hand, being just a few moments older, had been the warrior and hunter of the family, bringing in food to care for his family. Yet he was also often deceived having sold his birthright to Jacob for lentil soup (having been hungry after a hunt). Now, in Isaac’s old age, Isaac did what any father would do as he approached death; pronounced the blessings upon his children with an extra blessing for the oldest child. Yet, Jacob, with the help of his mother Rebekah, deceived their Father and stole the birthright from Esau by pretending to be Esau, taking advantage of his Father’s failing eyesight. Esau, after returning, sought a blessing from his Father who quickly lamented that the bulk of the blessing had gone to Jacob.
While there is much that could be said regarding the life of Esau and Jacob, the author of Hebrews first calls attention to the faith of Isaac one we should revere. At first, this seems like a far off connection, after all, the thrust of the story of Esau and Jacob seems to be the deception of Jacob and the sovereignty of God to place people where they needed to be. Yet, after Jacob’s deception, Esau pleaded with Isaac for some kind of blessing and passing down of the faith to the oldest. Isaac complied. While the blessings of both children content vastly different blessings, each received a blessing and a promise that life would continue. Isaac had no promise that life would continue for either of them, especially when the next thing Esau did was threaten the life of Jacob. Each offspring would play a role in the story God had been already unraveling in history. For Jacob, the blessing came with prosperity and ruling over all the nations while Esau’s came with the understanding that he would toil by the sword and serve his brother. In every case, faith comes from believing the promises of God that will will extend for generations, not ending with one.
Faith in The Oracles of God
Isaac understood that the blessings ultimately came from God. Thus, as he pronounced blessings upon his children, he did so out of the divine favor that had sent the twins to Isaac and Rebekah in the first place. Thus, Isaac spoke sought to proclaim the glory of God and the blessing of God to the people, functioning in a prophetic role. Isaac’s statements were not prescriptive in that the children should be operating out of the proclamation but rather a revealing of how the future would look for them. In each case, the Lord guided the blessing out of the abundance of His knowledge and understanding. Esau and Jacob, then, sought the blessing of one who walked faithfully with God, Isaac, who spoke the word of God to his children. Isaac’s faith to speak as God directed him impacted the life of his children by revealing the nature of God’s plan for them.
The words of Christ to the people of God will always come true. While some of the promises of God involve conditionality, such as providing the option to return and reminding the people of their covenantal agreement between them and God, others God gives as a declarative statement. Life will unfold exactly how God sovereignly reigns over all creation. Nothing happens that stands outside of the will and understanding of God and He reigns over all creation. So, when God speaks, we can have faith that it will come to pass or we can resist the will of God. For Esau, while he may not have wanted to accept his position in life, it was the fighting against Jacob that pushed both to stand in the will of God. It was simply unavoidable. Faith in God means trusting God to reveal himself to us and knowing that His word will always come to pass.
Faith Passed Down To Generations
Once again, we see a generational aspect of faith come to play in the blessings that Isaac gives. For Jacob, the blessing involved the continuation of the promises of Abraham and the promises of Isaac. There would be land, an offspring, and a reciprocal blessing/cursing based on being a people of God. Esau’s on the other hand, involved the generational aspect of continuing the serve his older brother, the people of God, one day breaking free from the yoke but devoid of the presence and blessing of God. In each case, Isaac pronounced the blessings in faith knowing that the promises of God would continue for generations. The presence of God would not die out with Isaac but would be passed down through Jacob until one day God would take on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.
We can also live a generational faith that is passed down through the generations. The promises of God do not die with us and we should not be so vain to think that we are the finality and pinnacle of human existence. Instead, our lives should mirror the faith of Isaac that understood that faith should continue to the next generation. We can teach our children of the goodness of God and proclaim the Gospel to them. We can invest in the lives of children and teenagers to show them the story of God throughout all their lives. Or, we can share our faith with those who are unaware of the saving of God. No matter the circumstance, our faith is meant to be passed on to the next generation. Faith should be shared to the next generations, knowing that the promises of God exist for the people of God for all generations. Therefore, we humble ourselves and dedicate our lives in worship to God by teaching and training up the next generation that when we are gone, they would stand on the shoulders of those who came before all in the strength of God for His glory.
About The Author
Daniel Burton is the founder of The Gospel Outpost. He is passionate about discipleship and seeing people grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. To find out more about him, check out his Author Page.
