Isaac

Lifespan

Uncertain (approximately 2000 B.C.?).

Ministry

We know little about Isaac’s adulthood, but he seems to have been a peaceful, family-oriented shepherd.

Preparation and Calling

The “miracle” child of Abraham and Sarah born to them after they had well passed their childbearing years, Isaac later became the father of Esau and Jacob. The most famous story surrounding Isaac, aside from his birth, concerns a commandment that his father, Abraham, received to sacrifice this promised son when he was apparently still in his youth. After Isaac helped gather the wood for the sacrifice, just as Abraham was preparing to take his son’s life, the Lord provided a ram in a nearby thicket as a substitute sacrifice, and an angel declared Abraham’s obedience sufficient for the test of faith that the Lord had given him.

Interaction with God

Little is know of Isaac’s adult life and ministry. He seems to be a faithful, pastoral man, content to lead his family and provide for them.

Social Situation

Isaac’s life seems to center on rearing his family and attending to local matters more than rising to any sort of national prominence on the political or religious scenes.

Key Teachings

Though Isaac serves a key role in the history of the development of the house of Israel, the scriptures record little of Isaac’s actions or teachings.

Living with the Prophet

Much is made of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac, his son. Not much is known of Isaac and his life, but he seemed to trust his father totally. When our parents or others we respect ask difficult things of us, how do we react?

Sources

Oxford Companion to the Bible, s.v. “Isaac”

Encyclopedia of Religion, s.v. “Isaac”

Holy Bible, the book of Genesis

Lifespan

Unknown (approx. 2000 B.C.?)

Ministry

Unknown. His travels began in the Fertile Crescent near Haran, moved southeast to the Chaldean Ur, and west to Canaan and Egypt.

Preparation and Calling

As a youth, Abraham was nearly sacrificed to a local god by false priests. At the last second, God sent an angel to save his life. After marrying Sarah, Abraham was commanded to leave his father’s house and land and go to Canaan, along with Sarah, his father, and his nephew Lot and his wife.

While yet in Haran, God appeared to him and apparently ordained him to the calling of prophet. The book of Abraham states his experience thus: “The Lord appeared unto me [Abraham], and said unto me: Arise, . . . for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice. . . . Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee” (Abraham 2:6, 12).

Interaction with God

Whisperings and promptings of the Spirit, angelic visitors, visions, and direct visits from Deity-all of these figured into Abraham’s personal and prophetic ministry.

Abraham’s relationship with God both confirmed and tested his faith in God. When Abraham was a youth, God sent an angel to rescue him from an altar of human sacrifice. This dramatic experience taught Abraham of God’s power and of his nature-he was not a demander of sacrifice and fear but a God of love and intelligence. While in the land of Haran, Abraham received his prophetic commission when God appeared to him in person and taught him of the priesthood and of his duties.

Throughout his remaining years, God frequently spoke to Abraham through the power of His Spirit, sent angels to instruct and protect on several occasions, and at times instructed Abraham in ways that tried his soul (such as giving away Sarah to the political leaders of Canaan and Egypt and the apparent sacrifice of his son Isaac). Before entering Egypt, Abraham was shown a mind-expanding vision of all creation, including the workings of the planets and the stars (Abraham 3-5; Sefer Yetsirah).

Perhaps Abraham’s greatest trial and greatest confirmation of faith was his requested sacrifice of Isaac, for not only did God ask him to take the life of his long-awaited promised son but this request came from the very God who had saved his life from just such a fate years earlier. Abraham had spent his entire life following a God who now seemed to change His nature, and yet he obeyed. As a result, Isaac was spared, and three great religions today all claim Abraham as a spiritual father to their people-Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

Social Situation

Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were required to undergo repeated tests of personal faith. Those required of Abraham include giving up his homeland, giving his choicest land and herds to his nephew, not having a child until he and Sarah were well past the childbearing years, sending his firstborn into the wilderness to his apparent destruction,  and being asked to sacrifice his promised son Isaac on an altar to God. Sarah was also tried considerably, twice being delivered up as a potential wife for a local king, rescued only by her adherence to her beliefs, and promised a son when she was beyond her childbearing years. Miraculously, she survived to bear a son when she was in her later years, a son who became a mighty leader in Israel-Isaac.

Key Teachings

Abraham is a key figure for several religions, including Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

As a young man, Abraham’s life was threatened by local priests who wanted to sacrifice him live on an altar. Gathering together his wife and family, he left the lands of his birth and left for Canaan. Famine soon forced them to move on to Egypt. After some interaction with the pharaoh, Abraham and Sarah returned to Canaan.

Though childless, Abraham received a promise from God that Sarah would yet have a child. In her old age, she did indeed conceive and bear a son, Isaac, who would become the center of what is considered Abraham’s greatest trial in a life filled with faith-testing trials. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son in a hearkening back to his own youth and a forward look to the atonement of Jesus Christ, when the Only Son of God was “sacrificed” on the cross.

Abraham’s greatest teachings are perhaps veiled in the stories of his life as he obeyed every command given him by God. Two themes that he began and that are perpetuated by most if not all subsequent prophets in the Old Testament: (1) the Messiah would eventually come, and (2) in the last days, Abraham’s covenant would be reestablished.

Living with the Prophet

Abraham had great faith in God, partly because he was willing to obey whatever God asked of him even when that task seemed unpleasant-or worse! Exercise your faith in God by asking Him about His prophets on earth today, even though the answer might both bless your life and add challenges to it.