Most people don’t realize that Abraham had more children that just Isaac and Ishmael. After Sarah died, he remarried and had several children. Not bad for a man who was over a hundred years old.
Despite the other children (who turned out to be fathers of some of the nations that surrounded Israel), Isaac was still the son of the covenant. He was the child of the promise. The miracle baby. Nothing would change that because God promised it would be so and God doesn’t break his promises.
After Abraham died, Isaac took up the mantle as the head of the family. He had twin sons: Jacob and Esau. They are famous for their sibling rivalry, which we will see over the next couple of chapters.
What struck me from this passage–and what Paul talks about in Romans 9-11–is that God has everything planned out, even before we are born. God told Isaac and Rebekah–while she was still pregnant–”Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
God had a plan for the life of Jacob and Esau before they were even born. As it says even later in the Bible: “Jacob have I love, but Esau I have hated.” (Malachi 1:2-3) This just goes to show you that God is in control of everything, including our salvation. He chooses the people who will be saved. He elects those who will have faith in his son, Jesus.
You might think that this is crazy. It seems so unfair that God would just choose people and not choose others. What is the point of life if that is the case? Why wouldn’t he let us come to faith on our own? Wouldn’t that be better?
The answer is clearly “no.” If God let us come to faith on our own, we would never come because our hearts are sinful (Jeremiah 17:9). If God didn’t choose us–and before we were even born–then no one would ever be saved! Praise God for his great mercy!
Filed under: Genesis
I am so proud of you. You have such insightful things to say, the kids are really missing out by not reading this.