When reading through Genesis, it's intriguing to note that Isaac pretended his wife was his sister (Genesis 26:6-11), like his father Abraham had done (Genesis 20:2-3) - with the exact same pagan king (or at least a ruler of the same name/title from the same area), Abimelech. Rather than trusting God for protection, Abraham and Isaac showed fear before the pagan king, and indirectly, his false gods. This gave God a bad name in the sigh of the pagan king (s).
Similarly, Jacob followed the example of his grandfather Abraham (Genesis 16:1-3) by taking his female servant as a concubine, on multiple occasions (Genesis 30:1-5; 9-13). Isaac experienced similar familial strife as a result. Even as Hagar and Sarah despised each other (Genesis 16:4-6), and the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael have fought for centuries, so too Rachel and Leah sparred with each other for their husband's affection (Genesis 30:14-18), and their sons hated one another (Genesis 37:2-4), perhaps contributing to later occasions of war or conflict between the various tribes (e.g. Judges 8:1-3).
What can we learn from this? At a minimum, we learn that children often pattern themselves after their parents and grandparents. Also, our actions can have long-lasting consequences. Our actions can show God badly to the unsaved around us. Finally, failing to be content with God's provision of children, a wife, or anything else can lead to a lot of conflict.
I've had to consider this more carefully since the birth of our son, Braeden, who is not quite five months old. He watches me constantly. Am I being a good example for him? Or will he end up repeating my mistakes and sinful choices, just like Isaac and Jacob did in following their parents' examples?
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