In the Family

Hebrews 11-Part 11
By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.  Hebrews 11:20


LET IT GLOW

According to my family's geneology, my father's family were believers. In fact, there was even a Protestant preacher somewhere in the list. What a blessing it is to have ancestors who believed in Jesus as Savior. Now, my children are believers and their children are being taught about Jesus. I can say that it is in the family. So could Isaac.

Isaac was the" son of promise" born to Sarah at age 90 and Abraham at age 100. He was the one whom God required as a sacrifice by his father, but the Lord intervened with a ram so he wasn't killed. It is faith that pleases God (Heb. 11:6). That faith was passed down to Abraham's son, Isaac, whose name meant "laughter".

The faith relationship spoken of in this verse is father to son. Isaac was dependent on the faith that had been modeled for him by his father, Abraham, and continued and preserved it in his relationship with his own sons, Jacob and Esau. (Swindoll)

What about Isaac's life before he blessed his sons? Didn't he exhibit faith in God? When a famine,drought, comes, he obeyed God and stayed put. However fear leads him to lie, as did Abraham (chapter 20). Then, Isaac backs off from conflict over water rights, especially significant in times of drought. (Illustrated Bible Handbook)

Do I have strengths and weaknesses when it comes to faith? I admit there have been times in which I trusted God and times I acted on my own strength without faithfully obeying God.


LET IT GROW

How could it have been by faith that Isaac blessed his two sons when deceit was involved?  To find this answer, I want to back up to the events leading up to Isaac's blessings in Genesis 27:

• Blind Isaac thought he was near death at age 137, so he blessed his sons, then lived 43 more years.
• Wife Rebekah overheard Isaac talking to Esau, so she devised a plan to deceive Isaac in order for him to bless her favorite son Jacob the family blessing. (Easu was the first-born twin.)
• While Esau was out hunting deer so he could make dad's favorite dinner, Jacob snuck in the tent and immitated his brother using goat hair, skin, and meat, then received his blessing. (Esau had previously traded his birthright for stew Jacob had made.)

Getting back to my question-how could it have been "by faith" that Isaac blessed his sons when deceit was involved? How could it please God?
John Gill suggests, "Isaac might have done it in faith, believing that the person he blessed would be blessed, though he was mistaken in him, and which he confirmed when he did know him (Gen. 27:33.37). Jacob was blessed in 28:1-3."

Esau was blessed in Genesis 27:39-41.

Even though these events of Genesis 27:1-28:5, seem to involve deceit rather than faith, Isaac's part was in faith in that he was accomplishing God's will.  Liberty Bible Commentary

Ultimately, God's will was accomplished. Malachi 1:2-3 tells us that God loved Jacob and hated Esau.
That's the way it was. Sometimes we have to accept the Word as it is and let God be God, doing as He sees best.

Do I accept His ways as my ways?

LET IT GO

Don't deceive in order to get my way.

Accept the fact that God's will shall be done, one way or the other.

Do what's right.