Isaac

I couldn’t think of anything wise or otherwise today. According to Lutheran Service Book, today is Isaac’s day.  We don’t pay much attention to Isaac, the son born to Abraham and Sarah when they were 100 and 90 respectively.  He had the unfortunate name, “Laughter” because both his parents laughed at God that they still could have a child.  However, he doesn’t seem to have much to laugh about in his life.  His older half-brother, Ishmael, bullied him.  At God’s direction, Abraham took him to Mt. Moriah in order to sacrifice him as a test of Abraham’s willing to give up the son.  It’s a troubling story.   Abraham took care of his marrying by sending his servant back to the old country to fetch Isaac a wife.  The servant brought back a beautiful girl named Rebekah.  Isaac who was forty years old, immediately married her.  He loved Rebekah.

 For nearly 20 years Rebekah couldn’t get pregnant. Isaac prayed and finally Rebekah got pregnant.  But then she was pregnant with twins who thrashed around in her womb, driving her to wonder what was going to happen to her.  Even their birth was strange.  Esau emerged covered in red hair, hence his name and Jacob came out clutching his twin’s heel, hence his name.  Esau loved the outdoors and hunting.  Jacob is presented as quiet and hung around the tents.  Then there came the time the time that Esau impetuously gave away his birthright as the oldest son for a blow of red soup.  Finally, the “Heel” Jacob tricked his blind father into blessing him.  With the help of his mother he dressed in goats’ skins and they cooked some goat meat to taste like wild game.  Now there is open division in the family.

Besides all that he had to become a well digger as his rivals tended to go around and fill in his wells to make him move on.  He did receive the same promises that his Father Abraham received about being a great nation.  This began to happen through his less than trustworthy son, Jacob, the heel who gave him 12 grandsons.  Sometimes God does strange things.