Isaac is left everything when his father Abraham dies and he
marries Rebekah, Abraham’s niece. They live by Beer-lahai-roi. Rebekah has a
hard time conceiving but finally does. She becomes pregnant with twins, who
fight in her womb and she inquires of the Lord about the what is going on in
her womb. The Lord responds, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples
will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the
other; and the older shall serve the younger.” (Gen 25:23) Esau, a hunter and
outdoorsman, is the older and Jacob, peaceful and living in tents, the younger.
When they were born, Jacob was holding onto Esau’s heel. Isaac favored Esau and
Rebekah favored Jacob. At one time, Jacob prepared some stew and when Esau came
in from the field he was hungry and ended up selling Jacob his birthright for
bread and stew.
A famine came upon the land and God instructed Isaac to move his
family to Gerar and he will be blessed. So he does and while he is there he is
questioned by Ambelech the king of the Philistines about Rebekah, and he lies
about her being his sister (like Abraham). Ambelech finds out and Isaac
explains he was afraid he would be killed for his wife since she was so
beautiful, and Ambelech instructs no one to touch either one or be put to
death. (It is mentioned perhaps this protection was God preserving His chosen seed
in my bible commentary)
Isaac was very prosperous in Philistine. He sowed the land and
reaped a hundredfold. He became very wealthy and the Philistines envied him and
stopped up the wells Abraham had dug by filling them with dirt. Ambelech came
to him and told him he had become too powerful and asked him to leave, so he
left and camped in the valley of Gerar.
There were wells there also that Abraham had dug and he dug them
out again, finding a well of flowing water. The herdsmen of Gerar quarreled
with him and moved away and he dug a different well which no one laid claim to. He
was excited to finally find a place he belonged and could be fruitful and went
up to Beersheba. The Lord appeared to him and promised to bless him and
multiply his descendants, so he built an altar to the Lord there and dug
another well.
Ambelech and the people see the Lord is with him and make an oath
with him that they will be peaceful. The same day Isaac’s servant found yet
another well.
Isaac was old and he was ready to give his blessing. He calls Esau
and tells him to go kill some game and cook it for him that he might give his
blessing to him. Rebekah convinces Jacob to pretend to be Esau and steal the
blessing. So Rebekah cooked a meal for Isaac to give to Jacob to take into him.
Jacob wore Esau’s garments and put the skins of young goats on his hands and
neck to be like the hair on Esau and he went into Isaac and tricked him into
blessing him instead of Esau, making him Esau’s master and blessing him with
servants and new grain and wine. When Esau found out he wept and his anger
burned toward Jacob. Isaac tells him his destiny is to live by the sword, and
he will serve his brother until he becomes restless, at which point he will
break his yoke from his neck.
Rebekah is scared that Esau will kill Jacob, so she convinces
Isaac to send him away by saying he needs to find a wife elsewhere. Isaac
blesses Jacob and sends him Paddanaram to take a wife from the daughters of
Laban and charges him not to take a Canaanite wife.
Isaac dies at 185 years old and is gathered to his people and
buried by both of his sons.
