Isaac

    Isaac is presented to us in the Scriptures both as a type of Christ and as a type of the believer in this world. In Genesis 22, Isaac represents Christ in yielding himself up as a voluntary sacrifice unto God upon the altar. He also represents God’s elect for whom the Lord God provided a Lamb of sacrifice, even his own dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as a Substitute to die in our place under the wrath of God.

    In Genesis 24, Isaac is a picture of Christ for whom an appointed bride is sought. Christ is our Bridegroom. God’s elect are his bride, the church, sought out from among men by the preaching of the gospel. Isaac is also a picture of a believer waiting upon God to give him his chosen bride, the life-long companion of God’s choice, from among his own people.

    Again, in Genesis 25, Isaac stands before us as a type both of Christ and the believer - “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac” (Gen. 25:5). Without question, this text speaks of Abraham’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, “whom God hath appointed heir of all things” (Heb. 1:2). Yet, the text also speaks of all who are the sons of God by electing love, adopting grace, and saving faith. Like Isaac, God’s elect are possessors of all the wealth and privileges of the Father’s house (Rom. 8:17, 21). As Isaac represents our sonship and our privileges as the heirs of God, he also represents our heavenly calling (Phil. 3:20).

    Canaan represents both the believer’s life of faith in this world and the heavenly glory and rest which awaits us. Isaac is never seen anywhere except in the land of Canaan. Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph all left the land, at least for a season; but Isaac never did. Every time you see Isaac, he is in the land of Canaan. So, too, the believer is always in the grace of God, the land of rest. We often fall in the land; but the believer never leaves the land of grace and is never expelled from it. “Our conversation is in heaven.” God’s elect are a people who have been called with a heavenly calling; and they live accordingly.

    Yet, the believer’s life is a life of trial, conflict, and struggle. Isaac pictures that, too. Though he lived in the land of Canaan, like us, Isaac had a warfare to wage (Eph. 6:12) with the world, the flesh, and the devil. That warfare is recorded in Genesis 26. Isaac was pre-eminently the man of the well. His life revolved around five wells. These five wells are specifically named, because, typically, they represent the experiences of every believer in this world. Here are five wells from which all believers drink:

    1.The well called “Lahairoi” (Gen. 24:62) means, “The living One who sees me.” What joy and comfort we have in the midst of trial when we realize that he who is the living God has his eye upon us at all times.

    2.Esek (Gen. 26:21 means “Strife.” Every child of God in this world lives in unceasing strife, strife from the world without and from his own flesh within.

    3.Sitnah (Gen. 26:21 means “Hatred.” It may well represent the world’s hatred for Christ and his people.

    4.Rehoboth (Gen. 26:22) means “Spacious and Abundance.” “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

    5.Shebah (Gen. 26:33) means “Good fortune.” All things are ours in Christ; and all things work together for our good in him and by him.

    The first thing we are told about Isaac, after the innocent ram was slain in his place upon Mt. Moriah (After he was typically redeemed), is this -”Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi” (Gen. 24:62). This well, which means, “Well of the Living One who sees me,” is intended to draw our attention to God the Holy Spirit and his gracious operations in the hearts of men (John 7:37-39). In God’s works of grace, election is followed by predestination, predestination is followed by redemption, and redemption is followed by regeneration (Gal. 3:13-14). Redemption was portrayed in Isaac on Mt. Moriah. The sure result of redemption is regeneration, the washing of the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is symbolized by a dove, by oil, and by water. As Isaac’s well was “a well of springing water” (Gen. 26:19), “living water,” so the Holy Spirit springs up in the hearts of God’s elect as a well of living water.

    As water is necessary for all natural life, so the “living water”, the Spirit of God operating through the Word, is necessary for our spiritual life. Without water any plant will wither and die, even if it has the best food packed around its roots. So, too, without the operations of God the Holy Spirit in our hearts, you and I would wither and die. We must have the food of gospel doctrine; but doctrine alone is not enough. We must have the living Spirit of Christ. Like Isaac, God’s saints are people of the well, people who live and walk in the Spirit (Rom. 8:5-17). Isaac’s life experiences provide us with some very important lessons about ourselves, about the life of faith, and about the grace of God.

    The first well with which Isaac was associated was Lahairoi - “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me” (Gen. 24:62; 25:11). That well represents and speaks of the unfailing care of our ever-living, ever-present God. At the well Lahairoi, Isaac dwelt in the presence of God!

    Where can you and I find such a well today? Where is the Living One who sees me to be found? The well of Lahairoi is the house of God, where his Word is opened, his ordinances are kept, his praises are sung, and his presence is promised.

    The first thing we see in the life of Isaac is the blessedness of worshipping the living God. As long as Isaac dwelt at Lahairoi, all was well. His trouble did not begin until he left the place of God’s manifest presence. As soon as he left Lahairoi, Isaac began to have trouble. The same is true of us (Heb. 10:25). The assembled church of God is the house and temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 1 Tim. 3:15-16). God promises his presence in his house, where Christ, at the Mercy-Seat, is found (Matt. 18:20; Ex. 25:22). The church of God is the believer’s home. It is the place of refreshing, refuge, safety, and instruction (Eph. 4:11-16).

    Mere religious ritualists make too much of mere attendance at the house of God. They make worship idolatry. However, most people make far too little of public worship. The local church (a true, gospel church) is the place from which God sends out his Word and the place where he pours out his blessings upon his people. I am sure Isaac often wished he had never left Lahairoi, “The Well of the living One Who Sees Me;” but he did leave Lahairoi.

    When a time of famine came, Isaac departed from Lahairoi and went down to the land of the Philistines in Gerar (Gen. 26:1). Here is a sad, but common picture. When Isaac was in a pinch, instead of continuing in the presence of God at Lahairoi, instead of abiding in the worship of God, he figured out a way to improve his circumstances; but his cunning cost him dearly.

    Read Genesis 26:2. Obviously, Isaac was on his way down to Egypt; but God intervened and stopped him. God’s saints in this world (all of them!) are sinners still, sinners kept and preserved by the power and grace of God in Christ (1 Pet. 1:5). Read verses 3-5 and understand this -- God’s blessings of grace do not depend upon our obedience - Our obedience depends upon God’s blessings of grace.

    Next, we read, “And Isaac dwelt in Gerar” (v. 6). Gerar was the borderland, midway between Canaan and Egypt. God told Isaac to “sojourn in this land;” but Isaac dwelt there for “a long time” (v. 8). In Gerar, Isaac is a believer who has lost the blessed joy of communion with God by his unbelief. This is ever the consequence of unbelief. Unbelief is the cause of disobedience to God; and disobedience breaks communion. Unbelief caused Isaac to leave Lahairoi. Unbelief caused him to dwell in Gerar. Unbelief caused him to lie to his neighbors (Cf. Gen. 20:1-2 and 26:7)¹⁶. Horrible as Isaac’s actions were, when we consider what he was prepared to do, we must be made to see that what Isaac was, we are. There is nothing you and I will not do if God leaves us to ourselves, even for a moment.

    Let saved sinners ever rejoice and give thanks to God for his great faithfulness (vv. 12-14). Those who do not understand the character of God and the sovereignty of his grace have a very difficult time understanding these verses. They say, “How could God so bless Isaac even while he was behaving in such a manner?”

    The blessings of God upon Isaac were unconditional, covenant blessings (Gen. 22:17-18; 26:3-5; Eph. 1:3-7). “The gifts and callings of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11:26). Our God rules and overrules all things, sovereignly making all things to work together for the good of his elect, even our miserable failures (Rom. 8:28). God is faithful (Lam. 3:26; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 10:23). Because Isaac would not leave Gerar, God arranged to have him cast out of the land (v. 16). When Isaac was cast out of Gerar into a dry valley, God sweetly forced him to dig again the wells of water which he had dug with his father Abraham (vv. 17-19). When God’s providence appeared to turn against him, it was working for him, bringing him again to the “wells of living water!”

    Read verses 19-22. Here we are taught what it is to live by faith. Instead of standing up for his rights and contending for himself against his enemies, Isaac chose the path of peace, now trusting God to provide for him. True faith makes men and women content and peaceful in the midst of difficulty (1 Pet. 2:19-20). Nothing was at stake but water, and he could easily get more. God’s truth was not at stake. His glory was not at stake. The welfare of his people was not at stake. The only thing at stake here was water. It was not worth needless aggravation.

    God brought Isaac to Beersheba, “the well of good fortune” (vv. 23-25 and 32-33). Beersheba was also “the well of the oath.” Look what happened when Isaac returned to the place of his oath and allegiance to God. He found good fortune indeed. On the very night that Isaac returned to Beersheba, “the Lord appeared unto him” (v. 24). There Isaac built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord. He came back to the house of God, the place of worship, and the place of sacrifice (v. 25). There, at Beersheba, he found water (life refreshing, cleansing, reviving, soul-cheering water -- v. 32). Isaac pitched his tent at Beersheba, to dwell in the presence of God (v. 25). There God made Isaac’s enemies to be at peace with him (vv. 26-31; Pro. 16:7).

    In verses 34-35, we see sad consequence of Isaac’s disobedience. May God give us grace and wisdom to learn by his grief. It is true that the Lord God forgave Isaac for his sin, and even overruled his sin to do him good. Yet, Isaac saw and felt the grief of his own disobedience in his son Esau who married a Hittite.

    “God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap!” As Isaac went down to the world for help in time of famine, Esau, following his father’s example, went down to the world to find himself a bride; and Esau never knew God. This was a grief to Isaac. But it was, in great measure, a grief he brought upon himself by disobedience to the will of God. When he should have been careful, Isaac was careless; and it brought grief to his soul. It always does.