May the mumbling commence!
Like father, like son!
Isaac makes the same mistake as Abraham when in a foreign land. He lies about his wife, Rebekah. Read from Peterson’s The Message:
There
was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during
the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the
Philistines, in Gerar.
God appeared to him and said, “Don’t go
down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in the
land and I’ll be with you and bless you.
I’m giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling
the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I’ll make your
descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations
of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham
obeyed my summons and kept my charge – my commands,
my guidelines, my teachings.”
So
Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
The
men of the place questioned him about his wife.
He said, “She’s my sister.” He
was afraid to say, “She’s my wife.” He
was thinking, “These
men might kill me to get Rebekah, she’s so beautiful.”
One day,
after they had been there quite a long time,
Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife
Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said,
“So, she’s your wife. Why did you
tell us ‘She’s my
sister’?”
Isaac said, “Because I thought I
might
get killed by someone who wanted her.”
Abimelech
said, “But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would
have been responsible for bringing guilt down on
us.”
Then
Abimelech gave orders to his people: “Anyone who so much as
lays a hand on this man or his wife dies.” (Genesis 26:1-11)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
Now there was a famine in the land – besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time –
and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines
in Gerar. The Lord appeared to
Isaac and said,
"Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land
where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be
with you and will bless you. For to you and
your descendants I
will give all these lands and will
confirm the oath I swore to your father
Abraham. I
will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these
lands, and through your offspring all nations on
earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me
and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws." So Isaac
stayed in Gerar.
When the men of that place asked him about
his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to
say, "She is my wife." He thought,
"The men of
this place might kill me on account of Rebekah,
because she is
beautiful."
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the
Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife
Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?"
Isaac answered him, "Because I thought
I might lose my life on account of
her."
Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and
you would have brought guilt upon us."
So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone
who molests this
man or his wife shall surely be put to
death." (Genesis 26:1-11)
Though there are some differences between the NIV and
Peterson’s work, the heart and soul of the Scripture stays intact.
Like father, like son!
Fear still reigns. Though God
speaks to both Abraham and Isaac, they still have trouble thinking God can
protect them from harm.
And the lie has gotten worse. It’s not even a half truth anymore. I guess it’s that slippery slope that we
often hear about.
And lies always come to the fore. Always!
Abimelech caught Isaac and Rebekah living like husband and wife.
And though he was angry about the lie and the harm the
lie could have caused, Abimelech turned his anger into an order to all his
people to leave Isaac and Rebekah alone.
Let’s not fear. Let’s trust in
God. The Lord will deliver.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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