The Fear of Isaac

Jacob has spent 20 years serving Laban , 7 to ‘earn’ Rachel, then 7 to ‘earn’ Rachel again because he had been given Leah instead, and then 6 to ‘earn’ his flocks. Laban connived to keep Jacob there because he realized that Jacob was a very blessed man. Things prospered under his care. Jacob realized that problems were mounting between him and his father-in-law and brothers-in-law. Jealousy kills relationships quickly.

Jacob didn’t hesitate to obey when the Lord spoke to him telling him to go back to the land of his father. He knew Laban continue to control him if he stayed and he desired to obey God. So he gathered his wives, children and possessions and took off when he knew Laban would not be able to immediately follow. Laban, however, did catch up to Jacob. But God had warned him a dream to not hurt Jacob, so he just questioned him as to why he would take off without so much as a good-bye. Jacob replied by reminding Laban how he had worked for him, protected his flocks taking any losses on himself and laboring in the heat and the cold. He said, “It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.” Genesis 31:41-42

I’ve always read this portion of Scripture focusing on Jacob and Laban. Today, however, something else jumped out at me (not once but twice) and that is a new name for God – “the Fear of Isaac.” This appears in verse 42 and again in verse 53, “So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac.” Genesis 31:53

This makes me wonder about Isaac’s relationship with God. Abraham was a friend of God. They talked with each other. Isaac was the result of a promise God made to Abraham. I often wonder about how being strapped down with his father over him with a knife willing to sacrifice him to God affected Isaac growing up – his relationship with Abraham and with God. Jacob’s oath may give us a hint. Isaac saw his father respond in obedience to God to the point of willingness to give up his son whom he loved very much. Isaac also saw God provide the ram as the sacrifice that freed him from being the sacrifice. I imagine his little heart was pounding as his father raised the knife. He likely was pulling at the ropes wanting desperately to get out of the way. He wouldn’t be human if he didn’t have some desire for survival.

As I go back and read about Isaac again, I see several things about him. He was the first child circumcised as an infant, nearly sacrificed when he was still quite young, mourned his mother’s death around the age of 27, married Rebekah, had Jacob and Esau, blessed Jacob and then died. Genesis 21-35 Those are the often read stories about Isaac. Isaac was in the field meditating when he first laid eyes on Rebekah as his servant returned from his journey seeking a wife for Isaac. The Lord did appear to Isaac on several occasions. And like his father, Abraham, Isaac immediately obeyed when the Lord spoke to him. And like his father, Isaac also was deceitful out of fear, calling Rebekah his sister instead of his wife. But God protected them and gently restored Rebekah to him as his wife.

Though the Lord spoke to Isaac and Isaac immediately obeyed, the Bible does not call Isaac a friend of God as Abraham had been. Nevertheless, the Lord made the same covenant with Isaac that he had with 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.” Genesis 26:4 And, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” Genesis 26:24 Isaac worshiped God and God blessed him in many ways. When there was conflict with Abimelech, Isaac walked away from a fight like his father Abraham had done. And God continued to bless him.

When Jacob calls God the “Fear of Isaac,” I wonder if it comes out of stories his father told him as he was growing up. Isaac understood the power and supremacy of God in a way few people experience. He put a new meaning in the phrase ‘sacrificial living’. He understood that his very life came from God and was given back to him by God. He understood God’s provision and prospered under God’s blessings. I believe he loved and worshiped God… and he feared God.

Fearing God is not something we are comfortable talking about. We like the love, blessings, and provision of God but we struggle with the fact that he gives us our very breath. We are alive because he chooses to let us live – not because we deserve to live or are in control of our own lives. Whether or not we fear God is at the root of all of our questions of ‘why’ when a child dies or a young mother succumbs to cancer or a 20-year-old brilliant student with a heart for mission drowns. It kind of boils down to the trust factor. Have I learned to let go of trying to control my own life and destiny and to trust God no matter what happens? There is such a peace and relief in the times when I actually get there – trusting the Fear of Isaac.