“Make sure that you do not take my son back there… Only do not take my son back there.” Genesis 24:6, 8 Abraham was adamant about this. He did not want Isaac going back to Ur where he had grown up and where God had first spoken to him about the promise. He did not send Isaac back to get a wife, but sent a servant to get the wife for him. He wanted the wife to be from the same clan he had come from, but he would not allow Isaac to go select her and bring her back.
I wonder why this was so important to Abraham… Could it be that some of the experiences along the way for Abraham had taught him some lessons that he wanted Isaac to learn without the pain it had cost Lot, Abraham and Sarah? Is it possible that the lure of the city would capture Isaac and send him on a long detour if he were to go back there?
It is easy to read through Genesis and see that Abraham was called out, he went, and a new nation was born and from that nation came Jesus, our Savior. We read over the ‘bumps in the road’ quickly and without too much thought because we know where it is going. But somehow, life is not like that. The bumps in the road are a little more pronounced. And with each bump comes a little more wisdom – if we allow God to have his way with us. Abraham had several significant bumps. But God didn’t give up on the plan or the promise.
First, when Abraham left Ur, he took along some baggage – his father and his nephew. His father kept him from getting all the way to the land God had promised him for some time and his nephew while considered righteous wasn’t living under the promise. He was constantly attracted to the riches of Egypt and the city life. Rather than choosing to follow the promise, he chose to follow his own selfish desires. And Abraham found himself rescuing Lot with the potential of losing everything he had including his own life. Abraham saw how the lure of the world could keep one from finding their full potential in God’s plan. He didn’t want that for Isaac.
When famine struck, Abraham headed for Egypt – insisting that Sarah was his sister to 'protect himself' from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Pharaoh figured it out in the midst of serious disease inflicted on his household. In the end, God used it to build up Abraham’s wealth. But I wonder what God would have done to save Abraham and Sarah from all the ‘drama’ in Egypt had they stayed put where God had sent them. God later provided manna for the Israelites in the desert for forty years. Could he not have provided manna for Abraham and Sarah to get them through the famine?
A second time when Abraham was afraid of Abimelech, he again said Sarah was his sister. God again protected Sarah and Abraham in spite of their foolishness and not trusting him. And in the end, they gained more wealth in cattle and sheep. But I wonder how many conflicts arose between Israel and descendants of Abimelech along the way as a result of this bump in Abraham’s road.
But even as Abraham was learning from these situations, the big bump in his road occurred when he and Sarah got ahead of God regarding the child promised to them. What pain they had to deal with regarding Hagar and Ishmael! And the conflict between Israel and the Arab nations even today continues to rage as a result of this bump in Abraham’s road. If only he had been patient and waited for God’s timing. Things might have been very different.
Now, after all these struggles to obey God, Abraham has learned a lot of lessons and he doesn’t want Isaac to have to repeat any of the mistakes. So he was adamant about Isaac not going back to where he came from. And God honored that wisdom and the humble prayer of Abraham’s servant and Isaac was blessed with a beautiful wife from their own clan.
So many times I hear myself and other parents steering our children away from mistakes we have made in the past. We want so much for our children to take us at our word and not make those same mistakes. Sometimes there is success and sometimes children need to experience the same failures in order to learn. But I have found God to be faithful and full of mercy and grace – just as he was with Abraham and Sarah. His grace pulled my parents back, it pulled me back, and it will pull my children back. As long as we keep our eyes on him and humbly admit our failures, he restores us generation after generation, day after day.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:2-3 Even as the promise was made regarding Abraham having descendants, the promise of the Messiah to come was also in that promise – the Messiah that would restore us to a right relationship with God. And no amount of bumps and missteps in Abraham’s life was going to change that. God’s awesome grace is bigger than any bump in our road. Thank you, Jesus!
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