Origins: The Dreamers (Genesis 25–32)Shembull

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son . . .” Genesis 25:19 (NKJV)

The storyline of Genesis now shifts from Abraham to his son, Isaac. We don’t get as much detail about Isaac as we do with his father, or his son, Jacob. But what we do get is incredibly insightful. 

Notice what God’s Word tells us, “Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as his wife . . ." Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived” (Genesis 25:20-21 NKJV).

We see some interesting details here. For one, we learn that Isaac and his wife (Rebekah) dealt with the same challenge as his parents, Abraham and Sarah, who were also unable to conceive and have children. A lot is revealed about a person’s character in how they react to life’s challenges, and we see that Isaac’s reaction to challenge was prayer! 

He also showed spiritual leadership in his marriage by calling out to God on his wife’s behalf. And we see that God honored this act of spiritual leadership by answering Isaac’s prayer. At long last, they were pregnant! But it was far from an easy pregnancy, “But the children struggled together within her; and she said, ‘If all is well, why am I like this?’ So she went to inquire of the Lord” (Genesis 25:22 NKJV).

Sensing something wasn’t quite right in her womb, Rebekah goes to the Lord and asks Him what’s going on. This is another interesting insight, because we see real evidence of Isaac’s spiritual leadership as Rebekah also prays. God tells her something quite unexpected, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23 NKJV).

Not only does she learn that she’s carrying twins, but both children will go on to establish nations, and the descendants of the second-born child will be greater than the people of the first-born child. This is setting up the conflict that will unfold between Jacob and Esau, as well as their descendants. 

In this introduction to Isaac, we see that he was a person who responded to life’s challenges with prayer. He was also a spiritual leader in his home, as evidenced by the fact that his wife followed his spiritual example. May we follow in these faith-filled footsteps as we seek to grow in our relationship with God. 

DIG: What insights into Isaac’s character do we see here?

DISCOVER: How can we learn from Isaac when confronted with challenges?

DO: Make a list of life’s current challenges and talk to God about them.