EMPOWERMENT – ISAAC’S LEGACY
Week 3: The Bigger Picture
During this study, we will be doing a ‘deep dive’ into a scriptural passage. It is strongly encouraged that you study the passage and entire chapter ahead of the study. Also be prepared with your research tools, for example Google or your study Bible, as you will need to reference it during the study. Spend time answering and discussing each question with the intention to gain sufficient understanding to help your own private Bible study as you further explore these topics.
Study Chapters: Genesis 25-27
Pilot text
Genesis 26:22 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Discussion Points
How do we situate this scripture within the wider context of the scripture as a whole and God’s covenant with His people?
God can reveal himself in adversity. God showed Himself to Isaac at his lowest point, when everything may have seemed to be conspiring against him.
God is able to turn adversity into opportunity. This was a time of famine, and there was hardship in the land. Isaac, the heir to a great promise, was not exempt from this experience. But, by listening to God, Isaac was able to find a way to thrive in the midst of adversity.
God often demonstrates His divine favour through extraordinary multiplication of seed. The theme of multiplication – first of the children of Israel, and then of believers through Christ – is a key theme in the Bible. In particular, the seed dies, is buried and then resurrected, multiple fold. In this passage we see God demonstrating this principle through the patriarch Isaac. Ultimately, Jesus Himself became the seed that multiplied into the church.
- God’s promise always prevails. The promise of multiplication to Abraham and then Isaac, was dependent on them having biological children. Considering the timing of this chapter, the events of chapter 26 occur before the twins (Esau and Jacob) were born in chapter 25. We see in chapter 25:21 and v26 that, for 20 years, Isaac and Rebekah struggled to conceive. But God’s promise cannot be stopped. As Isaac came into clearer recognition of his priestly and prophetic office in God, they were able to break through. In chapter 27 we see Isaac more fully walking in this ministry when he blesses his sons.
Closing thoughts: The Bible tells us that Jesus is a High Priest who identifies with our weaknesses. Often, in telling the story of the heroes of faith, the Bible makes a point of showing us their humanity, so that we too can have hope as we see ordinary humans chosen by God to demonstrate His extraordinary power. What is clear from our study of Isaac’s life is that his manifestation as the heir of promise was a process. The Isaac in the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” is the Isaac that finally understood his own identity, his inheritance, and eventually what he was capable of in God.
