Abraham, Isaac & Jacob - all good things come in three

Imagine being 75 years old… In our day and age it would mean: pretty close to retirement. Not for Abram, though (who would later be named ‘Abraham’). In fact, for him life pretty much started after 75. Including becoming a dad, but more on this later. The (biblical) story goes that Abraham, yes - aged 75, received a divine command from God to leave the place he called home and most of his family, to embark on a journey to an undisclosed land. Amazingly God assured Abram that he would become the founder of a mighty nation - meaning he would eventually become a father. Seeing that his wife Sarai was unable to bear children, this promise was perhaps even a greater miracle than receiving an important message from the Lord God Himself. So, Abram left, accompanied by his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and their accumulated possessions and followers, on a desert road trip to the land of Canaan.

But, then there’s the small matter of ‘begetting’, as they call it in the Bible. Abraham was supposed to beget a child and become a father. After a long long time Abraham and Sarah were of such an old age, it actually made Sarah laugh when God finally announced the birth of a child. ‘Honestly! A child? At my age?’ Sadly, Sarah tried to ‘force’ an outcome of God’s promise by offering her Egyptian slave, Hagar, to Abraham - with the intention that she would bear him a son. It worked, and Ishmael was born. However, God's ways are not ours and in the course of time Sarah became pregnant anyway and bore a son herself: Isaac. And he, not Ishmael (although God would look after him as well) was to inherit his father’s promise by God and build a people.

But we’re not out of the woodworks just yet! In Isaac's youth, Abraham took him to Mount Moriah to obey God's command: ‘build an altar and sacrifice Isaac’. As Abraham raised his knife, God's angel intervened, sparing Isaac, and Abraham sacrificed a ram tangled in thorns instead. A strange and unsettling tale, that many of us still have questions about. Still, Abraham’s loyalty was successfully tested, God’s faithfulness and redeeming ways were powerfully shown and Isaac got to live and tell the tale.

When Isaac was about forty years old, his folder sent out a servant to find Isaac a wife. He came back with Rebecca - a distant niece. Isaac and Rebecca were married, but their relationship was not - in good Biblical fashion, so it seems - blessed with children. But, fortunately the Bible recounts Isaac's prayer: ‘Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. (Gen. 25:21 NIV)’ Soon after she gave birth to twins: Esau and Jacob.

Now there’s a pair! From the start these two always seemed to be in competition. In fact, it is said when coming out of the womb Jacob was holding Esau’s heel, as if he wanted to come out first. But, Esau was still the first born and Jacob the second. Now, according to the law at that time, this would mean that both sons would eventually receive a part of their father’s inheritance and blessing. Although, not in equal parts. The first born would get about two thirds and the second born would get one third of all their father had owned. And, the blessing Esau would receive would be far more abundant than the one Jacob would get.

Now Esau was a straightforward kind of guy: strong, a man of his word and… …well, rather hairy. Jacob, though, was a lot more smooth: both in appearance and in behavior. And this cheeky young man managed to smooth talk Esau into giving Jacob his first born rights. Step two was to lure his old father Isaac into believing that Jakob was Esau. With help from his mum, Jakob managed to trick a nearly blind Isaac into giving him the blessing that was supposed to be for Esau. Chaos ensued. Esau wanted to kill his treacherous brother and Jacob had no other choice than to leave the land.

Jacob fleeing would ultimately lead to being a better person. Of all the three patriarchs it is he that finally does not only obey God, but gives himself to God - off course in his typical ‘Jacob’ way of doing things: ‘Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” (Gen 28: 20-22, NIV)’ So, Jacob went on a long and good walk to redemption, eventually returning home to his brother with a new name: Israel.

We invite you to experience the stories of the ‘patriarchs’ Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Their ways through life highlight the story of God with that of mankind. In many ways it is therefore our story as well.