Nougat 21

Greetings my dears

One of the impacts of the physical distancing has been the increased sense of separation many experience. Can you imagine Moses’s experience being in the wilderness, away from his family? Thankfully he was adopted by his in-laws. God’s revelation as the God of Isaac could also have been a reminder to Moses about God’s value of family. Consider today’s Holy Nougat

“The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you. Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your

father Abraham.” Genesis‬ ‭26:2-3‬ ‭NRSV‬‬

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. God directly stating which way we ought to go, nothing left to conjecture. Isaac feared and respected God and would have had the benefit of seeing God at work in his father’s life.

Children live what they learn. Isaac’s faith is testimony to that. His father’s faith in God was resolute; so was Isaac’s. The issue of disregard for women’s value practiced by Abram-Abraham is also Isaac’s problem when he offered his wife to the king to save his neck – and God had to come to the rescue!

The challenge of inheritance exposes yet another facet of his character. The father of the first twins mentioned in the Bible, Isaac seems to have followed the laws of the firstborn (primogeniture). He believed strongly in securing the inheritance for the firstborn even if it meant ignoring the issues of fairness. For his father, it was the other way around – he favoured Isaac to the detriment of Ishmael. And, while some lay that at Sarah’s feet, Abraham made that decision.

In light of Isaac’s adamantly seeking to ensure that he blessed Esau, one wonders what was behind his actions. Perhaps the greatest clue is to be found in the fact that that on his father’s death, Isaac did NOT choose to bury his father alone, but did it alongside his older brother Ishmael. Could it be that Isaac’s attitude to firstborn rights was more about honoring his older brother and not so much about the cultural laws?

We may never know the response to that issue, but we recognize that Isaac felt so strongly about the matter that he did not consult God. Unlike the time when Isaac received a direct message to shift his route from Egypt, it seems that God had been silent about the matter of who should inherit. Was that really the case though? Hadn’t God given Isaac’s wife Rebecca a clear message that the older would serve the younger? Maybe he should have heeded his wife. (Maybe if he had listened, life would have been different)

Moses knew Isaac’s story, he would have known the details of God’s promise to Isaac. Despite Isaac’s apparent disregard of God’s plans, God chose to be revealed to and through. We could deduce that our God is revealed to us even when we fail to be ’perfect’; when we ‘misunderstand’ God’s plans for our lives or when we are unable to function as we th/ought.

In naming Isaac among those who were recipients of the promise, God reminded Moses of the value of family in our journey of faith (especially since Moses was being sent to save family). We also are reminded that our family (adopted or biological) plays a valuable role in framing our purpose. Whether through opposition or encouragement, they provide a framework for our faith. May we find the strength to hear God’s voice and promises through those closest to us.

In Christ’s love and grace . . .