What does it say?
Isaac had it in his mind to go to Egypt because a famine struck the land of Canaan but God commanded that he stay in the land and He reaffirmed the promise that He made to Abraham with Isaac and his descendants. Isaac lived among the Philistines in Gerar, and lied, saying that Rebekah was his sister but Abimelech saw Isaac caressing his wife; Abimelech rebuked Isaac because one of his people might have sinned and brought guilt upon the community. The Lord made Isaac prosperous and the Philistines became jealous. They quarreled over the wells that Isaac dug and he moved each time, untll he came to a well that no one quarreled over. Isaac went to Beersheba and the Lord appeared to him, and spoke to him, and said that He would bless Isaac for Abraham’s sake; therefore, Isaac worshiped the Lord. Abimelech of the Philistines came and made a covenant with Isaac at Beersheba because he saw that God was blessing Isaac. Esau married two Hittite women, and this brought grief to his parents. When Isaac became old he set it in his mind to bless his older son Esau. Rebekah wanting Jacob to receive the blessing, disguised him to smell and feel as Esau. Jacob deceived his father Isaac, and lied, saying that he was Esau; Isaac believed that he was Esau and gave Jacob his blessing. When the deception was found out, Esau wept because his father had made his brother Jacob master. Isaac prophesied that Esau will serve Jacob but will become restless and break away from Jacob’s rule. Esau hated Jacob, so his mother sent Jacob to her brother Laban until Esau’s anger subsides. Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him away to live with Laban, Jacob’s uncle and obtain a wife from his cousins. When Esau saw that his wives displeased Isaac and Rebekah he took a third wife but this time from the daughters of Ismael. Jacob stopped at a crossroads and slept, there he dreamed and saw a ladder between earth and heaven; the angles ascended and descended on the ladder with God at the top who spoke and affirmed the covenant that he made to Abraham and Isaac with Jacob. Jacob anointed the stone that he had rested his head on with oil and called it the house of God. He vowed that if the Lord kept him on his journey, then the Lord would be his God and he vowed to give a tenth back to the Lord.
What shall I do?
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all lied to protect themselves and to gain for themselves. Should I emulate their behavior because God did bless these three men? God blessed them despite of their deceptive ways. The Lord had a plan to bless all of the nations of the earth (cf. Gn.26:4) and that plan went through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God’s plan would not be detoured by their lying ways. In fact, the Lord used their lying to bring about His greater good. The question remains, should I be a liar like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? The answer is no! God is truth and Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and not a follower of these men. Jesus, through Mary, his mother, descended from Jacob but He is not like Jacob, He is like the Father God. Why did God go about blessing the entire world in this way? I do not know; however, I trust that He did, and I shall follow, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is God in human flesh. I shall give my body as a living and holy sacrifice to God, which is my spiritual service of worship. I shall not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the Word and Spirit of God.
