Isaac grew up to commit the very same sin that his father committed. Isaac grew up working closely with his father, and his father’s bad tendencies rubbed off on him. What’s more, if Scripture records Abraham twice lying about his wife being his sister, then it is likely that the character traits of cowardice, conniving and lying that would lead to such lies would have revealed themselves in other aspects of Abraham’s daily life.

It’s hard to imagine that he never heard about what happened when his family first moved to the land. He grew up around these people and under a treaty that his father had made with Abimelech. God Himself spoke to Moses on the Holy Mountain, telling him of events long past.īut Isaac was born within a year of Abraham lying to Abimelech, and perhaps had already been conceived by that time. After all, Moses didn’t write Genesis based on oral tradition that had been passed down through the generations. That was a long time ago in a faraway place, and maybe Abraham didn’t tell his son about it. Perhaps Isaac didn’t know about his father’s lie in Egypt. “Abimelech” was a dynastic title, so Abraham and Isaac did not lie to the same person, but to different people who held the same office at different times.

Abraham of course lied about Sarah being his sister while in Egypt in Genesis 12, and then again in Genesis 20 to Abimelech, king of Gerar. Isaac is following directly in his father’s footsteps. Today we are going to look at one of them, and as we do, we will find that it sounds awfully familiar… There are few stories in Scripture where Isaac is the main protagonist.

Breaking the sins of the father