George Ruheni, PhD.

Isaac repeats Abraham’s mistakes Although Isaac lived in the Promised Land, this did not translate to mean an easy life, free from hardship. God’s promises are true, but they do not eliminate difficulties, but assure God’s presence and guidance through challenges. Just as Abraham experienced a famine early in his journey of faith [Genesis 12:10], Isaac also encountered a famine in his own time. There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar (Genesis 26:1). Hardships can affect even those who are walking in God’s will. Famine was a serious crisis in the ancient world, crops failed, livestock died, and families faced hunger. Naturally, Isaac began to move south, likely seeking better conditions, just as his father had. However, unlike Abraham, who went all the way to Egypt in his famine, God intervened in Isaac’s situation. As he journeyed toward Gerar, and God warned him not t...

 Isaac had to plead with the LORD. After Sarah’s death, Abraham married Keturah [Genesis 25:1]. Through her, he had six more sons. Then there was Isaac (born to Sarah) and Ishmael (born to Hagar). Therefore, Abraham fathered eight sons. However, only Isaac was the child of the covenant promise. This is why Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. Isaac became the legal heir of Abraham’s possessions, his wealth, flocks, and authority, so that, the covenant blessing would continue through Isaac [Genesis 17:19–21]. Therefore, Isaac received, the covenant promises of God, the blessing of the land of Canaan, and the lineage through which the Messiah would come. And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east (Genesis 25:5-6). Nonetheless, Abraham still cared for His other sons, he gave them gifts and sent them eastwa...

  A Bride for Isaac God had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan, and Isaac, the “son of promise”, was the one through whom this covenant would continue. Because of this, Abraham insisted that Isaac must remain in Canaan. Isaac’s wife could come from Abraham’s relatives, but Isaac himself must not leave the land God had promised. So when Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, he said firmly: “Do not take my son back there.”  Abraham did not want Isaac returning to Mesopotamia (Ur of the Chaldeans or Haran), even though Abraham’s relatives lived there. God had brought Abraham out of that land and promised Canaan instead. Returning would symbolically reverse God’s calling. Abraham believed God Himself would guide the servant, even sending an angel to ensure the right woman was found. But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. 7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land ...

God tests the faith of Abraham This was not a test designed to produce faith but to reveal faith. God had spent years shaping Abraham into a man who trusted Him completely. From the initial call to leave his homeland, to waiting decades for the promised son, to witnessing God’s faithfulness again and again, Abraham’s life had been a slow, divine apprenticeship in faith. Now came the moment of revelation. When God asked Abraham to offer Isaac, his beloved son, the very embodiment of God’s promise. Abraham obeyed. He did not argue or delay. His obedience demonstrated that his trust in God had matured beyond human reasoning or emotion. He believed that even if Isaac died, “ God was able to raise him up, even from the dead ” [Hebrews 11:19] Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  (Genesis 22:2). Abraham’s faith was no longer about unde...

  The birth of Isaac. God’s fulfillment of His promise to give Abraham a son was not based on Abraham’s perfection or flawless obedience, but on God’s faithfulness to His Word. And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him (Genesis 21:1-2). God is faithful even when we are imperfect. Though some of God’s promises are conditional, requiring our obedience or faith as a response. Others are unconditional, fulfilled solely because of God’s character and sovereignty. In Abraham’s story, the birth of Isaac demonstrated that God’s purposes prevail, not because of human merit, but because God keeps His word.   Abraham puts out Hagar and Ishmael Abraham’s act of sending Hagar and Ishmael away symbolizes more than a family separation, it is a spiritual illustration of separating law and grace, flesh and Spirit. Just as Hagar (a ...

  Abraham and Abimelech Humans are frail and flawed; without the empowerment and reliance on the Holy Spirit, even the faithful can falter. Abraham’s repeated deception about Sarah, first in Egypt in [Genesis 12:10–13], and later in Gerar in [Genesis 20:1-7] illustrates how old sins can resurface when we fail to walk closely with God.   But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” (Genesis 20:3). Age and experience do not produce holiness; only continual dependence on God’s Spirit does. Abraham repeated the same deception he used decades earlier. This shows that unconfessed or unchecked weaknesses can follow us through life. Even spiritual maturity does not erase the flesh; it must be crucified daily [Galatians 5:24].   Nonetheless, God, full of mercy, intervened [Genesis 20:3–7], through appearing to Abimelech, not with judgment, but to prevent sin...