“Stay in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.” (Genesis 26:3)
In Genesis 26 we get a picture of Isaac’s life. Isaac was the son of Abraham, the one to whom God made the promises of offspring, land, and blessing (Gen. 12). Isaac is very similar to his dad. First off, like his father he sins in very similar ways. His dad made it a point to have his wife act like his sister for his own self preservation, and we see Isaac do the same thing with his wife (Gen. 26:7). However, despite his wrong actions he remains blessed to the point that his enemies seek to make a covenant with him (Gen. 26:26-33). So why is this the case?
Although Isaac and his father Abraham were imperfect men they had something else that was the same. They shared a common faith in God. It is their God who promises to give them land, offspring, and blessing. It is this God who grants Isaac a hundredfold increase in everything that he sowed (Gen. 26:12). God makes the same promises to Isaac that he made to Abraham. And the good news is that the riches and wealth that Isaac would amass is only a foretaste of what we get to experience.
Since the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus we experience the ultimate blessing of knowing God. We take part in being a blessing to others through proclaiming that good news. And more than physical land we are a part of God’s plan to redeem the world. In these uncertain times, it is a great comfort to know that the God who created all things is for you, just as he was for Isaac, and just as he was for Abraham.