LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #60
written by: Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3561
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #60
THE DEATH OF ISAAC
It is difficult to follow timelines in the Bible. I resort to the Chronological Bible for this purpose.
When Isaac dies, we are told that Esau and Jacob meet again to bury him at Hebron at the Cave of Machepelah which was bought by Abraham.
It was also the final resting place of both Abraham and Sarah.
Rebekah was also buried there as her death preceded Isaac's.
This burial of Isaac at Hebron is very significant for the following reasons:
1. Genesis 35 shows us how each generation of God’s people must trust Him to do what He says even if the full realization of His promises remains in the future.
Jacob affirmed his trust in the Lord when he buried Isaac in the only piece of Canaan the family owned and when he moved to revitalize the faith of his family, calling them to put away their foreign gods.
Each generation must likewise keep their faith according to Scripture and trust our Father anew that His plans and purposes will be carried to fulfilment even after our lifetime.
2. Isaac died without seeing his children in full possession of Canaan (26:1–5).
This promise from God is a future hope to Israel’s second patriarch, just as it was for Abraham (25:1–11).
Yet Isaac’s burial at Hebron in the same grave as his father, the only piece of the Promised Land the patriarchs ever owned (49:28–33), and the place where the Lord swore an oath to Abraham (13:18; 15), is significant.
It shows they still trusted Yahweh to keep His word, for in laying their bones there they testified the land was their own country despite not yet fully possessing it.
What is our lesson today?
1. Isaac's death effected the reconciliation of Esau and Jacob - something that Isaac did not manage to do so during his lifetime.
2. His burial at Hebron therefore has a prophetic significance as it presages the longed-for reunion of the present-day descendants of Esau and Jacob under the Lordship of Jesus (a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) before His Second Coming to judge all of mankind.
3. Faith is believing without necessarily seeing the fulfilment of God's plan and purposes for Israel and the rest of the nations of the world.
As Jesus taught the Samaritan Woman at Jacob's Well in Shechem that "salvation is from the Jews" ( John 4:22 ).
For God had selected Abraham to be the founder of a new nation, and promised that through him a potential blessing for “all nations” would come (Genesis 12:1-4).
As a result of his obedient faith, Abraham was chosen to produce a “seed” (offspring) who ultimately would be the key to the reception of that blessing (22:18); that seed, of course, was Jesus (Galatians 3:8, 16; cf. Acts 3:25-26), and none other.
