Series: The Nobility of God's Nobodies

Isaac–Just an Ordinary Guy

Genesis 21-28

PSBC  8/27/00

In a nutshell: Isaac shows us that God can use any ordinary person to do Great Commission work–even if we have rebelled or disappointed Him in the past. We just need to turn from rebellion and return to Him. He is always right there to receive and use us.

I. Introduction

A. Joke

And Abraham said unto Isaac, "Come with me, my son, and we will upgrade my computer."
Young Isaac replied unto Abraham, "O my father, to what shall we upgrade so ancient a tool?"
And Abraham said unto Isaac, "My son, we shall upgrade it to Windows 98. "
Then Isaac said unto Abraham, "O my father, this is surely too great a task for us to undertake. For your computer lacks the resources for so lofty an upgrade. Its processor is outdated; its hard drive is far smaller than called for. And its memory is sorely lacking even the minimum required."
But Abraham said unto Isaac, "Yet, even so my son, we shall make the attempt."
Again Isaac said unto Abraham, "Yea, but we are here in the wilderness, far from CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy. Where shall we find the hardware needed to meet minimum specifications?
And to that Abraham replied unto Isaac, "Fear not, my son: for God will provide the RAM."

B. Recap of the series

That joke is referring to an incident in the life of Abraham and Isaac, when God told Isaac's father, Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar, in order to test Abraham's faith. Abraham obeyed God and was about to plunge the knife into Isaac, when God's angel stopped him. Then in a thicket of bushes, not far away, God provided a ram for the sacrifice, instead.

This morning we are continuing a series of sermons that I'm calling, "The Nobility of God's Nobodies". This sermon series is designed to do two things:

1. To impress on you that no matter who you are, God can use you to do Great Commission work in the Coachella Valley and the world, as our purpose statement says, and...

2. Equip you with the tools and examples that you'll need to be the most useful to God that you can possibly be, in this endeavor.

Well, this morning, we're going to look at a man whose life doesn't so much demonstrate a tool of spirituality, as it shows us an example. I think he's someone to whom we can all relate. The man's name is Isaac, Abraham's son. And the example he'll show us is what I call, ordinariness.

C. The Way God works

Now, don't get me wrong, Isaac was a unique individual. He was the only son of Abraham and Sarah. Only through him would God's promises would be fulfilled. But despite his uniqueness, he was just an ordinary guy. He messed up at times in his life–he gave in to sinful desires and passions just like you and I do, from time to time. I think he's someone we can all identify with.

And my hope this morning, is that if you understand how God worked in Isaac's life, you will see that this is the way God works with you and me. Because regardless of the circumstances, God doesn't change. He is always the same. And He delights in using ordinary people.

II. Early Uniqueness

One of the interesting things about the recorded history of Isaac's life is the fact that we have a considerable amount of information concerning the beginning of his life; and a considerable amount of information about the end of his life; but not much about what went on in the middle.

I believe this is because of God wants to communicate a contrast to us. The contrast is between his early life of promise and his later life of compromise.

A. Childhood

The Bible tells us some interesting things that happened to Isaac during his childhood, that would prepare later prepare him for his unique role in God's Kingdom plan.

1. Without a doubt, his parents, Abraham and Sarah, told him about God's call on their lives to leave their home in Ur and travel 1000 miles into Canaan, a land that was promised to them, but as of yet was not theirs.

2. And I know they told him about how he got his name– little laughter –because at first Sarah laughed in disbelief that she could bear a child at an advanced age, that was well beyond child bearing years. Then that laughter of disbelief turned into laughter of extreme joy when 25 years after Abraham and Sarah left Haran, Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the heir of the promises of God.

3. And I'm sure they told him why he was circumcised at 8 days old. Because this was a sign of the covenant promise with God, that was being passed on to him.

4. And I know they spoke of the fact that it would be through Isaac, not Abraham's other son, Ishmael, that these covenant promises would find fulfillment.

So, all through his growing up years, Isaac had a chance to think and ponder on these great truths and his personal uniqueness in God's plan.

B. Preservation

Then there was that really significant event that took place when he was a teenager. That time when God put his father, Abraham, to the ultimate test of faith. That time I mentioned earlier when Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac on an altar.

Gen. 22:7-8
7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

Imagine the horror that Isaac felt when he finally realized that he was going to be that lamb! Living among the Canaanites, he had heard of this grotesque practice of child sacrifice, but little did he consider that his father, would also be involved in this awful practice, too.

Try to put yourself in Isaac's place when his father, standing above him with a knife..., raised that knife in order to plunge it into his heart. Then just in the nick of time hearing the angel of the Lord calling to Abraham to stop what he was about to do.

Then think of the joy of being released from the alter, discovering the ram caught in the thicket, and helping his dad with the preparations of sacrificing that ram instead of himself.

All these things must have caused him to reflect on the goodness of God, and how he owed his life to God who freed from that alter.

C. Marriage

Finally, Isaac knew how God miraculously provided a wife for him–the beautiful Rebekah–who was from his father's family, a family who believed in God as he did. I think this is one of the most beautiful stories in the entire Bible. If you have time this afternoon, go home and read Genesis 24. You'll be touched at the love story and the handiwork of God in bringing these two people together.

Rebekah's brother Laban said this about the scenario, "This is from the Lord." It was so wonderful, that only God could have put something like this together.

Transition: So there you have it. Three vital events that set Isaac apart, that were designed to remind him of God's directing in his life–his early years of hearing of God's call on his family to be a blessing to all the other families of the earth; the sacrifice incident; and miraculously finding a life partner.

The Bible tells us that it was Isaac's custom to go out into the fields in the cool of the evening and meditate. Don't you think he must have rehearsed these events over and over in his mind, dwelling on their significance? What was it all leading to?

So, that's the first part of Isaac's story. A man full of promise. But we need to put this in contrast to the latter part of his life. For that we'll skip ahead about 20 years...

III. Later--Compromise

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Genesis 25. What we have here is Isaac at the age of 60, but he and Rebekah have no children yet. So, he prays for his wife, Rebekah, that she will conceive, and eventually she does.

But it is not an easy pregnancy. And it soon became evident that she was carrying twins. And those babies struggled inside her womb.

A. God's Revelation

Through this difficult 9 months, Rebekah asked God what was going on, and He revealed something of great importance to both her and Isaac...

Gen. 25:23
23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

Don't let this get past you. This was a radical message given to Rebekah and Isaac by God before the twins were born. Not only were the twins going to father two rival nations–what we know to be Israel and Edom..., but the elder of the two brothers would serve the younger.

In other words, God's promise to Abraham was not going to be accomplished in the normal way in Isaac's family. The first born was NOT going to have the promise of God carried out through him. The first born baby, Esau, would NOT be the recipient of God's covenant promise. Instead, Jacob, the younger one would receive this blessing. Just like God chose Isaac rather than Ishmael, Abraham's other son, He was now choosing Jacob instead of Esau.

So, when these boys were born, Isaac and Rebekah knew God's intentions to reverse the order from the way things normally were done. Basically, to give the privileges of the first born to Jacob, the second born... rather than Esau.

You would think that after 60 years of divine schooling that Isaac would have understood some things like...
–God is the sovereign ruler of history.
–God does all things according to His divine will.
–He always knows what He's doing and intends to do it.
–And His plans and His will, is not going to be put aside by a human's will.

Isaac had 60 years to learn those basic lessons. But NO! As it turned out, He still hadn't learned them ...

B. Favoritism

Gen. 25:27-28
27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents.
28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

To begin with, we have a classic case of parental favoritism. One parent prefers one child, and the other parent prefers the other child.

But one of the things I want you to see this morning is something everyone of us does from time to time. Isaac's deliberate choice in favorites was in direct opposition to what God had revealed to him and Rebekah.

And his motive for his preference was an extremely selfish one–he liked Esau's food!

Friends, let's get honest here. There's not one of us who can't identify with Isaac at this point. Everyone of us have demonstrated selfishness in some form or another toward God and His desires...
-it could be in our choice of music, where lyrics are diametrically opposed to God's values.
-it could be in how or on what we spend our money.
-it could be in our choice of entertainment.
-it could be in whom we go to for advice.
-it could be in our prideful attitude in our accomplishments and abilities.
-it could be in our refusal to get involved in the ministry life of this church.
-it could be in how you're choosing to spend your retirement years or free time.

It is only by understanding and identifying these similarities and tendencies in our own lives that we are prepared to understand the significance of the rest of Isaac's story.

C. Manipulation

In chapter 27 of Genesis, we move quite a bit further into the saga of Isaac's life. At this time, Isaac is old, and nearly totally blind.

But even though he's at the end of his life, he is still trying to manipulate God to do Isaac's will, rather than following God's will for Isaac. He's still compromising by trying to manipulate God to fulfill His promise, Isaac's way.

Here's the issue a nutshell...Isaac is determined, despite what God said, to make sure that Esau gets the blessing of the first born rather than Jacob.

He does this by sending Esau into the wild to hunt and bring back one last meal for himself. One commentator I read, called this "Esau's gastronomic masterpiece." After this grand meal of wild game, Isaac planned to give the family and inheritance blessing to Esau–not Jacob–before he died...IN DIRECT DEFIANCE TO WHAT HE KNEW THE WILL OF GOD TO BE.

But Rebekah heard Isaac's conversation with Esau, and with Jacob's help, tricked Isaac into doing God's will anyway.

NOW, I WANT TO PUT A PARENTHESIS HERE...
Scripture is not condoning the actions of this dysfunctional family. Because all four participants compromised their integrity in this deceitful incident.
Isaac--by rebelling against God's revealed will.
Esau--by breaking his oath to Jacob when he sold him his birthright.
Rebekah--by resorting to deceit in order to secure God's will.
Jacob--by willingly going along with his mother's plan of deceit, as an accomplice.

None of this is defensible. We don't have liberty to resist the will of God in rebellion or try to engineer the will of God by manipulating circumstances through deceit. Both of these - rebellion and deceit - are incompatible with the simple integrity of a follower of Jesus Christ.
END OF PARENTHESIS.

C. Recap

Let me RECAP this for you...

-As a young man, Isaac learned that God always fulfills his promise, and does what He says He is going to do.
-But as an old man, Isaac willingly and knowingly tried to frustrate the will and intention, and promise of God.

In short, he began his life as a man of promise, and he ended it as a man of compromise.

IV. Conclusion

Now, there are two points of application I want you to see this morning about God's ability to use you to do His work...

A. Don't make a compromise with surrender

The first point is this–Don't make a compromise with surrender.

I take that phrase from the quote on the front of your bulletins this morning that was made by the great English preacher, E. Stanley Jones...

If you make a compromise with surrender, you can remain interested in the abundant life, all the riches of freedom, love, and peace, but it is the same as looking at a display in a shop window. You look through the window but do not go in and buy. You will not pay the price for the abundant life—which is, surrender.
E. Stanley Jones (1884–1973)

Toward the end of his life, Isaac was NOT willing to let God be God? He could describe how God worked in difficult circumstances; he knew from experience all about God's care; he knew all about God's love and guidance... but he wasn't owning any of those things.

Instead, he tried to play God and manipulate circumstances to bring about what he thought should happen, rather than what God wanted to happen.

Listen friends, God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to let you stay there. He wants you to be more and more like Jesus, so you can offer an alternative to the values and lifestyles and decisions that are permeating our pagan culture in Palm Springs and the rest of this valley. Therefore, by your totally committed life, he wants to influence people to turn to a relationship with Him–the God who loves them and gave Himself for them.

Are you only window shopping for your Christian life? Or have you bought the clothes of a total follower of Jesus Christ? If you haven't made the commitment to buy into Jesus Christ being the total leader of your life–in every aspect of your life–then I'm afraid you've settled for second best in your life. You've compromised what is supposed to be sacred, with things that are secular.

And you must understand... God will not do Great Commission work through compromising people.

That's the first essential point of application that this story lays before us.

B. Despite your past, God will still use you.

Now, here's the second point of application–if you've been compromising, there's still hope...

Despite Isaac's rebellious past, God still used him. God refers to Himself, from this point on in the Bible, as the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob .

Don't miss this the importance of that phrase. This is something truly incredible. It speaks to the faithfulness and patience God had with Isaac!

Isaac became an essential part of God's kingdom plan, even though he had a past of rebellion.

But don't be confused. God is not faithful and patient so we can go on sinning. We need to repent of our sin–do a 180 degree turn from it–before God will use us. We know Isaac did this because of what it says in the beginning of chapter 28 of Genesis...

Genesis 28:1
1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him...

He stopped favoring Esau, and He did what God wanted him to do, by giving the firstborn blessing to Jacob. You see friends, when God makes that simple statement, that He is the God of Isaac– He's telling us that He still stands by any ordinary person in this room who has been... sinful, or rebellious, or selfish, or compromising in their faith. We've all been there–none of us is perfect.

So, be encouraged. Listen to the voice of God this morning. He's saying directly to you–a fellow ordinary person along with Isaac, "I was faithful to Isaac when he compromised, and I will remain faithful to you, as well. Just don't forget who I am and who you are–I'm God and you're not."

And if you're willing to let God be God in your life, then you're at the place where He can begin using you to do Great Commission work in the Coachella Valley and the world. 

Amen.