Commemoration of Isaac - 2012

Commemoration of Isaac

Thursday, August 16, 2012

The Lord be with you

Sacrifice of Isaac, Rembrandt

Today is set aside to remember the patriarch Isaac, the long promised and awaited son of Abraham and Sarah. He was born when his father was one hundred years old and his mother was ninety-one years old. The announcement of his birth brought both joy and laughter to his aged parents (thus the name Isaac, which means “laughter’). As a young man, Isaac accompanied his father to Mount Moriah, where Abraham, in obedience to God’s command, prepared to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. But God intervened, sparing Isaac’s life by providing a ram as a substitute offering (Genesis 22:1-14), thus pointing to the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world. Isaac was given in marriage to Rebekah (Genesis 24:67), and they had twin sons, Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:19-26). In his old age, Isaac, blind and feeble, wanted to give his blessing and chief inheritance to his favorite – and eldest – son Esau. But through deception Rebekah helped Jacob receive his father’s blessing instead, resulting in years of family enmity. Isaac died at the age of 180 and was buried in the family burial cave of Machpelah by his sons, who by then had become reconciled (Genesis 35:28-29).

Prayer: Almighty God, heavenly Father, through the patriarch Isaac You preserved the seed of the Messiah and brought forth the new creation. Continue to preserve the Church as the Israel of God as she manifests the glory of Your holy name by continuing to worship Your Son, the child of Mary; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Treasury of Daily Prayer, CPH, 628-9)

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor John Rickert