In the previous chapter we saw the God of Abraham in His dealings with Abraham. In this chapter we want to see how God worked on Isaac and Jacob. Because the Bible considers Joseph as a part of Jacob, we want to see God’s history in the life of Jacob with Joseph.
WORKING ON ISAAC
We should not forget that we are studying the history of God, not merely the history of man. Now that we have seen the history of God in Abraham, we want to see the history of God in Isaac.
Raising Him as the Unique Heir to Abraham
God raised Isaac as the unique heir to Abraham to inherit God’s promise to Abraham and God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17:19; 21:10-12; 26:3-4). Some consider that Isaac was a good person, a meek person, and a person of prosperity. This is a superficial understanding. Actually, he was raised up to inherit the promise God gave to his father and the covenant God made with his father. God’s promise and God’s covenant are two great things inherited by Isaac.
Paul says that the unbelieving Gentiles were strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no participation in God’s promise (Eph. 2:12). Today, however, in Christ we inherit all of God’s promises and God’s covenant. God’s covenant with Abraham eventually became a new covenant promised to the people of Israel in Jeremiah 31:31-34, and that covenant was fulfilled when the Lord Jesus enacted it at His table (Matt. 26:26-30). Therefore, the real covenant of God to His elect actually is only one, and that one covenant is altogether concerning Christ. Christ is the centrality and universality of God’s covenant with His elect, and this covenant is the new covenant, the new testament.
Today we are destined by God to inherit His promise and His covenant. His promise is a precursor of His covenant, and His covenant is with Christ as the reality. What we inherit is Christ Himself. Isaac’s inheriting God’s promise to Abraham and God’s covenant with Abraham means that he inherited Christ. This is a part of God’s history.
Making Him a Type of Christ as the Son of Abraham
God’s working on Isaac made him a type of Christ as the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1 says that Christ is the son of David and the son of Abraham. God promised Abraham that the whole earth would be blessed in his seed. Then Paul says in Galatians 3 that this seed of Abraham, not many seeds, is Christ (v. 16). Therefore, Isaac was a person who is a type of Christ as the son of Abraham, the one who inherits the promise and blessing God gave to Abraham (Gen. 22:17-18; Gal. 3:16, 14).
As the Only Begotten Son of the Father
Isaac is also a type of Christ as the only begotten Son of the Father (John 1:14b; 3:16a).
Given by the Father All That the Father Has
Isaac is a type of Christ as the One who was given by the Father all that the Father has (Gen. 25:5; John 3:35; 13:3).