“And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:” (Ge 26:2 AV)
These words were spoken to Isaac during a time of famine. His father went into Egypt for the same reason. Yet, his father believed God and did not stay there. It appears Isaac did not have that same resolve. At least not until the LORD commanded him to leave Egypt once the famine had passed. The LORD instructed Isaac to seek relief in the land of the Philistines rather than to vacate to Egypt. Why? If Abraham did so, as mentioned in verse one, why wouldn’t Isaac also do the same? Egypt had changed. That is why. Egypt was on its way to becoming the world power of the age. They were growing and evolving into a mighty nation that had all that a nation could have. Their wealth and industry were second to none. The world’s system was well entrenched there and Egypt was on its way up. What was ok far Abraham was not ok for Isaac. What was ok for our parents may not be ok for us. What is ok for us may not be ok for our children. Things change, but the application of wisdom does not.
It was ok for our parents to go to most restaurants. However, because restaurants are more and more about serving alcohol, we have to be a bit more discerning. It was ok to go to the state fair. However, because of trouble that seems to be more common, it may not be a wise thing nowadays. It was ok for me to ride my bicycle all over the city. However, I couldn’t let my children out of our fenced-in yard. It was permissible to serve as a chaplain at a hospital in my younger years of ministry. However, with the transgender issue and the medical industry supporting the homosexual lifestyle, it had not become impossible. Things change. What we cannot do is lament the liberty our parents had, which we not do not have. This is where many families fail. They are either ignorant or do not care how much things have changed. The principles our grandparents used to keep our parents safe have not changed. They are still in force today. We would never have gotten into a car with someone we didn’t personally know. Today you call Uber or Lyft and don’t give it a second thought. Wisdom does not skip a generation. What was ok back then might not be today.
Isaac did not throw a fit. He didn’t accuse God of being unfair. He didn’t throw it is God’s face that dad was able to go to Egypt, but now he wasn’t. Isaac trusted the LORD that HE knew best. Instead of going to Egypt, he found relief in the land of Gerar. Isaac didn’t repeat some of the same mistakes that Abraham made. It took Isaac and Rebekah twenty years to conceive. In that time, Rebekah never gave a handmaid to Isaac to father a child. Abraham lied twice regarding Sarah as his wife. Isaac made that mistake only once. Isaac learned from the mistakes of his father. Abraham went into Egypt and that is where Hagar was from. Hagar is the mother of Ishmael, the half-brother to Isaac. I am sure it didn’t go without notice when the LORD told Isaac not to go into Egypt that Hagar and Ishmael may have been a concern. In short, we must trust the LORD for our specific set of circumstances. Just because the LORD allows some the liberty that He does not allow for us only means He cares for us. He knows what is best and we have to learn to trust that.
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