It seems Isaac literally follows in his father’s (Abraham’s) footsteps.
Now there was a famine in the land and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live… For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky… and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed…’ When the men of [Gerar] asked him about his wife, he said, ‘She is my sister,’ because he… thought, ‘The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.’ When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, ‘She is really your wife! Why did you say, “She is my sister”?’ Isaac answered him, ‘Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.’ Then Abimelek said, ‘What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.’ ” (v1-10 abr)
There are multiple parallels between Isaac and Abraham in this chapter: living in Gerar near the Philistines and King Abimelek, telling people his wife is his sister, the continued promises from God regarding the land and offspring, extreme wealth, and disputes over water (well) rights.
One main contrast between Isaac and Abraham, however, is that Abraham refused to make any formal agreements with Abimelek, but Isaac does (v26-31). The chapter doesn’t really specify the terms of their agreement, but it was probably over land or water rights, or a peace treaty of some kind seeing how Abimelek was afraid of Isaac who was “too powerful for us”.
Oath with the King or not, it is clear the God is partnered with Isaac, just as He was partnered with Abraham. There are five references to God’s blessing on Isaac and his descendants in this chapter (v3,4,12,24,29) so clearly God was with Isaac.
One last thing I’ll mention that’s a footnote on this chapter: “When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.” (v34) Remember how we talked about Esau making impulsive and poor decisions? I’m not trying to be criticize him, but I’m hoping we can learn from his rashness. Esau’s wives, were both Hittites, whom Abraham explicitly did not want Isaac marrying. This decision officially removes Esau from the Abrahamic – he lost his birthright, and now he forfeited the bloodline birthright of his descendants as well. And unfortunately, “They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” (v35) Enough said.
Father God, please help me to obey do everything You require of me, keeping Your commands, decrees, and instructions. May my heart’s motives be pure in that as well, not obeying simply as a way to seek blessing, but obeying out of response to who You are – the Lord God Almighty, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. Father, if Your blessing does fall on me, would it be an example to those around me (such as it was to Abimelek) so they may come to know You. Praise be to You, Yahweh Nissi, whose name we wish to all those around us, like a banner in a victory celebration.
~ Conqueror in Training