Isaac

Isaac was the long-awaited son of Abraham and Sarah, born when Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. His very name, meaning "laughter," commemorates Sarah's joyful response to God's fulfilled promise. Isaac's birth demonstrated that nothing is too hard for the Lord.

The most dramatic event of Isaac's early life was when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. Young Isaac carried the wood for the burnt offering up the mountain, innocently asking his father where the lamb for the sacrifice was. Abraham's faith and Isaac's trust were both rewarded when God provided a ram as a substitute.

When Isaac was forty years old, Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for him from among his relatives. The servant returned with Rebekah, and Isaac loved her deeply. After twenty years of marriage without children, Isaac prayed for his barren wife, and God answered with twins: Esau and Jacob.

Isaac lived a quieter life than his father, often re-digging the wells that Abraham had dug. He faced famine, experienced God's blessing in his crops, and made peace with his neighbors. In his old age, deceived by Jacob and Rebekah, Isaac inadvertently gave the blessing of the firstborn to Jacob instead of Esau. Isaac died at 180 years old and was buried by both his sons.