Isaac’s Simple Path to Significance
Parashat Toldot, Genesis 25:1-28:9
Haftarah, Malachi 1:6-9; 2:1-7; Brit Chadashah, 2 Timothy 2:14-26
R. Mordechai ben Shaul, Devar Emet Messianic Synagogue
We strive for a life of significance. This striving isn’t exclusive to naïve youths; on the contrary, I have witnessed even elders deceiving themselves to believe that the world would soon end and they would merit the restoration of the world (or the destruction of it), eager to find their own meaning. The world simply wouldn’t be able to go on without them – could it? We want to be the ones who start something new and fresh or see what was started reach its completion, for we see this as the source of our own significance. However, is it not completely possible for us to simply be a vessel to carry someone or something else a step forward? This small step may appear insignificant to us, but it is our share in God’s plan.
It is for this reason that I have always taken an interest in Isaac. As a Patriarch, Isaac is greatly underrepresented in the Torah. While Abraham has three parashiot and Jacob has two, this parashah is the only one that tells much of Isaac’s story and it is still shared with Jacob and Esau. So, while there is much that could be discussed this week about the twins, I’m going to focus on our second Patriarch, Isaac, and how he is a model that we should seek to follow in our lives.
First, Isaac was committed to his family and prayed for them. Isaac never doubted his own value in God’s plan. From the first verse of the Torah portion, Isaac is affirmed as the son of Abraham to carry forward his responsibility: “Now these are the genealogies of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac.” (Gen 25:1). Isaac fulfilled the first part of our Brit Chadashah reading in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Make every effort to present yourself before God as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth.” In fact, he was quite literally a living sacrifice, having been raised up on an altar and almost killed! Yet, even with that confidence, the Torah stresses Isaac’s continued prayer for his wife, Rebecca, for twenty years – not because he had a lack of faith, according to one midrash, but because he knew that God would provide him a child. It was possible, however, that this child would not come through Rebecca. Thus, he was committed to his wife. God responded to his prayer: twenty years of being barren and then suddenly they had twins!
Second, Isaac committed to living out God’s expectations for him even though he wouldn’t see the benefit. God commanded Isaac not to go to the lush land of Egypt but to remain in the Land of Israel. How much easier Isaac’s life could have been if he were allowed to take his wealth somewhere where he would be appreciated: perhaps lower taxes, lower consumer costs, folks that would value him. And yet, he remained in the Land of Israel and essentially became the first victim of proto-antisemitism. Consider Genesis 26:14-16:
[Isaac] acquired livestock of sheep and livestock of cattle, and numerous servants. Then the Philistines envied him. All the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham the Philistines stopped up and filled with dirt. So Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than us.”
First, the Philistines envied Isaac and committed downright destruction of property in violation of a promise that they had made to Abraham. Then they limited his access to residency. Even after Isaac dug wells himself, his neighbors quarreled over the water. And then, to top it all off, Abimelech and the Philistines requested a treaty with Isaac, acting like their actions thus far were somehow justifiable. What a premonition of what a Jew might experience even today!
What is Isaac’s response to his mistreatment? He avoids the ignorant disputes and quarrels. He knows that God will provide and allows himself to be mistreated by the wider public, in keeping with what our Brit Chadashah reading from 2 Timothy challenges us to do. Avoid meaningless disputes. Rather, we should pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace. Why? So that we too, like Isaac, can be vessels of honor for our Lord.
What does pursuing righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace look like? It means doing what God wants you to do – even when you won’t benefit!
This is similar to the kohanim and Levi’im who were called out in our Haftarah portion. Just as Isaac had a responsibility to reside in the Land and raise up his family, a kohen as a leader was similarly responsible to teach the people. And yet, our priests ultimately failed in their responsibilities – they sought more glory via power, as evidenced by the corruption of the Hasmoneans and the corruption of the Second Temple. And unfortunately, much of our leadership in the Jewish community, the wider body of Messiah, and our Messianic Jewish community has failed in this responsibility to teach and carry us forward. We seem caught up in temporary and meaningless disputes rather than seeking a common goal with one another and raising up our communities and our families. And this failure of leadership has permeated how we lead our families. We think we are ready for Messiah to come right now . . . but how might we change our actions if he would come in our grandchildren’s generation? We would hopefully act a lot like Isaac.
Maybe we have had it wrong this whole time: as a Messianic Jewish community we’re not some great explorers in uncharted waters. We are simply small, little boats ferrying the Lord’s mission a little closer to the Final Restoration. We are simply vessels and should not be surprised or offended when the rest of our neighbors do not respect or understand us. And we shouldn’t seek glory for our sacrifice. Rather, we should focus on our family and community and commit to God’s expectations for us. That, in and of itself, is our significance and it is an honor.
Scripture references are from the Tree of Life Version, TLV.