The Fickleness of Man
“So Isaac settled in Gerar.” (Genesis 26:6)
Our passage this morning stands as a testament to the might of even the strongest of saints. The Bible is littered with these vignettes for our encouragement and our humiliation. To understand this, let’s ask what is happening. First, a great famine hits the land, and Isaac is tempted to return to Egypt for safety. God, however, reaffirms the great covenant promises made to his father, Abraham, leading Isaac to stay in the Promised Land. However, Isaac follows this act of faithfulness with fickleness, for he pretends that Rebekah is his sister. (Sound familiar?) The best faith is mingled still with fickleness. But why?
On the one hand, God includes these accounts to humble us. We think far too highly of ourselves, overestimating our strength and underbudgeting our weakness. Need I remind us of Peter’s proudful boast? “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” (Matthew 26:33) What of David? David boasted of his steadfastness, but the Lord hid His face and David was dismayed (Ps. 30:6). The fickleness of these great men should lead us to humble ourselves to the dust, to account our strength to be as weakness, our brightest robes as spider’s webs (Isa. 59:6). Be it Isaac’s cleverness, Peter’s boastfulness, or David’s steadfastness, these are but the many flavors of pride that sever us from Christ. Truly, apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).
On the other hand, God reminds us of these men to encourage us. Isaac had a great fall, but he fell into God’s promise. God’s covenant promises are the sure foundation of our faith, not our own faithfulness. The promises made before Isaac’s sin continued long after, for the Lord blesses him in abundance (Gen. 26:12). God’s faithfulness always overcomes our fickleness. Our lives are filled from one end to the other with failings, shortcomings, and disappointments; but one thing that should never fill our life is despair. No matter how far we fall, we also fall into His everlasting arms (Deut. 33:27). Believer, I ask you a simple question. When (not if) you fail, where do you turn? Do you turn within to pull yourself up? Or do you plant your feet upon the faithful promises of our God?
