Central to our walk with the Lord is a covenant relationship. It defines who the Lord is to us and who we are to Him. The Lord makes this covenant personal to each individual willing to hear His voice and accept the promise of God.
Isaac, like Abraham before him, was given the opportunity to enter into covenant with God when the Lord appeared to Him and said, “I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” (Genesis 26:3).
The Lord then promised to multiply the descendants of Isaac as He had to Abraham but then the Lord makes a curious statement when saying He will bless the nations through these descendants, “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” (verse 5).
Scholars and teachers greater than I, have argued about what this passage refers to. Did Abraham have an advance copy of the Sinai commandments given to Moses? Was Abraham in possession of the writings of Enoch? Or is the Lord referring to what He had spoken to Abraham, such as circumcision and the like?
The truth is that we don’t have the full answer. In Genesis 25:27 we find that Jacob was a “mild” man dwelling in tents. Mild is how the King James renders the Hebrew word tam that is better translated complete, pious, perfect, undefiled, and upright.
Some would argue that Jacob was reading and studying in his tent. His focus was on the promise of God and this is why he wanted to take his brother’s birthright and why Esau didn’t care about it.
The faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not a faith without action. Isaac was given the option to stay in the land of promise and join the covenant given to his father or go to Egypt.
This is why Christians should be careful when handling the word of God in faith through grace. Obedience to the Lord is important to our walk with Him. That is why Paul states in Galatians 3:21, “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not!”
He goes on to state that the law does not give life and this is true but faith without obedience is not really faith, is it?
“Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” James 2:22
How we live as Christians matters. The things we do will not save us but our saving faith is proved by the action we take, including our willingness to learn more about the promises of God and the life we should live as we walk with Him.