I hear about pastors who fall into immorality and I always think, “What could have happened?” I am tempted to think that could never happen to me. Paul warns us that we are never to think “not me,” because we too are susceptible. Given the right circumstances anyone could fall. I once read that if we were given the right circumstances most people would have obeyed Hitler. When famine struck the land where Isaac dwelt he took off for Egypt, just like his father had done. It has always been Israel’s practice to go to Egypt when things got tough in the land. Abraham did it. The whole nation will do it, and here Isaac did it. Egypt was the place to run when a famine struck. In chapter 26, Isaac stops in Gerar, just like his father did, on his way to Egypt. There he encounters the Philistines and in the same situation as his father Abraham, he tells the Philistines that Rebekah is his sister rather than his wife to protect his life.  His father had done the same thing.

Sarah was an expert at eaves-dropping. She seemed to be around to listen in on Abraham’s conversations and even snickered at what she would hear sometimes. Rebekah, like Sarah, had become a skilled eavesdropper also. When Isaac called his son Esau to him to give him the final family blessing, Genesis 27:5 says, “Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau.” She immediately acted to counter-act her husband’s intentions and devised a plan by which her favorite son, Jacob, would receive the blessing that Isaac intended for Esau. Families are intended to support each other, not to scheme against each other. Loving is the key word in family relationships, not lying. We’re supposed to complement each other not compete with each other. Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel are also children of their parents.

Isaac had learned how to lie from his father, Abraham. The women learned it from their families as well.  It’s in the genes! All were children of Adam. It is in the blood. We have the same blood. The encouraging thing for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel as well as for you and me is that God loves us anyway. We inherited the same blood line and struggle with the same propensities, yet there is still hope for us. God praises the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the women and even says that “He (God) is not ashamed to be called their God” (Hebrews 11:16). That’s true with us too. Though we too fall and fail, our God is not ashamed to be called our God. How comforting is that?