THE BIRTH OF ISAAC Though Abraham left Sarah in the hands of the heathen king Abimelech, through failing to proclaim the marital nature of their relationship, however, God did not allow any harm to touch her, and brought her back to her husband to give birth to Isaac, the son of the promise, through whose descendants, all nations will be blessed. 1- The birth of Isaac 1-3. 2- The circumcision of Isaac 4-7. 3- The weaning of Isaac 8. 4- The son of inheritance and the son of the flesh 9-13. 5- Hagar and the well of water 14-21. 6- A covenant between Abraham and Abimelech 22-34. 1- THE BIRTH OF ISAAC “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to Him” (Gen. 21:1- 2). If Isaac came of Abraham’s seed, yet he was truly the gift of God to him and to Sarah, a fruit of God’s visiting to Sarah, and His promises to her and to her husband. That is why the Fathers saw Isaac, not as a natural son to Abraham, but as the “son of the promise.” The Scripture confirms: “The Lord visited Sarah,” and proclaims: “Sarah bore Abraham a son in his old age.” Namely, he is truly Abraham’s son yet he came in his old age, after God took away Sarah’s barrenness. And as we previously said, Sarah’s womb was as though dead, or like stones. From it came Isaac as a symbol of the Church of the New Testament, that was born from the new Sarah, and her members came from the Gentiles, as though from stones. And as St. Cyprian says: [We see in the Bible that “God raised up children to Abraham from stones,” having been gathered together from the Gentiles1.] Abraham and Sarah remained childless for a long time. Then God visited them with a son on a level fitting for the divine promise, to bring joy to their old age, and to the hearts of all mankind. He came at the time designated by God. God’s promises are true and honest; to be received in the right time, if we faithfully wait for them. That is why the apostle Paul confirms: “Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9). We shall reap our true Isaac, namely the transfiguration of the Lord Christ within us, if we do not lose heart in our spiritual strife, springing from the living faith that does not fade away. 2- THE CIRCUMCISION OF ISAAC In the eighth day, Abraham circumcised Isaac “As God had commanded him” (Gen. 21:4), as though Sarah is representing the Church, rejoicing in the spiritual birth of her children, through their circumcision, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, through the water of baptism. When man, by the Holy Spirit, takes off the old man, and puts on the new, that is according to the image of his Creator, the Church will be filled with spiritual ‘laughing,’ as she has got a son who brings joy to heaven. 3- WEANING OF ISAAC 1 Ep. 62:4. 4 “So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned” (Gen. 21:8). Abraham did not make a great feast on the day Isaac was born, but on the day he was weaned. Although we can not deny the great joy that filled the hearts of Abraham and Sarah and everyone on the day the child was born, yet Abraham wished to see Isaac grow from one stage to another, to reach maturity. I wish we are like Abraham, rejoicing not only for the birth of Isaac, but also for his weaning and maturation; namely to rejoice for every spiritual growth of our inner man, who is renewed continuously, hopefully, “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Origen comments on the weaning of Isaac, saying: [Isaac means (laugh) or (joy). Who can give birth to such a son?! The apostle Paul said to those he gave birth to, in the Bible, “You are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:20). When those born are weaned, we make a feast and greatly rejoice, as they no longer need to feed on milk, but on solid food (Hebrew 5:12), and “have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrew 5:14). A great feast is made on the day they are weaned; but there would not be any feast or joy for those of whom the apostle says: “I fed you with milk and not solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still unable, for you are still carnal...; I could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:2-1)1.] 4- THE SON OF THE INHERITANCE AND THE SON OF THE FLESH The great feast that Abraham made on the day Isaac was weaned had flared bitter feelings in Hagar and her son. Until recently Hagar saw her son as the sole heir to Abraham. These feelings were manifested in her son’s life, who scoffed at Isaac (Gen. 21:9), revealing a bitterness of soul, that he could not manage to hide; described by the apostle Paul as ‘persecution’ (Galatians 4:29); that led Sarah to request casting him out together with his mother, saying: “The son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac” (Gen. 21: 10). The matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight, counting it as unfair of Sarah. He could not disregard his own son, even though from a bondwoman. But God said to him: “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of the bondwoman. Whatever Sarah had said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. Yes, I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed” (Gen. 21:12-13). There is no doubt that Abraham’s heart got attached to his son, whom, for a long time saw as his only begotten. So when Isaac was born, it was not easy for him to cast the firstborn out. Yet, the divine command came that he is not to inherit. The apostle Paul interpreted for us what that command carried of a symbolic prophecy. The firstborn and older son came according to the flesh, while the second one came according to God’s promise, so represents children by spirit. The first refers to the Jews who held fast to the literality and formalities of the Law, and lived according to the flesh and not to the spirit, so they were cast out. The Church of the New Testament coming as the fruit of divine grace has the right to inheritance. Clearly, the apostle says: “He who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise; which things are symbolic. For these are the two 1 In Gen. hom 7:1. 5 covenants: the son from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar... Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, the children of promise. But as he, who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.’ So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free” (Galatians 4:23-31). As we received faith in the Lord Christ, we became by the Holy Spirit, children of Sarah the free (Church of the New Testament). But if we walk through the killing literality of the Law, and the spiritless formalities, we are retreating to the spirit of bondage, to be referred to the bondwoman. Origen says: [If you walk according to the flesh you become children of Hagar, so contradictory to those living according to the Spirit1.] If we walk according to the killing letter, and lived according to the flesh, we become like the carnal son, who represents the earthly first man. But if we walk by the Spirit, we become firstborn, not according to the flesh, but to the Spirit, and counted as spiritual. And as the apostle Paul says: “However the Spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man” (1 Corinthians 15:46-49). As we get Isaac within us, namely we bear the spirit of the living Bible, the killing letter of the Law would be cast out! 5- HAGAR AND THE WELL OF WATER In obedience to the divine command, Abraham sent Hagar and her 16 years old son away after providing them with bread and a skin of water, then bade them farewell early in the morning, hoping that they would find a shelter before the heat of the day. They headed south and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. As the water in the skin was used up, Hagar placed the boy exhausted of thirst, in the shade of one of the shrubs, saying to herself: “Let me not see the death of the boy” (Gen. 21:16), so she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept. While the infant Isaac has been satisfying his thirst through drinking from the springs of his parents’ love, the son of Hagar was drinking of a container made of the skin of dead animals. It could not satisfy his thirst for long, so that he remained in a condition of exhaustion and dehydration, close to death. It is a portrait that demonstrates the difference between the spirit of biblical life, and the carnal thought originating from the literality of the Law. If we receive the spirit of the Bible, we dwell in the tent, to satisfy our thirst from the spring of the love of God, our Father, and the Church, our mother. We would be like Isaac, satisfied by the love of Abraham and Sarah. But if we walked according to the killing letter, we shall wander in the wilderness, drinking from the dead skin, water that would soon dry up; then our inner souls would be subject to spiritual death. It is amazing that Hagar lifted her voice and wept, while the boy was too worn out to be able to talk or cry. However the silence of the boy had a louder voice to be heard by God, than the crying of his mother, as it is said: “God heard the voice of the 1 In Gen. hom 7:2. 6 lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, ‘What ails you Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is (Gen. 21:17). If Hagar represents the literality of the Law, those fallen under the Law, if they comprehend the death they face and cry out in their heart, they would be heard. Their eyes would be opened to see “a well of water” (Gen. 21:10), to drink from the living water that they denied themselves. The Scripture says: “And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. Then she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink” (Gen. 21:19). And as Origen says: [Today, the Jews, although close to the wells, yet their eyes are blinded, so that they can not drink out of the wells of the Law and the prophets1.] And he also says: [Our eyes are opened, and the veil of the literality of the Law is lifted up; but I fear that we would shut them ourselves anew, through deep sleep, our unawareness of the spiritual meaning, and our laziness in watching, and keeping the sleep away from our eyes, in order to contemplate in the spirituals, so as not to be deceived; lest we would be like carnal people, who although sitting by the water wells, yet they can not see them. Therefore, let us watch together with the prophet, saying: “I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty God of Jacob” (Psalm 132:4- 5)2.] Finally, Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt, a daughter of her own people. 6- A COVENANT BETWEEN ABRAHAM AND ABIMELECH We know how Abimelech had been very generous to Abraham, and allowed him to dwell on his land. Yet, as he saw him grow greater and greater, he realized that God was the secret behind his greatness and success, so he became apprehensive of him. That is why he came, accompanied by Phicol, the commander of his army, to ask Abraham to make a covenant with him, so that he would not deal falsely with him, with his offspring, or with his posterity. We previously talked of the great kindness with which that heathen king dealt with Abraham; and how, when he took Sarah, he did that in integrity of heart and innocence of hands, then how he generously treated both of them. And now, as he saw the great success of Abraham, he attributed that success to his relationship with God, and in place of envy and jealousy, he came prudently to ask for a covenant. We said that the word ‘Abimelech’ most probably was a title of the kings of Gerar, in order to let the people see the king as a father. ‘Abimelech’ thus meant ‘Father of a king.’ As to the commander of the army, he was usually called ‘Phicol,’ meaning ‘the mouth of all.’ He was probably like a prime minister, who speaks for the whole people. When Abimelech requested a covenant with Abraham, the latter reproved Abimelech because of a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized. Prudently and amiably, Abimelech assured Abraham that he knew nothing about it, and had not heard of it until that day. After making a covenant, Abraham gave sheep and oxen to Abimalech as a gift of love. Then he set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. When Abimelech inquired about the reason for that, Abraham said: “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hands, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well” (Gen. 21:30). It is called ‘Beersheba, namely ‘the well of the seven lambs,’ 1 In Gen. hom 7:5. 2 In Gen. hom 7:5. 7 up to this day. And in order to confirm his possession, Abraham planted, there, tamarisk trees, to set his tents under their shade. “There, Abraham called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And he sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days” (Gen. 21:33-34). We know of the great generosity of Abraham, and his persistent feeling as a foreigner that made him refrain from possessing anything. Why then did he reprove Abimelech for that well? Why did he insist on possessing it? Why did he call it ‘Beersheba,’ and why did he plant tamarisk trees around it? The ‘well’ surely refers to the Church, filled with the water of the Holy Spirit, granted by the Lord Christ from the Father. That is why Abraham presented the seven ewe lambs as a testimony of his possession of the well, as though he is selling everything, in order to acquire the fellowship of the Church, and to drink from the water of the Holy Spirit. As to calling it ‘Beersheba,’ that refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, especially in the seven sacraments. Planting the tamarisk trees around it, refers to the believers who gather around the waters of the Holy Spirit, and enjoy it in them (Ezekiel 48:7). By this, the everlasting God is glorified in them, and His name is given to them, even if the believers sojourned as foreigners in the world with Abraham many days.
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