23. Isaac, who resembled his father!

23. Isaac, who resembled his father! “The children struggled together within her, and the Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.’” Isaac, the son of Abraham, was a pure man. When he was 40 years old, he took Rebekah as his wife, but she could not conceive. So he prayed to God, and the Lord heard his prayer and answered him. Thus, his wife Rebekah conceived, and twins were in her womb. When the time came for her to give birth, the first came out red and his whole body was like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau. Afterward, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob. As the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. However, this small favoritism of the couple provided the seed for the tragedy in their sons’ relationship. One day, Jacob was cooking some stew, and Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. This event drastically changed their future. When a famine struck the land, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines in Gerar, just as Abraham had done. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm‎ the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” So Isaac stayed in Gerar. When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.” When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.” Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” Thus, we see Isaac repeating the same mistake as his father Abraham. We live in what can be called the ‘genetic era.’ It is clear that the traits of parents are passed on to their children through genes, and now we can even manipulate these genes. This might have started as a consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis. The idea of manipulating genes disrupts the order of God’s creation and poses significant problems. Human greed and desire are immense. Even if it might lead to our destruction, we still want to try it for the convenience or benefit it might bring. This is evidence of human wickedness.