The Man in the Middle

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. (Hebrews 5:8).

When it comes to relay races, the 4 X 100-meter event at track meets always draws a big crowd. Four runners form one team, and one after another, run a single race. The most critical moments are when the baton is passed from one runner to the next. The last runner, called the anchor, is usually the fastest, while the first runner is the second fastest. Fans often know the names of these two members of the team and rise to cheer when they run. Runners #2 and #3, however, don’t usually generate much excitement. While they are running, spectators check their phones and eat their hot dogs. 

We can think of the four major characters in Genesis 12-50 as a relay team running the most important race in human history. When it begins, Abraham takes off with such speed and determination that everyone gasps in amazement. Fourteen chapters are needed to tell the story of his legendary run (Gen. 12-25). Running fourth, in the anchor position, is Joseph.

How that boy could fly! Another fourteen chapters are devoted to describing one of the most perfect races ever run (Gen. 37-50). The third runner, Jacob, attracts a surprising amount of attention. It takes eleven chapters to tell his story (Gen. 25-35). For a moment, it appears that he has dropped the baton. However, he manages to hold on to it and finish his leg of the race surprisingly well.

But that second runner in the relay – what was his name again? Oh yeah, Isaac. His run is described in one single chapter (Gen. 26). We might say that Isaac’s leg of the race is remarkable for being unremarkable! There are no major blunders, but neither are there any major triumphs. Isaac’s run produces more yawns than cheers. 

Although I certainly appreciate Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, I’ve come to have great respect for Isaac. Running in a relay of superstars, I think of him as the man in the middle. I can actually identify with him more than with the other runners because, for most of my life, I’ve found myself on a team where others are faster and generate more excitement. In comparison, my run seems rather ordinary, lackluster, and forgettable. What I like about Isaac is that his insignificance is so significant! You might say that this hero of the faith is helping me to understand what an extraordinary thing it is to be ordinary.

Sonship

As Abraham is the quintessential father, so Isaac is the quintessential son. Perhaps more than any other person in history, he exemplifies what sonship is all about. Only Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, surpasses him in this respect. Although there are perks and advantages to having Abraham as your father, don’t be fooled. Being a son is harder than you think! It means having an identity defined by someone else. It is to be dependent, derivative, and subordinate. Isaac will always be “Abraham’s boy.” Where fathers are proactive and strong, sons tend to be responsive and submissive. 

Compared to Abraham, Isaac appears drab, passive, and gullible, more victim than hero, a man of few words and prosaic deeds…  Yet despite – or is it because of? – the absence of large natural virtues, Isaac finally succeeds his father as a conveyer of the covenant. If such a son can inherit from his superior father and grow into his father’s replacement, perhaps anyone can. (Leon Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom, p. 353.).  

Isaac’s sonship is put to the test in a dramatic way on Mount Moriah when his father almost kills him (see Gen. 22). He is old enough and strong enough to resist Abraham’s actions but instead, he freely chooses to cooperate with the sacrifice his father needs to make. In no other single event is his sonship more magnificent than when he freely and fully surrenders to the will of his father. But even here, his heroic actions are overshadowed by those of his father. Whenever the story is told, it is typically Abraham, not Isaac, who is celebrated as the main character and hero in the drama. 

Passing the Baton

Abraham’s story begins with the divine command to “Go” (see Gen. 12:1). Isaac’s story begins with the divine command to “Stay” (see Gen. 26:3, NIV). The contrast is profound and sets the tone for how Isaac’s race will be so different from that of his father’s. Called to forsake everything and boldly go where no man has gone before, Abraham’s life is an exciting adventure of discovery and danger. Isaac’s call to stay home and mind the store seems bland and boring in comparison. Abraham is called to conquer new territory. Isaac is called to preserve and maintain what his father has won.  

The most important way that Isaac’s life echoes his father’s is in the renewal of the covenant. When the Lord appears to him, repeating the same promises he has made to Abraham, we know that the baton has been passed from one generation to the next (see Gen. 26:1-5, 24-25). Now, it is clear that Isaac is not just a son of Abraham, he is a true son of the covenant! His faith is no longer the mechanical repetition of the creed he has learned from his old man. Now, Isaac has a faith of his own.

It's tough to be the man in the middle, the second runner on a team of superstars. Isaac must have often wondered if he would ever be anything more than an echo; reliving the same promises, issues, and temptations that his father had known. He must have wondered if he would be a son forever. Would he ever be taken seriously as an adult? Was he named “laughter” because his life was a joke (see Gen. 21:1-7)? Would he ever become a father? As we watch Isaac run, we realize that he is a true superstar himself, succeeding in the one thing that really matters: passing the baton to the next generation. This is what makes him a hero that we should all aspire to imitate. 1

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1 For a more complete discussion of Isaac’s life, see chapter 20 in my book East of Eden: A Study of the Book of Genesis (Francis Asbury Press, 2022).