A Kingdom Key Devotional by Bishop Thomas Wesley Weeks, Sr.
Breaking Generational Curses - Conclusion
We can begin to understand Abraham’s behavior, as we understand his father. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of meeting with the family of the one you intend to marry. Determine the generational curses of that family and then decide if you still want to marry. Remember, you are marrying more than just a pretty or handsome face. You are marrying generations! Abraham disguises the journey with Isaac as a father and son picnic. Isaac is delighted. He is getting a rare opportunity to spend quality time with his dad. He is probably thinking, just maybe Dad is over the loss of Ishmael being sent away, and now he (Isaac) can step up and be the son of not only the promise, but of his dad's heart. Now, Abraham loves Isaac. Matter of fact, the first time love is mentioned in the Bible is in describing Abraham's feelings for Isaac . And it was God doing the describing. (Genesis 22:2) Abraham loves his son, but his son doesn’t know it .
"How easy it is for us to hide our feelings toward someone when we are imbedded in our own issues. Dealing with our own pain and challenges numbs us to the effect we are having on loved ones around us. We strike out over issues that mean little. We overreact with uncalled-for hostility when sensitivity would have been a much wiser reaction. We make quick decisions; we don't communicate and we see things that are not there. Stop, get some rest and stop carrying things you cannot fix. Release yourself from the burden of past evils and sins. What is done is done. Thank God for a God that listens, understands, forgives and blesses. "
We can now understand more clearly the next sequence of events as we recognize Abraham's own separation from his father and the insensitivity his father may have had toward him. Early in the morning Abraham awakens his son and takes him on a journey without giving Sarah any warning of what is about to happen . There are no tender moments during the trip up the hill. The only conversation recorded is when Abraham tells his servants to stay at the camp while he and Isaac go further up the mountain to worship. Isaac knew whenever they worshiped there would be a sacrifice but he saw none. When he asked his father about the absence of a sacrifice, the reply he got was that the Lord would provide Himself a sacrifice . While Isaac carried the wood for the sacrifice, his father carried the fire and a knife. Many talk about the willingness of Isaac to die. That is not what the Bible recorded. The Bible says Abraham bound his son Isaac .(Genesis 22:9) . Isaac loved life just like you and I do and must have been very distraught at the thought of his father wanting to kill him. Can you imagine the thoughts of Isaac as his father began to forcibly tie him and put him on the altar? I didn't say good bye to mama. I didn't do anything wrong. Why don't you love me? Is it because of Ishmael? Please let me see my mother . Let me touch her and hear her voice. I need to say goodbye to my mother.
This moment had to be repeated many times over in his dreams along with the question why? Why would my father do this to me ?God doesn't kill children. Why would he want to kill me? Every day thousands of lives are scarred because of the destiny someone else is pursuing. Their motives may be good, or they may be evil. But even good motives will leave scars if we are not sensitive to the wounded areas of our lives and the vulnerability of the lives we touch.
All Abraham was trying to do was to be faithful to God. Yet, in so doing he perpetuated the curse (of insensitivity) from his life into the life of his son . When Isaac was released off the altar after God stopped Abraham from putting the dagger in his heart, he ran away as fast as he could. He did what any young child would do in his predicament. He ran to Mommy and told her everything . Isaac, hysterical and out of breath, begins to scream the events of the past three days to an angry and upset Sarah. She did what any mother would do when faced with a similar predicament. She moved out with the only son that God had given her in her old age and protected him from a man whose insensitivity no one understood . A careful reading of Genesis 22-25 indicates that after Isaac ’s release from the altar he is never recorded in the presence of Abraham again until his death. Sarah is not recorded in Abraham’s presence again until her death . The Bible indicates that when Sarah died, Abraham left his home in Beer-sheba and traveled to Kirjatharba in Hebron to mourn and weep for Sarah . He bought a burial plot and buried her there. Abraham had the responsibility of securing Isaac's bride but he never saw her . After Abraham's servant brought Abraham's great niece from Abraham's family homestead in Haran, the servant carried her directly to where Isaac was living in Lahairoi. In turn, Isaac brings her into his mother’s tent where now he is comforted, having received no comfort from his father. Probably, had his father offered, he would have refused.
Many commentators speak of Isaac's mediocrity as compared to his father Abraham and his son, Jacob. Maybe, if they or we had to cry for our life on an altar with the predator being our father, we would have done well just staying out of an asylum. This is the pain that Isaac must now deal with and overcome if he is going to attain greatness. Of course this is much easier said than done. Break the generational curse!
