In the spiritual walk, it is not uncommon for the second generation to abandon the faith of their fathers. St. Patrick was reared in the home of a devout deacon of the church but thought Christianity was of little importance to his life. When he was taken captive by the Irish barbarians and forced into slavery he was pressured by circumstances to seek the God of his father. 

St. Augustine writes in his wonderful little book, Confessions, about his disregard for the deep faith of his mother. Not until years later, well into adulthood did he finally repent of his sensuous lifestyle and turn to singleness of faith in Jesus. 

Again, we can consider the great preacher and commentator Arthur W. Pink who scorned his father’s passionate love for Jesus Christ turning to become a prominent teacher in a philosophical cult. Years later he saw the truthfulness of the Christian faith and gave him the remainder of his life to selfless service to preach and teach the faith of Jesus. 

As we study the text before us we can see that Isaac was traveling through just such a spiritual no-man’s-land. He wasn’t in outright disobedience but he was clearly not living in joyful and humble faith to the God of his father.