Isaac
From Conservapedia
Isaac(Hebrew יִצְחָק) was the son of Abraham by his wife Sarah and the acestor of the Israelites as recorded in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament in the Bible. In Hebrew, the name Isaac means "he laughs", probably a reference to the joy felt by his parents having a child when they were already well along in years.
Abraham had Isaac when he was 100 years old and Sarah was 90. (Genesis 21:5)
One day God told Abraham to take his son Isaac up a mountain and sacrifice him on a rock. When Abraham was about to do it, God stopped him and said that really He was just testing Abraham's faith. God provided another sacrifice to be put in Isaac's place, a story which Christians see as a foreshadowing of Jesus.
Isaac went on to have two children Esau and Jacob through his wife Rebekah. He favored Esau over Jacob, but was greived with Esau when he married two Hittite women. Nevertheless he tried to give Esau the blessing of the firstborn when he was very old and blind and near death. Thanks to Jacob and Rebekah, Jacob tricked Isaac by putting on goat skins to make Jacob feel rough like Esau. Isaac gave the following blessing to Jacob:
Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed. Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations fall down to you. Be master over your bretheren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you! (Genesis 27:27b-29)
Isaac found out the mistake but could not onto what he had done. He therefore gave Esau a lesser blessing:
Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the eart, And the dew of heaven from above. By your sword you will live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.
Because of Esau's rage, Rebekah convinced Isaac to send Jacob to his uncle for a wife supposedly. Isaac sent Jacob away. Jacob eventually returned with his large family at Mamre or Kirjath Arba (Hebron). Isaac died at the old age of 180 years old. (Genesis 28, & 35)
