Knowing God - Genesis 31:42

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[You are]

the God of Abraham

and the Fear of Isaac

Genesis 31:42

Fear is not a pleasant word. It provokes images of gunmen, snakes, heights, and giving speeches in front of large crowds. It is something real men are not supposed to admit.

Fear in the Bible has an additional meaning. The fear of the Lord is often described as "awe" and "profound respect." But why the differentiation here between Abraham and Isaac?

I would guess -- and it's nothing but a guess -- that it was a matter of relationship. Abraham talked to God regularly. They were familiar and intimate. And while Isaac had a relationship with God, it could never be as close as his father Abraham's. That was a singular moment in history.

Say, for example, that I grew up with the President of the United States. Say that we played basketball together on the courts of Chicago and spent the night at one another's houses. Say that I was one of six people in the world who called him "Barry" instead of "Barack." And say that one day I took my son to the Oval Office to meet him. Now, I would be respectful, because he is the President, but while I'm still calling him Barry, my son would be in awe, almost bowing, nearly silent, and muttering only "yes, sir" and "no, sir."

I don't know about you, but I want a relationship with God like Abraham's.  

In Christ's Love,

an Isaac who's trying to be

more like my Father