Rebecca Writes

This is the ninth post in a series from Hebrews 11. You’ll find all the posts on this series listed here.

Next on the list of faithful ancients in Hebrews 11 is Isaac.

By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. (Hebrews 11:20 NET)

When Isaac was an old man, he blessed his two sons, Jacob and Esau. You’ll find Isaac’s blessing of Jacob in Genesis 27:27-29 and his blessing of Esau in Genesis 27:39-40. Both blessings contain predictions of things that God would do long after Isaac’s death. Isaac would not see these future events, but in faith, he understood  the certainty of them.

That Isaac was fooled into blessing Jacob when he thought he was blessing Esau is not important to the point the author is making about Isaac’s faith. What is important is that Isaac spoke in faith concerning a future he could not see.