At long last, Abraham has a son, conceived under the law. It is true that he already had a son, Ishmael, whom he loved, no doubt. But Isaac would be the son born to Abraham's wife, Sarah. He was the son of promise . . . the one through whom the faith of Abraham would be realized. The promise of land, and of a great nation, would come through the descendants of Isaac.
But Ishmael, too, would produce a great nation.
Like so many other cases of sets, or pairs of brothers, in the Bible, the two sons of Abraham would become rivals to each other. More often than not, their rivalry would be violent.
Cain and Abel.
Esau and Jacob.
Joseph and his brothers.
Moses and the birth son of Pharaoh.
Etc. Even our pop culture, and much temporal history, is rife with the story of rival brothers. It is something we can all relate to.
Jesus told parables about the sons of planters; of favored sons; of sons that built the father's empire, or squandered his riches. We can relate to stories about sons.
A parent is supposed to love his children unconditionally. It must never be said that a father did not support the efforts of his children. We are told that, in the end-times, children will be estranged from their parents. It is incumbent upon all of thus - - - those that know to be on the lookout for such developments, not to the ones that fulfill the prophecy.
In the affairs of parents and their children, we much fight to keep those connections strong. Fight the impulse to reject your child, even if his or her choices are particularly loathsome. Reject the deed. Accept the child. Very often, froward decisions on the part of the young, are precisely because they don't feel loved.
Let that not be the case.
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