Biblical Examples
“God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you”. Genesis 17:3-7)
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. (Genesis 17:20)
Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah (Genesis 25: 1-4)
In our discussion about Abraham we have referenced his father and his wife we have not yet talked about his sons. Isaac is referenced in the scriptures as the son through home God would fulfill His promise. (Genesis 17:19) He serves as the prototype for father and son redemptive relationships for this work. The nature of this type of relationship is that the son and the father become mutually supportive of each other in a way that is beneficial to each other and the community. We will consider Isaac’s role in partnering with Abraham in his well known sacrifice of his “only son”. (Genesis22:2) We will also look at Gideon’s destruction of the father Joash’s false gods and Joash’s resultant faith. Jonathan son of Saul is another example of humility, courage and redemptive wisdom that blesses and honors his father. Additionally we will give credence to various cultural views of the father son relationship. If the nature of marriage is a reflection of the church and its relationship with Christ then truly the relationships between fathers and sons reflects the nature of the Godhead itself. Never was the voice of the Father every clearer in the ears of mankind than when it said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."(Matthew 3:17)
“Few male-male relationships may be more socially significant than that between father and son. While the strength and influence of friendships, work partnerships, and even fraternal relationships often waxes and wanes over the life course, fathers and sons can affect each other's lives substantially, in both positive and negative ways, even during sons' adult lives (see Beatty & Dobos, 1993). The father-son relationship has been found to be an important predictor of sons' parenting style (Simons, Beaman, Conger, & Chao, 1993; Simons, Whitbeck, Conger, & Wu, 1991), sons' communication behaviors (Buerkel-Rothfuss & Yerby, 1981; Fink, 1993), relational closeness between the father and son (Ivy & Backlund, 1994; Messner, 1992; Reid & Fine, 1992; Sillars & Scott, 1983; Wellman, 1992), sons' relational communication with his spouse (Beatty & Dobos, 1993), sons' attitudes toward sexuality (Fisher, 1987), and sons' emotional health and relational success in adulthood (Beatty & Dobos, 1993; Berry, 1990). Indeed, Bochner (1976) argued that communication within the family of origin shapes how men communicate in nearly every area of their lives.
Abraham and Isaac
Abraham and Isaac relationship was mutually influential. This is especially true in regards to Isaac role in his sacrifice. Numerous commentators are in agreement that Isaac was not a child at the time of the sacrifice but a full grown man.
“Several commentators have weighed in on this question. Leupold wrote: “He may by this time have arrived at the age of some eighteen to twenty years” (1942, 1:625). Josephus stated: “Now Isaac was twenty-five years old” (1.13.2). Adam Clarke said: “[I]t is more probable that he was now about thirty-three” (1:140, emp. in orig.). Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown asserted that Isaac was “then upwards of twenty years of age” (n.d., p. 29). J. Curtis Manor described him as “a youth of sufficient strength and agility to carry a load of firewood up a mountainside” (1994, p. 103). Keil and Delitzsch affirmed that “this son had grown into a young man” (1976, 1:248). Morris added: “[T]he meaning in Isaac’s case should also be ‘young man’ ” (1976, p. 373).”
If it is assumed that Isaac was 20 and Abraham was 120 it can be deduced that that Isaac could have easily overpowered his father or at least escape the consequences of the sacrifice as described in the scriptures. (Genesis 22:9) However, Isaac allowed himself to be bound. The journey to the sacrifice was three days long. (Genesis 22:4) Abraham would have contemplated this moment throughout the entire journey. Paul the Apostle tells us that Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead.
“Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.” (Hebrews 11:9)
Matthew Henry commentaries provide Abraham with the honor due his faith.
“The greatest trial and act of faith upon record is, Abraham's offering up Isaac, Ge 22:2. There, every word shows a trial. It is our duty to reason down our doubts and fears, by looking, as Abraham did, to the Almighty power of God. The best way to enjoy our comforts is, to give them up to God; he will then again give them as shall be the best for us. Let us look how far our faith has caused the like obedience, when we have been called to lesser acts of self-denial, or to make smaller sacrifices to our duty. Have we given up what was called for, fully believing that the Lord would make up all our losses, and even bless us by the most afflicting dispensations?”
Biblical teachers should be as interested in Isaac’s faith as they are Abraham’s. The scriptures are surprising brief in its description Isaac’s faith, only one verse, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future”. (Hebrews 11:20) This passage is brief but it tells us much about Isaac and his understanding of his redemptive role within his generation and his place. Isaac’s name means happy. He was happy because he fulfilled his role within his generation and passed it on to the next. He did this by faith. Isaac knew of his supernatural conception. He could have allowed that supernatural conception to create in him the expectation of greater task than his father. However he remained humble throughout his life. This humility was always connected to his honoring of Abraham. Isaac recognized his father’s power, and authority through God and his dominant role as the man through whom God made his promises.
“power, authority, dominance, and control are relevant to a gendered closeness approach to affectionate communication because they are inherent to almost every description of the traditional masculine gender role. For example, David and Brannon (1976) categorized four basic themes of masculinity, one of which they called the "Big Wheel." According to this theme, masculinity is measured by success, power, status, and the admiration of others.
Isaac did not lack power or authority, but he knew they began with the relationship that was established between his Father and God. Isaac would renew this relationship with God himself and he knew that his sons would be required to do the same. That is why he blessed them in regards to their future. The follow passage demonstrates Isaac faith in a time of famine and the connection of his success with the promise made to his father.
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring]all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws." So Isaac stayed in Gerar. (Genesis 26:1-5)
Isaac was also a man of power in his own right and grew in favor with God and man as well.
“Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us." (Genesis 26: 14-16)
Isaac is a man that we may describe as inheriting a generational blessing from his father and therefore would be expected to prosper and grow in power and influence. However there are other examples in the scriptures of men that were born without this favor but their life was still redemptive for them, their father and the community in which they lived. Gideon is the best example of this. We will pick up his story in the next blog of this series. Judges 6 will be our reference mark.
Affectionate Communication between Fathers and Young Adult Sons: Individual-And Relational-Level Correlates. Contributors: Mark T. Morman - author, Kory Floyd - author. Journal Title: Communication Studies. Volume: 50. Issue: 4. Publication Year: 1999. Page Number: 294. COPYRIGHT 1999 Central States Communication Association; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
http://www.questia.com/read/5001897326?title=Affectionate%20Communication%20between%20Fathers%20and%20Young%20Adult%20Sons%3a%20Individual-And%20Relational-Level%20Correlates
Miller, David Copyright © 2003 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved. http://apologeticspress.org/articles/2319
http://bible.cc/hebrews/11-19.htm
Henry, Matthew. Concise commentary http://bible.cc/hebrews/11-19.htm
Affectionate Communication between Fathers and Young Adult Sons: Individual-And Relational-Level Correlates. Contributors: Mark T. Morman - author, Kory Floyd - author. Journal Title: Communication Studies. Volume: 50. Issue: 4. Publication Year: 1999. Page Number: 294. COPYRIGHT 1999 Central States Communication Association; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
http://www.questia.com/read/5001897326?title=Affectionate%20Communication%20between%20Fathers%20and%20Young%20Adult%20Sons%3a%20Individual-And%20Relational-Level%20Correlates
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