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Father and Son Pictures

      Consider the following facts:

• Both Avraham and Isaac had barren wives, Sarah and Rivkah.
• Both Avraham and Isaac experienced a famine in the Promised Land.
• Both Avraham and Isaac pretend their wives are their sisters.
• Both Avraham's and Isaac's shepherds had disputes and fought with others.
• Avraham's shepherds disputed with Lot's servants. Isaac's servants disputed with the shepherds of Gerar.
• Both Avraham and Isaac made a pact with Abimelekh.
• Both Avraham and Isaac had two sons, only one of which obtained the blessing of Genesis 12:1-3!!!

      Doesn't it strike you as amazing that Isaac's life is almost a mirror image of his father's? Although Isaac generally responds differently to each circumstance, the events of Avraham's life have repeated themselves in Isaac's life. Could these striking thematic connections be teaching us something about the Divine Nature? I think so. Thematically, it seems as if Isaac is doing everything His Father has done. With this in mind, let us consider John 5:17-38.

• Note how Yeshua stated that He did the works of His Father (John 5:17). ·
• Note how the Jews realized Yeshua was making Himself equal to the Holy One (John 5:18).
• Note how Yeshua stated that He only did what the Father did (John 5:19).
• Note how Yeshua can raise the dead because the Father raises the dead (John 5:21).
• Note how Yeshua stated that men should honor the Son as they Honor the Father. Did you notice how Abimelekh eventually honored Isaac even as he had honored Avraham?

      In John 8:33-59, Yeshua was trying to convince the Jews that He was the Father's Son. He did so by showing them that He performed the works of His Father. Then, he showed them that they couldn't be Avraham's descendants because they didn't do the works of Avraham. Therefore, we see that just as Isaac did the works of his father Avraham, so likewise, Yeshua did the works of his Father! In John 10:22-42, Yeshua stated that He did His Father's works. In John 10:30, Yeshua summed up the matter by simply stating that He and the Father were echad (one)! Note the perception of the Jews in John 10:33!

      They knew exactly what He was stating. They knew He was making Himself equal to the Father. So what is the Torah teaching us through the vast connections between the lives of Avraham and Isaac? Since Isaac found himself in nearly every situation that Avraham found himself, he had to respond to each situation as did his father Avraham. In other words, the Holy One "forced" Isaac to do the same works of his father Avraham by putting him in the same situations that Avraham found himself. We can easily state that Isaac did the works of his father! The fact that Isaac experienced everything that Avraham did paints a beautiful picture of the relationship between Yeshua and the Father. It's almost as if Isaac is the same as the Father. Almost every situation of Isaac's life reminds us of his father's life. We know that Avraham is a picture of the Father and Isaac is a picture of Yeshua, right? Therefore, by 1) thematically connecting Avraham to the Father, 2) thematically connecting Isaac to the Son, and 3) thematically connecting Avraham and Isaac through almost identical life experiences, the Torah has taught us about the oneness of Yeshua and the Father! The lives of Avraham and Isaac teach us that the Father and Yeshua are echad. This is the teaching rooted within the narratives of the Torah. This is the Torah's Revelation of the Divine Nature.