And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Genesis 25: 21
Intreated. This is a curious word. It’s not even recognized by WordPress as an English word anymore. Maybe because it’s old and quite frankly, I haven’t heard anyone use this in the last 31 years. According to my Bible dictionary, the word “INTREATED” means “a cry to the Lord for deliverance.” Like an emergency or an SOS on a really, really bad situation.
There were only three instances when this word was used in the Bible: when Isaac prayed for Rebekah’s pregnancy, when Moses prayed for the plagues of Egypt to stop and in the book of Job. All these were desperate circumstances.
Isaac knew that his lineage was going to be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. The problem was that it’s been at least eighteen years since he got married and he still had no son. He married Rebekah when he was forty. Eighteen years later, there were still no signs of a son to fill even a small crib!
Jewish tradition has it that Isaac went up to Mt. Moriah again with his wife to pray for a son. Moriah was the mountain where Abraham almost sacrificed him many years back. He went back there and “intreated” the Lord.
Not long after that, Esau and Esau were born. Few things can be said about Isaac’s faith:
First, even if he knew he was going to father many nations, he still waited for right woman. He could have married at a young age, you know, to get started with the promise as early as possible. He didn’t.
Second, unlike Abraham, he didn’t lay with his maidservant just to have a son. He didn’t try to “help” God make good of His promise. He waited. And prayed hard!
God’s reward was more than he asked for. He got twins. It was like God made up for the lost years when he had no baby to carry in his arms.
Amazing, isn’t it?
Jojo Agot 