Deception continued

As we move on we see Isaac use the same lie as his father:

7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful."

8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?"
Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her." (Genesis 26)

Now, I'm thinking this is a different Abimelech than the one that Abraham lied to. If it was Abimelechs' son, that would be funny, as it would be history repeating itself with a younger generation!

Then in Genesis 31, Isaac's son Jacob wants to leave Laban, who he had been working for (who had also dealt deceitfully with Jacob- giving him Leah as a wife instead of Rachel whom he asked for):

19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. 20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21 So he fled with all he had, and crossing the River, he headed for the hill country of Gilead.

Is running away the best solution? Jacob had to travel with women and children, probably making him an easy target for Laban to catch up to (which he does- and likely only survives because God protects him).

But what is up with Rachel? Why would she steal the idols? That would seem to indicate that she did not have the same faith as Jacob? Maybe she felt an attachment to them from childhood.

There seems to be some measure of deception in everyone's life. That humans by nature are to some degree deceptive. That they can't 100% trust God. And yet God still loved them and chose them and redeemed them.

But then there is Genesis 22:12, where God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac and he comes close, but God says:

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

I think that after all Abraham went through to get a son, he might have been more reluctant! Our children are gifts from God :)