Isaac, son of Abraham, was a central figure in the founding of the Jewish people. Both he and his father had played extraordinary roles in the Bible. However, Isaac's life similarly reflected that of Abraham when compared to that of his father. There are many other things that he did that his father had also done during his life. Isaac was a God-fearing man who loved his family and sought to raise his children in the wisdom and nature of the Lord. Isaac was born as the son of the promise to Abraham and Sarah. Her mother Sarah was barren and despite God's promise that she and her husband Abraham would have a son, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This was done by giving his Egyptian maid, Hagar, to Abraham to conceive a child. This led to the birth of a boy, whose name was Ishmael. As a result of their actions, God declared that this child would not be the heir of the blessing or covenant that God made with Abraham. The story of Isaac's birth occurred when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old. God made both of them the promise of a son. When Abraham heard God's promise, he laughed, being such an old man (Genesis 17:17). The same happened later when Sarah also heard the promise (Genesis 18:9-15). As a result, Isaac was born with a name that meant laughter as that was his parents' reaction. This can only be understood once we have acquired a thorough understanding of it, otherwise we would not have known what the name Isaac meant. Continuing the story, Sarah, who was Isaac's mother, died when he was only 28 years old (Genesis 23:1). When Abraham's turn came to approach death, he is said to have called his eldest servant, Eliezer, and made him promise that he would go and find a wife for Isaac in Abraham's former homeland of Nahor. Eliezer packed his bags and left as he promised. When Eliezer arrived, he prayed to God to show him which woman should be Isaac's wife. God then showed him with a sign that a woman named Rebekah, granddaughter of Abraham's brother Nahor, was the one who would be Isaac's wife. Eliezer revealed his intention to Laban, Rebekah's brother, and to her mother, Bethuel. They agreed to let her go and asked her if she agreed to this arrangement and so she did. When they arrived at Isaac's house, it wasn't long before Rebecca and Isaac were married. Rebekah was barren like Isaac's mother, but Isaac prayed for God to intervene and God did. God told Isaac that he would conceive twins, representing two nations. These boys were born as Esau and Jacob. Subsequently there was a famine in the country. Isaac looked for food in Gerar, in the land of the Philistines, as his father Abraham had once done. However, like his father, he also pretended that his wife was his sister, so as not to be killed by someone who wanted her. It was soon revealed and Isaac was told to leave. As Isaac's sons grew up, his younger son tricked Isaac into giving him his brother's blessing. This resulted in extreme conflict between the boys and Jacob ran away to return to his mother's homeland. On the other hand, Esau went ahead and married pagan women against his father's wishes. Like his father Abraham, Isaac's firstborn left to marry pagan women and the promise continued through his secondborn, Jacob. Years later, Jacob returned and visited his father Isaac in Hebron. The end of Isaac's life occurred when he was 180 years old and was buried by his two sons, Esau and Jacob. To summarize the similarities between Isaac and his father.