Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
Genesis 24:62-63 ESV
Isaac was dwelling in the wilderness and desert of the Negev. And this passage says he had come up from the place his brother’s mother, Hagar, had named.
My question for this passage is, “Why? What was he doing in Beer-Lahai-Roi?”
Here is an idea. It isn’t set in stone, but it has some merit perhaps.
Isaac comes across as a Teacher by Redemptive Gift in the limited Scripture devoted to him, given this passage describes him meditating. This is something high functioning, homebody Teachers do, as did Mary and Isaiah did.
And in that place, it is possible that Isaac was pondering why the birthright, the covenant, and the fullness of inheritance had passed to him instead of his older brother. Perhaps he was questioning his own legitimacy in the aftermath of losing his mother, and the right he had to receive from the L-rd the fullness of inheritance.
G-d, as The One Who Sees, intends to use specific lands to bring specific revelation. And as someone who later unlocked the land through his birthright, and reaped 100 fold, it is possible that, among the soil of that land containing the well of Hagar’s revelation, Isaac was communing with the G-d of Abraham or his own spirit to receive direction for the next season.
And, fascinatingly, Isaac walked right into another portion of the blessing: His wife.
