Thursday Night Bible Study

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Genesis 26 

"Well, Well, Well, Well, Well!" • 4.29.10 • Thursday Night Bible Study

Intro.

- In Isaac's life thus far, we have seen that much that has been done to him and for him.

- In chapter 22, he foreshadowed the Lord's death and resurrection. In chapter 24, a bride is gathered to him, again a preview of what Christ currently awaits.

- Coming now into chapter 26, we see Isaac on his own.

- Isaac has been shown to be a man of prayer, praying for 19 years for his barren wife Rebekah. He had fought through that trial of his faith.

- As we move into chapter 26, Isaac will face yet another battery of tests that are strangely reminiscent to His Father's experience. Isaac will have to face them personally.

Text

• Genesis 26:1 : "There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar." : This is the second of three famines that we will see in Genesis. The first one we saw occurred in chapter 12, when Abraham first came to Canaan.

- Isaac now faces the same dilemma. In chapter 25 he and Rebekah faced the identical problem that Abraham and Sarah had with barreness.

- Now, he and Rebekah must also face the famine.

- Isaac had heard what Abraham did and probably what he should have done. Isaac will show what he has learned by what he does.

- Isaac went south down to the land of the Philistines. Why move at all? Isaac was thinking about all that he had. Herds need to feed and drink, not to mention the needs of his family.

- Philistia was a stones throw from Egypt and was about as close as possible. It was like visiting Stateline on your way to Vegas.

• Genesis 26:2-6 : "Then the Lord appeared to him and said: 'Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.' So Isaac dwelt in Gerar." : The Lord knew Isaac's intentions: He was on his way to Egypt. His first words to Isaac are "Do not go down to Egypt."

- There is no mincing of words. God prohibits him directly.

- He tells Isaac "Live in the land of which I shall tell you! Dwell in this land." Isaac looked around him and all he was able see was dried up land. Why stay here?

- God reminds him that He "will perform the oath which I swore." God is telling Isaac that he can bank on His promises.

- "But God, there is a famine." There's nothing coming back on my investment. I am planting and planting. Sowing and sowing. I am not reaping anything by staying here in this!

- In the end, God has called him to live there. There in Canaan where there was a famine, where there was lack.

- These are hard words for Isaac to hear and hard for us as well. God sometimes says that we need to stay in an unsatisfying marriage, a difficult situation, or a distinct lack of contentment.

- Having the faith to stay is often as great as having the faith to leave! God tells him to stay there and the promise will be His presence.

- Can you ask for anything greater than that? To have God with you in the middle of your struggle, your disappointment?

- His presence in the middle of your suffering is greater than to have success without Him.

- There are two beautiful things that will happen when we obey and stay. First, the experience of suffering and the closeness of God's presence will create a deepened relationship.

- Consider any experience that you face with another person. How much are you bonded together? How close do you feel to that person or group? How much more so Christ!

- The situation because a joy because you enjoy the relationship so much!

- Second, staying allows you to see something miraculous occur, most of the time, changes that you see in yourself!

- "Who knew that I could ever be fulfilled in this situation?" All of a sudden, God's presence allows you see the situation in a new light. God gives this grace when you are where He wants you!

- Before you know it, in spite of the famine circumstances, you cannot wait to be there!

- For Isaac, and for us, we have to remember that there are promises are at stake.

- To Isaac specifically, and all of his people, staying in the land kept him in the promise that was given to his Father. But notice this: Now, that same promise belongs to Isaac!

- God was promising to Isaac, the same powerful promise that He had given to Abraham.

- It was promise of blessing, multiplication, but most importantly, the promise to bless the nations of the earth through the Messianic seed!

- What did Isaac do? He within the borders! Staying based on the circumstances is not attractive. Staying in light of His promises is an entirely different story!

• Genesis 26:7 : "And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, 'She is my sister'; for he was afraid to say, 'She is my wife,' because he thought, 'lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.'" : Notice how God starts to move Isaac. First, there is insecurity. He is in Philistia and the men started to inquire about Rebekah. Like Father, like son, Isaac lies!

- ISAAC, NO! He repeats his Father's sin, almost identically.

- His fear led him to immediately forget his faith! We can all relate to that. We forget that God has promised his provision, but we still panic.

- There are two principles that we have to hang on to here. First, Isaac gave into fear. Fear always deals with what might happen. Faith responds to what does happen.

- Isaac was afraid of what might have happened had he not lied. Frankly, we should be afraid of what might happen if we sin! I should be afraid if I try to make things happen in my flesh!

- A second principle: We must concentrate on whose we are, not who they are! He feared the men of the place. Where was his trust?

• Proverbs 29:25 : "The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe."

- If I remember that God has called me, made promises to me, then I know that He will preserve and protect me.

- Unfortunately, Isaac chose to lie and this led to a long season of deception.

• Genesis 26:8-11 : "Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, 'Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?' Isaac said to him, 'Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.' And Abimelech said, 'What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.' So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, 'He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.'" : A long time had passed, perhaps years. Isaac and Rebekah had become more comfortable with their lie. On occasion they stole away for some...you know!

- In the New King James the words are "showing endearment." In the King James it says that they were "sporting." Obviously, this means that they were enjoying a little raquetball...

- The word has a much more sexual connotation, so there was little doubt as to what was going on between them.

- Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, they were right outside Abimelech's office window!

- Hilarious line: "Quite obviously she is your wife!" Here again, the man of God needs to explain his sinful actions to the Abimelech.

- Isaac's answer was paltry. I thought that I would die because of her. What had God just told him? Just like you and I, Isaac was prone to forget, or not believe.

- This Abimelech protects the family of the promise with a promise. God used his threat to keep Isaac and Rebekah out of further trouble. God has a lot of creative ways to protect His people.

• Genesis 26:12-14 : "Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him." : Just as Abraham prospered after his last lie, so also does Isaac prosper. The way that this is written gives us an idea of super abundance.

- He prospered, prospered some more and kept prospering until he was over prosperous!

• Genesis 26:13 (The Message) : “The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy."

- Everything that he had was numerous: Flocks, herds and servants.

- His wealth and blessing led the Philistines that were watching Isaac to envy him.

- They wanted what Isaac had and also wanted him not to have anymore.

• Genesis 26:15-18 : "Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, 'Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.' Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them." : The Philistines were looking to drive Isaac away by stopping up these wells of water. This was quite a vindictive move on their part.

- Envy and jealousy always move from passive to aggressive. The Philistines went from passive envy to aggressive action in stopping up the wells.

- A maintained well was the same as a claim to property.

- These wells were valuable, but the Philistines were content to keep them from Isaac.

- If we can't have them, then neither can you! Finally, their envy reached a fever pitch and Abimelech says it clearly: Go away from us! You are mightier than we are!

- This time of sojourn is becoming increasingly uncomfortable. There was a general attitude, but now there is a clear strong request that Isaac leave.

- Isaac, instead of aggrevating the situation, departed from them and began to re-dig his Father's wells in Gerar.

• Genesis 26:19-23 : "Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, 'The water is ours.' So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, 'For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.' Then he went up from there to Beersheba." : This first well that Isaac's servants dug was a well of running water.

- It was off the charts valuable, but the Philistines quickly claimed it as their own. Isaac called it Esek, meaning "contention." Isaac, again not being contentious, moved on.

- The second well that he dug garnered the same result and he named it "strife."

- Finally, at the third well, there was no quarrel. He called it "wide places." God had made room for them, notice the words "for now." This was a tenuous position that Isaac was in, but this well worked for now.

- Notice the digression: Insecurity led to lying. Prosperity/blessing led to envy. Envy led to active contention and strife.

- God is not seen. He has given Isaac his borders and let him make his own decisions. In God's sovereign way, He allowing the personality that he gave Isaac dictate his move.

- When he comes to Reheboth, Isaac is beginning to understand: God wants me back there.

- Isaac is being drawn back north, deeper into the land of Canaan.

- I think that you have all had a sense of this at some time in your life. God allows you your time of wandering, but He also knows how to draw you back!

• Genesis 26:24,25 : "And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.' So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well." : That same night that Isaac returned to Beersheba, and God came to him. Notice that the Lord had been silent during that time in Philistia.

- There is no record that God spoke or affirmed any decisions, but you can see God was there.

- He allowed his child to roam, but protected him through the King's edict and led him by his own personality of non-conflict! Finally, Isaac is in the right place and God speaks to him.

- What does he speak? The promises that Abraham was given. God does not give him anything new. He reminds him of the Word that He had given him before he went away.

- God is so faithful. Isaac has spent a long time and a lot of energy off in the land of the Philistines. He comes back after all that time and God's promise is still there!

- Is this license for us to test the Lord? Not at all. But it is a testimony to the faithfulness of God to His own Word and promise.

- This time, Isaac responded. He built a place of worship and called on the name of the Lord. This was a turning point for Isaac. He was desperate for the Lord's presence.

- Notice the order: He came, he worshipped, he pitched his tent there and then he dug.

˚ "The place for God’s people is the place of God’s presence. The place of intimacy, worship, and communion with God is the place to abide. There we should dwell, and there we may be assured of God’s provision for our needs. Material needs are thus considered last, while spiritual needs are primary."

Bob Deffinbaugh

- This was going to be his home. Now, his servants began to dig yet another well. While that is happening, Isaac gets some strange visitors.

• Genesis 26:26-31 : "Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them, 'Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?' But they said, 'We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace." : At this point, the Philistines realize that they had erred. They came to Isaac and initiated a treaty with Isaac. Isaac at first scoffs at their attempt, but soon warms up after hearing their words.

- Notice the words, "You are now the blessed of the Lord." Remember that this same scenario had taken place with Abraham. It was recognized that God was with him in tangible way.

- This pact of non-aggression was important, more for the Philistines than for Isaac. They were afraid of Him and the oath that they swore together brought them peace.

• Genesis 26:32,33 : "It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, 'We have found water.' So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day." : After the Philistines had gone, the servants came and reported that they were successful. They had found another well.

- This time, Isaac called it "oath." What was this in reference to? It was the oath that God had made with Isaac, the oath that he was now committed to following.

Conclusion

- God is so gracious and faithful. To the Israelites that were listening to this for the first time, they were hearing how special the promised land was, and that even in a time of famine, God made His man prosper.

- I pray that you might hear the same thing! We have come into the land of promise, the Christian experience. There are plenty of places to go, plenty of places that seem brighter, greener.

- God beckons us to stay, not so that we will see the landscape change, but so that we will see His faithful hand change our perspectives. That's what He wants to do!