Genesis 26

Genesis 26

After Abraham’s death, God reaffirmed the covenant with Isaac, telling Isaac the same things that He had told Abraham. It is interesting that He appeared to Isaac at the time of a famine. Abraham had previously endured a famine, which is why he had once traveled to Egypt. Now Isaac was going through a famine, and he was instructed not to travel to Egypt, so that he would not fall into a similar trap that his father had. Instead, he was to remain in the Promised Land, as this land would be the land of all of his descendants, which would be quite numerous. Also, his son Jacob would endure a famine later on when Joseph was in Egypt. Even the great patriarchs of the faith had to go through many of life’s storms, but as God told Isaac, God remains with us through them all, and all we have to do is trust in Him.

At first Isaac obeys God’s commands, remaining in Gerar and not traveling to Egypt. However, he still falls into the same trap that his father had done twice. He told the men of the land that Rebekah was his sister (this should sound familiar). The king of the land, Abimelech, later realizes that Rebekah is actually his wife and condemns Isaac for lying to them, afraid of what might have happened had one of the men decided to take her as his wife. Much like Abraham, Isaac was only thinking of himself, not considering how his sin might affect those around him.

After this encounter with Abimelech, Isaac got back on track with God, and he was blessed for his obedience. He received great wealth. Now not all who are obedient become rich (for that would be the health and wealth “gospel”). True, sometimes the blessings God gives us for obedience is good health or great riches, but not always, so we should not expect it. It just so happened that Isaac did gain great riches, so much so that Abimelech asked him to leave the land. So he traveled to another part of Gerar and began digging wells to get water by. These wells that he dug were wells that Abraham had used but had since been filled in by the Philistines. So Isaac began digging them out again for a water source, but he encountered conflict with the locals. He knew that God had promised the land to him, and he did not want to cause problems. Therefore, he kept digging until he found one that the locals had not claimed. It was there that he settled and set up camp. It was there that God began blessing Isaac all the more so that he could become fruitful in the land.

Isaac settled down in the land, and Abimelech noticed that although he had forced Isaac to move, he was still acquiring great wealth. He also noticed that it was all because of the Lord. This story seems to mirror that of Abraham and Abimelech. In both accounts, Abimelech noticed the faith that each had in God. He noticed that God was truly with them and that they could be trusted. So he made covenants with them, peace agreements, knowing that they would not break that agreement. Once more we see a life (that of Isaac’s) that points to the Lord. Abimelech had not spoken with Isaac for quite a while, but just through observation it became clear to him that Isaac could be trusted.

The end of Genesis 26 shows one picture of contrast, the life of Esau. Esau married at the age of 40 and began his own family, but as seen in Genesis 25, Esau was not a follower of the Lord. He was bitter, most likely over how Jacob had tricked Esau out of his birthright. For that reason (and possibly many more) Esau made life hard for Isaac and Rebekah. Scripture is not clear as to what he did to them, but I would dare say that it came from seeing how blessed Isaac was. In not following the Lord, Esau did not receive God’s blessings, and he did not have God to turn to in difficult times. The same is true today. Most people become jealous over those who appear to be more blessed. Those who have much receive a lot of grief from jealous friends or family members. And even if it is not monetary blessings, those who trust in God do receive great blessings in life, as opposed to those who do not make God their number one priority in life. I feel as if that is where Esau was in life, reacting against Isaac’s blessed life.

Matt