Genesis 26:1

The Bible says in Genesis 26:1-5 “And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Notice carefully that God gave the exact same promise to Isaac that God had given to Abraham. Every human being in every generation is offered to take part in the benefits of the promise. God offers this great promise to the entire human race through the countless offers of the gospel that are given to every man and to every woman in every generation. For example, Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” It says in Galatians 3:7-9, “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”

Once again the “seed” is mentioned to Isaac in Genesis 26:4. The seed is Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This point is made by carefully mentioning Abraham in the lineage of Christ. It says in Matthew 1:17, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.” Concerning the lineage of Christ, it says in Luke 3:34, “Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor.”

The Bible says in Genesis 26:6-16, “And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.”

It is interesting to notice that it says in Genesis 26:8, “Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.” The word that is translated “sporting” comes from a word that means primarily “to laugh.” This shows how good of a relationship that Isaac and Rebekah had. They had a loving and playful relationship. They loved and laughed with each other. It was obvious to Abimelech that Isaac and Rebekah were more than brother and sister because of the way that they interacted with each other: lovingly and happily.

In Isaac’s dealing with Abimelech, Isaac made the same mistake that Abraham made years before. This should not surprise us because we are all sinners. Everyone makes mistakes. That is why we need a Savior. When Isaac was in the presence of unbelievers he told them something that was not exactly true out of fear. Concerning Rebekah, we are told what Isaac said to Abimelech in Genesis 26:7, “She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.” This shows us that Isaac still had more to learn about living by faith in the Lord. That is what life is all about. It is a journey in which believers are always faced with some new challenge to their faith. God allows this because He wants us to grow in our ability to trust in Christ no matter what happens. “If footmen tire you, what shall horses do?” Once you learn to face one type of challenge by faith, then another more difficult one will probably come your way. The Bible says in First Peter 1:7, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold tat perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

Even though Isaac was weak in faith, and even though he made a mistake by not telling Abimelech the full truth, God did not stop blessing Isaac and did not stop taking care of him. Undoubtedly, God touched Abimelech’s heart to not harm Isaac. That is why the Bible says in Genesis 26:11, “And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” Another thing that we notice about this passage of scripture is the conscience of Abimelech and probably of the people who were under him. Abimelech said in Genesis 26:10, “one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.” They understood that adultery was a great sin, and that there would be undesirable and negative consequences to a society where adultery was practiced. It says in Proverbs 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” People get concerned at election time about who will be the next to rule the nation, but there is something else to be concerned about that may be more important. We should be concerned about the morality of the nation. If the average person is sinful, and lives in wickedness, and does not repent of sin, then the nation is in big trouble no matter who is in power. A nation is no better than the goodness of the average person who lives in that nation. There is a warning about sexual immorality in Hebrews 13:4 that says, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

The Bible says in Genesis 26:17-24, “And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.”

Isaac had an important job to do. He had to dig once again the wells that Abraham had first dug years ago. It says in Genesis 26:18 that he “digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham.” This verse reminds us of one of the realities of life. Things in this world fall apart, break down, and are sometimes torn down. Good work that was once done will eventually have to be re-done. Nothing in this life lasts forever. Our freedoms are like that also. People in past generations paid a price so that we could have freedom. But these freedoms will slip away unless the next generation is also prepared to pay the price and to do the work that must be done. Notice also that in Isaac’s situation the problems were caused by enemies who were against the work of his father, Abraham. We live in the last days. The falling away from the sound doctrines of the faith is taking place around us. The reason that this falling away has taken place is because the enemies of the gospel of Christ have never stopped trying to corrupt, distort, or do away with the truth whenever they can. False doctrines, evil teachings and bad examples are constantly being put forth in education, in entertainment, and in government. The enemies still try to stop the wells of the water of life through their opposition to the gospel. Who will re-dig the wells, so that water may once again be available in a dry and parched land? In other words who will stand up for the truth of the gospel of Christ?

It is interesting to note that the Bible says concerning Isaac in Genesis 26:18, “and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.” When Isaac re-dug the wells, he gave the wells the same name that Abraham had given to them. Of course, the names of the wells represented the Lord’s blessings to the people. The point to make here is that Isaac remembered the spiritual truths that he had learned from his father, and Isaac retained those teachings. It is a terrible thing when someone is born into a Christian family, but who turns away from the wonderful teachings that they heard in their youth and saw in their parents. Evidently Timothy had believing parents. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in Second Timothy 3:14-15, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Even if you have not learned from your parents, you have had the chance to learn from the heavenly Father. In your life you will have opportunities to fix that which has been torn down and that which has been neglected from a spiritual standpoint. Will you be up to the task? Will you do what it takes to make the water of life available to those around you? There are always things that must be rebuilt or re-vitalized or else the teaching of the faith of Christ will die out in the land. Revive us again, O Lord, or we will be useless in your work. In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah the city of Jerusalem, and the walls, and the temple needed to be rebuilt. The enemies had torn them down, but the time came for them to be rebuilt. What does God want you to do to show the love of Christ to the lost souls around you?

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