Genesis 26

Sunday Morning Bible Study

May 20, 2007

Introduction

A man rushed into the doctor’s office and shouted, “Doctor! I think I’m shrinking!!” The doctor calmly responded, “Now, settle down. You’ll just have to be a little patient.”

One of the themes woven through our chapter this morning is patience. Hang in there, you too will have to be a “little patient”…

:1-5 Isaac heads to Gerar during famine

: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.

Abimelech – “my father is king”; Abimelech may be a name, but it is also a title. It’s likely that this is not the same fellow that Abraham spent time with before Isaac was born. This is close to 100 years later than Abraham’s encounter with an Abimelech (Gen. 25:26; 26:34)

:2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.

This is the first time that God speaks to Isaac.

Why does God say this?

We’re going to see that Isaac does some things very similar to his father Abraham. When Abraham encountered a famine, he left the Promised Land and headed all the way to Egypt.

It seems that Isaac had been thinking of doing exactly what his dad did.

live

:3 "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.

Dwell

:4 "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;

in your seed – the promise of a Messiah that will bless the world

:5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."

God gives Isaac a similar same promise He made to his father Abraham.

Lesson

Blessing from obedience

God’s promise to Abraham was made from unconditional grace. God picked Abraham for no good reason other than He wanted to bless Him.

But it almost seems that God is continuing this covenant with Isaac because of Abraham’s response to God’s work by walking in faith and obedience.

God rewards obedience. One of the rewards seems to be how our faith will affect our family.

Abraham’s son is now being blessed because of his obedience.

But Abraham wasn’t always obedient …

:6-11 She’s my sister

:6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

dwelt

Gerar

Some have suggested that Isaac is making a mistake moving to Gerar saying it’s outside the Promised Land. Gerar is very much a part of the Promised Land. It’s even a bit north of Beersheba.

: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."

It’s fascinating that Isaac decides to do this. This is exactly what his father Abraham had done, twice, and both times before Isaac was born.

Lesson

Setting an example

I would dare say that most of the parents in this room long to set a good example for their children.

Illustration

A physician told this story about his then-four-year-old son. On the way to preschool, the doctor had left his stethoscope on the car seat, and his little boy picked it up and began playing with it. “Be still, my heart,” thought the doctor. “My son wants to follow in my footsteps!” Then the child spoke into the instrument: “Welcome to McDonald’s. May I take your order?”

The problem is that not all the examples we set are good ones.

This story about Isaac and Rebekah is an almost identical repeat as the incident of Abraham and Sarah when they lived with the Philistines.

With Abraham, the “story” was only a “half-life”. Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister. With Isaac, the “story” is a complete lie because Rebekah is a cousin, not Isaac’s sister.

(Exo 34:6-7 NKJV) And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, {7} "keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."

One of the reasons why God speaks of judgment to the third and fourth generation upon sin is simply because our sin is often copied by our children.

One of the things that a good premarital counselor will do with a couple thinking about marriage is to get them to talk about their parents. It’s very likely that like it or not, a couple will often bring the same kinds of behaviors they saw in their parents right into their marriage.

Parents – does this make you want to think twice about how you treat each other? You can’t even resort to waiting until the kids go to bed before you start arguing – Isaac wasn’t even born when Abraham did this same kind of stupid sin – and yet Isaac still picks up on what his father did.

I hate it when my kids pick up on all my bad habits. I’m just hoping they’ll pick up a couple of my good ones as well.

:8 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.

showing endearment – the Old King James has “sporting”, NASB has “caressing”. The Hebrew word is tsachaq – to laugh, mock, play, the same word that Isaac’s name is based upon. This is in the “intensive” form (Piel), meaning “to jest; to sport, play”

The intensive form is used to describe how Lot’s son-in-laws (Gen. 19:14) thought he was “joking”, how Ishmael (Gen. 21:9) was “mocking” baby Isaac, Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:17) accused Joseph of being sent to “mock” her.

There may be something physically intimate going on, but it might be nothing more than Isaac joking around with his wife. In some cultures you don’t openly talk to women.

What is really ironic is how Isaac’s own name is being made a “mockery” of. His name was a name of promise, a name given by God, a name reminding people of how hilariously wonderful it was to serve God. But now that Isaac is lying about his wife, he’s going to make a mockery of his own relationship with God.

:9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.'"

Lesson

Loving your wife

It’s a wonderful thing that Isaac considers his wife beautiful.

It’s a horrible thing that he’s lying about their marriage for the sake of his own safety.

(Eph 5:25-27 NKJV) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, {26} that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, {27} that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Gentlemen, sometimes we’re quite selfish. All we can think about is our own comfort.

A godly husband is one who is willing to lay down his life for his wife. A godly husband is one who takes care of his wife and works at building her up with his words instead of tearing her down.

A godly husband isn’t one who is lucky enough to marry a beauty, his wife becomes a beauty because of the way he loves her. His love removes her imperfections.

:10 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."

It’s pretty bad when a believer is rebuked by an unbeliever.

:11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

:12-22 Isaac’s prosperity and strife

:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.

Lesson

Sowing and reaping

This was coming after a time of famine, and Isaac reaped a hundredfold. Cool. But it started by what he sowed.

You don’t reap if you don’t sow.

You see it in business – if you don’t invest in your business, it’s hard to see your business grow. You don’t always have to invest more money, sometimes investing hard work and ingenuity are all you need. But your business doesn’t generally tend to grow unless you “sow” into it.

You see it in relationships – relationships require work. Marriage and friendship all work the same. If you stop “sowing” into your relationships, they become “fallow ground”. You need to keep investing time and energy into relationships to keep them healthy and productive.

You see it in God’s kingdom – your walk with the Lord requires that you sow into it. If you want to see fruit in your life, you need to be sowing the right kinds of things into the field of your heart. God desires that more people come to know Him, and that doesn’t happen unless we sow the seed of the gospel.

(Gal 6:9 NKJV) And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

You’re going to see this principle later on as Isaac is digging wells. They run out of water and what do they do? They dig a well.

Illustration

No Rest For The Weary

A clergyman walking down a country lane and sees a young farmer struggling to load hay back onto a wagon after it had fallen off. “You look hot, my son,” said the minister. “why don’t you rest a moment, and I’ll give you a hand.” “No thanks,” said the young man. “My father wouldn’t like it.” “Don’t be silly,” the Pastor said. “Everyone is entitled to a break. Come, sit down and have a drink of water.” Again the young man protested that his father would be upset. Losing his patience, the clergyman said, “Your father must be a real slave driver. Tell me where I can find him and I’ll give him a piece of my mind for working you so hard!” “Well,” replied the young farmer, “he’s under this load of hay.”

There may be some well meaning people telling you to quit that important thing you’re doing. Don’t quit. Keep sowing. Keep digging.

:13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

:14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

:15 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.

Isaac is perceived as a threat to the Philistines. This is one way to get rid of someone you don’t like – remove his sources of water.

:16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we."

:17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

Isaac takes the hint and moves from the city out into the valley.

:18 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.

Isaac re-digs some of the wells that his father had dug in the land.

Lesson

Staying Teachable

Sometimes we find life by digging the wells that others have dug before us.

(Psa 84:5-7 KJV) Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. {6} Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. {7} They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

“Baca” means “weeping”.

The picture is of a person going through a desert wilderness and digging wells. And the next person comes along and gets to benefit from the wells that were dug before them.

This “wilderness” happens to be called “weeping”, a place of sorrow.

Isaac is looking for water to survive. And some of the wells he’s digging up are the wells that his father Abraham dug before him.

Are you a person who is “teachable”? Can you learn from others, drinking from the wells they’ve dug before you? Or do you have to learn everything the hard way?

:19 Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.

running water – also referred to in the Bible as “Living Water”.

:20 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.

Esek – ‘Eseq – “contention”

:21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah.

Sitnah – Sitnah – “strife”

:22 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."

Rehoboth – R@chobowth – “wide places”

Years ago while I was an assistant at Calvary Anaheim, we faced a crisis where we needed to move the church. We had been renting space from the Orange County Jewish Community Center, but they had lost their lease from the Garden Grove School District, and we all had to find a new home. I was a part of the team that went looking through the city to find a place to move to. The first place we tried was over by the train tracks on Ball Road – but the elder board was split over whether it would work or not. The second place we investigated was over by Ball Road and State College, but again the board couldn’t agree that it was the place. The first two places were nothing but “contention” and “strife”. The third place was actually quite a dump. It was an old abandoned building that had been ransacked and stripped of everything valuable by vandals. It smelled horrible inside. It had previously been a trade school and apparently some people had tried living in it, and it was filled will all sorts of trash and junk. The electricity didn’t work because the vandals had stolen all the copper wiring. But the more we looked at it, the more we realized that it was the place. It was about this time that my friend Ken and I had been reading in Genesis 26 and came across this name “Rehoboth”. That’s the name some of us gave to the building that Anaheim has not been in for the last twenty years. It was a “wide place”, a place where they could be fruitful in the land.

Lesson

Patience and perseverance

I think we make a mistake sometimes when we encounter “contention” and “strife”. Sometimes we tend to “dig in” and fight it out rather than just leaving it behind and moving on.

In marriage, I’m not talking about leaving the Promised Land of marriage, but learning to walk away from that well of contention.

Walk away from the issue and move on. Be careful about the things you choose to dig in and fight for.

Note how Isaac responds to these contentious people. He doesn’t fight back. He keeps moving on until he finds a spot where he can settle down.

:23-33 Isaac in Beersheba

:23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba.

:24 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."

:25 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.

Isaac responds to God’s appearance by building an altar and settling down.

:26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army.

:27 And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

:28 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,

:29 '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.'"

Lesson

Patience wins

Illustration

There was this man in a mental hospital. All day he would put his ear to the wall and listen. The doctor would watch this guy do this day after day. So the doctor finally decided to see what the guy was listening to, so he put his ear up to the wall and listened. He heard nothing. So he turned to the mental patient and said, “I don’t hear anything.” The mental patient said, “Yeah, I know. It’s been like that for months!”

Sometimes when we respond to situations with patience and perseverance, people will think that we too belong in a mental hospital.

Sometimes we can be tricked into thinking that we’re only going to be able to handle difficult circumstances by pulling out our sword and chopping off heads.

For you warriors out there, Isaac seems to be a pretty tame fellow. He seems to run from conflict.

Yet look at the result – he ends up with this treaty with Abimelech without every firing a shot.

I once heard a wise pastor exclaim, “The best way to win over your enemies in the church is to out live them”.

You’re always going to have trouble. You’re always going to have enemies. But you don’t have to make it worse by stirring up trouble.

(Prov 15:1 NKJV) A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

:30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

:31 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.

:32 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."

:33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Shebah – Shib‘ah – “an oath”

We already saw Beersheba being named in Abraham’s day when Abraham made an oath with Abimelech (Gen. 21:31).

:34-35 Esau’s wives

:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Esau takes things into his own hands.

Judith

Basemath – Bosmath – “spice”

:35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

grief – morah – bitterness, grief

mind

In taking two pagan wives, Esau isn’t exactly taking the family’s spiritual heritage too seriously.

Introduction

A man rushed into the doctor’s office and shouted, “Doctor! I think I’m shrinking!!” The doctor calmly responded, “Now, settle down. You’ll just have to be a little patient.”

One of the themes woven through our chapter this morning is patience. Hang in there, you too will have to be a “little patient”…

:1-5 Isaac heads to Gerar during famine

: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.

Abimelech – “my father is king”; Abimelech may be a name, but it is also a title. It’s likely that this is not the same fellow that Abraham spent time with before Isaac was born. This is close to 100 years later than Abraham’s encounter with an Abimelech (Gen. 25:26; 26:34)

:2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.

This is the first time that God speaks to Isaac.

Why does God say this?

We’re going to see that Isaac does some things very similar to his father Abraham. When Abraham encountered a famine, he left the Promised Land and headed all the way to Egypt.

It seems that Isaac had been thinking of doing exactly what his dad did.

Again, we have proof that Abraham’s trip to Egypt was a mistake. God clearly tells Isaac not to go there.

The city of Gerar is still in the Promised Land, about 16 miles northwest of Beersheba.

live – shakan – to settle down, abide, dwell, tabernacle, reside

:3 "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.

Dwell – guwr – to sojourn, abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, be a stranger, be continuing, surely

:4 "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;

in your seed – the promise of a Messiah that will bless the world

:5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."

God gives Isaac a similar same promise He made to his father Abraham.

Lesson

Blessing from obedience

God’s promise to Abraham was made from unconditional grace. God picked Abraham for no good reason other than He wanted to bless Him.

But it almost seems that God is continuing this covenant with Isaac because of Abraham’s response to God’s work by walking in faith and obedience.

God rewards obedience. One of the rewards seems to be how our faith will affect our family.

Abraham’s son is now being blessed because of his obedience.

But Abraham wasn’t always obedient …

:6-11 She’s my sister

:6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

dwelt – yashab – to dwell, remain, sit, abide

Gerar – G@rar – “a lodging place”; a Philistine town south of Gaza, about 16 miles northwest of Beersheba.

Some have suggested that Isaac is making a mistake moving to Gerar saying it’s outside the Promised Land. Gerar is very much a part of the Promised Land. It’s even a bit north of Beersheba.

: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."

It’s fascinating that Isaac decides to do this. This is exactly what his father Abraham had done, twice, and both times before Isaac was born.

Lesson

Setting an example

I would dare say that most of the parents in this room long to set a good example for their children.

Illustration

The problem is that not all the examples we set are good ones.

This story about Isaac and Rebekah is an almost identical repeat as the incident of Abraham and Sarah when they lived with the Philistines.

With Abraham, the “story” was only a “half-life”. Sarah was Abraham’s half-sister. With Isaac, the “story” is a complete lie because Rebekah is a cousin, not Isaac’s sister.

One of the reasons why God speaks of judgment to the third and fourth generation upon sin is simply because our sin is often copied by our children.

One of the things that a good premarital counselor will do with a couple thinking about marriage is to get them to talk about their parents. It’s very likely that like it or not, a couple will often bring the same kinds of behaviors they saw in their parents right into their marriage.

I hate it when my kids pick up on all my bad habits. I’m just hoping they’ll pick up a couple of my good ones as well.

:8 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.

showing endearment – the Old King James has “sporting”, NASB has “caressing”. The Hebrew word is tsachaq – to laugh, mock, play, the same word that Isaac’s name is based upon. This is in the “intensive” form (Piel), meaning “to jest; to sport, play”

The intensive form is used to describe how Lot’s son-in-laws (Gen. 19:14) thought he was “joking”, how Ishmael (Gen. 21:9) was “mocking” baby Isaac, Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:17) accused Joseph of being sent to “mock” her.

There may be something physically intimate going on, but it might be nothing more than Isaac joking around with his wife. In some cultures you don’t openly talk to women.

:9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.'"

Lesson

Loving your wife

It’s a wonderful thing that Isaac considers his wife beautiful.

It’s a horrible thing that he’s lying about their marriage for the sake of his own safety.

:10 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."

It’s pretty bad when a believer is rebuked by an unbeliever.

When David sinned with Bathsheba, the prophet said,

(2 Sam 12:14 NKJV) "However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme…

:11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

I wonder if this Abimelech knows the story of the previous Abimelech and Abraham. In Genesis 20, God warned Abimelech that he would die if he touched Sarah. God also kept all the women from getting pregnant because of Sarah.

:12-22 Isaac’s prosperity and strife

:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.

It seems Abraham was just a rancher, tending flocks of sheep and goats. Isaac now diversifies and dabbles in farming.

Lesson

Sowing and reaping

This was coming after a time of famine, and Isaac reaped a hundredfold. Cool. But it started by what he sowed.

You don’t reap if you don’t sow.

You see it in business – if you don’t invest in your business, it’s hard to see your business grow. You don’t always have to invest more money, sometimes investing hard work and ingenuity are all you need. But your business doesn’t generally tend to grow unless you “sow” into it.

You see it in relationships – relationships require work. Marriage and friendship all work the same. If you stop “sowing” into your relationships, they become “fallow ground”. You need to keep investing time and energy into relationships to keep them healthy and productive.

(Gal 6:9 NKJV) And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

You’re going to see this principle later on as Isaac is digging wells. They run out of water and what do they do? They dig a well.

Illustration

:13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

:14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

:15 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.

Isaac is perceived as a threat to the Philistines. This is one way to get rid of someone you don’t like – remove his sources of water.

Some people don’t like it when you are being blessed.

:16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we."

:17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

Isaac takes the hint and moves from the city out into the valley.

:18 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.

live

Dwell

dwelt

Gerar

Judith