This week’s reading: Genesis 26:1-35
Hi Friends,
After having his twin boys, Isaac and his family must move about because of a famine that hits their home’s area. We will read how some choices carry through from one generation to the next, whether intentionally or not. We will see the blessings of God being poured out on this second generation because of the example Abraham had set forth. And we will read about the fear foreigners had as they observed those great blessing from the Lord. We are in Genesis chapter 26, reading the entire thing from verse 1 to 35. But first, let’s hear about that familiar wrong choice that fear caused Isaac to make.
“When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, ‘She is really your wife! Why did you say, “She is my sister?”’ Isaac answered him, ‘Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.’ Then Abimelech said, ‘What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.’” Gen 26:8-10 NIV
Here we go again…again. Recall how Abraham twice encountered this same situation and responded this same way. Fear gets the best of both of them…and if we are honest, it can cause us to act in ways that do not display our trust in God, as well. Here we find Isaac making that same foolish choice. Instead of trusting God with whatever would happen, he places his wife, Rebekah, in potential trouble. By God’s Grace though, no man touches her before their lie is found out. This seems strange given the fact that God had just appeared to Isaac to assure him of the continuation of the promise He had given his father, Abraham. How God appeared, we do not know, but this showed that there was an intimacy in Isaac’s relationship with God as well. God warns Isaac to stay out of Egypt and remain in the land that He would give to his descendants. God reaffirms that these children will be “as numerous as the stars in the sky” and that God would “give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed”. (Gen 26:4) Isaac takes God at His word. He and his family stay in the region of Gerar instead of trying to escape to Egypt. But just like Abraham, here is where Isaac’s Faith falters. Rebekah too is a beautiful woman and Isaac is frightened that the men of the land would simply kill him and take her for themselves. So what does he do? He lies. Again, let’s take a moment and ask ourselves if we fall into this temptation too? Have we ever been in a situation where the truth seems more dangerous than just lying? Here’s the reality: in God’s eyes, it is better to speak truth and get into trouble with others because of it, than to be deceptive and not get into trouble with mankind. Why? Because God IS Truth. For those of us who call ourselves by His Name, that is Christians, we dishonor God when we lie. Listen to how the great Apostle Peter puts it: “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” (1Pe 2:20) Peter knows well what he is talking about having three times denied his Lord Jesus. He would never forget the way his heart broke in two when Jesus turns his beaten face towards him, causing Peter to realize what he had just done. (see Lk 22:61) Lying is never the right choice. Again, better that we speak truth and are persecuted for it, than to misrepresent God to those around us. The truth is God would have protected Isaac had he just been honest…as a matter of fact, God protects him anyway, even though he lies. Why? Because God has a Plan. And no one and nothing could stop that Plan from taking shape and becoming a reality. Never does God sit in Heaven wondering what He is going to do when one of His children mess up…never. God sees it coming already and makes a way to work it together for our good. Of course, it should go without saying, but I will say it anyway, this never excuses our sinful choices! But man what a relief knowing that God’s Plan will continue on, in spite of our short comings, right?! This is our Good, Good Father, who sees our faults and failures and loves us anyway. So even though Isaac follows in his father’s flawed footsteps, God protects both Isaac and Rebekah and causes these pagans to fear the Lord as well. By the way, from my research this Abimelech is a different king than that which Abraham and Sarah encountered. It is thought that “Abimelech” is a term, like Pharaoh, instead of a name. This also would be over 60 years since that event with Abraham, but it is interesting to note that both of these kings of Gerar, did the right thing. They were shocked at the deception and quickly wanted nothing to do with the wives of these Saints. This only makes their lies that much worse though. These kings were not believers in the one true God, so to display a lack of faith is a poor representation of who God is and what He can do. Again, our major lesson here is: 1- do not allow fear to rule over our decisions and 2- always tell the truth no matter what may potentially happen to us. Once more, hear Saint Peter’s words: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1Pe 2:21) Jesus always and only spoke truth and suffered for it. We are to follow His footsteps, no matter what.
The Lord blesses him. After King Abimelech sends out a decree to the people of the region to leave Isaac and his family alone, Isaac settles in that area and starts a farm. The Bible says that Isaac, “…the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him.” (Gen 26:12) Like Abraham, Isaac becomes a very wealthy man because God continues to keep His eye on him and multiply the work of his hands. May we never forget that our successes are given to us by the hand of God. Sure we do some work, but God makes sure it succeeds in our favor. Let’s stop today and praise God for all He has done on our behalf. I like to think Isaac knew this was God continuing to smile upon him because of his special relationship with his father, Abraham. I do want to mention, least we misunderstand the Bible, that God is not blessing Isaac because of Abraham’s obedience, as it might seem in Gen 26:5. Rather Abraham’s obedience comes because God has already given and confirmed, and reconfirmed, His promise to Abraham. This is important because, we humans always put the cart in front of the bull and things do not always go so smoothly for us following that backwards way. It is because God chooses to bless Abraham and Isaac…and us for that matter…that obedience comes. First comes God’s Love, Grace, promises and so on, then experiencing His Faithfulness, we begin to obey Him more and more. That is kind of the whole point to telling us about their failures too. If God’s blessings were dependent on their obedience, then both these Saints would have lost the privilege and protection of God when they lied. But we clearly see that God continues to pour down His favor on them, and they continue to grow in their Faith and learn to be obedient in all things. So these blessings of a full harvest are not because of Isaac, but because of God’s mercy and Goodness towards this child who is still learning how to walk the walk. This is excellent news for you and me, my Friends! If God has already determined a certain plan for our lives, I really do believe that we cannot mess that Plan up. What a relief! Praise God! We are to continue to seek God, learn how to hear His still small voice and then lean of the Holy Spirit so we can obey…but even on those occasions when we too mess up, we can trust God to work it all together for our good…because He has a Plan for our lives also, that no one and nothing can change. We will reap the reward of our good and godly choices, if not here, then surely in the next world. But even when we do not get it right, God our Good, Good Father holds us in the palm of His mighty and Holy hand. This should help us hold on to peace in struggles. Never let go of joy in sufferings. And rejoice boldly in successes. All to the glory of God, pointing others to Him who blesses us too.
Others will notice. As God blesses Isaac, Abimelech and his officials could not help but take notice. They fear the power Isaac is gaining and send him away from them. And yet God continues to show this Saint favor by helping his servants find wells with fresh water. That would be like finding a mine filled with gold in this current age! Being an agricultural culture, water was not only necessary but vital to their success. And so the people around Isaac give him a hard time about the ownership of those wells. Until they don’t. Then Isaac knows this is where God wants him to settle. We too have to dig a couple of wells before we find where God wants us. That is, we might have to move from one job to another, or one church to another, or one home to another, until God settles us where we should be at that moment in time. Sometimes this is difficult for us. I know I have recently had to leave the congregation I had attended for many years to enter into the new place God has led us. This is the second time this has happened, and to be honest, I never know why God moves us, until He is ready to tell me. All I get initially, deep in my heart is, “Child, you have done all you were meant to do there. It is time to move on.” In obedience, we move on. It took about a year in this new place for me to see the blessings God is pouring into our lives. My husband, Joe, has been growing spiritually by leaps and bounds, even joining a men’s Bible study for the first time in his walk with Christ. It is so very lovely to watch. And I do hope those around us will notice too. This is what happens with Isaac and the people of that land. Abimelech and his officials come to Issac asking for a treaty. This might not sound like a big deal to us, but this shows that the nation of God is beginning to take form. These pagans recognize God’s hand in Isaac’s life and want to make sure they are on friendly terms with him, as well as with his God. We too can make sure others notice the blessings God pours upon us, and this, even when things do not seem to be going our way. To have peace when our lives are presented with chaos is a huge display of the hand of God in and over us. To hold on to joy even when we have experienced challenging events, shows others that this relationship with our God is so much more than any superficial thing. Anyone can have peace and joy when circumstances are favorable. But to have and express these virtues when they are not? This is what will hopefully call more people to us so they can listen to why we keep on believing, seeking and following our King Jesus. Isaac is blessed in ways that I know most of us would desire too. But even when our situations are much different than his, we can still live lives that show God is smiling upon us. And like I said before, hopefully, others will desire to befriend Jesus too. A treaty is “a formally concluded and ratified agreement between countries.” But it can also be an agreement between God and humans. May we live our lives in such a way that others around us will notice our God and seek Him and receive the treaty He has already made possible through His Son, Jesus Christ.
A source of grief. Let us not forget that Abraham had his chief servant go to the land of his relatives to find a wife for Isaac, so that he would not marry one of the unbelieving Canaanite woman. So when Esau takes it upon himself to marry, not one but two of these foreigners, it breaks his parent’s hearts. Listen to this quote from Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary: “Esau was foolish in marrying two wives together, and still more in marrying Canaanites, strangers to the blessing of Abraham, and subject to the curse of Noah. It grieved his parents that he married without their advice and consent. It grieved them that he married among those who had no religion. Children have little reason to expect God’s blessing who do that which is a grief of mind to good parents.” From last week’s reading and talk, we already know that Esau was the not the sharpest tool in the shed. He lived his life doing whatever he felt like doing. He did not take the time to consult with his parents, much less with God, and ties himself with women who do not recognize the God of Abraham as the one true God. This causes problems within the family. The Bible tells us that we too sometimes grieve the Holy Spirit when we make choices outside of the confines of God’s Holy Will. (see Eph 4:30) Again, we can trust God to keep watch over us, but if we make this a habit, if we choose our way over God’s for too long, God will let us reap the negative consequences of those choices too. God does this, of course, in hopes of turning our hearts back to Him. Back to where we can choose righteousness instead of selfishness. Back to where we can seek and follow Him instead of seeking and following this corrupt world. Back to where we can hear His still small voice instead of listening to that old serpent, our enemy. The Good News is that even a source of grief can be used to save us. This is my story…and continues to lead me deeper and deeper into a most amazing relationship with a most amazing God. Do you want that too? Then do not be grieved by grief. Seek God. Follow Him as closely as you possibly can. Then trust Him, no matter what things may look like, and join me on this journey into the Abundant Life.
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
