February 7, 2019
God Is Not Like Man. He Is Always Faithful.
Genesis 26
Kristi Lichtenberg
Central Truth
God is not like man. He is 100 percent faithful.
The Lord provided direction, protection, water, and wealth for Isaac and his family. Isaac stayed put when God said to and peacefully moved on when others wanted what he had (water wells). But he protected himself, putting his wife in danger.
Key Verse | Genesis 26:11
So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."
Genesis 26
God's Promise to Isaac
1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Isaac and Abimelech
6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. 8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with 1 26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, 2 26:20 Esek means contention because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. 3 26:21 Sitnah means enmity 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, 4 26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.
26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah; 5 26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and they made life bitter 6 26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit for Isaac and Rebekah.
Dive Deeper | Genesis 26
Have you ever mostly obeyed?
In this chapter, Isaac listens and obeys when the Lord directs him to stay put, even during the famine. Isaac trusts that God will provide. Maybe it's not so hard for Isaac to believe after Genesis 22:1-14. He was there when his father named the place "The LORD will provide."
This part of the story resonates with me. I grew up in a home where I saw the Lord miraculously provide for our needs. Sometimes it was through a food bank, sometimes through extra jobs our family did at night, and sometimes we would open our door and a bag of used clothes just our sizes would be on the porch. My mom always gave God credit saying, "Look at all this cheese the Lord provided!" or "Look how the Lord has provided this work so we can earn money!" and "I wonder whom the Lord led to leave this here!?" I'm so thankful to have grown up in a home where we relied on the Lord for provision and where my mom pointed out the adventure of trusting God instead of worrying or being fearful.
But then Isaac demonstrates fear over faithfulness. He protects himself by lying about his relationship with Rebekah, putting her in danger and damaging trust with Abimelech.
I wish I couldn't relate to this part of the story, but the truth is, sometimes I protect myself instead of relying on God's faithfulness. I mostly obey God, but self-protect by withdrawing or avoiding conflict.
Isaac was in the place he was supposed to be, but he put his wife in danger and damaged trust with others because he mostly trusted God. He trusted the Lord for food and water but not for protection from men who might kill him to get to Rebekah.
I am so thankful The God Who Provides is also The God Who Protects (Psalm 23:1). He is faithful, even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13). We can have the courage to protect others, even if it costs us everything. We can entrust ourselves to God.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you listen and obey when God guides you to go somewhere or stay put? (Psalm 32:8-10)
2. Do you mostly obey God, holding back in areas where you are fearful, or do you completely trust Him and act on it? (Isaiah 41:10)
3. Does your fearfulness put others in danger? Is there someone God is calling you to protect, even if it could cost you everything? (1 John 4:18)
4. Does self-protection damage trust with the people around you? Could you be more open and entrust yourself to Jehovah-Rohi, The God Who Protects?
5. How have you experienced Jehovah-Jireh, The God Who Provides? Do you need to walk away from what you have to trust that God will provide what you will need? (See Isaac and the water wells.)