The Book of GENESIS
James J. Barker


Lesson 28
ISAAC GOES TO GERAR

Text: GENESIS 26:1-35


INTRODUCTION:


  1. Genesis 26 is the only chapter in the Bible devoted to Isaac alone.
  2. Isaac lived to be 180-years-old. His death is recorded in Genesis 35:28. And although Isaac lived the longest of all the patriarchs less is recorded of him than of the others. He was “low key.”
  3. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, “His was a quiet, peaceful, normal life. He was the ordinary son of a great father, and the ordinary father of a great son” (Genesis).
  4. Griffith Thomas then divides his exposition into five parts:
  1. Difficulty met by Divine Guidance (26:1-5). Note verse 2.
  2. Difficulty met by Human Sin (26:6-11). Note verse 7.
  3. Difficulty met by Divine Blessing (26:12-17). Note verse 12.
  4. Difficulty Met by Human Patience (26:18-22). Note verse 18a.
  5. Difficulty met by Divine Favor (26:23-33). Note verse 24.
  1. The Scofield Study Bible divides the chapter into three parts:

  1. The Abrahamic Covenant confirmed to Isaac.
  2. The lapse of Isaac.
  3. Isaac the well-digger.

 

I. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT CONFIRMED TO ISAAC

  1. Genesis 12:10 says, “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.”
  2. Once again there arose a famine in the land of Canaan, and Isaac responded to the challenge the same way his father Abraham did – he packed his suitcase and moved south (26:1).
  3. God tested Abraham, and God tested his son Isaac. Trials are permitted by God, and oftentimes it is by these trials that God teaches us valuable lessons (cf. Romans 8:28).
  4. Isaac was heading south toward Egypt, and that is probably where he would have gone had the LORD not stopped him at a place called Gerar (26:1-3).
  5. Gerar was a city in the land of Canaan, on the road leading into Egypt.
  6. In the Bible, Egypt is a symbol of the world. Those who live independently of God and who rely on the arm of flesh are spiritually in Egypt.
  7. But God did not allow Isaac to go into Egypt.
  8. Isaac’s position on the outskirts of the promised land, close to Egypt, signifies that he was in a weak and backslidden condition. Had not God intervened, he would have gone down into Egypt.
  9. Many Christians are just like that – they won’t go all the way into the world, but they get as close to it as they can.
  10. John Phillips said, “World-bordering is almost as bad as out-and-out worldliness” (Exploring Genesis).
  11. Leonard Ravenhill said, “The world has lost the power to blush over its vice; the Church has lost the power to weep over it. Folks are more concerned about the hardening of their arteries than about the hardening of their hearts. There is a lot of foot-dragging in the area of obedience. There is a roar of opposition to pollution in ecology, but only a squeak of opposition to pollution in theology.”
  12. The famine was an important test for Isaac, and he failed it.
  13. When Isaac left his home and journeyed southwards into the land of the Philistines to Gerar, the Bible does not tell us whether or not he prayed about this move.
  14. It is not until we get down to verse 25 that we read that Isaac “builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD.” There is no mention of prayer before verse 25.
  15. Before he built his altar, it seems as though Isaac had been walking by sight rather than by faith, and that he had not consulted God before starting out from home. This could explain his cowardice and his deception in Genesis 26:7.
  16. In any event, the LORD appeared to Isaac and told him not to go farther southward into Egypt (as his father Abraham had done under similar circumstances – Genesis 12:10).
  17. "Go not down into Egypt" (26:2). With this commandment came instructions to remain in the promised land, the land of Canaan (26:3).
  18. The promises God made to his father Abraham (“Abrahamic Covenant”) were repeated and confirmed to Isaac (26:3-5).
  19. The LORD pledged Himself to be to Isaac all that He had been to his father Abraham.
  20. As we study the various occasions in the book of Genesis when the Abrahamic Covenant was given to Abraham and his descendants, it will be seen that each time there are some new details added.
  21. In Genesis 22:18, the LORD said to Abraham, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
  22. Abraham’s obedience is referred to again in Genesis 26:5.

 

II. THE LAPSE OF ISAAC (26:6-16).

  1. “And Isaac dwelt in Gerar…” (26:6). It was not very long before Isaac was asked by the inhabitants of the place about his wife.
  2. Despite the fact that the LORD had just confirmed his covenant with Isaac, and despite the fact that the LORD assured Isaac of His presence and protection, Isaac made lies his refuge (26:7).
  3. Sons often walk in their fathers’ footsteps. This can be either good or bad, depending on the father. Abraham was a great man of faith, but he had one notable sinful habit – twice it is recorded that he lied and told people that Sarah was his sister (12:13; 20:2).
  4. Following his father's bad example, Isaac also told a deliberate lie and said, "She is my sister" (26:7).
  5. “In this he was actuated by cowardly fear and by deplorable selfishness” (W.H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis).
  6. "Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah” (26:7).
  7. Theodore Epp said there are two important lessons regarding Isaac's imitating his father's example.
  8. First, it is much easier for children to imitate the weaknesses or vices of their parents than to excel in their virtues. It is easier because it is natural. Second, while Abraham and Isaac were men of vastly different temperaments, each succumbed to the same temptation. When famine arose, they fled for help. While they were in the land of the enemy, they both became afraid and lied about their wives” (Back to the Bible).
  9. The belief that Rebekah was Isaac's sister was evidently held by the people of Gerar for some time because Genesis 26:8 says, “And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time…”
  10. After Isaac “had been there a long time," Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked out the window and saw Isaac “sporting with Rebekah his wife” (26:8).
  11. Abimelech could tell by the way they were laughing and carrying on that they were husband wife, and not brother and sister.
  12. The problem with lying is liars eventually get caught.
  13. God hates lying. Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD.” Eventually Isaac was exposed. He was caught lying.
  14. Abimelech realized the deception and called for Isaac. He rebuked Isaac and reminded him of what might have happened to Rebekah if a man were to lie with her (26:9, 10).
  15. Not only would this be a terrible ordeal for Rebekah, but for Abimelech as well – “thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us” (26:10b).
  16. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, “Is there anything sadder in this world than that a child of God should be rebuked by a man of the world? The corruption of the best is indeed the worst, and when a believer sins and his sin has to be pointed out to him by men who make no profession whatever of religion, this is indeed to sound the depths of sorrow and disappointment. Abimelech took immediate steps to prevent any harm coming to Isaac and Rebekah from what had been done, and it is not difficult to imagine Isaac's feelings as he realized the results of his deliberate untruth” (Genesis).
  17. After rebuking Isaac, Abimelech commanded his people to refrain from harming either Isaac or Rebekah on pain of death (26:11).
  18. This incident teaches us how insecure a female’s honor was back in those days, if she was in a strange land. We also see that God mercifully protects his chosen ones from the danger which they bring upon themselves by their foolish self-reliance on lies and deception.
  19. Isaac believed Abimelech when he assured him no one would lay a finger on him or Rebekah, and so he went to work sowing seed (26:11, 12).
  20. Isaac believed Abimelech when he promised him protection, but Isaac didn’t trust God when God promised him protection (26:3)!
  21. Isaac sowed seed, and in the very same year received a hundredfold owing to the wonderful blessing of the LORD (26:12).
  22. Also, his flocks grew and his household increased more and more "until he became very great" (26:13, 14). Isaac became very rich.
  23. God blessed Isaac right after his deception. The Bible says the LORD is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6, 7).
  24. Isaac’s prosperity inevitably led to envy. "The Philistines envied him" (26:14), and filled up his wells with dirt (26:15).
  25. Back in those days, the digging of wells conferred a sort of ownership on the well digger, especially in a country where water was precious. Digging wells was a virtual claim to the possession of the land, and it was this in particular that the Philistines resented Isaac’s great success.
  26. The Philistines refused to allow Isaac to regard himself as in any sense the owner of this property, and they did everything they could to make it difficult and even impossible for him to stay there.
  27. Abimelech was not happy about the situation and told Isaac to leave (26:16). Isaac departed, but did not go home, but remained in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there (26:17).

 

III. ISAAC THE WELL-DIGGER

  1. Isaac fought no great battles. Isaac built no great cities. Isaac built wells (26:18, 19, 21, 22, 32).
  2. Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go from us” (26:16). Isaac listened to Abimelech and moved on, settling down in the valley of Gerar (26:17).
  3. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug back in the days of his father Abraham. These wells had been shut up by the Philistines after the death of Abraham (26:18).
  4. And Isaac gave them the same names that his father had given them.
  5. In addition to digging up the old wells, Isaac began digging new wells. This led to strife with the herdmen of Gerar, who claimed the water as their property (26:19, 20).
  6. “Esek” means “strife,” and “Sitnah” means “contention” (26:20, 21).
    Even though Isaac yielded to his Philistine neighbors, they continued to strive.
  7. The word Sitnah comes from a Hebrew root word meaning “to lie in wait as an adversary.” The name Satan comes from this same root.
  8. The Philistine hatred for Isaac was Satanic in its origin.
  9. Isaac dug another well, and they continued to strive, and again Isaac yielded. Isaac’s peaceful yielding is noteworthy. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).
  10. It should be remembered that the Philistines had made a covenant, a peace treaty, with Abraham (21:27). By stopping up his wells and harassing Isaac they were violating the terms of the covenant.
  11. It wasn’t until Isaac “removed from thence, and digged another well,” that they strove not. This well Isaac called “Rehoboth,” meaning “enough room” (26:22). “For now the LORD hath made room for us.”
  12. It seems like the LORD was at work slowly but surely guiding Isaac away from the Philistines and back again to his own home.
  13. “And he went up from thence to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night” (26:23, 24a).
  14. The significance of Beersheba is reflected in the phrase, "from Dan to Beersheba", meaning from the northern end to the southern end of the Israelites’ territory. Beer-sheba marked the southern limit.
  15. The title, “the God of Abraham” appears many times in both the Old and the New Testament. This is the first time that it is used (26:24).
  16. Isaac is told not to fear, that he can rely upon the divine presence and blessing, and upon the fulfilment of the promise to his father Abraham (26:24; cf. 26:3-5).
  17. Many events transpired between the LORD’s appearance in the beginning of Genesis 26, and here near the end. Finally, it seems that Isaac was right with God.
  18. Isaac responded to the LORD’s revelation by building an altar. "He builded an altar there, and called upon the Name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well" (26:25).
  19. First comes the altar, which signifies consecration. His father Abraham frequently built altars unto the LORD.
  20. Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?
    Your heart does the Spirit control?
    You can only be blest,
    And have peace and sweet rest,
    As you yield Him your body and soul.
  21. Then there is prayer which signifies our dependence upon God. David said, “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1).
  22. Then there is the tent which signifies that Isaac was a pilgrim like his father Abraham. Hebrews 11:9 says Abraham “sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles (tents) with Isaac and Jacob.”
  23. After the altar and prayer and the tent comes the well which signifies man’s daily needs. But the altar must always come first (26:25).
  24. "Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar" (26:26). The timing is noteworthy. When Isaac had returned to the pathway of God's will, those who were formerly his enemies came to him and acknowledged that the LORD was with him (26:26-28).
  25. Isaac asked Abimelech and his friends why they had come, seeing that they had sent him away from them. They replied, "We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee” (26:28).
  26. Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” Now that Isaac was right with God, he was at peace with his enemies (26:28-31).
  27. It has been said that “when God is honored by man, man is always honored by God” (W.H. Griffith Thomas, Genesis).
  28. Verse 31 says, “Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.” As long as Isaac was surrounded by worldly Philistines he did not experience much happiness. He was envied, hindered, and opposed by his jealous neighbors.
  29. But once Isaac separated from them, he enjoyed peace (26:31, 32).
  30. For true happiness, comfort, and power with others, separation from the world is an absolute necessity. It is a terrible mistake to imagine that we can be entangled with the world and still be right with God.
  31. Lot is a vivid example of this.
  32. God must always come first. The first four words in the Bible are, "In the beginning God."
  33. Divine guidance is our only safety as we travel down life’s pathway.
  34. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, “It is a profound mistake to think that we need only concern ourselves with God's will in the great events, the crises of life. The story of Isaac shows with unmistakable clearness that there is nothing too trivial for God's guidance, and nothing too small for the need of His grace and power…Not a step must be taken without His direction, not a work undertaken without His grace and blessing” (Genesis).
  35. Genesis 26 concludes with a reference to Esau getting married to two Hittite women at the age of forty (26:34).
  36. These two wives chosen from the Hittites were a source of great grief to Isaac and Rebekah (26:35). Parents always suffer when their children choose the wrong mates.

 

CONCLUSION:


  1. In Bible typology, the Philistines represent the unregenerate men of the world who oppose the people of God.
  2. Isaac represents the child of God. Although Isaac stumbled and fell, he got back to God – building an altar, and praying, etc. (26:25).
  3. The wells take up a good portion of Genesis 26 and therefore they are very important. Wells are a source of life and refreshment.
  4. Spiritually they represent the blessings of God we enjoy through Christ and His Word and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
  5. The Philistines stopped up the wells, putting in dirt and debris. This they did spitefully and with evil intent. The world likes to pile up their dirt and filth, and oftentimes many Christians get defiled.
  6. Our Lord was passing through Samaria, and He stood next to Jacob's well and said, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13, 14).
  7. Maybe there are some here today who need to go to this well?


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