GENESIS

Notes on Genesis 26

• Genesis 26:1 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.
• 2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

Seems like God's message is still the same. Not to trust in Egypt but trust in Him alone.

• Genesis 26:3 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 swore unto Abraham thy father;

God promised the land to the seed of Isaac and no matter what the circumstances, whether it be war, famine, disease, family concerns etc., they were to dwell in the place where God first commanded Abraham to go and not to Egypt or anywhere else.

• Genesis 26:4 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;
• 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Obeying the voice of the Lord brings rewards.

The promise of God dwelling with them.

• Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
• 21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
• 22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

God's blessing upon them:

• Deuteronomy 11:27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
• 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

The presence of the Holy Spirit (this promise is to both Jews and Gentiles that obey God.)

• Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
• 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
• 31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
• 32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

There is another verse in Samuel that says to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the blood of lambs. Obedience keeps us from getting in trouble many times.

• Genesis 26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
• 7 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.

Abraham did this twice and this is why Isaac felt free to do the same thing. This is a temporary lapse in trusting God. We all go through lapses and a weakening of our faith at times. The trouble is that our children see this and will sometimes follow our example.

• Genesis 26:8 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.

Abimelech was smart enough to recognize that they were not acting like brother and sister.

• Genesis 26:9 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.
• 10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lain with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

They knew enough of what was right and wrong to not to touch another man's wife. This really says something about our generation. If even a heathen leader feared God enough to forbid such practices but we do not in our generation.

• Genesis 26:11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

This is how strict people use to be in their laws. To commit adultery with someone else's wife was a serious sin. Yet I see something else that because of the gospel and Jesus Christ our country at least for now, does not assume a single woman is free to be taken advantage of. This may change in the future if things continue spiraling downhill in our society today like we see.

• Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
• 13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
• 14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

Just as Abraham before him, Isaac was blessed because he believed God and walked in His ways.

• Genesis 26:15 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.

Isaac sought no vengeance for this act but just went and dug more wells.

• Genesis 26:16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
• 17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
• 18 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.
• 19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
• 20 And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
• 21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
• 22 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.

Isaac must have had a meek spirit. God promised them all this land for an inheritance yet Isaac did not fight against those that fought for his wells but just removed himself and settled in another place. This is a good example to follow.

As we wait for the coming of the Lord a second time, we too must be like Isaac in this example. We are not to try set up Christ's kingdom by force like the church attempted to do in the Middle Ages. We are to wait on God's promises. David was anointed king several years before he became king and sat on the throne of Israel. He refused to fight against Saul and take the throne ahead of time. God has His own timing. The kingdom was given to David when God decided the time was right.

The land was promised to Abraham but they were not to take anything by force until the time was right and the sin of the Canaanites went past the point of no return. They had to wait past their own lifetime before the land was theirs. Because of sin the land was taken back from them for seventy years under the captivity of Babylon and then given back. Because of their rejection of Jesus Christ they lost the land again for almost 2000 years until 1948. The land promised to them still has not been given to them in full measure. For this they have to wait on God again. At the same time, they should not be giving it away either. I fear for the United States when they try to force Israel to give up their land. We better stay out of God's business.

Jimmy Carter, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump or no president in the future have  no business pressuring Israel to give up any land for peace. Has it brought peace???

• Genesis 26:23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
• 24 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.
• 25 And he built 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 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
• 27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
• 28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

I am just speculating here, but it seems as if Abimelech was after the material blessings of God rather than the spiritual. If they were after the presence of God and wanted to live by God's commandments they wouldn't have needed Isaac's presence. They sent Isaac away and realized their mistake because God was blessing Isaac materially.

• Genesis 26:29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.
• 30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
• 31 And they rose up quickly in the morning, and swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
• 32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
• 33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
• 34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
• 35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

Again we see that to marry a daughter from a heathen land meant that Esau took his faith lightly. This is what caused him to lose his birthright a few years back; caring more for temporary relief and things of this life than the spiritual blessings from God.

When we are young, it is easy to fall into temptation, marry the wrong person and get away from God's best for our lives. When we are young and are strength is still good, is the best time to give our all for the Lord. If we would give ourselves wholly to the Lord and trust in Him, He will give us the right spouse in His own time. A lot of ministries and lives have been wrecked by choosing the wrong companion. If we love God with all our hearts, it is foolish to marry someone who has no love for God and no respect for His word.

This doesn't mean we are better than someone else or better than people of other nations, but if we believe in God with all our hearts and we marry into a family that has no fear of God, it will hinder our walk with God.

A man and wife become one when they marry. We can't be of the same mind and one accord with someone who does not believe in what we believe. I warn though that if we get into a mixed marriage, it is not excuse for separation or divorce. However, we are not under any bondage if the  unbelieving spouse chooses to depart.

Yes, we are to witness and win the lost to Jesus Christ but we don't have to marry someone in order to win them to Christ. We should try to marry "in the Lord" or in His will. Sometimes this may involve not marrying even Christian person we think is the right one. God may see otherwise. That doesn't mean that they are bad or that we are better but it means that God sees that a certain person is not the right one for us. We should consult God diligently before making a decision to marry. Of course after we do marry and then discover it was a mistake, it is too late. We must do the best with what we got ourselves into and not use it as an excuse to divorce. Two wrongs do not make a right. God is merciful and can make things work out.

In reading about Isaac and Abraham, we can learn from their mistakes and their faithfulness. We see God's mercy even when they mess up, we see God's favor when they show faith, and we see how great faith counts even in the Old Testament. We see what a long process through many generations had to take place before God chose to send His own Son into the world to walk among us. We see that much happened to try to stop that holy seed from entering into the human race.

Sarah and Rebecca was barren. Pharaoh and Herod tried to wipe all male children out. The bible records many struggles of Israel to attempt to survive. For some reason the world hates the people of promise both before and after Christ entered the world. Bible prophecy depends on the physical existence of literal Israel. Both the 1st coming and Christ's 2nd coming involves the literal presence of Israel in their own land. Yet, in spite of the the hardship and struggles, Israel still exists whether the world likes it or not. God's word will come to pass. DC

Genesis 27