Reading: Genesis chapter 26 verses 1-33:
Ill:
• A preacher was addressing his congregation;
• When he held up a large piece of paper.
• He then took from his pocket a marker pen;
• And made a black dot in the centre of it.
• Then he held the paper up before the people and asked them what they saw.
• One person quickly replied, “I see a black mark.”
• “Right,” the preacher replied. “What else do you see?”
• Complete silence prevailed. “Don’t you see anything other than the dot?” he asked.
• A chorus of noes came from the audience.
• “I’m really surprised,” the preacher commented.
• “You have completely overlooked the most important thing of all—the sheet of paper.”
• Then he made the application.
“He said that in life we are often distracted by small, dot-like disappointments or painful experiences, and we are prone to forget the innumerable blessings we receive from the hand of the Lord”.
• But like the sheet of paper,
• The good things are far more important than the adversities that monopolize our attention.
Quote: Someone has written:
“As you travel down life’s pathway, may this ever be your goal:
Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole!”
Ill:
There was an advertisement in a local newspaper that said:
REWARD: Lost dog. Three legs, blind in left eye, right ear missing, tail broken,
recently neutered. Answers to the name “Lucky”.
Quote:
• The Hebrew word (language of the Old Testament) for ‘luck’ is ‘Gad’,
• So I guess you can live by ‘Gad’ or by God – I know which I prefer!
• As Christians we can be confident that God is good;
• And God is a God of blessing!
The theme running throughout this chapter is God’s blessings:
• The chapter begins with the promise of God’s blessings upon Isaac (verse 3):
• “Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you”.
• And then ends with Abimelech (vs 29) acknowledging God’s blessings on Isaac.
• C.E.V: “The LORD has truly blessed you."
This is a great chapter because it teaches us 3 important truths:
• WHO God blesses,
• WHY God blesses,
• And HOW God blesses.
• And most importantly we discover in this chapter, that God’s blessings;
• Are not hindered by our circumstances, our mistakes, or the opposition of others.
Quote: You could summarize Genesis Chapter 26 in one sentence:
“God, in his goodness and grace, blesses his people despite the situation,
despite their failings, and despite opposition”.
Note: Genesis Chapter 26 is the only chapter in the Bible where Isaac is the focus of
Attention:
• There are other chapters in which he is mentioned, but he is not the centre of attention.
• But in this chapter he is the main player, the star actor in this narrative.
• As we go through the chapter we are going to see Isaac in four different situations;
• Interestingly they are all situations that, his own father Abraham also experienced.
• So for Isaac will it be a case of ‘like father like son’?
• Will he make the same mistakes that his father did? Or will he respond differently?
(A). He faced his father's choice (vs 1-5).
“Now there was a famine in the land--besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time--and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar.
2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws”.
Verse 1: “Now there was a famine in the land”:
• After his father’s death, Isaac had been living in the Negab region:
• When food became scarce because of a famine he was forced to move on.
• This presented Isaac with a problem;
• Where to go? He had an important choice to make;
• He could choose Egypt, which was irrigated by the Nile.
• Or he could head for the coast of Canaan, with its higher rainfall.
• Back in Genesis chapter 12, Isaac’s father Abraham had faced the same situation:
• And Abraham had opted for Egypt (which with hind-sight was not a good choice).
• Isaac is now facing the same predicament;
• Question is; which option will he take?
Verse 1b:
• Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar;
• Gerar is on the southern boundary of the land of the Canaanites (Genesis 10:19).
• So Isaac chooses Canaan and as a result of this wise choice,
• Verse 2 tells us that the Lord appears to him.
In verses 2-5: God speaks to Isaac and tells him four things:
• First: he confirms to Isaac that he is right not to go to Egypt;
• And that Gerar was where the Lord would be with him to bless him.
• Second: he is told in verse 3; that although this land was ruled by other people;
• One day the land would belong to him and his descendants.
• Thirdly: in verse 4: God gives Isaac the same promise that he had made to Abraham.
• That his decedents would be numberless & all the earth will be blessed through them.
• Fourthly: in verse 5 he reminds Isaac that blessing is dependant on obedience;
• “Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees & my laws”.
Application 1: Blessing depends on obedience
Quote: The words of Eleanor Roosevelt ring true:
“One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words. It is expressed in the choices one makes.
In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves.
The process never ends until we die.
And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”
Quote: Woody Allen the comedian who said:
“It’s hard to get your heart and your head to agree in life.
In my case, they are not even friendly”.
• How true:
• So often we know what we should do but still make the wrong choices!
Ill:
• At a certain Children’s hospital;
• A boy had a reputation for wrecking havoc with the nurses and staff.
• Embarrassed by his behaviour his mother tried to blackmail him into being good.
• She made him a proposition.
• If you can behave for 24 hours;
• When I come back tomorrow I will give you a pound.
The next day the mother returned and looking her son straight in the eye said;
“I’m not going to ask the nurses or staff if you have behaved, I’m going to ask you. You must tell me yourself, do you deserve the pound?”
• After a few minutes silence the boy said;
• “You had better give me 10p”
Quote: (Eric Liddell - Scottish athlete & missionary):
“One word stands out from all others as the key to knowing God, to having His peace and assurance in your life - it is obedience”
ill:
Elisabeth Elliot tells the story of when her & her brother Tom were small children.
• Their mother would let Tom play with paper bags that she had saved;
• As long as he put them away afterwards.
• One day she walked into the kitchen to find them strewn all over the floor.
• Tom was in another room at the piano with his father singing hymns.
• When their mother called him to the kitchen to tidy up;
• He protested, “But Mum, I want to sing Jesus loves me this I know.”
• His father seated next to him;
• Backed up the boys mother by saying:
• “It’s no good singing God’s praise if you’re disobedient.”
• “To obey is better than sacrifice”
ill:
That verse of course is taken from 1 Samuel chapter 15
• Where God instructs king Saul to destroy the Amalekites and all their livestock.
• If you know the story; Saul destroys them but keeps the best sheep, cattle, calves & lambs.
• So Samuel the prophet pays him a visit
• And Saul greets him by saying; "God’s blessings on you! I accomplished God’s plan to the letter!"
• So Samuel replies
• 14"So what's this I'm hearing--this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?".
Saul replies:
"The army took them from the Amalekites," Saul explained. "They kept the best sheep and cattle, so they could sacrifice them to the LORD your God. But we destroyed everything else."
In other words he justifies his disobedience:
• Samuel you don’t understand;
• We came up with a better idea; we want to honour God our way!
Samuel replies with that classic statement Verse 22 (C.E.V):
“Samuel said. "Does the LORD really want sacrifices and offerings? No!
He doesn't want your sacrifices. He wants you to obey him”.
Tough Question:
• Are we obeying the Lord HIS way or ours?
• Let’s make sure we are following his instructions and not adapting them to suite us!
(B). He repeated his father's sin (vs 6-11).
“So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, She is my sister, because he was afraid to say, She is my wife. He thought, The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death”.
• If you know the parallel story of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis chapter 12),
• Abraham also tried to pass off his wife Sarah off as his sister.
• Well the plan badly failed for Abraham;
• And as we have read, the plan badly fails for Isaac!
Note (in case you are wondering):
• The king Abraham tried to deceive was called ‘Abinelech’.
• You might be surprised to know that the king Isaac tries to deceive is also called ‘Abimelech’:
• Well ‘Abimelech’ has not discovered the secret of eternal youth;
• He may bear the same name, but he is not the same king;
Ill:
The name ‘Abimelech’ means ‘(God) the king is my father’.
• Most scholars tend to think that ‘Abimelech’ was probably a family or clan name;
• Ill: New Testament ‘Herod’.
• Herod the Great,
• Who ordered the massacre of the Bethlehem children just after birth of Jesus.
• Herod Antipas,
• The man who had given the order for John the Baptist to be beheaded.
• Herod Agrippa, who the apostle Paul stood before and shared his testimony.
• It was a family, a clan name.
Verses 6-11:
• "Like father, like son" is a saying that we are all familiar with:
• For Isaac that expression perfectly fits him in this situation.
• He has moved his wife & servants to a new land;
• And they are living among a new people, a people with their own traits and customs.
• Isaac seems to worry and imagine the worst that could happen in this situation;
• He expresses the same unjustified fear & deceptive reaction as Abraham did decades earlier.
He comes up with what he thinks is a cunning plan:
• He will tell everyone that Rebekah his wife is actually his sister,
• This way no-one will kill him and then take Rebekah for themselves.
• On two previous occasions his father Abraham tried this plan and it went horribly wrong;
• Now for Isaac it is about to also backfire on him.
Note:
• There are significant differences in the stories of father and son:
• Abraham was discovered when God speaks to Abimelech through a supernatural dream.
• Isaac is found out when Abimelech sees them fondling each other.
• In other words through normal circumstances.
• In both cases, God was working;
• Sometimes God chooses to work supernaturally and sometimes in natural ways.
Application 2: Blessing despite our failures
The most interesting aspect of this story is that:
• Immediately after Isaac’s sin was discovered and rebuked (vs 10-11);
• The very next verses (vs 12-13) inform us that he was supernaturally blessed.
“Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,
because the LORD blessed him.
13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him”.
• In a land of famine, God gave Isaac a bumper harvest!
• Instead of punishment for his disobedience, God chooses to bless him!
Note:
• These verses are not an excuse to leave this place and deliberately sin;
• They are a reminder that God blesses us despite our failings.
• Remember:
• This is not a habitual sin that Isaac keeps on practicing time after time after time.
• It is a genuine mistake he made;
• And later on he would greatly regret making and although were not told, repent off!
Here’s the point: Remember God blesses us despite our failings:
• God doesn’t bless us because we deserve it;
• But because of his love, mercy, and grace.
• Under the law we would be treated as our sins deserve (Leviticus 26:21)
• But under grace "He does not treat us as our sins deserve. . ." (Psalm 103:10)
• It is good to know that even though you and I will fail and sin,
• God in his mercy still chooses to blesses us anyway!
Quote:
• C.S. Lewis in the Screwtape Letters vividly describes Satan’s strategy:
• “He gets Christians to be preoccupied with their failures; from then on, the battle is won”
God on the other hand wants us to learn from and grow through our failures:
• Each Christian like Abraham and Isaac;
• Have the opportunity to grow through their failures;
ill:
An assistant to Thomas A. Eddison;
• Once tried to console the inventor;
• Over the failure to achieve in a series of experiments what he had set out to find.
• “It’s too bad” he said; “To do all that work without results”
• Eddison replied; “We have lots of results, we now know 700 things that won’t work”
Quote:
• God would have us grow through the front door of obedience;
• Rather that the backdoor of failure.
• This route is longer and more difficult;
• But the end result is even our failures can be an opportunity for growth.
• And God in his goodness and mercy;
• Still chooses to bless us despite our failings and our sinfulness!
(C). He dug again his father's wells (vs 12-22).
“Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.
13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
15 So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.
18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, The water is ours! So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, but they quarrelled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.
22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no-one quarrelled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
In ancient times few things were more important than wells:
• It was an arid land where water was rare and desperately needed;
• Obviously it was needed for people and also to keep the livestock alive and flourishing.
• Wells were difficult to dig through hard earth and rock;
• And often this was done without success.
• In ancient times;
• Possessing a well was almost the same as having a deed to the land.
Verses 12-15 tells us that Isaac settled down in Gerar;
• He successfully farmed the land and God granted him bumper harvests;
• As a result he grew richer and richer and the local population became resentful,
• They tried to stop God’s blessings of Isaac by filling up his wells with dirt;
• Or stealing wells that rightfully belonged to him.
Application 3: Blessing despite opposition:
• The lesson from these verses are;
• God can bless us even when we face great opposition.
There are three disputes recoded in these verses between Isaac and the local people:
(1). Verse 15:
15”They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells”.
• The envious Philistines blocked up all Isaac’s wells;
• This of course denied his family, labourers and animals much needed water.
(2). The second dispute is in verse 17-20:
• Isaac responds by moving on deeper into the valley of Gerar;
• He decides to make use of some old wells that his father had had dug years before.
• In verse 20 we read of another dispute that arose;
• This time with the herdsman of Gerar.
20”The shepherds of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac's shepherds,
claiming, "This water is ours."
• Now Isaac was not using water, which they needed, or water that was theirs.
• He had reopened some old redundant wells that had been filled in.
• But that the Philistines envious of his blessings and success wanted rid of him.
• Notice how Isaac responds: for a second time withdrew gradually,
(3).
• Then in verse 21 we read:
• “Then they dug another well, but they quarrelled over that one also”
• Well that’s a surprise; the locals once again start an argument over this new well.
• And once again Isaac is forced to move on.
On each of these three occasions:
• Isaac gives various descriptive names to the wells.
• And notice: rather than fighting over the wells or giving up in discouragement,
• Isaac just moved to another location and dug another well.
• And every time he did he found water.
(4).
• So then in verse 22 he had dug a fourth well;
• And this time no-one argued with him.
• So this well he names it Rehoboth, saying,
• ‘Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land’.
THE SIGNIFICANT FEATURE ABOUT THESE QUARRELS IS THAT:
• Each time Isaac the ‘hero’ of the chapter quits and moves elsewhere.
• We don’t know if he was just timid and afraid to fight and defend his property.
• I actually believe he had learnt to be confident in God & his promise.
• After all he had tried his best plan and failed miserably.
• And desire his failure God had blessed him.
• Now I believe he had the confidence that wherever he went God would keep his word!
• For Isaac it did not matter where he went,
• He was confident that God would sort out his circumstances and bless him!
Note:
• It is true to say that in life each one of us;
• Will at times face repeated opposition to God’s blessings in our lives:
• In those difficult times we have a choice;
• We can sit around and moan about how unfair it all is and how we are dealt a bad hand.
• Or we can pick up our shovels and dig another well saying,
• "He blessed me once and he can do it again."
Ill:
• The American painter, John Sargent,
• Once painted a panel of roses that was highly praised by critics.
• It was a small picture, but it approached perfection.
• Although offered a high price for it on many occasions, Sargent refused to sell it.
• He considered it his best work and was very proud of it.
• Whenever he was deeply discouraged and doubtful of his abilities as an artist,
• He would look at it and remind himself, “I painted that.”
• Then his confidence and ability would come back to him.
In those difficult times remember God has blessed you and he can do it again!;
• So keep digging those wells because God, in his grace,
• Blesses his people despite their situation, despite their failures, and despite opposition.
(D). He trusted his father's God (vs 23-33).
“From there he went up to Beersheba.
24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.
27 Isaac asked them, Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?
28 They answered, We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, 'There ought to be a sworn agreement between us'--between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you
29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, We've found water!
33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba”.
Verse 23:
• "Isaac went up to Beersheba. . ."
• Notice that all of these afflictions and opposition that Isaac faced;
• Had actually been leading him deeper into the Promised Land,
• Figuratively he was closer to God now than he had ever been!
Ill:
• A shipwrecked man was once washed ashore on an uninhabited island.
• In the days that followed he painstakingly built a hut;
• Using the few things he had salvaged from the wreck;
• And from whatever he could find on the island.
• That little hut was the only protection he had from the harsh elements;
• And the only place he could safeguard his meagre possessions.
• Upon returning one evening from a lengthy search for food,
• He was terrified to find the hut engulfed in flames.
• The loss devastated him.
• He spent that night despondent, sleeping on the sand.
• He awoke early the next morning and,
• To his surprise, saw a ship anchored off the island.
• A crew member stepped ashore and told him,
• "We saw your smoke signal and came to rescue you!"
Things are not always as they seem:
• What seemed to be destruction turned out to be deliverance.
• For Isaac what had been opposition had actually taken him closer to God.
• His opposition had actually been leading him deeper into the Promised Land,
• So that figuratively he was closer to God now than he had ever been!
SO TOO WITH US:
• What looks like a tragedy;
• May well be the means that God uses to bring us closer to himself.
Ill:
Not a lot of people know this;
• If you catch a small shark and confine it,
• It will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium you put it in.
• Sharks can be six inches long yet fully matured.
• But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their normal length of eight feet.
• God may use opposition and difficult circumstances;
• To move us out of our nice comfortable ponds.
• His aim is that we might develop and spiritually grow;
• And not merely stay at a mediocre level of spirituality!
Verse 25:
“Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD.
There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well”.
• Isaac recognizes that God’s blessings were upon his life;
• And he responded by worshiping and thanking God:
Ill:
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was present at the Vienna Music Hall,
• Where his oratorio The Creation was being performed.
• Weakened by age, the great composer was confined to a wheelchair.
• As the majestic work moved along,
• The audience was caught up with tremendous emotion.
• When the passage “And there was light!” was reached,
• The chorus and orchestra burst forth in such power;
• That the crowd could no longer restrain its enthusiasm.
• The vast assembly rose in spontaneous applause.
• Haydn struggled to stand and motioned for silence.
• With his hand pointed toward heaven, he said,
• “No, no, not from me, but from thence comes all!”
• Having given the glory and praise to the Creator, he fell back into his chair exhausted.
In verse 25:
• Isaac recognised that God’s blessings were upon his life;
• And he responded by worshiping and thanking God:
Application 4: Out of Blessing should come worship:
• Isaac was a man who experienced;
• Setbacks, opposition, moral failures, and difficult situations.
• Yet God still was able to bless him.
• The same is true for you and for me also.
Quote:
• William Barclay who quotes William Temple,
• The renowned archbishop of Canterbury, as defining worship as:
“Quickening the conscience by the holiness of God,
feeding the mind with the truth of God,
purging the imagination by the beauty of God,
opening the heart to the love of God,
and devoting the will to the purpose of God”
May that be the response of all of us this evening!
1. God can bless us despite the situation (even in a famine).
2. God to bless us despite our failures (make stupid disc ions).
3. God to bless us despite opposition (Draw us closer to him).
In response to his blessings may we worship by:
• Quickening the conscience by the holiness of God,
• Feeding the mind with the truth of God,
• Purging the imagination by the beauty of God,
• Opening the heart to the love of God,
• And devoting the will to the purpose of God.
