Redigging The Wells

REDIGGING THE WELLS

Gen. 26:17-24

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: Trying to Deceive, He Got Deceived

1. Jerry Carney is an antique dealer who’s always on the lookout for valuable antiques. He buys them cheap and sells them in his Antique Shop for a big profit.

2. One day Jerry drove to a small town in Kentucky and went into a small country store with all kinds of junk sitting outside. As he walked through the store he saw a strange-looking bowl, which on closer inspection, turned out to be a rare antique Chinese carved coconut bowl dating back to the 18th or 19th century.

3. It was worth more than everything else in the store put together. The owner, clearly not aware of its value, had filled the bowl with milk for a calico cat to drink out of. Jerry saw this as the opportunity of a lifetime. Jerry thought up a plan to buy the bowl.

4. Jerry picked up the cat and said to the store owner, “I’ll give you $100 for this cat.” The store owner said, “He’s a nice cat but I guess I could part with him for that price.” Then Jerry said, “I need something to feed this cat from...hey, I’ll throw in another $10 for the bowl she’s drinking out of.”

5. The old store owner replied, “Oh, I couldn’t do that. It’s my prized possession, it’s from China. Funny thing, though! Since I’ve had that bowl, I’ve sold 17 cats!”

6. Do we think we’re smart? Sometimes we think we’re smarter than God, but that’s a bad mistake!

B. TEXT

1. 17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 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 herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac 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 quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” 23 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.” Gen. 26:17-24

C. ABRAHAM’S LEGACY TO ISAAC

1. God’s call to Abraham changed the course of history. Abraham’s journey to an unknown land prepared the way for events of tremendous significance.

2. As he journeyed from Ur to Canaan, he built altars across the land and received revelations from God. When he died, the mission of the covenant nation was only just begun, but Abraham had,

a. laid the foundations, and,

b. Committed the ongoing task to Isaac and succeeding generations. Isaac was careful to both keep alive his father’s revelations and to extend them to new levels.

3. The title of this message is “Redigging the Wells.”

I. REDIGGING ABRAHAM’S WELLS

A. ISAAC COPIED THE LIFE OF HIS FATHER

Below are 7 similarities between Abraham & Isaac:

1. Both had barren wives;

2. Both went to Gerar;

3. Both claimed his wife was his sister;

4. Made a Covenant with Abimelech;

5. Both had well(s) seized by “ herdsmen;

6. Named the place called Beersheba;

7. Called on God there.

B. ORIGIN OF THE WELLS

1. Isaac pilgrimaged after the faith/God of his father Abraham.

a. He wanted to know his father’s God.

b. He lived where his father had lived.

c. He built altars where his father had built altars;

d. He even told the same lies as his father.

2. He was trying to get in touch with the God of his father. This was a good thing to do. Others before us have found God when they really sought Him. We can too, if we sacrifice and follow their example.

3. EACH WELL OF ABRAHAM REPRESENTED:

a. Hardships endured; Conflicts fought; Victories won in the life of Abraham.

b. IT’S HARD WORK TO DIG A WELL. In Israel, it’s hot, confining; no wind, hard ground with rock in it, blisters, aching muscles, cramping, thirst. (That’s what it’s like to redig spiritual wells. It’s a time of travail & difficulty in prayer, fasting, and dying to the flesh.)