Isaac #6 - Genesis 26:1-11

Genesis 26:1–11 KJV (WS)

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: 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 sware unto Abraham thy father; 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. 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. 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. 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 lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Introduction

Isaac was a devout man who still had room to grow in his faith. vs1

Sometimes our faith grows the most during times of hardship.

During these times we can find that God remains faithful even when we are not.

During this time in Isaac’s life, there was a severe famine that was afflicting the land.

Abraham had faced famine during his life.

There is a truth that we find in the Bible, that might help us today.

In the Bible we learn that just because a parent endures a difficulty, that doesn’t mean the children won’t have to go through a similar situation.

It is not our job to shield our children from every hardship.

It is our job to try to prepare them to face faith-testing times.

Even in this situation, Abraham is dead, Isaac must face this time alone.

Isaac, whose riches were largely tied up in livestock, was soon in search of a place to graze his animals.

One option is to go to Egypt where his father had fled during a famine.

Another option was to go to Abimelech, king of the Philistines.

The Philistines looked like a great place for Isaac to start.

The Philistine land was on the coast of the Mediterranean.

Even in a drought they had an access to water that the rest of the land did not.

They were also a lot closer than traveling to Egypt.

It just kind of makes sense to check with Abimelech before making the trek to Egypt.

It was on the way.

If it didn’t work out, they could always travel on.

Isaac leads his herds and family to Gerar.

God appears to Isaac to give him direction in the midst of the famine. vs2-5

The first thing that God tells Isaac is that he is not to go down to Egypt.

We aren’t really told why.

It could have been that there were things going on in Egypt that God wanted Isaac to avoid.

It could also have something to do with Isaac’s son, Jacob, who would one day move to Egypt to reconcile with his son, Joseph.

He just wasn’t supposed to go.

We aren’t always given a why when it comes to God’s directions.

God had more to say though besides just the restriction.

There is a blessing that Isaac receives based on the faith of his father.

Though we may not be able to spare our children from the difficulties of life, we can secure blessing for them through our obedience.

God reestablishes the covenant he had made to Abraham.

He promises to bless Isaac and to make a great nation out of him.

The Bible makes clear that this promise is give to Isaac because of the obedience of his father.

Now the question becomes, will Isaac obey God and stay away from Egypt?

Isaac obeys God and refrains from entering into Egypt. vs6-7

We focus a lot on what comes next but we overlook the obedience of Isaac.

He listened to God and stayed in Canaan.

If Isaac was a blatant rebel against God, he would have disregarded what God said and went to Egypt.

He didn’t do that.

Isaac wants to be faithful.

But staying in Gerar has some consequences.

Staying longer with the Philistines brings up an issue.

When Isaac arrived in Gerar he had told the king that Rebekah was his sister not his wife.

Rebekah was beautiful and Isaac was afraid that the Philistines would kill him to get to Rebekah if they found out that she was his wife.

I kind of think it’s possible that this was done before God spoke to Isaac.

At the time he thought they might only be in Gerar for a short time.

After God’s clear direction, though, Isaac would have to keep up the charade for a lot longer.

This is an untenable situation.

Living a lie is an impossible game to win.

The truth will eventually come out.

Isaac could have just told the truth to begin with.

He could have come clean after he was told to stay of Egypt.

It seemed, as it always does, that nobody knew about his deception.

Until the truth came out.

God protects Isaac despite his poor decision. vs 8-11

The Bible says the act held up for a long time until Abimelech happened to look out his window one day.

Abimelech sees a man and a woman doing what husbands and wives typically do.

This doesn’t have to be anything private it just means that they were delighting in each other.

It may have been that they were walking through town holding hands and leaning on each other.

You know, having told everyone that she was his sister, it wouldn’t take too much PDA for Abimelech to think, that’s not his sister.

Abimelech calls Isaac to a meeting.

Abimelech is pretty bothered by this realization.

He confronts Isaac about his lie.

Why did you tell us that Rebekah was your sister, when she is obviously your wife?

Isaac claims fear led him to do it.

Now, although I have said from the beginning that we want to give Isaac more of positive look, this is an important lesson to learn.

Fear of man is like germ juice for faith.

Even the most faithful, devout person will make bad decisions when they begin to operate with fear of man.

Isaac lied because he was afraid the Philistines would kill him for his wife.

Abimelech shows Isaac that his fears were unfounded.

He demonstrates an honor that Isaac assumed he did not possess.

Abimelech expresses a concern for his people’s morality.

Isaac’s lie had opened the door for one of the Philistines to assume that Rebekah was an available woman.

Abimelech seems to know that the condition of his men.

One of them may have tried to lie with Rebekah and thus make the Philistines guilty of taking another man’s wife.

Abimelech issues an order to his people.

Isaac and Rebekah are not to be touched.

Anyone that causes them harm will be put to death.

This is really an interesting turn of events.

Isaac lied to protect himself.

The lie was discovered which should have endangered his life.

Abimelech shows mercy.

He doesn’t punish Isaac for lying to him.

He prohibits anyone in his kingdom from doing the thing that Isaac feared.

God protected Isaac, but his fear and dishonesty caused more heart ache caused more trouble than if he had been honest and forthright from the beginning.

Application

All of us will face times that test our faith.

It doesn’t have to be a sickness or death.

It may tough economic times.

It may be fear of what other people will do.

We are blessed like Isaac.

In different ways.

We have much to give God glory and credit for in our lives.

We may be focused on one area of obedience that we fail to do right in another area.

We aren’t trying to act in rebellion to God.

We let fear get the better of us.

We sacrifice our morality out of fear.