Isaac #6 - Genesis 26:12-25

Genesis 26:12–25 KJV (WS)

12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an 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. 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. 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 herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, 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. 23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba. 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 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.

Introduction

Fight or flight

Every person when threatened will respond in one of these ways.

Flight or retreat is a bad word for macho men.

Retreat has been used effectively in military conflict since the ancient Greeks.

Retreating from a conflict does not always entail cowardice or weakness.

Sometimes it is just good strategy.

This episode in Isaac’s life is sometimes used to prove his weakness, but I don’t know if that is fair or even accurate.

Isaac is prosperous in the land of the Philistines.

Our passage starts with a description of Isaac’s blessings.

God had promised to bless him.

We see evidence of this in the crop that he harvested in his first year in Gerar.

A 100-fold return is unheard of for this part of the world.

Especially during a time of famine.

In the best times, after years of cultivation, the best you could hope for was 60-80 fold return.

The average was closer to 30-40 fold.

This was not a stroke of luck, and really could not be accredited to Isaac’s skill at farming.

This had to be divine favor.

It made the Philistines envious of Isaac.

He was already wealthy.

A crop like this only made it possible for Isaac to increase his wealth.

The Bible is clear that God was blessing Isaac.

He went from great to very great.

The Philistines began to feel threatened by Isaac.

Abimelech asks Isaac to leave.

He had become so great with herds and servants that there was no more room for him in Gerar.

So, Isaac left.

He didn’t cause a fuss.

He didn’t protest.

Isaac moves his family to the Valley of Gerar.

This is just a short way from Gerar.

Isaac assumed that it would be enough space so as not to cause problems with the Philistines.

Apparently Isaac knew of some wells in this area that his father had dug.

No doubt, Isaac intended to use these wells to provide for his growing family and possessions.

Unfortunately, when he went to look for them, he found that they had all been stopped up by the Philistines.

I’ve never dug a well.

I found an old, uncovered well when I was a kid.

I imagine that digging a well in a wilderness land, would be a labor intensive, prolonged effort.

To stop them, though just requires pushing enough dirt and rocks into the hole.

Isaac doesn’t go complain to Abimelech.

He doesn’t bemoan the desecration of his father’s work.

He simply gets to work re-digging the same wells again.

This is really interesting to me.

Some may see Isaac as pushover.

One commentator negatively calls Isaac a pursuer of peace at any price.

I just don’t see it like that.

Don’t we all desire peace?

Of course.

I don’t see a coward, though.

We talked last week about the dynamics that exist between generations,

Isaac shouldn’t have had to re-dig the wells.

He didn’t shy away from re-digging the wells.

After re-digging and renaming them, his servants continued to dig.

He restored the work of his father and then he began to expand the work of his father.

Wouldn’t you know it, they found a new spring.

This must have been exciting.

It’s one thing to take care of someone else’s work, it another thing to produce your own product.

I bet they celebrated that night in the camp.

Soon the Philistines hear of the water that Isaac had accessed in the valley.

They began to fight with Isaac’s herdsmen claiming that the water was theirs.

Abraham had dug the wells.

Isaac had restored them.

He had even added a well.

There was no claim that the Philistines could make to these wells.

Isaac called the well Esek (wrangle) and lets the Philistines have it.

Isaac, removes himself from the situation and goes to build another well.

Again, this is not weakness.

This is fortitude.

Isaac doesn’t give up when facing opposition.

He simply digs another well.

The Philistines, though, follow him to this well.

They begin to fight over it as well.

Isaac names this well “sitnah” (enmity).

This is the 3rd time the Philistines have forced him to move.

He moves again.

He digs another well.

It’s almost as though I can see him and his men holding their breath to see if there would be any opposition.

Would the Philistines come after this well too?

They didn’t.

Isaac called the place Rehoboth (the broad place).

The Lord has made room for us.

This is the secret to Isaac’s actions.

He was looking for the place where God wanted him to be.

He wasn’t a pushover or a coward.

He was sensitive to God’s direction.

The opposition from the Philistines was not viewed as an attack on his property, it was viewed as a message from God that this wasn’t the place.

When the well called Rehoboth went uncontested, Isaac took it to mean that this was the place where God wanted him to settle.

He went up to Beersheba, the name of the city that would be formed around the well.

As he settled his family by the new water source, God appeared to Isaac that first night.

He tells Isaac that He will continue to bless and provide for Isaac and his family.

Isaac adds a alter to the new city.

This alter becomes a focal point of Isaac’s spiritual life.

He pitches his tent next to it.

He has found peace and provision.

Not because he fought and defeated the Philistines, but because he refused to give up in listening for God’s direction.

I know a lot of us like to think we are the type that would fight for what we think is right.

Is that person more noble than the person who is willing to pull up roots and start over in a place where they can live in peace?

Oklahoma is in the top 10 states in the nation for migration destinations.

Do we fault people who move here rather than staying and fighting for their previous state?

Or, do we applaud them for following God’s will for their life?

Not everything is worth fighting over.

Isaac walked away from the wells his father had dug.

He walked away from the wells he had renovated and even dug himself.

Not because he was afraid, because he was focused on settling where God wanted him.

You know one of the requirements for my job is that I not be a brawler, not looking for a fight.

Deacons don’t have that requirement though, lol.

If you are going to live this life, though, you have to be willing to work for it.

You may have to re-dig some areas that you had already dug.

You may have to dig in new places.

The thing that you have to determine is why.

Are you pulling back from a confrontation because you are afraid?

Is it because you are trying to follow God?

Can you withhold yourself from a fight knowing that you will be demeaned for it?

Can you defer to those that oppose you when your ego says you can take them?

Isaac was not a perfect man, but if you are looking for a reason to malign him in this retreat that ended with an alter and a blessing from God, I think you need to look somewhere else.