Genesis 26
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 26 Isaac’s Journey To Gerar
Genesis 26 Isaac’s Journey To Gerar
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.
The famine accounts for Esau’s failure hunting and willingness to sell his birthright, with this famine being some 100 years after the famine of Abraham. Abimelech is a title not a name, this is a different Abimelech than the one Abraham dealt with in Genesis 20:2 “And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.”
Gerar is on the way to Egypt, and is the southern city of the Philistines, who probably came from Egypt. Isaac was heading towards Egypt, when he came to Gerar.
And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
the LORD. Heb. Jehovah= God in relation to covenants.
Go not down (as Abraham did, Genesis 12:10 “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.” ). Now it is likely that Isaac‘s intention was to continue into Egypt following in the footsteps of Abraham. God is saying to stay here in Gerar. Instead of allowing Isaac to experience hardship, God is going to put into effect the promise made to Abraham; the promises to him will be fulfilled.
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;
God said, Don’t be distressed; don’t be concerned, I will be with you and I will bless you.
unto thee. So to each Patriarch: Abraham ( Genesis 13:15 “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.” ), Jacob (Genesis 28:13 “And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;” )
We don’t see these promises repeated to Esau, or Reuben, or to any other but ONLY to them that Christ would come through. We all can receive the blessing and promises through, and ONLY through, Jesus Christ.
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;
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
My repeated 5 times for emphasis. 5 = Grace
charge - to be observed
commandments - to be obeyed
statutes - to be acknowledged
laws - to be followed
voice - to be heard and believed Romans 10:17
Romans 10:17 (KJV 1900)
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
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.
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.
sporting with, or caressing
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.
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.
And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
We see that God protects His children from the perils they bring upon themselves through self-reliance and the wicked nature of the world.
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
So we see the famine ending, God providing. During his time in that area Isaac farmed a piece of land, which, by the blessing of God was very productive. We can take this as an example to us that God will see us through whatever we may face as we see in (Psalm 37:19 “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” ).
And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
store = body
The amazing growth of Isaac’s wealth in flocks and herds and servants awakens the envy and jealousy of the Philistines. Proverbs 27:4 “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; But who is able to stand before envy?”
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.
The digging of the well conferred a sort of ownership on whoever had dug it, especially in a country where water was precious. And the well was the scene of youthful maidens drawing water for domestic use, and of young men watering the flocks and herds, and therefore was the gathering center of settled life. Hence the envious Philistines were afraid that from a sojourner he would go on to be a settler, and acquire rights of property. They accordingly took the most effectual means of making his abiding place uncomfortable, when they stopped up the wells.
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
Syrian shepherds at this time settle for a year or two in a place, rent some ground, and trade what the land produced with the neighboring market, till the owners, through jealousy, refuse to renew their lease and compel them to move elsewhere.
And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
the valley. Some distance from the city
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.
The naming of wells by Abraham, and the hereditary right of his family to the property, the change of the names by the Philistines to obliterate the traces of their origin, the restoration of the names by Isaac, and the contests between the respective shepherds to the exclusive possession of the water, are circumstances that occur among the natives in those regions as frequently in the present day as in the time of Isaac.
Isaac a calm character; trusting that God would guide him: shown by his obedience (22:6, 8), his submissiveness in betrothal (24), his mourning for his mother (24:63–67; cp. note on v. 63), his following in his father’s steps to Gerar (20:1) in denying his wife there (2), his finding an Abimelech and Phichol there, and digging wells there, renewing the oath and renaming the wells by their old names.
And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
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.
Esek (Hebrew) - strife or contention
And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
Sitnah (Hebrew) - opposition
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.
Rehoboth (Hebrew) - roominess
And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
Beer-sheba (Hebrew) - the well of the oath
Map showing the distance between the wells
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.
God. Heb. Elohim = Creator
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.
This is the first record of Isaac building an altar. We see Isaac keeping God involved in his life and his plans; and Isaac gives thanks and praises God. Remember by digging the well that would show some level of ownership belonging to Isaac.
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
Phichol. Prob. an official military title. Genesis 21:22 “And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:” This time we see them joined by Ahuzzath which means “possession”, this is probably a title as well; maybe similar to modern day “treasurers”.
As there was a lapse of ninety years between the visit of Abraham and of Isaac, the Abimelech and Phichol spoken of must have been different. Here is another proof of the promise (Genesis 12:2 “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:” ) being fulfilled, in an overture of peace being made to him by the king of Gerar. Whether fear of his growing power, or regret for their treatment of Isaac, the king and two of his courtiers paid a visit to the tent of Isaac to seal a covenant between them. Again an example for us that as long as God is with us we have nothing to worry about as we see in (Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” ).
And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
saw certainly. Fig. Polyptōton (Ap. 6), for emphasis
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.
touched. Fig. Tapeinosis. Ap. 6. Emphasizing the fact that not only had they not injured or hurt Isaac, but they had shown him favor.
Abimelech being in need of the covenant, Isaac needed no guarantee from them, as the Lord was with him.
And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
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.
And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
Shebah. Hebrew - an oath.
therefore. Same name given by Abraham (Genesis 21:31 “Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.” ). Names were sometimes reimposed or changed for a new reason or to keep them in the minds of the people. Cp. Bethel (Genesis 28:19 “And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.” ) and Israel (Genesis 32:28 “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”).
Modern Beersheba
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:
Esau brought two idolatrous wives among them, further proof that Esau neither desired the blessing nor dreaded the curse of God
These names exhibit the Fig. Polynymia. Ap. 6.
Judith. She had a second name, Aholibamah (36:5, 14, 25).
Beeri. His name was also Anah, but he had acquired the name “Beeri” (or the spring-man) from his having discovered the hot springs. See on 36:24.
Bashemath had a second name, Adah. The name Bashemath dropped in 36:2 to avoid confusion with the daughter of Ishmael. In ch. 26 we have general history, but in 36 precise genealogy.
Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
grief of mind = “bitterness of spirit” remember who the Canaanites were.
In what ways can we maintain our faith during times of personal famine, drawing from Isaac's example?
