The Repeated Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
In the previous section we saw that Isaac has deceptively purchased his brothers birthright and his brother was in sin for even considering selling it. Then there was the instance with God where he was told to not go to Egypt and the covenant promises were transferred to him. Tonight we are picking up still in the famine where we see Isaac’s story.
I want to start off tonight by giving you a big picture overview of the passage and then we will read each section as we go.
So the passage opens with Isaac going to Gerar and he repeats the sin of his father by lying and calling Rebekah his wife his sister. He does this because like his father he was worried for his life. Eventually Abimelech notices that they are not acting like siblings but rather like a married couple. This is not the same Abimelech from when Abraham did this, that is most likely a title and not a name. He calls Isaac out for lying and them protects them but does not cast them away.
While Isaac was in the land he increased greatly in his harvest and in his flocks. This brought jealousy from the other shepherds and they started filling in the wells that Abraham had dug. As he grew eventually Abimelech told him to go away because he has grown so mighty.
As he left and was going he kept digging wells and they kept filling them in until finally they did not fill one in so he settled in that place. He didn’t stay there long though until he went up to Beer-sheba which is where we previously saw Abraham and there he made a covenant with the other Abimelech. Here Isaac received the covenant with God and built an altar and dug a well. It is also here that we first see God referred to as the God of Abraham.
It was also here that we see Abimelech come to him to make a covenant because he sees his relationship with God. There is now peace between them.
At the end it tells us of Esau’s marriage pointing towards him going against what the covenant line is supposed to do and they made life bitter for his mom and dad.
Through this story we are going to see 5 things about Isaac; his fear, blessing, God, witness, and sorrow. So lets pray and then we will begin with his fear.
Isaac’s Fear
Isaac’s Fear
So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’ ” Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Isaac starts off here with repeating the sin of his father and lying about his wife and saying that she is his sister. He does this out of fear for his life. Isaac is not trusting the God who just told him that he would be with him. He is not trusting the God that provided an offering on top of the mountain in his place. He is instead fearful.
Unlike in the Abraham narrative there is no truth whatsoever to his claim. More than that we can even see that there was nothing to worry about. When Abraham committed this sin Sarah was taken to be someone else's wife but was always rescued first. Here Rebekah is never taken so his fears are unwarranted.
Abimelech sees them through a window and can obviously tell that this is not how siblings act but rather how a married couple acts. He goes and confronts him about it because this could have easily brought guilt upon the people.
Abimelech does not kick them out but rather protects them so that there doesn’t need to be any fear for Isaac.
How often do we let fear rule our life and live in a way that does not honor God because of fear? From not sharing the gospel with someone to not following God’s call. Sometimes what we are called to do as Christians can be scary but we need to remember the God that we serve. We serve a God who is with us and who works all things for our good. We can know that we will be with him someday so we can go through life taking whatever happens knowing this truth and we can be fearless.
Isaac’s Blessing
Isaac’s Blessing
And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Again in a similar manner to his father in the wake of a mistake he continues to grow and prosper. Isaac truly lives in the blessing of God. This is not without difficulties but we see through it all God goes provide for him.
One danger that we face in the modern day is the prosperity gospel. This is a false teaching that says God wants to make you rich. That is simply not what the Bible teaches though. There are times where he grants people great wealth and they serve him with it but there are also times where he takes everything from people and they serve him in that capacity. In both groups we see the people serving God with what they have and they are full of joy either way.
How could this be? It is because they have their eyes set on something higher. Just like what we discussed earlier when you keep your eyes fixed on God then you can live fearless and live blessed no matter what your earthly situation is.
Isaac’s God
Isaac’s God
From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Here in the middle of this passage we have another covenant affirmation made to Isaac. This is a place where Abraham had made covenants and worshiped God before. Here he is told to not fear and to know that God is with him and will bless him and will multiply him. What a great assurance he gets here from God! God tells him that it is all for the sake of Abraham.
This gives us a key point when looking at the covenant, it is for the sake of the original promises. In other words is goes back to Abraham. That is why he is such an important figure in the Bible. Notice here at the beginning of what God says too, he identifies himself as the God of Abraham. This is the first time that God is identified this way, he is not the God of Terah. The lineage here starts with Abraham. Eventually this will be expanded and he will be identified as the God of Abraham and Isaac an Jacob.
This brings Isaac to a point of worship. He calls on the name of the Lord here while his servants are working.
What brings you to the point of worship? It should not rely on some great band or some experience like you might get at camp, what should bring you to a point of worship is simply who God is. When we know who God is and can rest in his promises we to should be moved to worship.
Isaac’s Witness
Isaac’s Witness
When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
After the moment there with God Abimelech comes back on the scene to make a covenant with Isaac. This is similar to Abraham who also made a covenant with a different Abimelech here at the same place. Abimelech comes because they can see plainly that God is with him. Think about that, they plainly see the presence of God in his life.
Can the same thing be said about you? Can your friends, classmates, teammates, or even teachers see the presence of God on your life? This does not mean living in perfection, Abimelech called out Isaac for his sin, yet he still saw Gods presence in his life.
As we go through life we should live in such a way that we are recognized as followers of God. The people around us should know this without a doubt.
Isaac’s Sorrow
Isaac’s Sorrow
When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
This section closes with a short word about Esau. This was Isaac’s sorrow. Esau went out and married a woman that he was not supposed to and he made life bitter for his parents. This forms a distinction, it was plain to see that God was with Isaac but not with Esau.
Is God with you or not? The sorrow of Isaac’s life is that the son that he loved most was not a follower of God. The real question for this is do you have a saving relationship with Jesus? All of these things about Isaac hinge on his relationship with God. It is the sorrow that comes in without this relationship.
This relationship is based on faith. Through Gods calling of us and our putting faith in him we can be saved. If this is something that you want to talk more about then every adult here would love to do just that.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Isaac had times of fear and blessing, he had times of worship of God and being a witness for him, he also had times of great sorrow. When we look at this passage though we can understand it through its structure. On the outside we see fear and sorrow, not the greatest things of life. As we move closer to the center though we see blessing and witness, this is the power of a life of faith. In the center though, the focal point of this passage, we see God. God who is with him and blesses him, the same God who can be with us and bless us if we put our faith in him.
