Blessing in the Midst of Unbelief

Introduction

I’m Rob, Elder/Pastor here - It’s good to see all of you - Glad you’re here to worship.

Today we’re going to continue our journey through the Gospel in Genesis.

We’ve been at this officially for over a year now.

Seen the Creation - Fall - Flood - Other things -

Spent a lot of time in the lives of Abraham & Sarah (because Genesis does).

A large portion of the narrative of these two was their faith in and SOMETIMES lack of faith

in the promise from God that he would

make of them a large nation that couldn’t be numbered.

And that through this nation the whole world would be blessed.

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve begun to see the next generation ushered in.

Last week we heard a little bit about Isaac and the beginnings of his family.

This week we’re in chapter 26 of Genesis.

All about Isaac and his relationship with God.

So, let’s Read Genesis 26, then I’m going to pray, then we’ll dive in.

Explanation

Slide!

Genesis 26:1 NASB95

Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.

The rest of the story of Isaac begins here. This verse sets up the rest of the chapter.

It is the beginning cause of Isaac moving out.

This is already an arid climate so famine would not ever be far away.

Famine was essentially a lack of food, whether it be for the livestock or the family.

Usually brought on by drought.

Isaac certainly wouldn’t have been the only one packing up and heading out.

This would’ve likely affected many others as well.

I remember when I reached the end of my service in the Marine Corps in 2010

Donna, Dallas, and I moved to southern Indiana, where I’m from originally, and where I had lined up a job through a long-time friend.

We weren’t there very long when we realized the difficulties in the economy there at the time.

We weren’t making it. - I remember the feeling of panic.

The uneasiness only grew stronger when we learned that Donna was pregnant and that Wyatt was on his way.

Making rent late and getting further and further behind was causing me a lot of stress.

Started looking elsewhere. I knew the boom was going on in North Dakota and, well, here we are.

Myself and others here at Hillside came up here for similar reasons as those that drove Isaac to set out toward Gerar.

He gets there and is thinking about and planning to move on to Egypt where the Nile would surely get them by and get them through.

Isaac would’ve known from Abraham that Egypt is where he once tried to live during a famine back in Genesis 12.

We should note that there’s no recording of Isaac seeking guidance from God on what he should do.

Isaac knew God

He was brought up to know God

He saw God work in and through his father, Abraham.

His relationship with God is evidenced from last week - chapter 25, verse 21

Gen. 25:21

“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife”

Isaac knew his wife wasn’t having babies.

He understood from the story of his own birth that God was the one who had the power to make that happen.

But here, in this instance, when his back was against a wall and he didn’t know what the right move was it seems his first reaction was not to inquire of God, but to take care of the situation himself.

Many of us have this reaction. I KNOW I do.

Nevertheless, Isaac is in Gerar and pondering and planning destination Egypt.

So, God shows up and reassures Isaac of the covenant with Abraham, and promises that were made to him.

Isn’t it GREAT that in moments when things are difficult and

when we’re oblivious to Christ

when we’re not seeking out guidance from the Spirit

when we neglect prayer or trying to manipulate a situation to get out of a jam

God shows us grace and shows up and gives us what we need.

Slide!

Genesis 26:2–5 NASB95

The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

“Stay here Isaac.”

So Isaac Stays in Gerar. (v. 6)

Though he probably heard the story of dad attempting to ride out a famine in Egypt, he must’ve let it go in one ear and out the other.

Isaac’s obedience followed immediately by displaying another area where he lacks faith.

Slide!

Genesis 26:7–9 NASB95

When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’ ”

He learned a lack of faith from dad here.

He has faith enough to stay put but there’s a lack of trust in God for protection.

So, he lies. And this wasn’t a little lie.

This was bigger than whatever answer a husband stutters when asked the infamous, “do these jeans make me look fat” question.

This was bigger than, it’s -30 outside - Blizzard conditions - but “thank you Jesus for the moisture”.

This was a big deal!

Isaac LIVES a lie.

In verse 8 we see that it was after a “long time” of them living there that the king notices and Isaac gets busted.

Isaac lives a lie for a long time

lives with this lack of faith

lives with the guilt associated this lie

lives in hiding from letting the truth be known

To be clear, he doesn’t do this because he’s a coward.

He does this because he either doesn’t believe God can protect him or he doesn’t believe God wants to protect him.

Both of these options are lies about who God is.

The reality is that God is the greatest being in existence so there’s no question as to whether he CAN protect Isaac.

And God has already told Isaac of his intentions and promises to multiply his decendants as the stars of the heavens.

And that through him, just as his father, the entirety of the world would be blessed.

God declared to Isaac, “I’m going to bless you and through you all the earth will be blessed.”

So what is going on inside of Isaac here that leads him to lie to the neighbors is simply that he stopped believing what God had promised him.

He stopped believing that God was with him and would bless him.

God’s answer to Isaac’s unbelief is to bless him despite his sinful unbelief.

Slide!

Genesis 26:12–17 NASB95

Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Though Isaac spent a significant amount of time living a lie because of unbelief, God blessed him.

One of the themes of this is God’s blessings in the midst of sin.

God’s blessings in spite of Isaac’s unbelief.

And not only blessing but, MUCH BLESSING.

Isaac sowed - reaped - hundredfold.

“continued to grow richer”

“became very wealthy”

so much so that “the Philistines envied him”.

so much so that the King - the leader - the mightiest and richest man in the land

sent him away telling him that he is “too powerful for us”.

Despite Isaac living a lie and not trusting and believing God,

God lavishly poured out blessing and love on Isaac.

Sound Familiar?

Romans 5:8 NASB95

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Family, aren’t you glad that despite our sin - rebellion - running - distrust - indifference

despite our struggles with unbelief

God lavishly poured out and pours out his love and blessings on us - IN

Jesus’ death and ressurection

makes us children of the Father and fellow heirs with Jesus

allows us to participate in his mission to declare the good news of Jesus to everyone around us.

God’s blessing in the midst of sin and unbelief was a theme then and it’s a theme now.

Slide

Genesis 26:18 NASB95

Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them.

In verse 18

After Isaac leaves and heads into the valley

he tries to sort of pick up where dad left off. Digs the old wells back up and named them the same as his father had.

What happens is what always seems to happen:

Things don’t go as planned.

Slide!

After all there’s still a famine and drought going on so as soon as they find water

There’s fighting about it.

Genesis 26:19–22 NASB95

But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Isaac was never a fighting man

didn’t like to quarrel

passive about confrontation

played into his lying about his wife being his sister.

So he wouldn’t fight with them, but rather he kept moving on.

Finally, they dug a well and there was no fighting over it.

His reaction in verse 22:::::: At Last the LORD has made room for us,

This is him beginning to trust God more.

“God IS with me”

“God DOES care”

“I CAN rely on him”

So Isaac begins to finally sense God’s presence and blessing in his life.

And he wasn’t the only one!

Slide!

Genesis 26:26–29 NASB95

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since 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 now be an oath between us, even 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.’ ”

Notice in verse 28 that the king and his advisors tell Isaac,

“We see plainly that the LORD has been with you”

God’s presence and blessing is with him in such a way that it’s noticeable.

It’s recognizable.

Those who see his life from a distance can see “plainly” that God is with him.

So much so that it scares them and they want to make sure there’s no fight before anyone is even thinking about throwing down.

Application

This story is largely about a guy learning to trust that God’s words are true.

learning that God can be trusted and

when he says, “I’ll be with you” - - - “I’m going to bless you”

he’s a God that can be believed.

It’s a story that tells us that even when we struggle with unbelief.

even when things look dangerously grim.

when the money looks like it’s drying up.

when there’s sickness and a loved one looks like they’re not going to make it.

when we have the impossible task before us of reaching out to those around us

declaring the good news to the people we work with

showing the unloved and marginalized people in Dickinson what God is like

In every possible circumstance you can think of, to include unbelief,

God is good and God can be trusted and God is with you.

Family we’re not that different from Isaac here.

We are at times looking at impossible circumstances.

We all have things that come up that are just depressing and cause grief and stress.

We can always rely on the undeniable fact that “all things are possible with God”.

And we can always rely on the absolutely trustworthy promise that Jesus gave his disciples after he commissioned them.

Matthew 28:20 NASB95

teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”