Genesis 26.2-6-Isaac Receives Reconfirmation of Abrahamic Covenant
Wednesday May 17, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 26:2-6-Isaac Receives Reconfirmation of Abrahamic Covenant
Lesson # 146
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 26:1.
Last evening we studied Genesis 26:1-6, which records that like his father Abraham, Isaac had his faith tested by the Lord by means of a famine in the land of Canaan.
This evening we will study this passage and note that Isaac receives from the Lord reconfirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Genesis 26:1, “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.”
Genesis 26:2, “The LORD appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.’”
The fact that the Lord “appeared” to Isaac is a “theophany,” or “Christophany, which are theological terms used to refer to either a visible or auditory manifestation of the Son of God before His incarnation in Bethlehem (Gen. 32:29-30; Ex. 3:2; 19:18-20; Josh. 5:13-15; Dan. 3:26).
“Lord” is the proper noun Yahweh, which is the covenant name of God indicating that Isaac had a covenant relationship with God.
The term “Lord” also emphasizes the “immanency” of God meaning that the Lord was involving Himself in and concerning Himself with and intervening in the life of Isaac and blessing him in fulfillment of His promises to Abraham.
The Lord prohibits Isaac from going to Egypt to solve the problem of famine since He is testing Isaac’s faith.
The fact that the Lord prohibits Isaac from going to Egypt implies clearly that he considered going to Egypt in order to deal with the problem of famine in the land of Canaan.
The land of Canaan is a type of the believer’s separation from the cosmic system of Satan and fellowship with God whereas Egypt is a type of the believer living in the cosmic system of Satan and out of fellowship with God.
The Lord commands Isaac to “stay in the land (Canaan) of which I shall tell you” indicates that Isaac did not know where he was going, which parallels his father leaving Haran in obedience to the Lord’s invitation as recorded in Genesis 12:1 and Hebrews 11:8.
The fact that Isaac did not know where he was going indicates that the Lord wanted to him to walk by faith, obeying his commands, asking for Him for guidance in prayer and listening to His directions.
2 Corinthians 5:7, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
We must identify the voice of God in order to listen to God.
How to identify the Voice of God: (1) God will never tell us to get involved in any activity or relationship that is inconsistent with the Word of God. (2) God will often ask us to do something, which conflicts with human wisdom. (3) God will never tell us to do anything that gratifies the old Adamic sin nature. (4) God will challenge our faith or trust in Him in order to build our relationship and intimacy with Him. (5) God will often call for us to be courageous.
The Bible is our index or guide for all the other ways God communicates and if we are going to listen to God and discern His voice in the other avenues He uses, we must be listening to His Word, the Bible.
God communicates His Word in many ways: through those who teach it formally and informally as the pastor-teacher, in personal exhortation and encouragement, through song or music, through books, tapes, film, etc.
However, the primary method God has chosen, and that which is foundational to all the other ways God communicates in the church age, is the local assembly when the church is assembled together for the hearing of the Word.
Other things are involved, prayer, singing, praise, the Lord’s Table, but at the center is the proclamation of the Word (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:11, 13; 2 Tim. 4:1-4).
We must also understand that God communicates through the events of our lives: (1) Special Times of Worship (singing, praise, prayer, teaching, ordinances). (2) Blessings that reveal His love and grace. (3) Trials and Irritations that become tools to get our attention and build character, but only as we hear and learn to relate and rest in the promises and principles of Scripture.
Therefore, Isaac spent a lot of time listening to God in prayer in order to determine where he was to go.
Genesis 26:3, “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.”
The word “sojourned” is the Hebrew verb gur (rWG) (goor), which refers to a specific legal status of a person who lives as a resident and is in a dependent legal status and is not a native, but is dwelling upon the land.
In societies, which possess a clan structure, this person is without legal protection since he has no blood ties.
Such a person, like Isaac, would have been dependent upon a native to recognize and protect him while he was in Gerar.
The Mari documents (1800 B.C.) indicate that the relationship between “sitting” farmers and nomadic herders (such as Abraham) was that contracts were drawn up concerning grazing and watering rights.
This relationship is known as “dimorphism” as these two distinct yet interrelated cultures exist side by side.
Isaac is entering into a land, where he no legal rights and protection, which will affect his decision-making and will cause him to say that Rebekah is his sister.
He is a “resident alien” meaning he was a person who moved into Canaan where he had neither land nor clan ties and was without traditional tribal legal support and protection and would be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
In Genesis 26:3, the Lord gives Isaac reassurance that He will be with him and will bless him.
The promise “I will be with you” refers to the fact that the Lord will not only protect Isaac but also prosper him if he obeys Him and remains in the land of Canaan.
Isaac will recognize the Lord is protecting him in that the pagan Philistines will grow to respect and fear him and desire to make a treaty with him because he is being prospered by the Lord.
“Bless” is the verb barakh (Er^B*), which means that the Lord promised to endue Isaac with power for success, prosperity, fecundity (offspring in great numbers) and longevity.”
The Lord is promising to prosper Isaac even in the midst of famine.
The Lord sought to manifest Himself in the life of Isaac by demonstrating His sovereign power in Isaac’s life and prospering him in the midst of famine.
Like Abraham, the Lord blessed Isaac in the sense that the Lord multiplied his descendants so that his posterity was great in number both, racially and spiritually and the Lord multiplied his possessions and livestock and prospered him financially.
In a “near” sense “Your descendants” refers the nation of Israel (saved and unsaved) and in a “far” sense it refers to saved Israel during the millennial reign of Christ.
The promise “I will give you and your descendants all these lands” is a reference to the “Palestinian” Covenant, which like the “Abrahamic” covenant, was “unconditional” meaning that its fulfillment was totally and completely dependent upon the Lord’s faithfulness.
The “Palestinian” covenant was a confirmation and enlargement of the original “Abrahamic” covenant and amplified the land features of the “Abrahamic” covenant (Gen. 13:14-15; 15:18).
The “Palestinian” covenant was confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 26:3-4) and Jacob (Gen. 35:12), reiterated to Moses (Ex. 6:2-8) who described the geographical boundaries of the land in Numbers 34:1-12 and who prophesied the fulfillment of this covenant during the millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.
The land grant under the “Palestinian” covenant: (1) Most of the land in Turkey (2) Most of East Africa (3) Saudi Arabia (4) Yemen (5) Oman and Red Sea (6) Syria (7) Iraq (8) Jordan.
The land grant has boundaries on the Mediterranean, on Aegean Sea, on Euphrates River and the Nile River.
The Lord promises that this land would be given to Abraham and Isaac’s descendants and this promise was fulfilled to a certain extent by Israel under Joshua (Josh. 21:43-45; cf. 13:1-7) and David and Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:20-25; Neh. 9:8).
The “Palestinian” covenant will have its literal and ultimate fulfillment during the millennial reign of Christ (Isa. 11:11-12; Jer. 31-37; Ezek. 34:11-16; Hos. 1:10-11; Joel 3:17-21; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6-7; Zeph. 3:14-20; Zech. 8:4-8).
“All these lands” refers to the land of Canaan whose natural boundaries as expressed in the Bible extend from the Negev in the South to the northern reaches of the Lebanon Range in Syria and the land west of the range and of the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea.
Genesis 26:3, “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.”
The phrase “I will establish” is inaccurate but rather should be translated “I will make a reality the covenant that has already been established.”
The reason for this is that the Lord is reassuring Isaac that now at this point in his life He will make good on His promises that He made to Abraham, which are recorded in Genesis 22:16-18.
This interpretation is substantiated by the fact that the covenant the Lord is making with Isaac in Genesis 26 is “not” a new one but based upon the original one made with Abraham when he left Haran as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3.
This covenant with Abraham was reiterated to Abraham and enlarged upon as recorded in Genesis 13:14-17, 15:1-6, 17-21, 17 and 22:16-18.
“Oath” is the noun shevu`ah (hu*Wbv+) (she-voo-aw), which means, “to bind oneself volitionally by one’s own words,” putting oneself under obligation.
The noun shevu`ah stands in parallel to the noun berith (tyr!B+ ), “covenant,” which is a compact or agreement between two parties binding them mutually to undertakings on each other’s behalf.
“The oath” is a reference to the Lord putting Himself under obligation to Abraham in order to fulfill the promises He made to Abraham after he obeyed His command to sacrifice Isaac, which is recorded in Genesis 22:16-18.
Genesis 22:17, “indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.”
Genesis 22:18, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
“God’s reiteration of his oath to Abraham assures Isaac of God’s faithfulness” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 368, Zondervan).
Genesis 26:4-5, “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.”
The promises to Isaac in Genesis 26:4 are a “reconfirmation” of the promises made to Abraham in Genesis 15:4-5 and 22:17.
The promise “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens” echoes the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:5 and 22:17 and is used to compare the Lord’s promise to Isaac to multiply his descendants with the number of the stars of the universe.
Since the promises to Isaac in Genesis 26:4 are a reconfirmation of the promises made to Abraham in Genesis 15:4-5 and 22:17, the promise “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens” not only pertains to Isaac’s “natural” progeny but also refers to his “spiritual” progeny (cf. Rom. 4; Gal. 3:29).
The promise “I will give your descendants all these lands” is a reference again to the “Palestinian” Covenant.
The promise “by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” should be translated “by your Seed or Descendant all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” since it is Messianic and is again a “reconfirmation” of the promise the Lord made to Abraham, which is recorded in Genesis 22:18.
Galatians 3:8-16 reveals that the promise in Genesis 22:18 that “in your Seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth shall be blessed” is also a reference to Abraham’s descendent, Jesus Christ, who would bring salvation to the Gentile nations through faith in Him.
The Lord statement in Genesis 22:18 that “in your seed (Christ) all the nations of the earth will be blessed” echoes the Lord’s promise in Genesis 18:18 and is an enlargement upon the Lord’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 that in Abraham “all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Galatians 3:8-16 reveals that the promise in Genesis 18:18 that “in (Abraham) all the nations of the earth will be blessed” refers to Jesus Christ as well as the promise in Genesis 26:4 “by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
The Lord states to Isaac that He will bless him because of Abraham’s obedience, which would be a reminder to Isaac that his participation in the “blessings” of the Abrahamic covenant is conditioned on his obedience.
On the surface, this appears to indicate that the Abrahamic covenant was “conditional” rather than “unconditional” but this is not the case.
The “blessings” of the covenant were conditioned upon Abraham’s obedience whereas the “fulfillment” of the covenant depended upon the faithfulness of God rather than Abraham’s obedience.
The Lord’s statement that “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws” summarizes Abraham’s obedience and indicates that his obedience was comprehensive and thorough.
“Charge” is the noun mishmereth (tr#m#v+m!) (mish-meh-reth), which describes duties or obligations impressed upon Abraham by the Lord.
“Commandments” is the noun mitswah (hw*x+m!) (mits-vaw), which refers to “specific orders or commandments” given to Abraham by the Lord such as when the Lord commanded Abraham to leave Ur and Haran (Genesis 12:1-3; Hebrews 11:8).
“Statutes” is the noun chuqqah (hQ*j|) (khook-kaw), which designates a “divine ordinance” such as circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) or to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22:1-2).
“Laws” is the noun torah (hr*w)T) (to-raw), which signifies divine teachings or instructions.
Genesis 26:6, “So Isaac lived in Gerar.”
Just as Abraham went out in faith from Haran and in obedience to the Lord moved to Canaan so Isaac in faith remained in Canaan.
Just as Abraham met the condition of blessing by obeying the Lord so Isaac does as well.