Isaac the Sojourner

To sojourn means to stay somewhere temporarily. Not like a vacation, but someone has packed their bags and is living in said location until their reason for staying is complete. The person that is sojourning is called a sojourner.

The Great Migration in Africa is a good example of why we migrate. The animals travel a 1,200 mile path taking many months up to a year to complete. Going forward, sometimes to the left and right, sometimes even backward, but they follow the rain and the grass. They need food and water. Just as animals need them, so do we. Because of famines many people in the ancient times had to migrate in order to sustain life. Just as Abraham once did when he went to Egypt, and just as Isaac is doing now.

Isaac has relocated to Gerar. God specifically told him not to go to Egypt. I am not sure why, but maybe it had to do with their pagan worship and the effects that it would have on his family. Especially knowing that Isaac had a son like Esau.

God reiterated the covenant with Isaac that He had made with his father Abraham. God commanded Isaac stay in the land because his ancestors would possess it.

God promised to be with Isaac. If you were a sojourner, uprooted from your land due to undesirable circumstances, it would give you great comfort to know that God is with you. Leading you to be able to follow Him easier. God also promised to give the land where Isaac was living to the Hebrews. He promised to make his name great just as he had Abraham’s. The Lord promised that Isaac would have descendents like the stars in the heavens, and that all of the nations of the world would be blessed by them.

(Do you know how every nation will be blessed by the nation of Israel? Jesus Christ.)

Isaac stayed in Gerar, but like his father he was fearful of his wife’s beauty. He concealed her in the lie that she was his sister. Now Abraham only told a half truth, which is also a half lie, by saying his wife was his sister. Rebekah was no where near the sister of Isaac, nor did he have any sisters. Now this may seem to be a harmless lie, but what would have happened if someone slept with Rebekah? God’s plan would have been tarnished. What if someone would have taken Rebekah for their own? Isaac would have lost his wife, but what if that did happen and he tried to take her back? They could have killed him just to keep Rebekah. When God promises to be with you, and He promises to bless you and your offspring, He is not going to allow you to die at the next step in your life. Isaac should have had more faith than his father.

Now Abimelech learned of the lie due to observing Isaac and Rebekah likely kissing or flirting around, and the King scolded Isaac and commanded no one touch the couple. Isaac was free to live his life the way God intended. Blessed. He plants his crops, and they produce 100 fold. He possessed flocks, herds, and many servants. The Philistines became jealous. A foreigner in their own land becoming far more powerful than them. Beating them at their own means. The situation became hostile for Isaac. They cut off his water source, and drove him out of their land.

Abraham had struck an agreement with an earlier Abimelech to treat him and his sons and grandsons with kindness. Apparently this Abimelech had forgotten the agreement made by his forefathers because he is treating Isaac pretty poorly. This foreshadows how the world will treat Christ, who is Abraham’s ultimate son.

So Isaac drifted in the valley searching for a new home. He needed to live around a water source, so he stopped and dug a well. Philistines took note of this and stole his well, pushing him further on. He named the location Esek, which means contention. This happened once again, and Isaac named the location Sitnah, which means Enmity. Finally Isaac digs a well and no one came to take it. Isaac has found his home away from home. He builds an alter to the Lord here and names the place Rehoboth, meaning broad places or ‘room’.

Isaac leaves Rehoboth and travels until he settles at Beersheba, where Abraham first struck his bargain with Abimelech. Here God reestablished the covenant with Isaac that He had made with Abraham. He tells him that He is with him, he will bless him, and multiply his offspring. Isaac grew so great that Abimelech came crawling back to make a pact with him as well. He acknowledged that Isaac was blessed by God, and that he did not want to quarrel with him. So they made a peace treaty.

Life has been a whirlwind for Isaac in the last few years. From the drought, to God moving him around the land his lineage will eventually posses, Isaac had to lean heavily on the Lord. Isaac had to have great faith and trust in order to have up-heave his family and travel the foreign lands. It took just as much faith to settle in a new land rather than returning home, and hang your decisions on a future promise that God would unroll throughout the coming centuries. Isaac trusted in promises that he would never see, but he trusted the Lord. If you are going to be productive, you must trust God. We may not have all the answers, but that never stopped God from calling us to follow Him. He has a purpose, all you have to have is the faith.