Genesis 26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
Abraham was Isaac’s father; Isaac was the promised son that Abraham had waited twenty-five years for. Now Abraham had died; would Isaac be a builder of altars like his father before him? God speaks to Isaac and reminds him of the covenant God planned on keeping with him. Verse 5 is so interesting, “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My change, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws. What commandments, what statutes, and what laws. The law had not yet been given, how did Abraham know so much about the expectation and laws of God. Abraham was a man who kept building altars of worship. Whenever Abraham worshipped he would hear a word from God. Abraham lived chasing relationship with God.
Genesis 26:6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, "She [is] my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "[She is] my wife," [because he thought], "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she [is] beautiful to behold." 8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Quite obviously she [is] your wife; so how could you say, 'She [is] my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.' " 10 And Abimelech said, "What [is] this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us." 11 So Abimelech charged all [his] people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death." 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.
Isaac made the same mistakes that his father did. He called his wife his sister to ensure his own safety. Yet like his father, God blessed him even in the middle of his own stupidity. Isaac was not blessed because he possessed perfect performance before God. Isaac was blessed because he was a man of covenant with the one true God. Then Isaac sowed in the land that year and received a hundredfold; the Lord indeed blessed him. Yet it was obedience that lead to his blessing. When God told him not to go down to Egypt he obeyed. Imagine a hundredfold blessing; He is the same God today. Although Isaac did not have perfect performance his heart was still chasing after God.
Genesis 26:13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we." 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
Isaac blessings got so big his enemies became fearful of him. It was because Isaac was a man of covenant and blessing were following him. His enemies begin to stop up the wells of blessing because they envied him. You start walking from the covenant of blessing the enemy will not want to hang out with you anymore. They sent Isaac away from their land.
Genesis 26:19 Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But 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 quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that [one] also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."
Everywhere that Isaac went he would dig a well and find water. Blessing would spring up and the enemies around would say, that not your blessing. He moved on and built another well; the enemy again quarreled with him and said Isaac not your well. So Isaac dug yet another well and no quarrel broke out. This indeed was Isaac encouraging himself in the Lord; “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
Genesis 26:23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I [am] the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I [am] with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake." 25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well. 26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"
After he encouraged himself in the covenant of promise he moved to Beersheba. This was familiar ground to Isaac. This place of oath was where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac and it is where Abraham returned and lived when God had made Himself known as Jehovah Jireh (God provides). When Isaac gets there God appears to him that same night. The word of oath is reconfirmed. Verse 25 Isaac built an altar and called on the name of the LORD. Yes, Isaac had followed with some of the errors of his father; yet he too learned to build an altar of worship and call on the name of the Lord. Isaac builds his seventh well.
Then the enemy who had chased him away comes to him. Funny how God can change things around after you have built the altar of worship and spend time in relationship with him. Isaac asked “Why have you come to me?” Can you say breakthrough!
Genesis 26:28 But they said, "We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. So we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, 29 'that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You [are] now the blessed of the LORD.' " 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water." 33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore, the name of the city [is] Beersheba to this day.
Isaac came back to Beersheba and begin to worship. The enemy begin to recognize the blessing of God on Isaac. In fact, Isaac’s enemies wanted to make peace with him. They made a feast and made an agreement of peace with one another.
Genesis 21:31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
Abraham had made peace with his enemies at Beersheba after he had built an altar. Isaac too found God working on his behalf after building an altar of worship. God calls his children of the new covenant to worship at the altar. What blessing will be revealed and experience as we learn to worship at our altar?
Hebrews 13:10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Can you hear the Father calling us to our altar of worship?
Jesus is the faithful God
God is good all the time!
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