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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday December 16, 2018
ISAAC
DECEIVES ABIMELECH
Genesis
26:1-11
It has been said that “fear” mocks “faith”, and that “faith” laughs
in victory later on. Here in Genesis 26, verses 1-11, we see just such a case
being played out, as now, Isaac is faced with the same test of faith that was
given by GOD to his father Abraham, some 90 years earlier.
Here in this passage we see the many
similarities that existed in the lives of Abraham and his son Isaac. First of
all we see that a severe famine has struck the land where Isaac is living, just
as it had once happened in Abraham’s time. And just like his father before him,
Isaac moved to Gerar where the Abimelech ruled over the nation of the
Philistines. It was there that the LORD appeared to Isaac and urged him not to
go to Egypt, but rather, to stay in the land that HE had given to his father to
live.
In this passage GOD is officially passing
on the promise of HIS Covenant with Abraham, from Abraham to Isaac, and at one
and the same time, HE is showing Isaac that he doesn’t have to be in Beer
Lahairoi to hear from HIM. Here GOD makes the same “conditional” promise to
Isaac that HE made to his father about 100 years earlier. GOD tells him that
“if he does what HE says (obeys HIM), and stays in this land (where HE put him),
HE will be with him and bless him, because of HIS solemn promise to Abraham,
who listened to HIM and obeyed all of HIS requirements, commands, regulations,
and laws”.
The obvious idea in this passage is that,
the descendants of those who are obedient to GOD, will be extended the same
blessings and benefits as their ancestors, if they too, are willing to exercise,
a like, genuine faith in HIM, and remain obedient to HIM.
Faith in GOD casts away all fears, because
“faith” and “fear” cannot co-exist together, not even for a moment. And when
that faith is genuine and strong, we are able to overcome all spiritual,
physical, and mental challenges. Remember, JESUS says that we only need to
exercise “mustard seed faith” to move a mountain! And so, true faith will
always seek to obey GOD’s words first.
And so Isaac abided there in Gerar, but
like his father before him, he feared the men of Gerar, even though GOD had
given him HIS promise that the future life of a nation would begin with his own
offspring. And if that were the case, he would not lose his life in Gerar, and
he did not have to let his fear of man cause him to sin (lie and deceive) for
protection. GOD’s promise meant that, through HIS protection, Isaac would not
leave this life until all that GOD said concerning him was fulfilled.
And so, by way of GOD’s intervention, as
soon as Isaac arrived in Gerar, he was asked by the men of Gerar about his
beautiful wife Rebekah. They wanted to know who she was to him. Fearing the
men, more than HE believed GOD, Isaac lied and said that Rebekah was his
sister, instead of telling the truth that she was his wife, thus, he put his
marriage to her, and her chastity to him, in jeopardy. This could have had a
disastrous result, as it could have forced Rebekah to commit adultery. And we
see that, even the pagan Abimelech had established a law against adultery, and
recognized it as a sin in his kingdom (v.10).
As the providence of the LORD would have
it, one day the Abimelech peered out his window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah.
It was then that he knew that she was obviously his wife, and not his sister. And
so he had Isaac brought before him and rebuked him harshly. Then, out of his
fear and respect for the GOD of Isaac’s father, Abraham, the Abimelech
publically proclaimed that anyone who harmed Isaac or Rebekah would be killed.
Isaac’s temporary lapse in faith, because
of his fear, made a mockery of the covenant promise of GOD. He thereby failed
the same test that his father, Abraham, first, failed before him. He tried to
justify sin with “human ingenuity” in an attempt to protect himself, instead of
depending on GOD’s promise of protection. He thought it was alright with GOD if
he deceived an unbeliever. However, the person who seeks to represent GOD, as
HIS witness, must be able to do so, first and foremost, through their righteous
actions and behavior, before the world.
CONFLICT
OVER WATER RIGHTS
Genesis
26:12-25
Isaac remained in Gerar, and that same year, he raised bumper crops
that produced up to 100 times the amount of the actual seeds that he planted.
He became a lot richer and his wealth only continued to increase more and more.
He, as a result, was able to acquire large flocks and herds of sheep and
cattle. He also bought many more servants to help him with his work.
However, it is a fact of life that, with
the success of some, always comes, the envy and jealousy of others. And so, as
soon as the people of Philistine heard of and saw Isaac’s success in their
land, they begin to try and destroy or ruin everything he had worked for by
filling in all of the wells that he had dug there for the physical survival of
his family and his animals (v.15).
Here in this passage we see the people of
Gerar clearly violating the king’s evict that they “not do any harm to Isaac
and Rebekah” (v.11). Strangely though, we see in verse 16 that, the Abimelech,
instead of enforcing his own edict, asks Isaac to leave the area, because he
had “become too rich and powerful for us”. And so we see that even the king, if
not jealous himself, at least feared the sudden success of Isaac, and probably
viewed it as a threat to his own lifestyle and throne.
Isaac, at the request of the Abimelech,
moved to the nearby valley area of Gerar and resided there. He re-opened the
wells there that the Philistines had filled in with dirt after the death of
Abraham, and he renamed the wells, the same names that his father had given
them. In addition, Isaac’s shepherds began to dig new wells and they even found
a new gushing spring there in the valley.
However, the local Philistines came down to
the valley and claimed the new gushing spring as their own, and they argued
back and forward with Isaac’s shepherds. As a result, Isaac named his well
there “Esek”, which means “dispute”, and he left it to the Philistines.
Later
on Isaac’s shepherds dug another well, and again, there was a fight over it,
and once again Isaac named the well and ceded it over to Philistine shepherds
also. He named that well “Sitnah”, which means “opposition”.
Refusing to let the Philistines wear him
down, Isaac dug yet a third well, and this time, they left him alone. Isaac
named the third well “Rehoboth”, which means “room”, and he said, “at last the
LORD has made room for us, and we will be able to thrive here”.
Even though Isaac never fought back in a
physical way, psychologically, he frustrated and wore out his opposition and
caused them to give up themselves, over time. It is that same kind of strategy
that we saw Martin Luther King used in the civil rights movement of the fifties
and sixties here in the United States.
Some time after his psychological victory
over the Philistines, Isaac moved back to Beersheba where he grew up, and it
was there that the LORD appeared to him a second time, on the very first night
of his arrival. There GOD re-affirmed his promise to Isaac with these
encouraging words;
“I AM the GOD of your
father, Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I AM with you and will bless you. I will
give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this
because of MY promise to Abraham, MY servant”
Here GOD is letting Isaac know that,
wherever he goes, whether it be Beer Lahairoi, Gerar, or back at Beersheba, HE
was with him, as long as he maintains his faith and trust in HIM, and obeys all
of HIS precepts. Then Isaac built an altar to the LORD and worshiped HIM there.
He set up camp there in Beersheba, and his servants dug yet another well.
A TREATY
WITH ABIMELECH
Genesis
26:26-35
After the conflicts over water rights had waned, the Abimelech saw
an opportunity for a treaty to be reached between himself and Isaac. And so, he
went to see Isaac, bringing with him, his adviser, Ahuzzath, and his army
commander, the Phicol as witnesses. Isaac, who was a bit leery, asked him in so
many words, if he had come in peace. The Abimelech replied, “We can plainly see
that the LORD (of your father) is with you. So we decided we should have a
treaty, a covenant between us. Swear that you will not harm us, just as we did
not harm you. We always treated you well, and we sent you away in peace. And
now look at how the LORD has blessed you!”
And even though it seemed as if the
Abimelech was taking credit for the LORD’s blessings upon him, Isaac accepted
his offer of peace (he “prepared a table before himself in the presence of his
enemies”) and they ate and drank in preparation for a treaty ceremony the next
day.
Early the next morning they each (Isaac and
the Abimelech) took a solemn “oath of nonaggression” toward each other, and
then Isaac sent them away. That same day Isaac’s servants came to him excited
about a new gushing well they had just found. Encouraged by the peace agreement
that he had just made with the Philistines, Isaac named the new well “Shibah”,
which means “oath” or “seven” because they had made a treaty by solemn oath,
just as his father Abraham had done when he named the place where they now
lived, “Beersheba”.
This chapter ends with a wonderful segue
into the next chapter (chapter 27), as it highlights the disappointment of
Isaac and Rebekah in their oldest son, Esau. Here it says that, when Esau was
40 years old he married, not one, but two Hittite women, Judith, the daughter
of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, a double whammy against the plan
of GOD.
These two women made life miserable for
Isaac and Rebekah, and it showed how unfit Esau was to inherit the blessings of
Isaac, even though he was the eldest son, the traditional recipient of the bulk
of the father’s inheritance. This short passage goes a long way in explaining
why GOD would later allow the blessings of Isaac to bypass Esau, and be
bestowed upon Jacob, even though Isaac would foolishly attempt to give it to
Esau anyway (Vs.34-35).
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
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