Genesis 26

Genesis 26:1

2. Isaac and Abimelech (Chap. 26)26:1-6 Isaac reacted to famine as his father had done (chaps. 12 and 20). As he journeyed south, the Lord appeared to him at Gerar and warned him not to go to Egypt. Gerar was sort of a halfway house on the route to Egypt. God told Isaac to stay temporarily in Gerar but instead Isaac dwelt there. God also reconfirmed to him the unconditional covenant that He had made with Abraham. 26:7-17 Isaac reacted to fear as his father had done. He misrepresented his wife as his sister to the men of Gerar. It is the sad story of a father’s weakness being repeated in his son. When the deceit was exposed and rebuked, Isaac confessed. Confession leads to blessing. Isaac became wealthy in Gerarso wealthy that the Abimelech who was then reigning asked him to leave. So Isaac moved from Gerar to the Valley of Gerar, not far away. 26:18-25 The Philistines had stopped up the wells which Abraham had dugan unfriendly act signifying that the newcomers were not welcome. Isaac cleaned out the wells. Strife ensued with the Philistines at Esek (contention) and Sitnah (enmity). Finally Isaac moved away from the Philistines. This time there was no strife when he dug a well, so he called it Rehoboth (broad places or room). He went from there to Beersheba, where the LORD reassured him with the promise of blessing, and where Isaac built an altar (worship), pitched a tent (abiding), and dug a well (refreshment). Just as water is a basic essential in the physical realm, so is the water of the Word in the spiritual. 26:26-33 Concerning verses 26-31, Williams says: It is when Isaac definitely separates himself from the men of Gerar that they come to him seeking blessing from God . . . . The Christian best helps the world when living in separation from it. . . . Isaac’s servants . . . found water the same day that Isaac made a nonaggression pact with Abimelech. Abraham had previously named the place Beersheba because he made a covenant there with his contemporary, Abimelech (Gen_21:31). Now, under similar circumstances, Isaac renames it Shebah or Beersheba. 26:34, 35 Esau’s marriage to Judith and Basemath, two pagan women, caused grief to his parents, as have many other unequal yokes since then. It also brought out further his unfitness for the birthright.