Genesis 26

Genesis 26:1-5

In this chapter we have, 1. Isaac in advertiere, by reason of a famine in the land, which, (1.) obliges him to change his quarters, ver. 1. But, (2.) God writes him with direction and comfort, ver. 2—5. (2.) He faithfully denies his wife, being in distress, and is repressed for it by Abimelech, ver. 6—11. 2. Isaac in prosperity by the blessing of God upon him, ver. 12—14. And, 1. The Philistines were anxious at him, ver. 14—17. 2. He continued industrious in his business, ver. 18—23. 3. God appeared to him, and encouraged him, and he returned his duty to God, ver. 24, 25. 4. The Philistines at length made court to him, and made a covenant with him, ver. 26—33. 5. The disagreeable marriage of his son Esau, was an assay to the comfort of his prosperity, ver. 34, 35.

1. AND there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. 2. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt: dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. 3. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for unto thee, and unto thy seed I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father. 4. And I will make thy seed to multiply at the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: 5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

We have here.

1. A famine which obliges Isaac to remove from Canaan into the land of the Philistines. He must, like his father before him, learn to suffer, ere he receive the promise.

2. God’s appearing to him. He forbids his journey to Egypt, and commands his stay at Gerar. Note, We are always right, when given up to the divine guidance.

3. The promise made him. As Abraham’s son, he is his successor in the covenant; it was entailed upon him, and God confirms it to him, for Abraham’s sake. Note, (1.) They who have God’s favour, need not fear famine, nor any thing else. (2.) Though grace runs not in the blood, it often, through divine mercy, descends in the family. Happy that house!

4. ¶ And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7. And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my father: for he feared to say, she is my wife; left, God be the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she was fair to look upon.

Genesis 26:6-7

Isaac seems to have inherited not only Abraham’s blefings, but his fins too. Like his father, he diffembles in the same words, and for the same reason. Note, (1.) Great men and good men have their infirmities; none are exempted. (2.) Fear is one of the most dangerous passions which faran works upon. (3.) To have got over the fear of death, is to be a great way towards heaven.

8. And it came to pafs when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a fussy fire in thy wife: and how said thou, She is my fitter? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, left I die for her. 10. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hath done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldst have brought guiltstois upon us. 11. And Abimelech charged all his people, laying, He that toucheth this man or his wife, shall surely be put to death.

Genesis 26:8-11

His dissimulation is discovered, and rebuked by Abimelech. He is seen using some freedoms, which, however innocent in a husband, had been evil in a brother; and with reason he is reproached with the danger to which he exposed his wife, and the fin to which he might have tempted his hospitable friends. Note, (1.) To be found a dissembler, is to be a scandal to our profession. (2.) When we lay flares in the way of the innocent, their fins will light upon our heads.

12. Then Isaac fowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundred-fold, and the LORD bleffed him. 13. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great. 14. For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of § servants. And the Philistines envied him. 15. For all the wells which his fathers servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had flopped them, and filled them with earth. 16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17. ¶ And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18. And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had flopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19. And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of (priming) water. 20. And the herdmen of Gerar did thrive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well. 21. And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it § Sinsah. 22. And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. 23. And he went up from thence to Beer-theba. 24. And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy feed, for my servant Abraham’s sake. 25. And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

Genesis 26:12-25

Isaac, under God’s blefing, in the land of his sojourning, still abounds. Whilst they are under famine, his land produces an hundred fold, his servants increase, his cattle multiply. This produces,

1. The envy of the Philistines. They could not look on him, but with an evil eye. Note. It is the tribute which merit pays, to be envied.

2. Their ill usage and expulsion of him: for what can stand before envy? They should rather have shared his blefings, by looking to his God; but led by their wicked hearts, they flopped the wells Abraham had digged. Note, The envious man will put himself to expence and trouble, rather than not gratify his ill will. Still unable to bear him, they at last defied him to be gone.

3. He confents, and quietly removes farther off, v. 17. Note, It is wise rather to yield for peace sake, than quarrel.

4. His care to find other wells. He opens old ones, and digs Vol. I.

new. Note, In searching for the waters of truth, we may use the labours of those who digged before us; and add our diligence still to improve upon them.

5. The Philistines followed him with disputes from well to well, whilst he quietly recedes from his right, and retires farther. At last, he finds another well, and there they left him in peaceable possession, and he calls it Rehoboth, in token of the enlargement he enjoyed there. Note, They who follow peace, will find it at last: it preserve men with strive with them in this world, at least they will find Rehoboth, a place of enlargements, and peace in heaven.

6. God’s appearing to him, with encouraging promise, v. 24. Note, The season of most comfort with God, is usually when we are most left with the perversion of men.

7. His grateful acknowledgment. He built an altar, and perpetuated thus in his family the good ways of his father Abraham. Such is the gracious effect of bringing up a fin on the way he should go.

8. ¶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar; and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and a Phichol the chief captain of his army. 27. And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? 28. And they said, We certainly saw that the LORD was with thee: and we said, let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; 29. ¶ That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the bleffed of the LORD. 30. And he made them a fealt, and they did eat and drink. 31. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and fware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32. And it came to pafs the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. 33. And he called it Sheba: therefore the name of the city is Beer-theba unto this day.

Genesis 26:26-33

They who had sent him away through envy, are now come to court his friendship. We have here.

1. Isaac’s questioning the purpose of their visit. From the injuries he had received, he had need be on his guard. Note, Though we must love our enemies, we must watch against their devices.

2. Their business: To invite him to reconciliation, and to a solemn league between them. They profess sincerity, acknowledge their conviction of God’s favour to him, and therefore fails would make him their friend. Note, When the offending party seeks reconciliation, we should be ever ready to grant it.

3. Isaac confents, entertains them generously, confirms the league by oath, and they part in peace. Note, We must not insist upon pafs all usage, when there is a prospect of present peace, but gladly embrace the favourable motion.

4. That day, a new and copious well is found, so that all he parted with, is amply made up to him. Those who for peace take, or the truth’s take, lose a little, find perhaps at the end of the year, that they are gainers by the increase which God’s blefing hath brought.

5. ¶ And * Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bathemath the daughter of Esau the Hittite: 35. Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

Genesis 26:34

35. Esau’s profaneness appeared before, but it is aggravated here. He takes two wives at once, both had ones, and of a different religion; not only without the consent, but to the great grief of his parents. Note, (1.) In chusing a wife, it is a principal concern that we agree in religious opinions. (2.) That it be done with consent of parents.