Wednesday, February 17, 2010

LastCall: Do not fear, for I am with you.(Genesis 26:17-35 )- Bob Caldwell

God Will Preserve What He Has Given Us

 “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.” -Genesis 26:24

Isaac left the land of the Philistines with great wealth. This wealth would have primarily been in the livestock that multiplied under the prosperity God had given him. But living as a nomad, Isaac found it extremely difficult to locate sufficient grazing land and water for his large herds. It was through great adversity that he found the resources he so desperately needed. It was then that God appeared to Isaac and encouraged him. No matter how many obstacles Isaac faced, God assured him not to fear. The reason God gave Isaac is the same reason that God has given each one of us to not fear.

God is with us just as He was with Isaac. That is enough to assure our hearts that what He has given to us, He will also keep for us. This is vital for us to remember when we face the tactics of Satan who seeks to “steal, kill, and destroy” what God has given (John 10:10). It is vital for us to live with confidence. If we lose sight of who is for us, we will inevitably lose hope when we face the repeated and discouraging efforts of Satan. The prosperity God has given to our lives is kept and multiplied by our God. Therefore, let that be an anchor for your soul. Endure in that hope, for what God has given you will be kept and multiplied in the end.

Genesis 26:17-35

 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.

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.”

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?”

v. 17 Valley of Gerar – Isaac leaves the city but remains in the region.

v. 18 Dug Again – For Abraham to have dug these wells and Isaac to have to now use them was a sign of ownership of the land, which seems to be the motivation for the Philistines in filling them with soil.

v. 20 Esek“Eseq” (Heb.) Means strife.

v. 21 Sitnah“Sitnah” (Heb.) Means opposition, enmity.

v. 22 Rehoboth“Rehoboth” (Heb.) Refers to a broad space, an open area. Isaac, after being forced from two new wells he had dug, finds encouragement in that there was no opposition to this third well. He was able to claim this area to live in and care for his herds.

v. 23 Beersheba – This had been where Abraham had lived. Isaac’s early childhood had been here (Gen. 21:32-34, 22:19).

v. 24 Lord Appeared – When Isaac returned to the place and calling God had given, God responded by renewing His covenant with Isaac.

Do Not Fear – This call to not fear is God’s encouragement to Isaac to not look to Egypt, Gerar, or anywhere else but God the next time famine or other difficulties arise during the process of claiming the land God had promised.

v. 25 Built An Altar – We do not have any record of Isaac worshipping or calling upon God until he returned to where he was to be.

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. 34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac’s Covenant With Abimelech (Verses 26-35)

v. 28 Let Us Make a Covenant – After Isaac returns to where he is to be, God makes “even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7).

v. 29 Blessed of the Lord – When God is working in our lives, the result should be that people can discern that our success is not based on our own resources but sourced in God.

v. 33 Shebah“Shibah” (Heb.) Means oath. Calling this newly discovered well by this name was a way to commemorate this treaty.

Beersheba – The name of this city was also renewed at this time.

Esau’s Marriage (Verses 34 & 35)

v. 34 A Hittite – One of the tribes of the Canaanite people.

Judith...Basemath – Polygamy was a common practice in ancient cultures.

Michael James Stone

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