Genesis 26

1 Now a severe famine struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham's time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where *Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.

*Abimelech – Not the same guy as in chapters 20 & 21. Means “my father, the king”.

2 The LORD *appeared to him there and said, "Do not go to Egypt.

*appeared – 1st recorded instance of God appearing to Isaac since Abraham was ready to offer him on the altar.

3 Do as I say, and stay here in this land. If you do, I will be with you and bless you. I will give all this land to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father.

4 I will cause your *descendants to become as numerous as the stars, and I will give them all these lands. And through your *descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

*descendants - Hebrew “seed”

Genesis 15:5: Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that--too many to count!"

5 I will do this because *Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, regulations, and laws."

*Abraham – Not because of anything Isaac had done.

6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

The children of godly parents must have faith of their own. The time comes when each one must make a personal covenant with God, and a personal decision to obey God's commands. This was the time when Isaac came to have faith of his own.

While God told Abraham to leave his people and country and God would bless him, Genesis 12:1, all Isaac had to do was to stay and he would be blessed. But he believed God, he obeyed and stayed and God blessed him. Sometimes the place of blessing is just to stay. We should note that he lived in tents as had his father Abraham.

7 And when the men there asked him about Rebekah, he said, "She is my sister." He was afraid to admit that she was his wife. He thought they would kill him to get her, because she was very beautiful.

It was the same lie Abraham had told--and for the same selfish reason, to protect himself.

8 But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah.

9 Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, "She is obviously your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?" "Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me," Isaac replied.

This time, Abimelech was not fooled. He kept his eyes open and one day he caught Isaac and Rebekah behaving not at all like brother and sister. When confronted, Isaac confessed, and explained his fear, and Abimelech provided protection.

10 "How could you treat us this way!" Abimelech exclaimed. "Someone might have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin."

11 Then Abimelech made a public proclamation: "Anyone who harms this man or his wife will die!"

12 That year Isaac's *crops were tremendous! He harvested a **hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him.

*crops – Abraham had not planted crops. Isaac has settled in.

**hundred times - Seed could yield 30 to 60 times the amount of harvested grain, but a hundredfold was unusual.

Jesus’ parable of the Sower: Mark 4:3-9: "Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plant sprang up quickly, but it soon wilted beneath the hot sun and died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. Other seed fell among thorns that shot up and choked out the tender blades so that it produced no grain. Still other seed fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted." Then he said, "Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!"

13 He became a rich man, and his wealth only continued to grow.

14 He acquired large flocks of sheep and goats, great herds of cattle, and many servants. Soon the Philistines became jealous of him,

15 and they filled up all of Isaac's wells with earth. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.

16 And Abimelech asked Isaac to leave the country. "Go somewhere else," he said, "for you have become too rich and powerful for us."

17 So Isaac moved to the Gerar Valley and lived there instead.

18 He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham's death. Isaac renamed them, using the names Abraham had given them.

19 His shepherds also dug in the Gerar Valley and found a *gushing spring.

*gushing spring – literally a well of living water!

20 But then the local shepherds came and claimed the spring. "This is our water," they said, and they argued over it with Isaac's herdsmen. So Isaac named the well "*Argument," because they had argued about it with him.

*Argument - Hebrew “Esek”

21 Isaac's men then dug another well, but again there was a fight over it. So Isaac named it "*Opposition."

*Opposition - Hebrew “Sitnah”

22 Abandoning that one, he dug another well, and the local people finally left him alone. So Isaac called it "*Room Enough," for he said, "At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be able to thrive."

*Room Enough - Hebrew “Rehoboth”

23 From there Isaac moved to *Beersheba

* Beersheba - Hebrew “the well of the oath”. Genesis 21:32-34 – Abraham had made a covenant with the Philistines there. This is also where Isaac had lived after the sacrifice on Mount Moriah (22:19).

24 where the LORD appeared to him on the night of his arrival. "I am the God of your father, Abraham," he said. "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."

25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug a well.

On at least four occasions Abraham expressed his faith and gratitude by building an altar for a sacrificial meal with his family. Isaac had the faith to submit to his father offering him as a sacrifice, and he had the faith to pray for his wife to conceive after twenty years of barrenness. But this is the first record of Isaac building an altar to celebrate God’s care and provision. It may indicate that at the age of at least 80 he was finally willing to respond to the LORD in grateful faith.

26 One day Isaac had visitors from Gerar. King Abimelech arrived with his adviser, *Ahuzzath, and also **Phicol, his army commander.

*Ahuzzath & **Phicol are titles, not personal names.

27 "Why have you come?" Isaac asked them. "This is obviously no friendly visit, since you sent me from your land in a most unfriendly way.

28 They replied, "We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we decided we should have a treaty, a covenant between us.

29 Swear that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the LORD has blessed you!"

30 So Isaac prepared a great feast for them, and they ate and drank in preparation for the treaty ceremony.

31 Early the next morning, they each took a solemn* oath of nonaggression. Then Isaac sent them home again in peace.

32 That very day Isaac's servants came and told him about a well they had dug. "We've found water!" they said.

33 So Isaac named the well "*Oath," and from that time to this, the town that grew up there has been called Beersheba--"well of the oath."

*Oath - Hebrew “Shibah”, which can mean "oath" or "seven."

34 At the age of forty, Esau married a young woman named Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite. He also married Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

This verse is really the introduction to the next chapter.

35 But Esau's wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.