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Genesis 26:1-33 Key Verse: 26:3 God blesses Isaac's Obedience "Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham." Isaac suffered from famine. But he endured to the end by obeying God's command and God blessed him wherever he went. Through his obedience, Isaac had a good influence on unbelieving, godless people around him. People saw God was with him. We will learn from Isaac how to live as God's holy people, how to bear God's blessing, and how to have a good influence as Christian. May God open our hearts to humbly accept God of Isaac. 1. Stay in this land (1-6) Look at verse 1. "Now there was a famine in the land--besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time--and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar." This was a great famine Isaac had never experienced. It has been at least 85 years since the famine in Abraham's time. When a famine comes, there is nothing left for animals and men to eat. And a famine struck the land of promise in Isaac's time again. Like this famine, we may also have great difficulties and hardships in our lives of faith. But it is nothing strange. What decision of faith we make is more important. All men go through pains, even our great forefathers of faith like Abraham and Isaac. Then what decision did Isaac make? Like his father Abraham, he tried to go down to Egypt. The land of Egypt looked like the only way, because of the famine in the land of Canaan. He was following the footsteps of his father Abraham, who had gone down to Egypt during a famine. Abraham's journey to Egypt was not made by faith and Abraham had a spiritual failure. With the same reason because of the famine, Isaac was heading for Egypt. On his way to Egypt, he came to Gerar in Philistine territory. The king of Gerar was Abimelech. Isaac was afraid of godless but powerful, wild Philistines. Isaac wanted to get out of Gerar as soon as possible. But God appeared to him to challenge and grow his faith. Look at verse 3. "Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham." God reminded Isaac of the oath he had with Abraham. The oath was given to Abraham and his descendants and Abraham accepted it by faith. Now it was the time for Isaac to have a personal faith. God wanted to make his oath with Abraham to be a personal covenant with Isaac again. God wanted Isaac to inherit his father's faith and God's blessing. Look at verses 4-5. "I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws." Isaac listened to God's word. It was the great promise that God gave to his father Abraham a few decades ago. Abraham was now dead and Isaac was also old but God's promise never perished. Isaac listened and obeyed God's command. Isaac stayed in Gerar not going down to Egypt. Many times, the command to stay is harder than the command to go. When we go, we feel that we are doing something. We become satisfied. When we stay, we easily feel that we are doing nothing and become discouraged. But God's command to stay is to prove our faith and commitment to God. Do you want to leave the land of mission? Do you want to go somewhere else? May God help us to keep our faith and stay in the land of God's promise. God blesses those who obey his command and stay in the land of promise. About a year ago, I was on the LG Display education program for two weeks. During the program, I heard that I should move to Gumi or Paju if I insist on my job in Human Resource Department. Paju seemed attractive, when I thought of nice working environment, facilities, benefits, and many friends. Most of all, I could take the Human Resource job that I wanted most. I felt Paju would be the better place for my career. However, I decided to remain in Seoul for my spiritual benefit and mission. I strongly suggested to a job arrangement person that I should be in Seoul regardless of my job. Now I realize that God blessed my little faith. God gave me a beautiful wife in the very year I made the decision. My suitable helper is the greatest blessing in my life. I experienced my God who blessed me when I stayed. May God help me to stay in the land of mission in my whole life. May God teach each of us a faith to stay. God's blessing comes to those who stay in the land of God's promise. 2. God's protection and blessing among the Philistines (7-13) Isaac obeyed God and stayed, but it was not easy, for he was afraid. Look at verse 7. "When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful." Isaac feared that people in Gerar might kill him because his wife was beautiful. Fear in his heart grew bigger and overwhelmed him and Isaac lied about his wife that Rebekah is his sister. It was the same lie Abraham had told for the same selfish reason, to protect himself. To lie about one's wife is the last thing to do in the world. As a married man, I can never deny my wife. A wife is the most precious gift of God. But fear made Isaac out of his mind. The problem became too big. Because of his lie, Isaac could not take any safety action on his wife. But God protected his family in the land of promise. Look at verses 8-9. Abimelech was not fooled like Pharaoh in Egypt in Abraham's time. He kept his eyes wide open. One day he caught the scene that Isaac and Rebekah behaving not at all like brother and sister. Surprisingly, Abimelech summoned Isaac and forgave his lie. He even gave an order to all the people not to harm Isaac's family. The king who Isaac feared most became his powerful protection. After the education program last year, I moved to LG Twin Towers in Seoul. I was allocated to customer strategy team which is kind of sales team. As the team name "Customer" states, all team members loved drinking. I was very afraid being in a sales team and thought I should do the same as they do. Once I started drinking, I could not stop. I became greatly discouraged feeling I failed in my spiritual battle. However, with the encouragement and prayers from co-workers, I confessed my faith one day that I would stop drinking any type of alcohol forever in my life. Surprisingly, my part leader who loved drinking a lot became my protector. God blessed my confession, even though I made mistakes. I make mistake many times. But I experienced God who is my protector. God is the savior who saves us from anywhere. May God encourage and save us from all our mistakes, and failures. May God be our only protector, our only savior. Look at verse 12. "Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him." No matter how severe the famine was, no matter how weak Isaac was and made mistakes, God kept his promise and blessed him. Isaac reaped a hundredfold, one hundred times what he sowed. He earned 10,000% profit when a famine came. To Isaac, it was the land of famine, fear and failure. However, God turned it into the land of promise and blessing. God became Isaac's protection and blessed him one hundred times. Our God is faithful. 3. I am with you (14-33) Look at verse 14. It was good to have God's blessing, but there was one problem-the Philistines envied him. They came to Abraham's wells and filled them with earth. Then Abimelech came to him, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us."(16) This reminds us of Jesus' saying in Mark 10, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life."(Mark 10:29, 30) Like Jesus said 'a hundred times with persecutions', Isaac received a hundred times but with persecutions. God permits persecutions that we might not fall in love with God's blessing only but have our focus on God himself. Even though Abimelech told him to leave, Isaac remembered God's command to stay in this land. Isaac did not leave the land but moved into the Valley of Gerar. Isaac made a decision to stay in the land even when a king told him to leave. Then God made him continue to prosper. From verses 18-22, Isaac never failed in discovering wells. Whenever he dug in the valley, he discovered wells with 100% accuracy in the time of famine. This God who gave water to Isaac also gives us water of eternal life. Revelation 21:6 testifies, "To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." Isaac went through difficult times. But he was not thirsty because God provided him with water. We may also go through difficult times, but God quenches our thirst by the water of life. Look at verses 20-21. The Philistines became more aggressive. They claimed his wells as their own. Isaac just moved on and dug another well. He looked like a loser who cannot claim any rights of his own. But he was obeying God's command by staying in the land. We do not want to look like a weak person. Rather, we like to fight, claim our rights, and win. However, Isaac kept on digging another well. He remembered God who blessed him when he stayed in the land. He trusted God and continued his faith of staying. Isaac was fighting a fierce spiritual battle. Look at verse 22. Finally, he found a place to settle at peace. God gave victory when he endured to the end. However, insecure lifestyle of frequent moving and looking for wells brought him fear little by little. He may have feared that another Philistines would come and claim the well. His life seemed so insecure in the land. Look at verse 23. Isaac went to Beersheba. It was the land his father Abraham had an oath with Abimelech. It was the land of victory that God glorified himself. Isaac went to this land Beersheba to struggle with God. He wanted to meet God who gave victory to his father as his personal God. Look at verse 24. "That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."" Isaac felt afraid, but God clearly declared that God was with him. The situation looked difficult, but God would surely bless him and increase the number of his descendants. God would bless him like Abraham. God of his father Abraham became the God of Isaac. Isaac met his personal God. Isaac accepted God's words and worshiped him. Then he pitched his tent and dug another well in the very place he met his God personally. The situation did not change, but his heart changed. Meeting his personal God became a turning point in his life. The change in Isaac was perceived by the people he had feared most--King Abimelech and General Phicol. Isaac was fearless because God was with him. "Why have you come? You were hostile to me and sent me away."(27) Look at verse 28. They answered, "We saw clearly that the Lord was with you." The king and the commander clearly saw that God was with Isaac. They became afraid of Isaac and wanted to make a treaty that there would be no harm to each other. At first, Isaac looked weak. He just withdrew from quarrels and dug another wells. But God blessed Isaac with fresh water every time until there was no one left to come to quarrel. Then Isaac became more confident from the faith in his personal God. It looked little, but was very powerful to make people see God with him. Isaac had a great influence on unbelievers, even the king Abimelech. Like Isaac, we do not need to fight, win, and glorify God. When we continue to obey God's command with humble attitude, people clearly see God with us. May God strengthen us to obey his command. May God help people see God with us and believe in him. When I revealed my little faith that I would not drink any more, I suffered persecutions. My team leader wanted to kick me out from the team. My customer forced me to drink saying this one glass of soju was for my company. I just kept my little faith relying on God. One day all my team members became drunken in a dinner. They began to talk about Christianity and my team leader shared that he had once been a Sunday Christian because of his boss. Suddenly, he asked me to pray for all the team members. It became very quiet. I felt God was with me and prayed for each with specific prayer topics. After this, persecution disappeared within my team. One colleague of mine even shared that burden in his heart faded away when I prayed for him. God revealed himself in my team. I am weak. Sometimes I become afraid again, when I meet new customers or new colleagues that they may ask me to drink. However, I remember God who gave me victory every time when I made a decision not to drink even a drop. I pray that I continue to keep my faith. May God strengthen me to be an influential servant of God. Today we learned God of Isaac. Isaac inherited the faith of his father Abraham and obeyed God's command. God blessed Isaac to be influential in unbelieving world. When we obey God's command humbly, God reveals his glory through us. May God strengthen us to obey his command wholeheartedly. May God use us to reveal his glory at our schools, homes, working places, among neighbors, in our land, and all around the world. May God double our ministry this year through our humble obedience. |
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