Pictures of God’s Purposes in Salvation
Genesis 26: The Presence of God
Introduction: Have you ever read a text and wondered why God wrote so much about seemingly minor and unimportant matters? Genesis 26 is such a text. In fact, there is a warning that should be issued to every Bible student: if you are reading a text that seems dull and uninspiring, or seems to be so plain and matter-of-fact that you wonder why God goes on and on about it, you can surely be guaranteed that just the opposite is true. The text you are reading has a monumental message, a beautiful and glorious picture of God; your mind is just too dull to see it!
The Story
“There was a famine in the land.” Yes that is one of those statements that seems so dull and plain. Yes, we say, it is not like that statement isn’t made dozens of times. We read it and go on. “It’s just part of the story,” we say. And that is where we miss major messages; that is where we lack insight and compassion. Do you realize that famine in the land meant death? – “Why do you look at one another? Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die” (Gen. 42:1-2). A famine would effect generations because animals would die; flocks and herds lost forever.
Isaac responded in the same way Abraham responded and in the same way any person would have responded. Egypt was a sure thing. The Nile river almost always flowed coming from the snowfall in the mountaintops of Ethiopia. Therefore, crops were available.
So Isaac headed to Egypt. But as he passed through the region of the Philistines, God stopped him and warned him not to go to Egypt but to stay in the land of the Philistines. God made a promise: “I will be with you and will bless you.” (Remember Jeremiah telling the remnant not to go to Egypt?)
Now if you are Isaac, your decision to live among the Philistines during a famine was a matter of faith. Isaac must trust that God will do what he promised and provide for him and his family in the midst of a famine and in the midst of foreigners among whom he is extremely vulnerable.
Verses 12-16 beautifully pictures God’s graciousness and fulfillment of his promises. Isaac reaped a hundredfold, “became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.” Now mark this well – this is in the midst of a famine. You can just imagine the Philistines wondering in amazement. They are so jealous that they are filling the wells Abraham had dug previously, but no matter, Isaac just dug more wells. But even then, the Philistines would quarrel about it, and Isaac would just give the well to them and go dig another. And every time he dug, God provided water.
Finally, Abimelech realized it was better to have a covenant with Isaac than to battle him. God was plainly with Isaac to the point that Abimelech feared him. God had made Isaac so powerful that even a king and whole nation wanted to make peace with him.
There is one part of the story that we did not mention. At the beginning, we were clearly impressed with Isaac’s faith. Even in the midst of the danger of a famine, Isaac stayed in the Philistine territory and did not go to Egypt. The Lord had repeated the promises he gave to Abraham his father, and Isaac of all people would personally know of God’s provision after saving him from becoming a burnt offering at the hands of his father.
But as with his father Abraham, Isaac feared for his life because of his wife, Rebekah, because she was very beautiful. So, as with Abraham he lied, saying she was his sister. Again, we might be perplexed by this in our present society, but in ancient days, a lawless land where you are an outsider, posed a very real danger. (I have thought of this when I have been in an Indian airport).
Therefore, though we see Isaac’s faith in one regard, in the matter of his personal safety, we see his weakness. He had faith, but his faith was certainly not perfect. This brings up one of the most challenging parts of faith. Faith to obey a direct command of God is one thing, but a faith that trusts him at a time when your fear is great and there is no one to defend you, is another step altogether. Do any of us doubt that God would have protected him? – Abraham & Isaac are repeatedly embarrassed by pagan kings!
The flaw in Abraham and Isaac’s faith gives us great encouragement in that we see that God does not give up on his people during these moments of weakness. However, we should be challenged to do better! Indeed, when we look at the story from the outside, we want to say, “Come on Isaac! The Lord just told you that he would be with you!” We know there is no excuse, and yet we also fail. (How easy to speak of this when we are not the brunt of the trial!)
The Key to the Narrative: God with Us
What initially stands out about this story is that there is nothing remarkable about these events in comparison to other well-known stories like Abraham offering Isaac or David and Goliath. And that is exactly where you and I get a lazy brain. We read a story about a famine, a lie about Rebekah, and a series of well-digging events, and we say, “Whatever. Just another part of Biblical history that has little or nothing to do with me.” That is a big mistake with any part of the Bible!
The first principle I want you to see is a pattern in Isaac’s life that repeats itself time and again in the lives of biblical people and in the lives of every godly person.
Notice that the text begins with a trial. It is a serious trial; a life and death trial. It is a trial that causes people to panic and make foolish mistakes. Just imagine going even two weeks in which there were no groceries to be found anywhere! But in this case, it isn’t two weeks. There could be no “groceries” for at least one to two years. Gen 42:2, “Behold I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die.”
Next there is trust. That is what is needed at all times, and especially in a trial. Let me explain trust. Trust is admitting you are not in control, and in fact, have no right to try to take control! Trust is admitting that the Lord owns you, but also loves you, and therefore can do as he pleases with your life. That is what makes us upset about the trial! We want control!!
Finally, there is rest an blessing. God brings us to the other side. That is the lesson in Job. That is the picture of Israel from Egypt to Canaan. That is the Ecclesiastes message, especially in chapter 3:1-9.
Therefore, when God allows us to go through trials, there is one thing about all else that he is seeking to grow in us: trust! God will bring us through the trial. He always does, and at some point that rest will be permanent – which is perfectly wonderful.
The theme that ties in with this pattern is God’s assurance to Isaac that he will be with him. That is the reason we trust whether in the trial our out of the trial.
Verse 3: God makes his promise in the future tense, “I will be with you.”
Verse 24: “Fear not, for I am with you.” In other words, God had promised to be with Isaac, and now he is urges Isaac not to fear because he is [present tense] with him.
Verse 28: When Abimelech came to make peace with Isaac, his foundational reason was, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you.” Now the inspired writer speaks in the past tense. The Lord promised to be with him. The Lord blessed him and reminded him that he is with him. Now even an outsider, pagan king can see that God has been with him.
Now, do you know what a lot of Bible students are going to do with this? Sure, they are going to simply see this as history. It is so easy to read this as, “God was with Isaac.” Consider what we forget:
Verses 3-4: we are the offspring of Abraham and Isaac. We are part of the blessing. Just as God was with Abraham and Isaac, so he has promised to be with us. This was a unilateral promise made to Abraham; no conditions except to be part of his offspring.
The Lord explicitly promised in the NT to be with us.
John 15:4-5 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Matthew 28: 20
Hebrews 13:5-6 “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” Quoted from Joshua 1! And the giants!
Matt. 1 “Immanuel”!
Did you notice what Isaac did when the Philistines quarreled with him about the wells he dug? He let them have the well! No matter how they harassed him or took away what he did, God just opened another well and gave him more. When the Lord is with us, there is no fear.
The Wells
There is a lot in this chapter about wells. In the grand scheme of things, no historian would spend so much space talking about digging wells. How many stories in the Bible do we have in which nothing is said about digging a well? But in this story, God wants to make a big deal about wells because he wants to make a big deal about who rescues his people during a famine? When his people need life, God is the one who provides.
And again, we struggle because all we need to do is turn the faucet and out comes water. But what if you turned the faucet and no water came out. Worse, you are living in an arid climate. There isn’t a lake just down the road. Without water, you nor your livestock have a chance. Therefore, the Lord put emphasis on water and on wells because water and wells are the means to life.
Just as the promise of the nations being blessed through the offspring of Abraham and Isaac, so God repeatedly uses water and wells as metaphors to picture the means of his blessings. Just as God provided water for Isaac, so he has made similar promises to us:
Matthew 6:31-33
Isaiah 12:1-6 Drink deeply from the wells of salvation!
Berry Kercheville