Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (20.3)

The Book of Genesis

Genesis Chapter 26:1-33 - Read this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.

Isaac and Abimelech: The Imitation of the Deception of Unbelief

v.1-6 The occasion for the LORD’s instruction to Isaac was a famine in the land (v.1).  There is a close parallel in the account of Isaac’s sojourning with Abraham’s.  In the earlier account (12:10-20), Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn, only to endanger his wife through fearful deception.  Here, the LORD appeared to Isaac to prohibit his going down to Egypt (v.2), to instruct him to remain in the land, and to repeat the promises of the land and of numerous descendants, first made to Abraham, now to Isaac (v.3).

Abraham is presented remarkably as having “obeyed My voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statues, and my laws” (v.5).  In using this variety of legal terms that eventually appeared in the Mosaic Law, Abraham was raised as the model of obedience to the Law.  Abraham’s faith led to his obedience that resulted in the keeping of the Law – the holy and righteous requirements of God.  Clearly, Isaac enjoyed the blessing of this transference of the Abrahamic promises because Abraham was obedient.  Therefore, Isaac and his family should obey God in order that they might enjoy further blessings from the LORD that would in turn be passed on to the next generation.  And Isaac demonstrated his faith in his obedience (v.6).

v.7 The deception of Isaac imitated the deception of Abraham.  Once again the wife was very beautiful, the man feared for his life, and the plan was to identify her as the sister.  In Abraham’s case, the deception was partially true but in Isaac’s case, it was totally false.  When faced with a possibly life-threatening situation, Isaac fell back on the example of his father (cf. 12:11-12; 20:2) to deceive the men of Gerar about his wife.  Although Isaac did not lose his wife to a royal harem, the lie made her available to others.  A sober warning is that children often learn more from the way we are and the things we do (i.e. our example in life) than parents realise and are willing to admit.

v.8 In this story, the detection of the lie came through the observation of the king, who saw “Isaac sporting with Rebekah”.  The word “sporting” indicates that the manner Isaac “played” with Rebekah revealed that she was his wife, not his sister.  The construction of the word “sporting” is related to the Ishmael’s mocking of Isaac (cf.21:9), which implies that Isaac’s imitation of his father’s scheme of deception made mockery of the great promise embodied in his name.  Thus, his “sporting” not only betrayed his claim to be her brother, but also revealed he had acted in bad faith with the men of Gerar.

The king was Abimelech.  He may have been the same king with whom Abraham had had dealings but since 97 years had passed since Abraham’s first treaty with Abimelech (cf. 21:8, 22; 25:26; 26:34), this man probably was not the one in 21:22.  “Abimelech” is in all likelihood a dynastic title.

v.9-10 Abimelech’s rebuke provided the moral teaching on the matter.  He confronted Isaac with the fact that his deception placed the whole Gerar in great danger – “and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us”.  Abimelech knew that Isaac’s deception opened the door for adultery to be committed and then guilt would have been brought on the entire nation.  Christians would be deceived into thinking that their “little” schemes of deception for self-protection does not harm anybody.  The warning clearly given to us here is that deception gives occasion for sin to others, making them guilty before God.  A growing faith in God leads into a fearless walk with Him but any drawing back in fear endangers a believer’s usefulness as a channel of God’s blessings and makes mockery of our faith.  Faith boldly faces danger but fear is a mockery of faith.

v.11 In recognition of the seriousness of the matter, Abimelech instituted a protective law for Isaac and his wife.  Through it, God protected the marriage of Isaac from the people of Gerar, and from Isaac himself!  The wording of the penalty for violation “shall surely be put to death” recalls the warning of the LORD in the garden against the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (cf. 2:17).  The king of Gerar, who had a sense of morality and justice, demonstrated a high view of marriage that does not permit its violation through adultery.  We must remember that adultery does endanger the life of the marriage and family, even though it may not bring the death penalty in many countries today.

Conflict and Covenant because of God’s Blessing on Isaac

v.12-14a Isaac “waxed great…and grew until he became very great” and the details of his possessions give us a picture of a man growing wealthier and more powerful all the time because “the LORD blessed him”. We must be careful not to restrict the blessings of the LORD only to an increase of wealth because the Bible clearly teaches that the LORD “maketh” both the rich and the poor (1 Sam. 2:7; Prov. 17:5; 22:2).  It also declares that the integrity of a believer’s heart is better than wealth (cf. Prov. 19:1: 28:6).  We can say that since God prospered Isaac, He is able to so in His sovereign wisdom, and therefore, our God may richly bless His people in this manner.

v.14b-22 As with his father Abraham (cf. 13:5-9), Isaac’s prosperity brought about conflict because the “Philistines envied him,” i.e. they strongly desired what Isaac had and attempted through conflict to obtain it.  Thus began a series of opposition from the Philistines that led Isaac to be removed from
is settlement three times in the search for wells. In their 1st attempt to hinder Isaac’s prosperity by obstructing his access to the water, it appears that the Philistines had caved in the wells that Abraham had dug (v.15).  This opposition concluded with Abimelech expelling Isaac from their presence with the words “thou are mightier than we” (v.16).  In the 2nd conflict, Isaac had moved to the valley of Gerar and re-opened the wells of Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped “after the death of Abraham” (v.17-18), perhaps, because they thought that their treaty with Abraham had ended (cf. 21:23, 32).  But as soon as the wells were working again (v.19), the Philistines claimed them and forced Isaac to depart.  Thus, Isaac named the well “Esek” because of the strife (v.20).  The 3rd time Isaac was removed from his settlement was at “Sitnah” where the Philistines strove with him again over the well he dug (v.21). 

The conflict finally came to an end at “Rehoboth,” (i.e. “wide places”) because the Philistines “strove not” with him there.  Isaac never wavered in his confident trust but quietly and resolutely went about his business of obtaining water for his flocks and crops, and God abundantly blessed him – the more the Philistines attempted to seize the water, the more water Isaac’s servants found! 

v.23-25 At Beersheba (v.23),  the ancient home of Abraham, “the LORD appeared unto him” and repeated the promises (v.24).  Here, the theme of the LORD’s presence – “for I am with thee” – becomes a strong element.  Like Abraham, Isaac believed God, worshipped Him (“builded an altar”), and began to make proclamation of the LORD (“called upon the name of the LORD”) in the place where he settled in (v.25).  By his living in God’s provision and by his proclamation of the LORD in worship, he left no doubt that God was with him.  The people around could only acknowledge this Presence and seek peaceful relations eventually.

v.26-31  Abimelech obviously became deeply concerned about the recent events because all the attempts of the Philistines to obstruct Isaac’s prosperity had failed and he feared reprisal from Isaac (v.29).  So he and Phicol (“Phicol,” cf. 21:22, is probably either an official title or a recurring family name), the chief captain of his army, made the first move to establish a formal and lasting peace agreement (v.26).  The whole matter surprised Isaac because he had though that they “hate” him (v.27).  Their hostility and opposition was winked at in their pressing for the peace treaty because, at the heart of the matter, they recognised that God was blessing Isaac – “We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee” (v.28).  They had eventually to admit that Isaac was blessed of the LORD and that they simply could not hinder the blessing of God.  Here is an early example of how the LORD “maketh even [one’s] enemies to be at peace with him” (Prov. 16:7).  Isaac thus entered into a covenant of peace with them, after the day of feasting, on the next day (v.30-31).

v.32-33 On the same day, the servants of Isaac struck water in the well they had been digging (v.32).  From verse 18, we have already noted that Isaac customarily named the wells with the names his father used.  Therefore, it is unsurprising that when he made a treaty at Beersheba with the king of Gerar as his father had done, he renamed the place to commemorate the event (v.33).  The close similarities between Genesis 26 and Genesis 21 shows a deliberate attempt to parallel Isaac and Abraham to demonstrate that the blessing had passed to Isaac, the son of Abraham, because the LORD was with him (v.24).

Read more devotionals on Genesis Chapter 26