Genesis 26 - Isaac Settles in Gerar

Running from drought https://www.casualenglishbible.com/genesis-26/

Summary https://marksbiblejourney.blogspot.com/2019/10/genesis.html
"Another famine begins in the land.  Isaac goes to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, for food and water.  God tells Isaac not to go to Egypt, but to stay in the region of the promised land.  God reaffirms His covenant with Isaac.  Isaac, like Abraham, tells the Philistines that Rebekah is his sister and not his wife.  Abimelech finds out that Rebekah is Isaac's wife, and he warns the Philistines that whoever harms Isaac or Rebekah will die.  God blesses Isaac with abundant crops and he becomes very rich.  He has flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves.  The Philistines become envious of him, and they fill Isaac's water well with dirt.  King Abimelech tells Isaac to leave on account of his blessing.  Isaac goes to the land of Gerar.  Isaac digs more water wells and the herdsman of Gerar take those wells from him as well.  Isaac leaves Gerar and moves to Beer-sheba.  God appears to Isaac the night he arrives, and He tells him that He will bless him and multiply his offspring.  Isaac digs a water well, makes an altar to worship God, and pitches a tents to dwell there.  Abimelech comes to Isaac and makes an oath with him, saying, "You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace."  The slaves of Isaac find water in the well and Isaac calls the well Oath.  Therefore the name of the city is Beer-Shebaa (well of the oath) to this day.  When Esau is 40 years old he takes two wives, Judith and Basemath.  They make life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah."

Reading from the Amplified Bible (AMP) version..

• "Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines." v.1

• "The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you. Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” v.2-5

• "The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.” v.7

• "Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].” Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.” v.10-11

• "Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him. And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished; he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him." v.12-14

• “I am the God of Abraham your father;

Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well." v.24-25

• "They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you, that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!’” v.28-29

My personal observations and reflections...

• FAMINE. Just like in the days of Abraham, a famine happened again in the land of Canaan, which caused Isaac to go to Gerar.

• ANOTHER ABIMELECH? According to Bible Footnotes, Genesis 26:1 This is not the Abimelech of ch 20. Abimelech may actually be a dynastic title, like Caesar or Pharaoh, instead of a proper name. The events recounted in chapters 20 and 26 are separated by almost a hundred years.

• DO NOT GO TO EGYPT, STAY IN GERAR. God clearly instructed and prevented Isaac not to go to Egypt. Aside from it being a pagan country, I think one of the reasons why is-- it's not yet God's time for the 'Israelites' (Abraham's descendants) to go and stay at Egypt (for a purpose). We read that Isaac obeyed God, and God also repeated/declared His wonderful covenant promise to Isaac.

• ISAAC'S LIE. The men of the place asked Isaac about his wife, and he told them a lie that she is her sister. We later read that Isaac reasoned, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].”

It made me think and contemplate, somehow. Considering Isaac's situation, being a new temporary dweller at Gerar due to famine, having a beautiful wife-- he might have felt afraid and weak to practice authority and in telling the truth. What he did is a "sin", but God immediately came to the rescue. God allowed Abimelech to discover the truth, and confront Isaac, for fear that God will punish them in the event that one of his men take an interest to Rebekah. God allowed Isaac to tell them the truth. so no one can get hurt and everyone can live peacefully with each other. Oh how we need God, and His interventions.. God sees our hearts, He knows all our struggles and weaknesses, but He will be our strength.. He will help us overcome our weaknesses, and He will give us a chance to correct the mistakes that we've made.

"Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand." Psalm 37:24

•  GOD IS FEARED. I marvel at how those Philistines tremble and fear God, eventhough they don't know and follow Him.

• GOD'S FAVOR. WORLD'S ENVY. God's display of favor, blessing and goodness through Isaac is amazing! "Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted]" v.12, "became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished; he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants]" (v.13-14) God is indeed faithful, and He displays the difference between His chosen ones and the people who don't acknowledge Him.

I remember Psalms 1:

"Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper." v.1-3

However, God's blessings caused the men to be envious. As if to make things hard for Isaac (who seems to have it easy because of God), the Philistines stopped up the wells by filling them with dirt (v.15). To avoid trouble (maybe), Abimelech sent him away.

• WELL QUARREL. Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father (v.18). The first one that they successfully dug was seized by the herdsmen of Gerar, claiming that the water is theirs. Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him. Note that they "quarreled with him", and Isaac never fought back. The second one was named Sitnah (enmity), because they quarreled over that also. Finally, Isaac "moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be prosperous in the land.” (v.22)

I admire Isaac's humility, by the way he showed God's peace in those situations! He trusted and believed in a God who will provide for him. He did not have to quarrel over some well, instead He just go away from trouble and dug another well. He showed godly characteristics, when he practiced patience and graciousness to those men. I thought of Jesus, and how He did not retaliate to every hurt and offense thrown at Him, and He even said “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”(Luke 23:34)

• THE LORD APPEARED TO ISAAC. It's as if God was pleased to Isaac for how he handled the difficult situation and test that God allowed him to go through.. God said "Do not be afraid, for I am with you." 

Life is hard and painful sometimes, but God is in the process of growing us-- how to be strong in Him, how to love like He does, how to forgive like He does.. He is also telling us the same, do not be afraid because He is (always) with us.

• COVENANT WITH ABIMELECH. "Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” (v.27)

Exactly! Why follow Isaac, and seek to be at peace with him.. Maybe, someone told Abimelech what had happened over the wells, how the herdsmen from Gerar seized the wells dug by Isaac and his servants-- and how Isaac did not fight back. As a responsible leader/king, Abimelech want to set things right and straight between Isaac and them. The damage is done, but it's not too late for a reconciliation. So Abimelech established a covenant between Isaac and his people.
It's amazing as well how Abimelech finally recognize God through Isaac, when he said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you / You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!" (v.28-29)

• A BLESSING TO OTHERS. When we choose to trust God with our pain, mistreatment, or maybe some injustice or harm done to us-- He can even use us as a blessing to other people, even our enemies. God can use our longsuffering to show God's love, grace, mercy, peace and joy. It's not easy, but God will surely help us to demonstrate His goodness towards others. It is written:

"Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Romans 12:17-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

• SHIBAH. God provided another well for Isaac, and according to the Bible Footnotes, the name denotes the following: Genesis 26:33 This could mean “oath” or “overflow, abundance.” Likewise, the name Beersheba could mean “well of abundance,” or “well of the oath,” or “seven wells.”

• ESAU HAD WIVES. We then read some kind of bad news in the end. The firstborn Esau chose for himself wives, from the Hittites (Judith and Basemath). At this point, I am realizing that Esau indeed didn't care for his birthright, he is doing it all wrong! Exact opposite of how Abraham carefully prayed (and chose) for a wife for the promise son Isaac, from his brother Nahor's family line. How can the Messiah come from this? Esau and Hittite women, no... The wives were a "source of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah." (bitterness of spirit)

* I found another genealogy chart clearly showing Esau's descendants:

 https://www.conformingtojesus.com/charts-maps/en/genealogy_of_abraham.htm

Read the Bible here:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+26&version=AMP