Author: Charlie Garrett

Genesis 27:1-20
A Blessing in the Face of Death

Introduction: If you’ve ever looked at a book of the stories of the Bible, maybe you’ve seen a picture of Jacob deceiving Isaac. Without a doubt, you’ll see an old man in a bed with a long white beard and a young boy there at his side attempting to imitate his older, hairier brother.

I have to tell you how wrong that picture is and you’ll see why in a while. Although pictures of Bible stories are fun and interesting to look at, they’re often as wrong as right. Have you ever seen a picture of the Israelites marching around Jericho with the ark?

If so, you can see the congregation, the priests, the poles, and the ark with its gold covering and the little cherubim on top of it. That’s wrong too. Does anyone know why? The reason is found in the book of Numbers chapter 4 –

“When the camp prepares to journey, Aaron and his sons shall come, and they shall take down the covering veil and cover the ark of the Testimony with it. ⁶ Then they shall put on it a covering of badger skins, and spread over that a cloth entirely of blue; and they shall insert its poles.”

The ark was never to be seen by anyone except the high priest and that only once a year. If it was to be moved, only the priests could look at it and only for the purpose of covering it.

Details like these help us mentally keep the biblical narrative in focus and sharpen our awareness of what really is going on in the Bible. May our mental images of the Bible be based on the truth contained there. Only then can we understand the reality of what God is conveying to us in His word.

Text Verse: With Him are strength and prudence.
The deceived and the deceiver are His. Job 12:16

If we see deception in the world, we may ask why God allows it to happen. In the case of Jacob and Esau, it came about to meet God’s purposes, which He spoke of even before their birth.

So let us understand that both the deceived and the deceiver are His and in the end His plans will come to pass exactly as they should. And so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Preparation for a Blessing

Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

We have to do some backdating to know when this most likely happened and how old Isaac is. Joseph was thirty when he stood before Pharoah and that means that he was about 39 when Jacob came to Egypt. He was right around 130 years old.

So when Joseph was born, Jacob was about 91, which was after he had spent 14 years in Padan-aram. That means that Jacob and Esau are 77 at this time and it makes Isaac 136. Therefore, this is about the year 2245AM and its 61 years after Abraham died.

The ages of these people are significant for several reasons. We know that Isaac’s eyes are dim now at 136 and he will live until he’s 180. So he lives with blindness for over 40 years. Another important point is that even though he’s 77, Jacob hasn’t married.

And another thing to think about is that what happens here isn’t something between a couple of young children, or teenagers, and their mother, but between two well aged men and a mother who is even older than they are.

If she was 15 when she got married (and that’s just a guess) and then she had to wait 20 years to have children, then she has to be at least 112 and maybe older. This wasn’t a fight between two teenagers which was prompted by a young impulsive mother – by any stretch of the imagination.

Isaac is very old and his eyes aren’t working and so he calls for Esau, his firstborn. It’s important to note that none of what is going to occur would have happened if Isaac’s eyes weren’t dim and therefore, behind the scenes we see God’s hand guiding the story.

When Moses died it says this about him in Deuteronomy 34:7 – “Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.” God is in control of every aspect of our life, even to our illnesses.

² Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.

Here is Isaac stuck in his tent with bad eyes and he probably felt as if life were coming to a close. Because of this, he wants to put his house in order even though his death is more than 40 years away.

This is something that the wise have been doing and continue to do 4000 years later. If we’re planning on being here forever, we have very mistaken plans. As Adam Clarke says, “He who lives not in reference to eternity, lives not at all.”

³ Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.

If you look at this verse in the right way, it is an amazingly touching thing. Isaac is the patriarch of an entire camp with dozens and maybe hundreds of servants, plus warriors, and their family members and more. Plus he probably has thousands of animals of every kind available.

What Abraham possessed has been increased by Isaac. And yet, he calls for his son who is in his 70s and asks him to get his things together and go out and hunt game for him. This is as personal as it gets. It would be like flying home for the holidays just because you wanted a meal prepared by mom and for no other reason.

The wild game would have its own taste and the fact that it was hunted by Esau would make it all the more endearing to him. The blessing he was going to offer was to be special and so he wanted what preceded it to be special as well.

⁴ And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”

Although he’d lost his sight, he hadn’t lost his taste. And so he asks for something tasty before he would bestow the blessing. Some scholars look at this verse and see in it a connection to a religious ritual where a meal is participated in before, or when, the rite is conducted.

There’s no reason to doubt that and it goes along with the biblical theme of meals in conjunction with important events, such as the Passover, the Lord’s Supper, and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Isaac is participating in an ancient tradition and is ready to bestow a blessing upon his son.

A lot of people castigate him here for intending to bless Esau instead of Jacob because of the prophecy that was given to Rebekah which said the older would serve the younger. Their claim is that he has either ignored this or forgotten about it.

But it could be that Rebekah never even told him. We can’t know and the Bible doesn’t say. It also doesn’t rebuke him in any way. In this case, we simply see a father wanting to bless his firstborn before he dies. The fact that he is unable to see is what shows us God’s intentions are being met in this story.

II. The Faith of Rebekah

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.

Rebekah, whether we agree with the actions she’s going to take or not, is an important part of what happens and its effect on the world we live in. It was to her that the word was spoken about the older serving the younger. And it is she who is close enough to Isaac to hear what he intends to do.

And right or wrong from our perspective, it was the Lord who directed her to be married to Isaac, who kept her from becoming pregnant for 19 years, who caused twins to be conceived in her womb, and who molded her into the person she is in every way we can conceive.

In other words, everything about her has been shaped and has led her to this moment where her decisions will direct the outcomes. She hears Isaac’s words to Esau and so she acts, first by telling Jacob what she heard…

⁶ So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’

There is a difference between what Isaac said and what Rebekah says. In verse 4, Isaac said to Esau “that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” But here it says, “that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.”

The differences are big and it isn’t just her adding in something that Isaac said but wasn’t recorded. The words for “before my death” are different than “before I die” even in the Hebrew.

When Isaac spoke to Esau, he used the term beterem, which means “before” in time. But when Rebekah speaks to Jacob, she uses the term liphnay which means before as in the presence of something – liphnay literally meaning “in the face of.”

She also says “in the presence of the Lord” rather than “that my soul may bless you.” I can only think that she is seeing this as the Messianic blessing that she knew belonged to Jacob because the Lord had told her.

What I think she is saying by using the term liphnay is that this promise was to come to Jacob not before Isaac’s death in time – “I need to give this before I die,” but before Isaac’s death which was a result of the fall – “I need to give this because I will die; my death is in the presence of the Lord.”

The blessing then, as Rebekah understands it, is for the reversal of the curse of death upon mankind – a blessing she knows must go to Jacob. What is always perceived of as evil intent on the part of Rebekah, is, as I see it, is an act of faith even if it is deceptive.

This follows the theme of the women of faith we’ve already seen and will continue to see. Lot’s daughters slept with their father in the faith that they were bringing in the Messiah – which in fact they did. Rebekah is acting in faith by ensuring the younger son receives the blessing the Lord had told her about.

Rahab the harlot acted in faith in rescuing the spies at Jericho. Ruth acted in faith by moving to Israel with her mother in law. And Mary acted in faith, accepting her role as the mother of the Messiah. Rebekah is acting in the same manner as these other great women who exercised their faith in God’s unfolding plans.

⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you.

Rebekah is so determined about what she intends, that she uses two terms to convince Jacob. The first is obey and the second is command. Just imagine your own mother saying, “I want you to listen very carefully and I want you to do exactly what I say.” This is the intent and force of her words to Jacob now…

⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.

The question for this verse is, “Why would she tell Jacob to get two kids of the goats?” That is a lot more than Isaac could eat in several meals. The actual reason is that the kid of the goat apparently tastes somewhat like a young roe or fawn.

By taking two of them she could cut out the choicest pieces from both to make the whole meal appear like it was from one deer. Then by adding in seasoning, someone who knew how to cook could make it a truly deceiving meal.

So Isaac is going to be deceived in more ways than one. However, there is a spiritual reason for the Bible to mention the two goats. As I said last week, throughout the Bible the number two signifies a difference – usually of things at enmity with each other.

There are two testaments, one based on law and one on grace. One shows fallen man, the other man restored. There is day and there is night. There is Jesus and there is Barabbas. The Bible includes the fact that Rebekah asked for two kids because in this there is a contrast.

There is deception, but there is the fulfillment of God’s plan. As EW Bullinger says about this sort of thing “…One excludes all difference, and denotes that which is sovereign. But Two affirms that there is a difference there is another; while One affirms that there is not another!”

This is what is going on here. God has made a choice in Jacob, but He has allowed the fulfillment of that choice through Rebekah and Jacob who are going against His immediate will (don’t deceive) but fulfilling His ultimate will (the older shall serve the younger).

If you can see this, then your eyes are seeing the amazing work of God as His plans are being fulfilled through fallen people. Jacob’s son Joseph explains this immensely well in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

¹⁰ Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.”

Once again Rebekah uses the same term that she used before. Instead of “before his death” meaning before the time of his death, she says “before his death” or “in the face of his death” meaning the blessing is to be given as a result of his death – the fall of man and the coming of the Messiah to reverse that.

She is a woman of faith looking forward to her Savior and the prospect of eternal life, just as so many faithful and yet misunderstood people have done already in Genesis. Where we want to look for fault, we actually find faith.

As I said, we saw it in Lot’s daughters and we found it in Abraham, we’ll come across it in the harlot Rahab and in others. We’ve seen it in modern times too. Corrie ten Boom broke the law by hiding Jews, but her deceit served a more important purpose.

¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.

This reminds us of Genesis 25:25 – “And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.”

Not only was Esau born hairy, he stayed hairy his whole life. This affliction, known as hypertrichosis, can be so bad in some cases that it’s called werewolf syndrome.

As twins, this malady surprisingly didn’t affect them both, but only Esau. But there is a reason for this. As I said in a sermon a few weeks ago, hair in the Bible indicates an awareness of things. The goat is used as the sin offering and it is known as sa-ir. It is given as an awareness of sin committed.

A Nazirite is someone who made a vow or was consecrated to the Lord. During the time of that vow, they were never to cut their hair. The hair was a reminder of their vow and of their separation to God. Esau’s hair is mentioned because it is more than just a physical affliction. It is a reminder of the state of fallen man; Esau is a picture of Adam.

Jacob, the son of promise is instead a smooth skinned man. The difference in their physical makeup is a picture of their spiritual heritage. But what is interesting is that in order to receive the blessing, Jacob will need to emulate his older brother who is hairy.

Isn’t this then a picture of Jesus in itself? The sinless Son of God who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He became like us so that we could become like Him. All of this beautiful symbolism in this story!

¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

It’s funny that Jacob is less concerned about the act of deceit than he is about being caught. But it shows that he had an awareness of the wrong that he was committing, even if the intentions of Rebekah were faithful ones.

Deuteronomy 27:18 speaks in terms which are similar to this – “Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.”

Although this is a spiritual and not a literal road, it is still an intentional deceit of the blind and he understands that a curse, rather than a blessing could be the result.

An important consideration though is recorded in Numbers – “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?” (23:8) Rebekah already knows the blessing will come upon Jacob.

Once again we see a portion of the gospel here. Jesus took on our sin and our curse just as Jacob took on Esau’s likeness, the hair which symbolizes the awareness of sin, but God the Father blessed Jesus, just as Isaac will bless Jacob.

III. Jacob the Deceiver

¹³ But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

I have to remind you of what I said earlier. Rebekah is well over 100 years old and she has known since her pregnancy that Jacob is the son of promise. A mother won’t ever forget this type of thing and she is so certain that she knows the outcome that she says, “Let your curse be on me.”

As the Geneva Bible says about this verse – “The assurance of God’s decree made her bold.”

In the book of Luke it says concerning the things that occurred at the time of Jesus’ birth that Mary kept those things and pondered them in her heart. Rebekah has kept and pondered the oracle given to her for many long years and she is determined to see it fulfilled.

¹⁴ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved.

We can’t miss the fact that two animals died in order to make the meal for Isaac. The blessing only comes after the meal and the meal is proof of the death. When we take the Lord’s Supper, Paul says “We proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

Only after we take the meal is the blessing bestowed. It is an implication that He died so that we can live. This is the reason why it makes absolutely no sense for a person to take the Lord’s Supper if they don’t believe in Christ. If you believe that He died for your sins and then was resurrected, you’d be a fool to not accept that.

If you don’t believe it, then the meal has no point or purpose. Rebekah is preparing a tasty meal for Isaac in hopes of the resurrection and of the blessing on Jacob that will lead to that day.

¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

There is a speculation about this verse which I’ll share. Rebekah puts choice clothes belonging to Esau on Jacob. The term is ha-khamudot, meaning “the precious.” Some people have taken this to mean that they are special garments for ministry.

Because Esau was the oldest son, he would perform the priestly functions in the house as Isaac was blind. The ancient Greek translation of this verse uses the term teen stoleen which is the same words they use to describe the garments of the high priest along with the word “holy” in Exodus 28.

If this is right, then it would explain why she had them instead of Esau’s wives after 37 years of marriage and it would also explain why she chose these for him to wear. The blessing of the Messiah would be appropriate for one wearing priestly garments, a picture of the coming High Priest. (See Zechariah 3:1-5)

It would also explain the words of Isaac when he gives the blessing after his meal which we will see next week.

¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

Rebekah shows the cunningness of a lady. She not only makes the deceiving meal and gets out clothes to deceive, but she uses the hair of the goats she had just cooked to cover Jacob. The camel-goat of the mid-east has black, silk-like hair and was used as a substitute for human hair even by the Romans.

It’s so convincing in this manner that we have a great parallel passage in the time of David in 1 Samuel 19 –

Saul also sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and to kill him in the morning. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you do not save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” ¹² So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. ¹³ And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, put a cover of goats’ hair for his head, and covered it with clothes. ¹⁴ So when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.”

In the use of these two goats on Jacob we see a picture of the Day of Atonement recorded in Leviticus 16. The high priest of Israel, wearing his priestly robes (like Jacob), came before the Lord with two goats, just as Jacob is – one as a sacrifice of atonement and one as a scapegoat to carry the sins from the camp.

Jacob is coming before his father wearing the priestly robes of Esau and the skins of two goats. He is here picturing Jesus our Substitute and High Priest, and yet He is the Son of promise who will receive the blessing.

¹⁷ Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

This is now the fifth of six times that the term “savory food” has been used in this chapter and it’s only used two other times in the Bible, both of which are in Proverbs 23 and both have a similar connection. Here is the first time from Proverbs 23 –

“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you; ² And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite. ³ Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food.”

I can tell you that it took one meal by my wife for me to decide she is the one I wanted to marry. She wasn’t being deceptive but I can guarantee you that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Apparently, the way to spiritual blessings follows the same path.

¹⁸ So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”

Let’s not make the error that I think that what Rebekah and Jacob have done was the right thing for them to do. Jacob lies directly by claiming to be Esau. He lies that he has done exactly as Esau was told because he has goats belonging to Isaac and not a deer which came from the wild. So his lies are also mixed with false actions.

He also deceives by wearing Esau’s clothing and by hiding his own hairless nature with goat’s skins. What he has done, as prompted by his mother, is wrong. Having said that, the purposes of God came about exactly as God knew they would.

Clarke’s commentary reflects what most commentaries state – “It was the design of God that the elder should serve the younger, and he would have brought it about in the way of his own wise and just providence; but means such as here used he could neither sanction nor recommend.”

This is nonsense. This is exactly how it was intended to come about before the foundation of the world. The pictures point to Jesus.This doesn’t mean that God caused it, but that He knew this is how it would transpire. So in this account we see the amazing work of God.

He told Rebekah that the older would serve the younger before they were ever born. Because of this, certainly because of this, she came up with the plan which is given us in the account today. And yet God isn’t to blame even though He is the One who led her to do these things by telling her the outcome before it came about.

Anyone that can’t see the free-will of man and yet the divine direction of God in the Bible is nuts. God is guiding human history and everything that comes about is because He intends for it to come about. And yet when evil is a part of what happens, it in no way was brought about by Him. (See my early Genesis sermons).

Anyone of us who thinks we can do something wrong and then blame God is deluding themselves. And yet anyone who thinks that God is somehow unaware of every evil thing we have done or will do is similarly deluded. We live in the presence of pure holiness and absolute greatness.

²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”

The question Isaac asks is obvious. Jacob sounds like Jacob and Esau sounds like Esau. His eyes may be dim, but his hearing is fine. Here we see God’s providence all over the account. His eyes are bad so he can’t tell which son is there. But his taste buds and his hearing are fine.

His taste is what prompted him to send Isaac out for wild meat. This wouldn’t have happened if his taste buds were bad. His good hearing will lead him to feel Jacob to see if it is really Him, thus proving that he is sufficient for the blessing. And this points to Jesus. He was convincingly like Adam because He came as a man.

Isaac’s curiosity is aroused enough to question how he found an animal so quickly. The voice and the early lunch have him wondering. Of all of the deception so far, this is the worst. Jacob doesn’t just lie that he was fortunate to find an animal, but he invokes Lord’s name – “…the Lord your God brought it to me.”

Saying “The Lord your God” though doesn’t imply anything on the part of Jacob. He is neither trying to hide from Jehovah, nor is this implying that Esau wasn’t a believer in Jehovah.

The term is used 403 times in the Bible – by the Lord Himself, by believers, and by non-believers. It is a standard way of speaking which people use even today. It is simply an acknowledgement that the person being spoken to is a follower of Jehovah.

This might seem like a peculiar point to stop today’s sermon, but stop we will. I want you to remember a few things though. Despite her deceit, Rebekah was a woman of faith and was acting in faith. Her deceit and Jacob’s deceit was wrong, but it was wrong that the Lord worked out for good.

And so a lesson for you is to consider the wrong you’ve done in your life and which you hopefully feel guilty about. If you have called on Jesus and been saved by His blood, He’s forgiven you and He has used it to bring you to where you are now.

You’re going to fall again and when you do, understand that the Lord will be using that too. However, let’s not intentionally do wrong to help make the Lord look good. Paul warns us about that attitude in Romans 3 and we’ll close with that.

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) ⁶ Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? ⁷ For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?…

If you’ve never understood the magnitude of your sins before God and how you can have them forgiven and cleansed, let me tell you what God would have you to do today…

Closing Verse: But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:13-15

Next Week – Genesis 27:21-29 (The Dew of Heaven and the Fatness of the Earth)

Poem – In the Face of Death Comes a Blessing

Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old
And his eyes were so dim he couldn’t see
That he called Esau his older son and so he told
Yes he said to him, “My son, please hear me

And he answered him, “Here I am.”
Are you in need, are you in a jam?

Then he said, “Behold, I am old, I know not my death’s day
Now then, please take your weapons your quiver and your bow
And go to the field and hunt game for me, do as I say
And make savory food, such as I love – I like it tasty you know

Bring it to me that I may eat, yes be a good guy
That my soul may bless you before I die

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke
To Esau his son and her heart was glad
And Esau went to the field, he was no slow poke
He went to hunt game and to bring it to his dad

So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son quietly
Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau saying
Bring me game and make savory food for me
That I may eat it and bless you, for this I am praying

I will bless you in the presence of the Lord
Before my death, now you have my word

“Now therefore my son, obey my voice in what I command
Go now to the flock and bring me the things that I demand

Two choice kids of the goats are what I need
Go and I will make savory food for your father with speed

I will make them for your father these nummy numms
Then you shall take it to your father that he may eat
And that he may bless you before his death comes
And upon you will be the Lord’s blessing so sweet

And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother
Look Esau my brother is a hairy man
I am smooth, we don’t resemble one another
Perhaps my father will see through this plan

And if he feels me I shall seem a deceiver to him
And I shall bring a curse down upon myself
The chances of a blessing would become rather slim
This could turn out bad, like rotten cheese on a shelf

But his mother said, “Let your curse be on me my son
Only obey my voice and go get them for me so we can be done

So he went and got them and brought them to his mother
And she made savory food such as his father loved
Then Rebekah took choice clothes of her elder, Esau his brother
Which were in her house and put them on Jacob, her beloved

And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands
And also on the smooth part of his neck too
Then she gave the savory food and the bread, all part of her plans
Which she had prepared into the Jacob’s hands, it’s true

So he went to his father and said, “My father”
And he said, “Here I am. Who are you my son?”
Jacob said, “I am Esau your firstborn. I hope it’s not a bother.”
Just as you told me, so I have done

Please arise, sit and eat of my game
That your soul may bless me just the same

But Isaac said, “How is it that you found it so quickly?”
And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.

This story has a moral and a purpose for us
And although it contains intrigue and lies
Ultimately through what happened came Jesus
And understanding what happened will make us wise

Every word of God is glorious and pure
And will establish for us a foundation so sure

And so let us carefully consider the story
And reflect on how it shows us God’s glory

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 26:15-35
That Which Has Been

Introduction: Last week we saw events which I believe focused on the reestablishment of Israel up until modern times. Today we’ll see some parallels which I am certain will be fulfilled in the days ahead. As I perceive the world, they’re already in motion. This is an exciting adventure which I hope and pray will bless you.

Text Verse: Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” ³ Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:2, 3

There are wells of water and there is the well of water. Some satisfy for a moment and then we need more, but there is one which will fill us eternally. As Jesus told the woman at the well, “…the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Let’s heed His words and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Green with Envy

Last week we saw Isaac sow and reap a hundredfold becoming very prosperous and because of this the Philistines envied him.

¹⁵ Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.

Last week I connected the story of Isaac with the events leading up to and following the re-establishment of Israel in 1948. I’m certain this is correct and is the reason God has placed these stories in here – to show us what will occur again.

Here today we see the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which Abraham’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham. The immediate reason is because they were jealous of him and his wealth, and so in an attempt to slight him, they filled the wells.

This is exactly what people do all the time. When they’re jealous of what others have, they will destroy it. In the case of wells, you can fill them with dead animals or salt to poison them or fill them up with stuff to in order to make them completely inaccessible.

The story tells us that the reason they did this was because they envied him. This is in direct violation of the agreement which was made between Abraham and Abimelech 80 or so years earlier and it shows the distrustful and jealous nature of the people of the land.

Remember what we saw last week though. The Philistines are the same people as the Palestinians today. Same name, same dirty habits, and the same green-eyed envy. What Israel builds because of God’s blessings, they destroy out of jealousy.

¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

Imagine that… the Palestinians telling Israel to go away from them because they are mightier than they are. This is what happened to Isaac and this is exactly what the people very close to the same location did just a few years ago. They booted Israel out of Gaza.

The thought of the story doesn’t just imply that Isaac was mightier in strength, but in goods and blessings from God as well. He inherited Abraham’s camp which would have been in the hundreds if not thousands and he inherited the blessings of God to boot.

Rather than working with Isaac and being blessed along with him, the Philistines kicked him out. And as obvious as it is, whether actively or passively, this is exactly what our government is doing to anyone of industry and hard work.

Instead of joining in and participating in their blessings, they rob them through taxes and unfair legislation until they either close their doors or move to another country. This is the state of Israel in the mid-east today too. It is the state of conservative labor in the capitalist world, and it is how things always turn out.

Blessing ends in envy and taking by theft of that which people aren’t willing to work for.

¹⁷ Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

Isaac departs now from living closely with the Philistines and encamps in the Valley of Gerar. This area is about halfway between Gaza and Beer-Sheba. As you can see, the same thing that happened in Isaac’s time has happened in modern Israel. Get a map and look for yourself.

Don’t be deceived by the papers or news media who side with the Palestinians. God has placed these things here and expects us to pay attention. As we draw nearer to the end times, it will become clearer and clearer to those who read and believe their Bible.

It’s good to note that Isaac doesn’t fight with the people. Instead, he simply… picked up and moved. Israel could have annihilated the Palestinians and kept the entire land they lived in, but they simply packed up and left.

¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

All of the hard work that was accomplished, and the sources of water that were dug by Abraham are destroyed after he died. This shows the cowardice and envy of the people even more.

They waited until Abraham died to do this, knowing that he would have gone in and destroyed them by force. But Isaac is a new generation. They’re jealous of the blessings and abundance he has and they take advantage of his easier demeanor.

And so they simply attempt to destroy what they believe is the source of his blessings. Can you see modern Israel here? They are hemmed in by these same people with their same jealousy and greed. But Isaac moved back to the area and re-dug the wells, calling them the same names as Abraham called them.

By doing this, he is attempting to reestablish the link which proves that he is the rightful owner of the wells. If you go to Israel today, you can see all kinds of places that were laid waste during the Diaspora which are now rebuilt.

When Israel was gone, the land was of no value and the inhabitants did nothing but sit idly by after destroying what was once there. But Israel has moved back into the land and reestablished it, just as Isaac did then. Many of the places have the same ancient names that existed before Israel was dispersed. This ties them again to the land of their past. (Explain the column recently found.)

¹⁹ Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.

The term for well of running water is beer mayim chayim or well of living water. It is a source of continuous life and blessing to the people of God for their health and prosperity.

Although this is speaking of water, which is the source of prosperity in the land at that time, I feel confident that there is a modern parallel which isn’t speaking of water at all. What is the modern source of wealth and prosperity in the middle-east today?

Anyone who said gas or oil is right. In 1999 a maritime drill struck gas in commercial quantities just 250 meters beneath the Mediterranean 25 miles out from Israel’s southern port of Ashdod. Production began in 2004 at what is called the Mari-B, and some 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas are piped ashore each year from reserves that may be as large as 22 bcm.

Another field, known as Tamar, a name which comes right from the Bible, was discovered in 2009 off the northern end of Israel’s coast. Tamar, where the gas is much deeper down, holds 238 bcm. Tamar was the world’s largest gas find in 2009.

But this is dwarfed by another find which is a bit further off the coast. This one is named Leviathan and has a potential of 453 bcm. And all of these, of course, have the surrounding nations crying foul and there are shouts of protest as to Israel’s rights to them.

If you’re not seeing the modern parallels of this ancient story about Isaac and his wells, you’re not looking very closely. The term “well of living water” can be described perfectly by this paragraph from the Economist Magazine from an article in 2010 –

“As a former chief rabbi of Norway and later an Israeli politician linked to the Labour party, he is urging the government to follow Norway’s example by putting the state’s share of profits into a sovereign wealth fund and earmarking the income for social welfare. “A one-time chance,” he says, “to bring truly historic change to Israeli society.”

Just as water blessed Isaac, the gas and oil God placed in the land of Israel will be a similar source of blessing, but also of contention.

²⁰ But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him.

Although we can’t tell which wells Israel will give up in the future, we know that the do-nothing Palestinians and the Muslim world at large will continue to contest everything Israel works for through diligence and by God’s blessing. Cries of “It’s ours” will fill the blogs and magazines of the world.

The name Isaac gives the well is Esek, which means “contention” or “quarreling.” I’m sure some astute journalist in Israel will pick up on the name in the future and use the term again.

²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah.

Isaac finds another well and the leeches quarrel over that one too. What they are unwilling to look for and earn on their own, they fight over when the opportunity arises. This is an exact description of the people around Israel in the mid-east today.

Isaac names this well Sitnah, which is the feminine form of the word Satan and it specifically means enmity or hatred. Just as the people of God are the bride of Christ, the Muslim people are the bride of Satan. They are at enmity with Israel. If you don’t believe my comparison is accurate, listen to the words of John –

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:22

Are you seeing the parallels here from a story which took place 4000 years ago and today’s modern land of Israel?

²² And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

I can see it already; there will be two major gas or oil finds by Israel and the terrorists around them will claim they own them both. Israel will simply pull up stakes and walk away from them in an attempt to appease them.

Only when a third well is found will they stand firm and refuse to be quarreled with. If you think I’m making all this up, just pay attention to the days ahead. I’ll lay down my last dollar in belief that this is coming, and probably soon.

Rehoboth means broad or spacious and it will be so obvious that the land and the well were dug by Israel that it will be beyond controversy. From this well, as the verse says, they will be fruitful in the land. Coming soon to an oil find in Israel near you.

It very well could be that these wells are also representing the land itself. Israel was kicked out of Gaza, next they will certainly be kicked out of what is called the West Bank, and they will also lose ½ of Jerusalem as Zechariah says will happen.

Only through these transactions will there be a covenant of peace between Israel and her enemies. So if not oil, then it is land.

II. A Covenant is Made

²³ Then he went up from there to Beersheba.

This is the spot that Abraham was at when he made a treaty with Abimelech. It’s also where Isaac and Abraham departed from and returned to when they went to Mount Moriah.  It is a place where God’s people have found peace and restoration. The same will be the case for Isaac this time…

²⁴ And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”

The Lord, or Jehovah, appears now to Isaac and speaks to him the same words of comfort that Abraham had received. He is with him, will bless him, and multiply him. This is all based on the oath He made with Abraham. He is there and His words will be fulfilled.

And simply to assure us that the same Lord who spoke to Abraham is with His people now, we read an amazingly similar passage in the book of Acts when Jesus spoke to the Apostle Paul –

Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; ¹⁰ for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Acts 18

We may not have visions of the Lord now, but because of the surety of His word, we have every confidence that He is right here with us, keeping His covenant promises and attending to our security and blessing.

²⁵ So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

We have here a parallel account from the life of Abraham – “Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.” Gen 21:33

In the same place where Abraham called on the name of the Lord, Isaac does too. This is the first recorded altar built by him. As the head of the family, he is also the priest and he is now serving the God of his father Abraham, the Lord, Jehovah.

This is his acknowledgment that he has placed His entire faith and hope in the Lord alone. In this spot, the servants dig another well, thus establishing a foothold in the area and making an implicit claim to the surrounding land.

If we look for a modern parallel of this, it would be the coming temple in Israel. They have already anointed a cornerstone for the temple and they are preparing to begin sacrifices. All of the temple instruments have been made and are waiting to be used.

²⁶ Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army.

This, along with the next five verses, is very similar to what happened with Abraham in Genesis 21. In fact, two of the three people who have come to Isaac have the same names – Abimelech and Phichol.

Abimelech means Father of the King and Phichol means “Strong” or literally “Mouth of All.” But along with these two comes another person, Ahuzzath. His name means “Possession.” The verb of his name means to take hold of, seize, or grasp and is used anytime two naturally disconnected entities become firmly united.

All of their names are important concerning what will come about.

²⁷ And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

Isaac probably looked at these three like a cowboy with a mouth full of chewing tobacco looks at someone they distrust. “What’re you doing here?” He was probably completely surprised that they’d show up at all and he even uses a specific word to show them how he figured they felt.

The word for “hate me” is senetem and is a reminder of the fighting over the wells, one of which was called Sitnah, or hatred. “Just like the well I named, so is the attitude you have.” And their response is exactly what we will see in the future as Israel continues to prosper in the midst of their satanic neighbors…

²⁸ But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you,

Despite their jealousy and hatred of Isaac, they see that the Lord is with him. And the same is, and will be, no less true with the Muslims who hate Israel. They can cry out “allah” from every minaret in the world, but in their hearts, they know there is one God and it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And so they ask for an oath and a covenant. And yes, the Bible says such a covenant is coming in the future. Daniel 9:24-27 is the framework of the entire end-times setting for Israel of the future and which includes the events of the book of Revelation.

In those verses, it says a covenant is coming between the anti-Christ and Israel – a 7-year covenant. If you don’t believe this is coming, study these things a little more. I assure you, the things that have been will be again.

²⁹ that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’”

Either Abimelech and the other two are blind as to what happened between Isaac and the people who kept stealing his wells, or they are bald faced liars. They may not have touched him or harmed him directly, but they did so indirectly, causing him to move from well to well and finally telling him to leave their land.

If history is repeating itself, they were well aware of what was happening, just as the antichrist will be aware of what has been happening to Israel prior to their covenant. But, as Proverbs says –

When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7

What is happening here to Isaac is a repetition of what happened when the same group came to Abraham in Genesis 21:22 –

And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do

III. The Impetus for War

³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

In the next three verses, you can almost see what’s coming in the future and how it will set up the final end-times scenario. Isaac welcomes these three in and makes them a feast. I can see Israel being the one to welcome in those hostile to her and sharing their many blessings with them.

As they always are, they are gracious and forgiving regardless of how badly their enemies treat them. As a people, they are the epitome of letting go and moving on when the opportunity permits.

³¹ Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

Yes, Daniel 9:27 says this when speaking of the antichrist – “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week.”

There will be a 7-year treaty between Israel and those who have been hostile to her, a treaty which will be broken by her enemies after 3 ½ years. It will probably be broken based on something similar to what we see in the next verse…

³² It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

The same day that the treaty is made between Isaac and these three, another well is dug which discovers water. Once again, if I were a betting man, I would bet my bottom dollar that immediately after the signing of the 7-year covenant with the antichrist, Israel will find so much wealth in the ground that it will make everything else pale in comparison to it.

I can already see the cries of “foul play” by the surrounding people. They’ll say that Israel purposely waited until after the agreement to reveal what they’ve found. I’m not a prophet and I don’t see the future except as it’s given in the past.

And I am as confident of this as anything else. I could be completely misreading what’s being told here, but I doubt it. Like all of the other stories we’ve seen, there is a future fulfillment and there is every reason to believe that what I’m telling you is correct.

Israel has to be isolated and ready to be extinguished before the Lord returns. Daniel 12 says so – “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?” ⁷ Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.” (6-7)

Along with Israel facing complete annihilation comes the promise of the return of the Lord to rescue them. This can’t happen unless things are lined up for it to happen and I believe Genesis 26 is showing us how it will all transpire.

And as surely as these three have come to Isaac, there will be the unholy trinity who makes the deal with Israel – Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet.

Even the names of these three imply this: Abimelech – Father of the King (Satan), Phichol – the Mouth of All (the antichrist), and Ahuzzath, Abimelechs’ friend – Possession (the false prophet).

³³ So he called it Shebah.Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

And so he calls it Shebah which means “oath.” The word Shebah here has an added letter on the end of it, a letter like our “h.” The addition of this letter then makes the word signify more than just an oath, but that which is full or abundant.

The well found then and the well of the future will be filled to overflowing. However, Sheba is also the word for seven and because of the agreement, the place is called Beersheba, the well of the oath or the well of the seven. As you can see, the coming seven-year covenant with the antichrist is being referred to here.

It should be noted again that the same thing happened at the same place with Abraham. Therefore there are two wells which were found and those two wells still exist there today to testify to the accuracy of this story.

Moreover, the Bible time and time again uses the number two to signify a difference – usually of things at enmity with each other. There are two testaments in the Bible, one based on law and one on grace. One shows fallen man, the other man restored. There are is day and there is night. There is darkness and there is light.

There is good and there is evil. There is Cain and there is Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Adam and Christ. There is Saul and there is David. There is life under heaven and there is life under earth. There is heaven and there is hell. There is life and there is death.

Each of these is in contrast, just as the two wells are in contrast. This pattern is so clearly laid out, that we even see it in the New Testament epistles. Anytime there are two epistles written to the same group of people we will see the pattern in the second letter.

In 2 Corinthians we see the power of the enemy and the work of Satan. In 2 Thessalonians, there is the working of Satan and the man of sin, also called the lawless one, who is the antichrist. In 2 Timothy we see the church in ruin as opposed to the church that rules in 1 Timothy.

In 2 Peter there is the coming apostasy. In 2 John the term antichrist is specifically mentioned. We could go on and on with these patterns, but this is enough to show without a doubt that this second well being found and named is pointing to the seven year covenant between Israel and the antichrist. It is coming.

To be fair though, I have to note that when there are two things, they also can be contrasting and yet confirming. The two testaments contrast and yet they confirm. The second Person of the Trinity has two natures – God and Man. They contrast and yet confirm.

The two witnesses of Revelation contrast – one a gentile and one a Hebrew and yet they confirm. Amos 3:3 shows us how this works – “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” Even if things are at enmity in one way, they confirm in another.

In the end, you can’t know good without evil. So even what is evil shows us what is good. Likewise, the two wells of Beersheba also contrast, and yet they confirm. They stand as the testament to the name and nature of the place, even to this day in modern history and into Israel’s difficult future.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

Suddenly, here in verse 34, we make a transition to Esau. And interestingly, it notes that he has taken two wives. He married at the same age as Isaac, but instead of one wife, he marries two.

Instead of a wife from Mesopotamia and God’s people who are under a blessing, he marries two from Canaan, the people of the devil who are under a curse. Esau is living for what is carnal, Isaac lived for that which is spiritual. Beeri – my well.

It’s as if Esau’s inclusion here is to confirm to us everything we’ve already talked about, the contrast between good and evil.

³⁵ And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac, which means “Laughter,” didn’t laugh much around Esau’s wives. They were, as it says “a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.” Esau looked to gain worldly power and influence by marrying these two ladies, but in the end, he only brought unhappiness and trouble to himself and his parents.

This is how the chapter finishes – on an unhappy note. In the end for all of us, we have choices to make. Some of them will end in prosperity, some in grief. The only sure thing that we can count on is God’s promises. The closer we stick to Him and His word, the better off we’ll be.

Esau didn’t and his family life was strained and his marriages were a source of grief. Each of you should know that if you need advice in life’s decisions, you can come and talk with me any time and we’ll go to the word and try to find a happy resolution for your problems there.

Let me take a couple of minutes though and mention Jesus and the cross. Until you’ve settled things with Him, there really is no peace and there really is no point in going to the Bible for comfort. Once you have Jesus right, then everything else from His word will start to make proper sense to you…

Closing Verse: “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord, Proverbs 1:28, 29

Next Week: Genesis 27:1-20 (A Blessing in the Face of Death)

A Pact with the Devil

Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells
Which his father’s servants had dug in Abraham’s day
And they filled them with earth, as the story tells
And Abimelech said, “It is time for you to go away.”

You are much mightier than we
Then Isaac departed from there quietly

And he pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar some distance away
And there is where he dwelt and breathed his breath
He dug again the wells of water which were dug in Abrahams’ day
For the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham’s death

He called them by the names which his father had given
Also his servants dug in the valley and found a well there
But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled to make him give in
“It’s ours they said.” So he named it Esek because they wouldn’t share

Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also
So he called it Sitnah and moving again, did he go

And there he dug another well
And they did not quarrel over it
So he called it Rehoboth, as you can tell
There was room enough for him to sit

“For now the Lord has made room for us
And we shall be fruitful in the land”
Then he went up from there to Beersheba without a fuss
Blessing and prosperity were at hand

And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said
I am the God of your father Abraham
Do not fear, I am with you now instead
I will bless you and multiply your descendants in the land

For my servant Abraham’s sake thus you have my word
So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord

And he pitched his tent there the story does tell
And there Isaac’s servants dug another well

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar
With Ahuzzath his friend and Phichol commander of the army
And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come thus far?
Since you hate me and sent me away in a manner smarmy

But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you
So we said, “Let there now be an oath between us and you

“Let us make a covenant with you that you will do us no harm
Since we have not touched you and only done you good
And we have sent you away in peace, have no alarm
You are now the blessed of the Lord, as we have understood

So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank
Then they arose early in the morning and an oath they swore
Then Isaac sent them away and each he did thank
And they departed in peace as they shuffled out the door

It came to pass the same day
That Isaac’s servants came and told him about a well
They had dug it and it turned out ok
“We have found water” is the story they did tell

So he called it Shebah, this is the name he did say
Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day

When Esau was forty years old he took as wives
Judith the daughter of Beeri and Basemath the daughter of Elon
They were both Hittites who brought grief to his parent’s lives
They were a source of grief to them from the first moment on

In the end, we are a product of our choices
We can choose wisely or foolishly, but the choice is ours to make
If our decisions are based on Jesus, surely God rejoices
And He will bless us for His own name’s sake

And so let us pursue Him at all times and in all ways
And let us bring Him glory and honor all of our days

Above all, let us look to the Lord, our Savior Jesus
Who has done such marvelous wonders for each one of us

Hallelujah and Amen…

Genesis 26:1-14
A Famine in the Land

Introduction: Today we will see God directing things which will lead to the movement of Isaac and his company. I believe this move will set up a chain of events that look forward to things that will happen in the end times. And when I say the “end times,” I mean things that are beginning to happen in the world right now.

Many of these early Genesis stories are given to show us what will happen in the future as God moves through and guides redemptive history. Solomon’s words from Ecclesiastes assures us this is so –

That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past. 3:15

God tells us that if we pay attention to the past, we can see where we are heading in the future. Great stuff…

Text Verse: Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Psalm 33:18, 19

Whether in feast or famine, the Lord is there for His people. In the end, even death can’t separate us from His goodness. The sure promises of the Bible will all be realized in those who love Him and are called by Him and so… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. The Promise of Abraham

The previous three sermons spoke of the death of Abraham, the conception and birth of Jacob and Esau, and the selling of the birthright by Esau. These things, according to Genesis 25:11 came about in the area of Beer-Lahai-Roi. This is where we start today.

¹ There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham.

Once again, God is directing the course of human history and the story of Himself and what He is doing. And He is doing it by using nature. He directs a famine which will direct the moves of Isaac, just as one directed Abraham many years earlier in Genesis 12–

“Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.” (10)

This was about 100 years earlier and at the earliest stages of Abraham’s time in Canaan. What we should see here is that if the account notes that famine, then it is aware of what happened in the rest of Abraham’s life as well. And we will see the same things happening today that happened during the life of Abraham.

Because of this, we can note the similarities and the distinctions to understand why God has included the story for us. One distinction comes up immediately. In the famine at Abraham’s time, he moved to Egypt for relief. However, this famine moves Isaac from Beer Lahai Roi to Gerar as we see in the second half of verse 1 –

^{1 (con’t)}  And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

Abraham also moved to this area, and there are more similarities that we’ll note in the verses ahead. The main thing to keep asking ourselves is, “Why did God include this?” It’s not just a story, but a revelation of Himself and what He is doing in history.

On his journey south, Isaac went to the same land that Abraham lived in for many years. Abimelech is the king of the Philistines, but this probably isn’t the same Abimelech of Abraham’s time. The name might be like Pharaoh – a title for a leader.

Gerar means Lodging Place. It’s a place for a sojourner, and this is what Isaac is doing there now. Lodging and sojourning.

² Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.

Just as the Lord appeared to Abraham, He now appears to Isaac. Whether he showed up visibly in human form or through a vision or dream isn’t mentioned, but it is the Lord, Jehovah. In other words, He is coming as the Protector of the covenant and the Director of the plan of Salvation.

This direction then is given to specifically fulfill His plans for humanity in the future and/or show us what will occur in the execution of that plan. Every detail of history is being guided towards His end goal.

Because He tells Isaac to not go down to Egypt it’s telling us that’s probably what he was planning on doing, just as Abraham had in the past. There is hardship in Canaan, but food in Egypt. But this time the Lord’s plan doesn’t include a trip to the land of Pharaoh.

³ Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you;

The Lord tells Isaac to “dwell in this land.” This could be taken one of two ways. The first is that it means the Land of Canaan in general or the land of the Philistines where he is now. Either way, the result is the same. He says, “I will be with you and bless you.”

Despite the famine, Isaac will not only survive, but he will be blessed. Isaac has no need to fear the difficult times where rain is lacking because the water he needs will be provided throughout the drought. We’ll see this come about at the end of the sermon today and what lies ahead next week.

As the Geneva Bible says about this verse, “God’s providence always watches to direct the ways of his children.”

^{3 (con’t)} for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

The Lord made promises to Abraham in Genesis 12 when he was first told to move to Canaan, then again in Genesis 13 after he separated from his nephew Lot, then again in Genesis 15 when God made a covenant with him.

He does so again in Genesis 17 at the time of the rite of circumcision, and finally in Genesis 22 when he asked him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah.

Out of all of these, the oath he’s referring to is the one that came after the binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah. At that time, and in the hearing of Isaac, we read this –

“Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said: ‘By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷ blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸ In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.’”

This is the oath being referred to and which will be repeated again and again in the pages of the Bible as God reminds us of the coming fulfillment of the promise. Never again will God swear by Himself in this manner and so He reminds His people of the vow that He made once for all time as we see in the next verse…

⁴ And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

Until I studied the Hebrew for this verse, I always believed in a double fulfillment of it – one in the people of Israel and one in the work of Jesus. The reason is that the promise seems to have been fulfilled prior to Nehemiah’s time –

“You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers To go in and possess.” Nehemiah 9:22

This seems to be the fulfillment of the promise, but in the Lord’s words to Isaac is an unusual plural term – “I will give your descendants all these lands.” The term for “lands” is ha’arazsot and it’s mostly used to speak in plural form of the surrounding nations or even the nations of the world and not just the nations in Canaan.

In fact, Ezekiel uses the term to speak of all the nations where the people of Israel were scattered in the exile in modern times. This includes pretty much every nation on earth because Jews can be found pretty much everywhere.

This verse then, I believe is speaking only of the blessings of Christ to all nations of the world and to the millennial kingdom and the Messianic rule of Christ from Jerusalem, when all nations of the earth will be under His authority.

This is the promise of the 2^nd Psalm where the Lord speaks prophetically to Himself concerning the rule of the nations –

“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. ⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

⁵ because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

This reminds us of the man of faith, Abraham. But it also reminds us that he was obedient and diligent in exercising his faith through the keeping of the things God had directed for him.

When his final act of faith was behind him on Mount Moriah, the great oath was given and it shouldn’t be lost on any of us that it was given in the presence of Isaac who was almost sacrificed.

Now these many years later the promise is repeated to Isaac as he stands as the bearer of the line which will lead to the Messiah. This must have been an abundantly thrilling thing for him to hear from the Lord. First daddy Abraham and now him…

There is something which might seem confusing in here. Isaac is told that Abraham obeyed the Lord’s voice – meaning His word, and kept His charge – meaning the things he was to observe. It also mentions His commandments, statutes, and laws.

But these weren’t given to Abraham in order for him to receive the blessings. Instead the blessings came by promise alone years earlier. The promises were one-sided and unconditional.

What Isaac is being told is that Abraham is being commended for doing these things after the promise. Just as God made the promise from His fountain of grace, the confirmation of it proceeds from the same bubbling spring and so Isaac should be even more ready and more willing to pursue the Lord’s will.

II. Nothing New Under the Sun

⁶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.

Here we have an immediate note of obedience concerning Isaac. The Lord told him to “dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you” and Isaac, listening to what the Lord had just said about Abraham’s faithfulness, determined to be just as obedient.

He was asked to dwell in the place of lodging, Gerar, and he did. This is also something God asks of each of us. He saves us, not to just take us home to heaven, but to remain in the world. While we are in our temporary lodging place as pilgrims we are to not go down to Egypt.

Egypt is a picture of chaos and bondage. It is the life of sin from which we are redeemed and we are not to return to. This then is a picture of the faithful and obedient Christian who dwells in the temporary world, free from the life of sin.

More specifically though, I think this is a picture of the people of Israel today. This will become clearer soon. He is in the land he was told to live in and he has been promised to be blessed. Despite the assurance, he does what Abraham had done twice over eighty years earlier –

⁷ And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.”

This is usually thought of, and should be considered, as an intentional lie. Unlike Abraham who merely withheld a part of the truth because Sarah was his sister, Isaac is deceivingly claiming the same about Rebekah. He does it for the same reason as Abraham did the first time, because Rebekah is a real beauty.

If this is in chronological order following Genesis 25, Jacob and Esau are at least 15 years old. This means they would be out doing their own thing with people in the camp or maybe even tending to flocks. If the boys were around, everyone would know that Isaac was lying. So either this isn’t chronological or they have grown up.

In an attempt to partially redeem Isaac, I’d like to show two other occasions in the Bible which demonstrate that what he says is actually acceptable as an idiom, even if it is deception on his part. The word for sister, ahot, is used a jillion times in the Bible. This particular form is ahoti – my sister.

Ahoti is used exactly 18 times. Six of these times, a full third of its use, isn’t speaking of a literal sister. The first time is in Proverbs when speaking of wisdom –

My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. ² Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. ³ Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your nearest kin, Proverbs 7:1-4

The other five times ahoti is used in a non-literal sense is actually speaking of a spouse, exactly as Isaac is. And all five are in the Song of Solomon, a book which pictures Christ and the Church just as Isaac and Rebekah are also such a picture. Listen to the beautiful words from the Song of Songs –

You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have ravished my heart With one look of your eyes, With one link of your necklace. ¹⁰ How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices! SS 4:9, 10

Therefore, the term ahoti can be, and is used, as a familiar idiom and therefore, although somewhat duplicitous, it is actually acceptable from a biblical standpoint when speaking of a spouse or someone else as close to a person as a literal sister.

I call my wife “mom” or “Beauty” almost all the time. She is a mom, but not my mom. For all we know, Isaac may have called Rebekah Ahoti and simply decided to call her that to others as well just as Solomon called his Shulamite wife.

⁸ Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.

This is a curious verse to consider because it says that Isaac had been in Gerar a long time before Abimelech noticed they were married.

Whatever a long time is – and the word can mean days or years, nobody took time to get to know them well enough to find out the truth and nobody seemed to notice them or their boys together as a family.

What’s also unusual is that the king himself is the one who figures it out. However many people are in the land, it’s the king who takes time to look out his window and see the two of them sporting together in a way that would only be between two married people and not as a brother and sister.

Abimelech means Father of the King. I don’t think he is a picture of God the Father as at Abraham’s time though. We’ll see why next week, but for now I’ll say that I believe Isaac – married, but not willing to acknowledge it – is a picture of the Jewish people living in the land prior to the re-establishment of Israel in 1948.

At that time, they were outside of the covenant graces of God, just as Isaac is living outside of the truth even though he’s in the land God told him to dwell in. This should become clearer in the verses ahead, but I believe it is picturing the Jewish presence in the land prior to 1948.

III. A Hedge of Protection

⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’”

The contrast is striking and ironic. What Isaac had kept hidden for a long time is now responded to immediately. Abimelech is beside himself and for good reason as we’ll see in another verse. He has no doubt that Rebekah is Isaac’s wife and he wants to know what the deal is.

Isaac responds honestly and to the point, just as Abraham did in exactly the same situation and in exactly the same place many long years earlier, that he might die on account of his wife. If he were to be killed for Rebekah, then she would be taken anyway.

His thought is probably that either way, she would be harmed if someone took her. If he were alive, he could fight to retrieve her, but if they killed him first, then she would be a goner without a defender. It does show a lack of faith in God’s promise though.

Now, think of those Jews in the world prior to the reestablishment of Israel. They were not united as a people or standing together as one, but were merely residents in a land and often hiding the truth of who they are and what they represent in the world, particularly in the lands where they were dispersed.

¹¹ And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”

What’s important here is that the Lord intervened before anything could happen, just like he did with Abraham. If something did happen to either of them, then the Philistines would have been in violation of the treaty Abraham made with Abimelech about eighty years earlier and which is found in Genesis 21 –

Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” Genesis 21:23

Abimelech asked for a treaty and the treaty was cut between the two of them. It was binding on them and it is still binding today in the land of Israel. He remembered the covenant and he was a man who had reverence for the word which they agreed upon.

If one of his people violated Isaac or Rebekah, they would have the same punishment come upon them. God is ever faithful to watch over the agreements of men which are made in His name. Remember this when you consider your wedding vows, oaths in court, or any other time you invoke His name.

This verse is the point which we see in modern history where the ancient treaty is brought to mind once again. It is the re-establishment of Israel and the confirmation of who Israel is and their connection with the bride – the people of God.

This is no stretch at all and I am convinced this is what is being prefigured. You will too by the time we’ve finished chapter 26.

¹¹ So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

The order is given by Abimelech to his kingdom. It is an order for protection of Isaac. God has ensured safety to Isaac and his family and has placed a hedge of protection around them.

As of the reestablishment of Israel, God has likewise once again placed a hedge around them. Nothing could be clearer in the world today. In 1948, in 1967, and in 1973 they won wars with impossible odds against them and they are being readied for the great end-times scenario which lies ahead of us.

From the next three verses, we’ll begin to get a look at Israel in today’s world and begin to make the connections which will set up the world of those end times. As I quoted earlier, “That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.”

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.

Now….now that Isaac is living properly and acknowledging his wife openly and faithfully we read this verse “Then Isaac sowed in that land.”

God has again favored Israel. From the time that they were reestablished, they have been blessed as no other people on earth. Their cows produce more milk than our cows. Their harvests are immense. The land is producing a hundredfold, and the Lord has blessed them. The pattern of what was in Isaac now is in Israel.

Listen to what Isaiah says about Israel once they were brought back into the covenant graces of today – “You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the Lord delights in you, And your land shall be married.” (62:4) (my delight is in her///married)

Isaac has acknowledged Rebekah and God has once again delighted in Israel. The parallels are right there to be seen. Now that this has taken place he reaps an inordinate amount during a time of famine. Israel also is reaping from land which was totally barren for 2000 years. The soil is rich and the harvest is bountiful.

But hidden within this verse is a concept which is so deep we can’t cover it even minutely – I can only give a hint of what the Bible reveals. The term for “reaped a hundredfold” is meah shearim. The word is the same root and basic spelling as barley – seorim.

Barley is known as the crop of hairy ears because of its hairy appearance. The root of this word is se-ar or hair. Hair in the Bible indicates an awareness of things. The goat for example is used in Leviticus for the sin offering and it is known as sa-ir. We have an awareness of sin in the hairy goat sin offering.

In Numbers there is a type of person known as a Nazirite. This is someone who made a vow or was consecrated to the Lord. During the time of that vow, they were never to cut their hair. Samson was a Nazirite from birth as were Samuel and John the Baptist. Paul took a Nazirite vow in Acts.

The hair on their head was a reminder of their state, just as the hairy goat is a reminder of sin. The barley harvest that Isaac is reaping (meah shearim) is a reminder of God’s covenant to him and the abundant blessing he received was because of his time of living faithfully within that covenant.

Now are you seeing modern Israel in this? Despite their unfaithfulness, they have been returned to the land. They are now living in the land as was promised by God throughout the Old Testament. It is the time of hair – the time of awareness, the time of the barley harvest, and the mighty reaping of the grain.

Like I said, this study is so deep, we could on for hours, but be assured that what is being spoken of in Isaac is realized in the reestablishment of Israel. And to see the truth of this we move on –

¹³ The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;

V’yigdal haish v’yelech haloch v’gadel ad ki gadal meod. “And the man was Great; and he went, going on, and was Great, until that he was exceeding Great.” Simple repetition which becomes forceful and magnificent! It is an amazing thing to read.

This is Israel today – the blessings and the prospering even until they have become very prosperous. Isaiah said these words over 2700 years ago –

Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit. 27:6

This was written at a time when it wasn’t even possible and yet it has come true in our lifetime. Fruit from Israel is found around the world, and not just literal fruit, but the fruit of their labors in every way possible. They have flooded the world with the blessings of technology, medicine, food, and prosperity.

And as always, always in the world we live in, along with blessing and prosperity comes something else… something dark, and cold, wicked, and sinister. It is something that inevitably ruins everything it touches…

¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.

Isaac inherited all that Abraham had and now he has even more. He has grown to the point that he is the greatest man in the land. Israel has inherited the land of promise once again and has brought all of the wealth it obtained from the world into the Land of Israel. Once again they are now the greatest people in all the land.

“So the Philistines envied him.” If you can’t see the repetition in this verse in today’s world, you’re either blind or you may be an anti-Semite. The Palestinians, the Jew haters of the same land and bearing the same name as 4000 years ago, are green with envy.

They are shiftless, wicked, and lustful stallions wanting to steal the blessings of God from the people of God. And as I say time and again, Israel is but a microcosm of the world we live in. The Geneva Bible says this about this final verse of today – “The malicious always envy the graces of God in others.”

There will always be unions to extort from owners. There will always be obamas to steal from those who produce. There will always be liberals who steal from conservatives. And all the while, they fritter away what they have so that in the end, there is nothing left but more envy and more theft.

What has been will be again and that which has been done will be done again, and there is truly nothing new under the sun. Next week we will continue the journey of Chapter 26 and we will head into the future and see events which are happening right now which will be realized in just short days ahead.

Stand back and see God’s amazing plans unfold, even in our lifetime.

I haven’t spoken much about Jesus today, so please let me take a moment to explain this faithful Lord who is taking care of His unfaithful people – both in Israel and the Church…

Closing Verse: ⁵ For I,’ says the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” ⁶ “Up, up! Flee from the land of the north,” says the Lord; “for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven,” says the Lord. Zechariah 2:5, 6

Next Week – Genesis 26:15-35 (That Which Has Been)

The Blessings of Abraham

There was a famine in the land
Besides the first famine in the days of Abraham

And Issac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar
Then the Lord said to him “Don’t move; stay where you are.”

Do not go down to Egypt as you intended to
Rather, live in the land of which I shall tell you

Dwell in this land and I shall be with you and bless you also
For to you and your descendants all these lands I give
I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham, you know
I will make your descendants multiply in the land which you live

They will be as the stars of heaven, a number that can’t be guessed
And I will give to your descendants these lands so large
And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed
Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge

And he kept my commandments, statutes, and laws
He was upright before me, walking without any flaws

So Isaac dwelt in Gerar and the men asked about his wife
And he said, “She is my sister” because he feared for his life

Lest they kill me for Rebekah who is beautiful to behold
She is a pearl and a treasure more precious than fine gold

Now it came to pass after a long time
That Abimelech the Philistine king looked through a window
And saw Isaac sporting with Rebekah the lady so sublime
And realized that what Isaac had said really wasn’t so

Then Abimelech called Isaac and said
Quite obviously she is your wife
So how could you say “She is my sister” instead
Isaac responded, “I feared for my life”

And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done?
One of the people might soon have lain with your wife
And you would have brought guilt where there was none
And then it would have been the end of that person’s life”

So Abimelech charged all his people and said
He who touches this man or his wife
There will be no mercy for that person instead
It will be death for him, the ending of his life

Then Isaac sowed in that land
And his crop was magnificently grand

He reaped in the same year a hundredfold
And the Lord blessed him just as he was told

The man began to prosper, and continued prospering
Until he became very prosperous, much increase he did bring

For he had possessions of flocks and of herds also
A great number of servants he had as well
So the Philistines envied him just as you know
And their jealousy is a sad, sad story to tell

All of these things are written in the book
To show us of things to come surely and without a doubt
So open your Bible daily and be sure to take a look
God’s plan is revealed to those who seek Him out

Thank You Lord for this wonderful word
And for Your faithfulness to your people
Praises belong to You, our great and precious Lord
Let Your praises ring under every church steeple

Hallelujah and Amen…