November 12, Genesis 26
“You are now the blessed of the Lord.” - Genesis 26:29
Does history repeat itself? It seems to in observable cycles of weather, economic trends and human behavior. It seems to be true of both nations and families over time. Trends and patterns may be similar, but sometimes there are notable differences. The events of this period of Isaac's life remind us of that cyclical repetition.
Floods and famines are observable recurring phenomena. This famine in Isaac’s lifetime was almost 100 years after the one that drove Abraham to Egypt. This time, Isaac didn't go there because the LORD appeared to him. It may have been the first time he'd experienced the Lord's presence since he was bound on the altar at Moriah. God promised to guide and bless Isaac with the same covenant blessings he had promised his father. So Isaac stayed in Palestine in the region of Gerar, in land held by the Philistines.
In a striking example of "like father, like son," Isaac lied about his wife when they were among the people of Gerar, fearing for his life. That's exactly what his father had done among the Philistines and the Egyptians decades earlier. It's not likely that this was the same Abimelech who dealt with Abraham, but the current Abimelech may have known about the past history. He rebuked Isaac when he caught him in the lie. Isaac couldn't claim the half-truth his father had used about Sarah being his half-sister. Abimelech didn't send him out of the land. Instead he warned his people not to mistreat Isaac and his household.
Like his father before him, Isaac's wealth grew rapidly when he left Abimelech. He got so rich so fast that Abimelech feared his power and sent him away. When Isaac got even stronger and richer, the Philistine king decided to make a treaty with him. He didn’t know God like Isaac did, but he knew the Hebrew’s God was blessing him. Isaac had repeatedly tried to avoid conflict and find peaceful solutions to the chronic water disputes his people had experienced with the Philistines. So he welcomed the treaty, and went on to even greater success and wealth.
Isaac also worshiped God as his father before him had done. He continued to build altars and sacrifice to God, sometimes rebuilding on he same site where his father had worshiped the Lord.
One way that Isaac did not follow in his father's footsteps was in Abraham's polygamous family relationships. There's no record of any wife except Rebekah, and no other children than Esau and Jacob. But when Esau was 40 years old, he married two Canaanite women, bringing polygamy back into the family. The fact that he had married idolatrous Canaanites grieved Isaac and Rebekah. But worse than disappointing his parents, Esau opened the family to the influence of the pagan gods of the Canaanites, which would be Israel's downfall again and again in centuries to come. True, it was Jacob's branch of the family tree through which the nation would come to be. But we will see evidence of the pagan gods affecting Jacob’s family's life within a few years as well.
So, we've seen some repetition of past events and situations in today's chapter. But the most important and best repetition of all is the steadfast faithfulness of God. All his promises remained intact through all the fluctuations and inconsistencies of the humans in the story. He was still going to make them a nation. He was still going to give them the land. And when it was time, he would send a Savior Messiah through Abraham's bloodline.
Through all the successes and failures and highs and lows we experience, isn't it good to know that God is unchanging? When we and people around us aren't always truthful, isn't it good to know that God's word is rock-solid truth? Aren't you glad that God doesn't give up on inconsistent, stumbling people like us?
Copyright © 2021 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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