As we now come to Genesis 26 we come to a very unique moment in the whole of Genesis. We’re now halfway through the entire book, and so far we have seen much about Adam, about Noah, and especially in the last 10-12 chapters, about Abraham. If we fast forward from chapter 27 onward we see that Jacob comes into view, which then launches us out into the rest of Genesis, that is taken up with Jacob and his sons. That leaves us with this chapter we’ve come to today, chapter 26. Here and here alone Isaac stands forth on his own, in his own right, without another major character to detract attention from him.[1] But even as this is a chapter solely dedicated to Isaac, many scholars and commentators believe this chapter is, well, kind of ho hum. Because in it Isaac encounters nothing really new but only what we’ve seen before in other places and people. Specifically, we see a lot of repetition and similar experiences that Abraham faced in his own life. So though this chapter might seem ho hum I would argue that it is anything but. What we have before us is a deliberately crafted chapter to teach us one grand principle, like father – like son.
Through the various episodes that this chapter will take us all fathers are reminded[2] that what we do unavoidably affects our children, for better or for worse. And all children are reminded that we’re to follow in the footsteps of our fathers as they follow Jesus, but to not follow in the footsteps of our fathers as they do not follow Jesus. While we see here that both the vices and the virtues of our fathers follow us, all of us can take away the wonderful reminder that ultimately our true Father is in heaven, and it is to Him we must look to in all of life.[3]
So today we’ll walk through 26:1-33, examine each episode, compare and contrast the similar episodes from before, seeking to pull out what God has for us here.
Another Famine (v1-6)
“Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. And the LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. So Isaac settled in Gerar.”
As soon as we get into v1 we already see similarities between Isaac and Abraham. It was back in 12:10 when Abraham encountered a famine in the land and rather than trusting the Lord and staying within the Promise Land he left and went to Egypt. So too here we see another famine arising in the land and as before Isaac also attemps to leave the Promise Land and head down to Egypt. But as Isaac was on the way the Lord stopped him from going down to Egypt, and so Isaac stayed in Gerar, where Abimelech king of the Philistines resides. Here is another similarity. Another Abimelech now comes into view. You might remember the former king named Abimelech that Abraham had an interaction with in chapter 20, this is not that same individual. This is years past that moment, so it might be a son or a grandson. But either way, Abimelech isn’t a name, it’s a regal title, similar to Pharaoh.
Before we see what events played out with this Abimelech, notice though, how God encourages Isaac to stay put in Gerar. God appears to Isaac in v2, and then uses covenantal language in v3-5. The same language we’ve become used to hearing with the Abrahamic covenant. Language about dwelling in the land, sojourning in the land, that God will be with him, that God will bless him, so that he and his descendants will inherit this land, and be a blessing to all nations on the earth. But while we’ve heard this language before, we’ve not heard the end of v5 before. See it? God intends bless Isaac “…because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” Now we know that Abraham was not perfect, we saw his many sins throughout these past chapters. But the overarching theme and posture of his life was faith, and this is what we now know him for. Abraham, the man of faith. This language in v5 is getting at two realities. First, God is now promising to be God to Isaac as He was God to Abraham before. And second, that Isaac must now walk in this same faith himself.[4] What an encouragement it must have been to hear these words now coming to him from God. How did he respond to this? In v6 we see he obeyed and settled in Gerar.
All is well, right? Let’s move on to see.
Another Lie (v7-11)
“When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
We come now to a situation we’ve seen before. Isaac fearful for his life, leads him to lie about his wife. Such sin after just meeting with God and hearing the covenant promises repeated to him![5]
This almost invites us to look back to Abraham fearing for his life and lying about his wife, twice. Once in Egypt (chapter 12) and once in Gerar (chapter 20). Like father, like son. This instance with Isaac is eerily similar to Abraham’s moment in chapter 20. Same place, same fear, same lie, different king yet the same title. But there are differences. Abraham didn’t tell the whole truth, back then Sarah was his half-sister, while Isaac does outright lie about Rebekah.[6] Moreso, while Sarah was actually taken into a kind of harem in both moments, Rebekah never is. And while God revealed the lie to both kings earlier, here it was the providence of God at work revealing the lie. See this in v8? It was as Abimelech was simply going about his day, and happened to look out a window to see Isaac and Rebekah laughing. The pun on Isaac’s name is hard to miss here in the word laughing. But you should know this word laughing in the ESV might not be the best translation. This word is perhaps better translated as caressing or flirting even playing or something of that nature.[7]Whatever word is used, it’s clear what Abimelech saw happening between Isaac and Rebekah in this moment was not the behavior normally found between a brother and sister! And from this point on the events play out as they did before with Abraham. The king is angered, the lie is exposed, the danger of the situation is acknowledged, the patriarch is shamed, the pagans seems more godly than God’s people, and an decree is given to protect the wife. As we said earlier, like father, like son. And also, as before when Abraham left Egypt blessed with riches and wealth, so too Isaac comes out of this moment blessed with protection in the kings decree.[8]
This brings us our third episode in this chapter…
Another Conflict (v12-22)
“And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 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 contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Well if v12-13 isn’t encouraging to you I’m not sure what is. Because right after Isaac fails, just as his father did, by lying about his wife, we see God bless him immensely. This is one those rare moments where we see one of the Patriarchs farming instead of shepherding, and what a farmer he turned out to be![9] He sowed in the midst of famine and reaped an unbelievable harvest. So much so, we see in the verses that follow, that Abimelech and the Philistines grew envious. Just as the riches Abraham gained from Egypt ended up causing him trouble as well.[10]
In their envy the Philistines did two things to Isaac. They vandalized the wells belonging to him by filling them with dirt in v15, and then they kicked him out in v16. What does Isaac do? He leaves. He could’ve fought back, but he doesn’t. He just leaves, travels to a nearby area, probably thinking he’ll be fine there, and digs a new well. But apparently he didn’t go far enough, because more conflict occurs with the people. More citizens of Gerar come and claim that well for their own, so Isaac names the well Esek (contention). And this then repeats again. Isaac travels out further, thinks he’s gone far enough away, digs another well, and more conflict ensues with other people. So Isaac names this well Sitnah (hostility). But then, he finally travels out far enough, digs a new well, with no opposition, so he names it Rehoboth, meaning broad places. Isaac was confined before, but now God blesses him with wide open spaces, with more room to work and to grow. After the previous two wells this third one would’ve been a great joy to experience. It is here where we once again here the word fruitful.’ We last haven’t heard it since we were in the first section of Genesis, in chapters 1-11. But now in these broad places, Isaac enjoys fruitfulness in the land.[11]
That’s the third episode, now we see the fourth…
Another Altar (v23-25)
“From there he went up to Beersheba. And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.”
Isaac as obedient sojourner, kept wandering, so after leaving Rehoboth, he comes to Beersheba, where Abraham was before in chapter 21. Here, the Lord appears to Isaac again, and repeats the great covenant promises to him. “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” This is the first time in the Bible we hear the phrase “the God of your father.” Abraham’s father didn’t know God, but Abraham did, and now we see Isaac enjoying covenant faithfulness of God from one generation to the next.[12] But why tell Isaac the same promises once again? Well, why not?! We are leaky people. We need to keep hearing and keep being reminded of God’s truth again and again. This is true for us, just as its true for them. And after hearing the covenant promises once again, what does he do? As his father did, Isaac builds an altar and worships the Lord.
Now we’ve arrived at the last episode of the chapter…
Another Treaty (v26-33)
“When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.” So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.”
As Abraham before entered into a covenant with the Philistines at Beersheba in chapter 21, so too Isaac now does the same here in chapter 26. But notice the words used here? Isaac asks a great question in v27. These Philistines had filled his wells and kicked him out of town, now they want to come and make peace? In v28 they butter him up with dubious language about how they didn’t really treat him that bad, and that now they see the Lord is with him and is blessing him, so they want to make a pact with him.[13] Isaac had every right to not make this treaty, but he does. He makes the treaty, makes a great feast for them all, enjoys their company, and sends them off in the morning. Then we see another well being dug, named Shibah (oath), making much of this moment.
Conclusion:
Well Church, we have now walked through this deliberately crafted chapter which teaches us one grand principle…like father – like son. Isaac hears the same promises, faces similar tests, commits similar sins, but eventually shows himself to have a similar faith, like his father Abraham.[14] In this is our great lesson for today. All fathers and all sons who follow Jesus can be described with three words: faithful, fruitful, flawed. All these words matter, but that last word stands out today. All fathers and all sons, who follow Jesus, will fail. All fathers and sons are weak, depraved, corrupted, stained, and spoiled in sin. Yet, we sinners have a great hope. There was a repeated theme in this chapter, I wonder if you saw it. We see it in v3, v24, and v28, “I will be with you.”
Despite his many sins and foibles and failures, God was with Isaac in all his life, just as He was with Abraham. Indeed all the saints of old enjoyed the promise of the Lord’s presence as well. And all who have come to Christ know this same joy today, for we too have received the same promise from the Lord Jesus, the true Word from heaven come to dwell among us, as He said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” So, with a vastly different motive than the Philistines had toward Isaac, I can truly say to you, because of the Lord’s presence with you, “You are now the blessed of the LORD.”
Do you know yourself as this? Do you define yourself under the banner of this blessing? Or do your struggles and sins define you? Friends, if you know the Lord, this is your identity. Once you were without hope, far off from grace, without God in the world, and strangers to the covenants of promise. But now by the blood of Christ you have been brought near! If by the blood you’ve come near, weak and wobbly as you may be, this banner of blessing now defines you, directs you, describes you, and dominates you today!
“You are now the blessed of the LORD.”
[1] Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16-50, WBC (Waco, TX: Zondervan, 2000), 194.
[2] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis 12-36 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1985), 745.
[3] Richard D. Phillips, Genesis 20-50 (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2023), 151.
[4] Phillips, 151.
[5] Boice, Genesis 12-36, 747.
[6] John D. Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, EP Study Commentary (Holywell, UK: Evangelical Press, 2015), 24.
[7] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 190.
[8] Wenham, 191.
[9] Phillips, Genesis 20-50, 155.
[10] Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2001), 369.
[11] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 192.
[12] Currid, Genesis 25:19-50:26, 31.
[13] Currid, 34.
[14] Wenham, Genesis 16-50, 196.
