Let the World Contend with Us!

 Read Genesis 26

Now there was a famine in the land.  We know dry and very dry conditions where we live.  We are on the brink of being a desert, but have been spared from that because the rains do come.

We have seen selective food shortages, but never scarcity on the level that would become famine.  I’m not sure that we could survive famine in this country.  When the people were afraid of shortages, what did they buy?

Toilet paper!

But there was famine and Isaac went to the land of the Philistines and King Abimelech.  God had told him not to go to Egypt as his father had done.  Abimelech received Isaac.

While his welcome seemed hospitable, Isaac did not trust Abimelech or the people of this area.  When asked about Rebekah, Isaac used his father’s trick to try to save his own hide.

She is my sister.

We have heard that before from Abraham.  One time when Abraham did this, it was with Abimelech.  I’m thinking like father, like son.

When that doctor asked me, "Son, how'd you get in this condition?"

I said, "A-hey, Sawbones, I'm just carrying on an old family tradition"

Mark this date on your calendars.  Hank Williams Jr. made it into a sermon.  I could have used his lyrics last week talking about Esau.

I got a shotgun, a rifle, and a 4-wheel drive

And a country boy can survive

How was the husband-wife relationship discovered?  Abimelech saw Isaac caressing Rebekah. You might think that the presence of children might have been a giveaway, but it appears that Esau and Jacob were grown men at this time.

Abimelech could have sent Isaac away, but he knew that Isaac, like his father Abraham, was blessed by the Lord.  This pagan ruler knew that there was a powerful, almighty God who protected Abraham.

So, the king issued a directive to his people that neither Isaac nor Rebekah was to be touched.  They had the king’s protection. The king addressed Isaac’s fears instead of confronting him.

The king did not worship the God of Abraham and Isaac, but he knew to fear him. When Abraham had pulled this same my wife is my sister stunt with the king, God had spoken to Abimelech in a dream and said, “You are as good as dead,”

Abimelech had some first-hand experience with the God of Abraham and now Isaac. He knew to fear this God.  He knew not to hurt the one whom God had blessed.

So, when the husband and wife relationship was discovered, Abimelech did not send Isaac away, he granted them protection.

For the first time since Noah planted a vineyard, we see a reference to planting crops.  Isaac had a true bumper crop and he became very rich.  In spite of his my wife is my sister ploy, God had blessed him.

Isaac not only had riches from his crops but from his herds as well.  He grew and grew. While Abimelech placed his protection upon Isaac and Rebekah; he did not extend this protection to the things that Isaac needed.

The Philistine people resented Isaac. They envied him.  They found a loophole in the king’s protection.  They filled in the wells that Abraham dug when he was in this area. Tensions were high.

So, king Abimelech told Isaac that he had become too powerful and needed to move away.  Like it or not, it seems that the nomadic nature of his father had passed to him.

Despite the bountiful crops attached to the land where he lived, Isaac packed up and moved. He obviously didn’t move too far as he continued to live in an area influenced by the Philistines.

He re-dug wells.  These were wells that his father had made and then the Philistines had filled in after Abraham died.  There was once again tension between Isaac and the Philistine herdsmen.

Only when Isaac dug a third well, did the tension subside.  That well was named Rehoboth because there was room for everyone now. 

Isaac now had enough room between him and the Philistines.  That would be the last he would see of King Abimelech, except that it wasn’t.

Abimelech came to see Isaac.  He brought his personal advisor and his military commander.

Isaac asked, “What now? You asked me to leave.  I left.  What now?”  That’s a bit of a paraphrase but faithful to the original text.

What now?

Abimelech had recognized how powerful Isaac had become.  Physical displacement would not solve all of the king’s problems. There was still a force with which he had to contend camped out in his backyard.  Abimelech surely knew of Abraham’s military success in defeating 4 sizeable armies.  Could he risk that Abraham’s son might be capable of the same thing?

And this God of Abraham and Isaac was a powerful God.  He didn’t want to be on the wrong side if this God intervened in military matters.  Abimelech needed a treaty.

Isaac was a little resentful that he had been sent away, but Abimelech reminded him that he was sent away peacefully and that his God had blessed him wherever he went.  He had prospered in the land but the time had come to put some distance between Isaac and the bulk of the Philistines.

Isaac agreed to the terms and each party swore not to hurt the other.

Was this a sign of weakness on the part of the king?  Not likely as the king who had a treaty with the son of Abraham, now had an alliance. This treaty might deter others who thought they could take on the Philistines.

Isaac put on a feast to commemorate the agreement and the king and his advisors left peacefully.

After they had departed, Isaac’s servants reported they had dug and found water once again.  The well and the town were named Beersheba, after the oath that had been sworn earlier.  This was the well of the oath.

There is a little more at the end of the chapter but it fits in better with what follows. 

So, what did we learn in this chapter?

God continued to bless the line of Abraham.  The promise of many descendants would be carried out in Isaac’s children and their children.  They would be too numerous to count.

God was recognized by some in the pagan world.  They did not have a relationship with him, but they at least knew to fear him.

Isaac made this my wife is my sister bit a family tradition.  Dad tried it twice and it worked for him.  Isaac was blessed with a bumper crop and his herds continued to grow after his ploy was exposed by Abimelech.

Isaac, like his father, was nomadic.  He never stayed in one place too long.

We see a bit more of the story that leads to a chosen people, a Promised Land, and the law given by God,

We see a bit more of the lineage that will one day lead to the one through whom we know that God loves the world so much.  It’s a line that leads to Christ Jesus.

How do we relate this to anything in our current century?

OK, many of you have dug wells or hired someone to do that.  People generally don’t come and fill them in or threaten you claiming that your well is their well. Maybe that’s not the best connection.

How about the world will have to contend with those blessed by God. 

I have mentioned many times that we are blessed to live where we live.  Seldom are we confronted for our faith.  We are rarely threatened.

But a time is coming when lawlessness will prevail upon this earth.  We may live to see it, but we should not fear it for God will bless those who trust him, obey him, and follow him—who follow Jesus.

Our lives may be threatened and even taken from us, but God provides for those whom he blesses and we have received his blessing in Christ Jesus.

So, as we approach the end times—that could be really soon or decades or even centuries away—let the world contend with us as we trust, obey, and follow the one true God.

We often think about how we will contend with the world.  Let us see the life before us, seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness, trust him, obey him, and put the words of our Master into practice.

Let the world contend with us for our course is set with eyes fixed on Jesus.

Yes, we will have trouble in the world, but we don’t bargain with the world.  We accept, trust, and obey the word of God.

We follow Jesus and put his words into practice. God’s blessings are already upon us.

Amen.