Read with Me
Genesis 26:23-35 (HCSB)
From there he went up to Beer-sheba, and the LORD appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham.”
So he built an altar there, called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s slaves also dug a well there.
Now Abimelech came 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? You hated me and sent me away from you.”
They replied, “We have clearly seen how the LORD has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the LORD.”
So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. On that same day Isaac’s slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!” He called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.
When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. They made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
Listen with Me
As Isaac moved to the southeast, away from Gerar and the opposition of the Philistines, he eventually arrived at his old stomping grounds of Beer-sheba, where he set his servants to re-digging the well Abraham had dug there and the Philistines had filled with sand (Genesis 26:14-15).
It was at Beer-sheba that God appeared to Isaac in order to reassure him of His presence and His protection, as well as to restate His promise to make him into a great nation. Isaac’s response was to build an altar there to God and to make sacrifices.
It was only a short time later that Abimelech and two of his advisers came to Isaac, desiring to make a treaty with him, just as Abraham had with his father. Despite their jealousy of Isaac’s success, they could not deny that God’s hand was clearly visible in all that he was doing. And with his large number of servants, they were concerned that Isaac might retaliate against them and defeat them, as Abraham and his 318 trained men and a few allies had fought and defeated four kings of the north and their collected armies (Genesis 14:13-16).
Isaac was not a man of war, but a shepherd, so making a peace treaty with Gerar, the largest city near his encampment, seemed like a good idea. He made a feast that evening, and in the morning, they made a treaty, with all the appropriate oaths and sacrifices.
Just a couple hours after Abimelech and his advisors left, Isaac’s servants returned to camp declaring that they had successfully re-dug Abraham’s old well – they had hit water. The old name, Beer Sheba, meant “well of the oath” (Genesis 21:27-31). So, Isaac gave the re-dug well the same name to commemorate the covenant he had just finished making with Abimelech.
The history of Isaac is now moving to the next significant juncture. But before going there, Moses made note that Esau had married two wives, Judith and Basemath, both Hittites, women of the land. Those two wives provide an important justification for Rebecca’s actions as following scenario unfolds.
Pray with Me
Father, once again you show Yourself faithful to every promise You have made, helping Isaac to see that he was kept safe from the men of Gerar not by his own cleverness, but purely because of Your protection. Now, as he sets up long-term housekeeping back in Beer-sheba, he receives a renewal of Your promise, and he builds an altar to keep awareness of You and your manifold blessings right in the center of his heart. Lord, we don’t typically make such altars today, because the perfect sacrifice has already been made once for all. Help me instead, Lord, to see around me each day the great blessings You have given me, and to raise up over each one an Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:12) in my heart, so that I never forget Your faithfulness. Amen.
— God bless you all! Pastor Will
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