Genesis 26

What? Again? I’m afraid so. Strange as it may seem, the same old sin of deception raises its ugly head for the third time in chapter 26. If nothing else proves it, this does-Isaac is a son of his father (a chip off the old block?). Frightened concerning his own safety, Isaac succumbs to the temptation to pass off his wife as his sister. In doing this he was willing to risk Rebekah’s purity as the price for his personal protection.

But this is not the only matter that we will read in this chapter, so let’s first read it to find out what other things we can gather and learn.

Bible Passage: Genesis 26

Abraham failed God twice in not trusting in His protection by resorting to lying in order to preserve his own life. Now Isaac showed the same unfaithfulness in God’s protection.

Isaac was the son of promise whom God would establish His everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him (Gen. 17: 19). He was born to Abraham at his ripe old age of 100. Isaac must have been very precious in the eyes of his parents, and we all could see that Isaac was a very obedient lad from the case where Abraham was commanded by God to sacrifice him.

Therefore we could conclude that Isaac must have had good religious education from his father, but why did Isaac show the same lacking of faith in God when he came to Gerar and lied about Rebekah to be his sister?

This showed the weak side of man, a man who was of like nature as ours, even though he was the son of the father of faith.

Again, as I had mentioned in the previous post on chapter 20, that we must not look at these failures as a ready excuse for us when we have done something unfaithful to God, but we must take it as a warning and lesson, to be vigilant in our spiritual nurture to put full trust in God rather than to fear man who are not able to destroy our souls but only our bodies.

I think we all must understand that faith cannot grow apart from trials, for with trials and testing, than can we know where we stand in our faith and to grow thereby.

It is good for me that I have been afflicted,

That I may learn Your statutes.

Psalms 119:71

In this chapter, besides the trial of facing threats of losing his own life, let me list out the other trials that Isaac faced and how he reacted, but let us also ponder what would our reactions be if we were to meet with these circumstances or the likes.

1)   Famine.

Isaac did not seek the Lord’s help when there was famine. The fear of losing his life and his material possessions must have made him to decide to go down to Egypt to escape from it.

We may not meet with famine in this part of the world, but similar to such would be times when we face imminent retrenchment, or we may have already lose our jobs, and times when we could not find a job that can sustain the livelihood of our family. We are in want and in need, who do we think to seek first, man’s help or God’s providence?

2)   Fear of losing his own life due to Rebekah’s beauty in a foreign land.

Isaac did not seek God’s protection while living among the Gentiles, and for fear of losing his life due to Rebekah’s beauty, he resorted to lying that Rebekah was his sister. This time it did not cause any plague upon the Philistines because King Abimelech found out the truth soon enough before the people sinned.

In today’s society, we are bound to meet with various kinds of people with various kinds of mentality and attitude towards life. If we so happened to be working among unscrupulous people and we want to uphold the truth and biblical morality, we will definitely face problems.

In such environment where there are steep competitions to climb the corporate ladder, we may be tempted to crave for status and wealth by resorting to cheating through unscrupulous ways, back stabbings, etc. as we may have seen the success rates in employing them.

On the other hand, if we steadfastly abide by the biblical morality and doing our jobs as if we are working for Christ (Eph. 6: 5), we may please our bosses but not our colleagues. Envies or jealousies may be the challenges that we have to face daily.

With these circumstances mentioned, are we going to succumb to the pressure of our greed, and to fear for our livelihood due to man? Or are we going to refocus on God, and to put our full trust in Him? Indeed we must let Jehovah Jireh be our banner and strength while facing these waves in the world.

3) Contentions over the wells which were rightfully his.

This trial was the only trial that Isaac dealt well in this chapter, for he did not quarrel or used violence to take back the possession of the wells that were rightfully his. This was like fulfilling what our Lord Jesus had taught,

But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek,

turn the other to him also.

If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

Matthew 5:39 – 40

Can we be like him, gentle and peace loving? Can we conform to the teachings of our Lord to go the extra mile to love man?

So through this chapter on Isaac’s life in a foreign land, have you any experience similar or come close to these experiences of Isaac, and how did you react?

With all the trials mentioned above, we can see 2 very beautiful acts, one from Isaac and another from God. Isaac obeyed all that God had told him to do, and God continued to bless, protect and assure Isaac of His covenant, now it was not with Abraham, but with Isaac himself.