Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 26:23-25

23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.

24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

Isaac had been exiled and bullied by the citizens of Gerar. First king Abimelech made him move away because he was getting too powerful, then the herdmen fought with him for control of the wells. This was a time when everything in the world was conspiring against him.

It is touching, then, that in this moment of loneliness and frustration, God appeared to Isaac and said “fear not, for I am with thee.” Isaac may have been alone in the world, but he was alone with God, and God would see that he was taken care of. God would support him when no one else would. God would multiply and increase him, in spite of all the world’s opposition.

And so, like his father before him, Isaac built an altar in the open and called upon the name of his God. He threw in with that one, best friend who would see him through thick and thin.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 26:19-22

19 And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.

21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

The herdmen who fought to take away Isaac’s well cannot be justified in their actions. Notice that they waited until he was done doing all of the work before they tried to make their claim, which shows that their motives were selfish and deceitful.

Then Isaac again dug a well and the herdmen again wrested it from him. But again, Isaac did not dwell on the matter. Instead, he left that hotly contested area and dug a third well in a new area. Finally, there was no dispute over this one, so he named it Rehoboth, which means “broad places,” because at last he had found room enough to live in.

The story of the herdmen stealing Isaac’s wells rankles me. It is in our nature to want punishment for the unjust, to see them be held accountable and pay back what they have taken. We hate to see the unfair win.

But in the long run they do not. Truly, the lazy and the indolent are their own worst punishment. Whatever happened to these herdmen who cheated to get ahead? Evidently they then led such insignificant lives that we never hear of them again, either in scripture or any other historical record. But Isaac, the one who “lost” the struggle and meekly moved onward? His fame has continued for millennia.

In the long run, it pays to be honorable.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 26:15-18

15 For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

I mentioned previously that Isaac had inherited his father’s wealth and expanded upon it, however there was some work of his father that had fallen into ruin and needed to be repaired. His father had dug life-giving wells in the land of the Philistines, and in their envy the locals had stopped them up.

So, when Isaac saw the good works of his father being undone, he restored them. He dug the wells back as they were before and named them again after the names his father had given. A large part of Isaac’s mission in life seems to have been to preserve and expand the good works of his father to future generations. That may not sound like the most envious of roles to fill, but preserving the good of others is not a small or insignificant duty.

Many of us have also been given great gifts from our ancestors, such as a level of freedom and security that most people in history never enjoyed. And we all have an obligation to preserve those same gifts to our descendants. Otherwise, the gifts could end with us, just as Abraham’s gifts could have ended with Isaac if he hadn’t labored to pass them on to the next link in the chain.

There is a term that describes this notion of passing the good we receive to another: pay it forward. We do not pay the price for many of our own blessings, but we should then pay the price for others instead.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 26:12-14

12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

I didn’t understand before I became a working man and had investments how significant a yearly increase a hundredfold is. In today’s terms, we would say that Isaac was making a 10,000% return on his investment! It’s frankly ridiculous, and of such a magnitude that one could not take the credit for it, but would have to admit they had been blessed by the hand of providence.

Thus, while Abraham had become rich and powerful, Isaac became even more so. Of course, all this wealth was for a purpose. If God intended to maintain a pattern of one covenant child per generation, then there would be no need to increase Isaac past his father. But the lineage was supposed to expand rapidly, and so the foundation to support it needed to as well.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 26:7-11

7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Isaac repeats the same pattern as Abraham, informing the people of Gerar that Rebekah is his sister (technically she is his first-cousin-once-removed) instead of his wife.

When I first read this passage, I noted that the king here was named Abimelech, the same as when Abraham passed through this land. I thought it amusing that he would have been tricked twice by Abraham and his son, however, a little research reveals that Abimelech was a common name among the Philistines, also being the name of another king in the time of David. Thus it could be another king with the same name, or perhaps the name was actually a title, much like “Pharaoh” for the Egyptian kings.

I also assumed that the phrase “Isaac was sporting with his wife” was a euphemism for some sort of physical intimacy. But as it turns out, the word used in the original Hebrew is צְחַק or tsachaq, which means “to laugh.” So, it seems more accurate to say that Isaac and Rebekah were laughing, joking and/or playing together, in such a way that he could tell they were closer than just siblings.

Something else interesting is that the Hebrew word tsachaq is the same word used to describe when Sarah laughed after God said that she would bear a son in her old age. And then, when Isaac was born, he was named after that moment. His name in Hebrew is Yitschaq. Here is how the two words (tsachaq and Yitschaq) are written in the Hebrew language:

צְחַק
יִצְחָק

Isaac’s name literally means “he laughs,” and this phrase about him sporting with Rebekah can be read as “he-laughs was laughing with his wife.” It is an amusing sentence.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 26:1-5

1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

A famine occurred, much as it did for Abraham. Isaac had to set out from his home, much as did Abraham. He was led to the land of the Philistines, much as was Abraham. And along his way God promised him innumerable descendants and a great land for an inheritance, much as He had to Abraham.

But while Isaac’s story may heavily mirror Abraham’s in some parts, he still was not Abraham and he had his own, individual walk with God. That walk meant continuing the path that his father started, but he was covering new ground along his way. Some of the differences between his path and Abraham’s are how the matter of having posterity was resolved much more quickly for Isaac, he was not asked to sacrifice his son, and he was already well on his way to wealth from what he had inherited.

Many things appear to have been easier for Isaac than they were for Abraham, and perhaps that is why so little of his story is recorded in the Bible. He is the main character only for the rest of this chapter, and then the focus will shift to Jacob, his son. Isaac served his purpose of continuing the line and the promise, but greater advancement in the face of adversity would come during the next generation.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 25:29-34

29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:

30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?

33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Here we have the famous scene of Esau selling his birthright for a mess of pottage. Of course, God had already foretold that his covenant blessings would be continued through Jacob, not Esau, and I wonder whether Jacob was aware of that prophecy, or if he was fulfilling it unknowingly.

There are those who decry Jacob for taking advantage of his brother, though personally his methods have in these verses have never disturbed me. Esau might have said “I am at the point to die,” but he was still walking and talking, hardly the behavior of someone who is literally at death’s door. And if Esau was willing to trade the blessings of God to satiate his hunger, then he didn’t deserve to have it in the first place. He was literally valuing the things of the body more than the things of God. Even after Esau had taken care of his physical needs it then describes him as simply rising up and walking away, not showing the slightest sign of remorse at the priceless birthright that he had just given up.

And no doubt Esau’s temporal-focused mindset was evident in the way he lived his life, even before this moment. Jacob would have known that his brother would never honor and cherish God’s birthright in the same way that he would. Perhaps part of the reason why Esau was willing to sell the birthright was because he knew it, too.

There is a good deal of supposition from me in all of that, but I do think there is enough room for doubt that we shouldn’t try to judge Jacob on the matter. Maybe he was in the wrong, but also maybe he was not. And in any case, this whole exchange was only a bit of human theatrics, it did not actually change either man’s destiny. God had already determined where the blessings would go years prior, and Esau and Jacob were merely playing into his foreordained plan.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 25:24-28

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.

26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.

27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.

I imagine that this detail about Jacob reaching out and taking hold of Esau’s heel was preserved to us by Rebekah. Because of what God had foretold of her twins, she would have been the most likely to perceive the significance in the younger brother grabbing hold of the other’s heel, as if to catch and surpass him.

From the very moment of their birth the two were opposites to one another, and so they continued throughout the rest of their lives. Esau became hairy and wild and beloved of his father, Jacob smooth and calm and beloved of his mother.

Esau was expected to receive Isaac’s blessing and inheritance, because that was what the culture of the time said should happen. But God had already revealed to Rebekah that the custom of firstborn sons receiving the inheritance meant very little to Him. He would not be choosing Isaac’s successor based on which son happened to be born first, but on which of the sons was worthy.

God’s choice of Jacob over Esau reminds me of another firstborn that he passed over years later, when Samuel the prophet was looking for the next king of Israel. Samuel was going to anoint Eliab, Jesse’s firstborn, but the Lord told him “I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Then and now, what matters to God are not the random circumstances of our birth, but the intentional choices of our life.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 25:19, 21-23

19 And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac:

21 And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the Lord.

23 And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

Isaac’s story only begins in earnest after Abraham has passed away. I have mentioned before that some people, such as Abraham, seem to have a story so expansive that it is necessary to get out from under their umbrella before one’s own narrative begins. Up until this moment the only word or action we heard from Isaac was when he walked through the field to meet Rebekah for the first time. Here, though, we learn that he, like his father, had a special relationship with God. Rebekah was unable to bear children, so Isaac spoke to the Lord for her sake, and God healed her.

That exchange sounds very simple. Evidently God was more than ready to heal Rebekah, but perhaps He waited for Isaac’s petition to start cultivating that God-Son relationship with him. Admittedly the relationship between God and Isaac is only briefly touched on in the Bible, not nearly so much as it was detailed with Abraham, his father, or as it will be with Jacob, his son.

However, we do get some special insights into God’s relationship with Rebekah. In these verses we read how she felt her twin children struggling in her womb, and went to inquire of the Lord why it was so. This already shows her quality of faith, believing that she could receive understanding for the simple matters of life. And indeed, she did. Long before the drama would play out between Esau and Jacob, Rebekah already knew from God what would happen and who would prevail over the other. Later on, when she helped Jacob to secure his father’s blessing, she was only helping him into the larger story that she already knew God intended for him.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Genesis 25:11-17

11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.

12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto Abraham:

13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

14 And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

15 Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve princes according to their nations.

17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.

Before we dive into the story of Isaac we have this summation of Ishmael, his life, and his family. Ishmael became a father to twelve sons, twelve princes who had towns and castles, powerful men in their own right. It is an interesting parallel that Ishmael’s legacy expands with twelve sons and Isaac’s legacy will be defined by twelve grandsons.

Of course, Ishmael’s line would eventually become the Islamic people, who have had a long and complicated relationship with the Israelites. But all of that drama would come later. For the duration of the Bible the Israelites competed more with the descendants of Lot (Moabites and Ammonites), Esau (Edomites), and Keturah (Midianites) than they did with the descendants of Ishmael.

So, this is where we take our leave of Ishmael and the nation that came from him. From here on out our focus is solely on Isaac and his posterity.