Isaac and the Wells of Gerar (P1): the context (blessing and guidance)

Magandang umaga faithful! Buenos días blessing!

There are battles you can only win by praying. There are victories you can only achieve by persevering. There are answers you can only have by questioning GOD. There are blessings you can only preserve by obeying GOD. There are measures of wisdom you can only receive by reading the Bible. There are teachings you can only receive by listening to sermons and reading books. There are testimonies you can only hear by spending time with others. There are gifts you can only discover by serving. Combine prayer and reading the Word into your daily routine . (Psalms 119:147-148). The LORD will give you joy in the morning and peace in the evening. Whatever you can do, do it. Do it well and do it today. You do not know what tomorrow will bring.

Our study text is Genesis chapter 26, specifically verses 12 through 35. Before we get there, I'll give you some background on this story.

1. The Context (Genesis 26:1-11)

Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5). He died at 175 (Genesis 25:7). So Isaac was 75 when Abraham died. Isaac was 40 when he married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20) . He was 60 years old when his sons Esau and Jacob were born (Genesis 25:26). So Abraham was still alive when they were born.

The Bible does not provide details about Abraham's later years. Based on verses one through eleven of the twenty-fifth chapter of Genesis, I assume that Abraham was living with, if not near, Isaac when he died. After Abraham's death, Isaac continued to live in the same area, near the well of Lachai-roi in Canaan. (Genesis 24:62, Genesis 25:11, Genesis 14:16). This was the area they were already living in when Sarai died and when Isaac married Rebekah (Genesis 14:16).

❖ (Genesis 26:1-7, KJV): " 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. 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

A famine occurs in the land. Isaac intended to go to Egypt like his father before him. GOD appeared to Isaac and told him to go to Gerar, meaning in Hebrew a place of stay or dwelling place .

GOD blessed Isaac and spoke to him the same words he had given to Abraham his father a few years before his birth (Genesis 12:1-3). He made a promise to Isaac and told him that he would fulfill the promise he had made to Abraham. In other words, he told Isaac that

• The promise made to Abraham will continue to be fulfilled through Isaac because Abraham kept its orders, commandments, prescriptions, and laws.

• The promise made to Isaac will continue to be fulfilled through his descendants if, like Abraham, Isaac respects his orders, his commandments, his prescriptions and his laws.

Isaac went to Gerar. Gerar was a Philistine city and district in what is now southwestern Israel in the Gush Katif region, between the Palestinian cities of Rafah and Gaza. Historians say that Abimelech is a title (or hereditary name). Like, for example, the title of Pharaoh in Egypt. A king with the same name as Abimelech already ruled Gerar when Abraham had stayed there 80 years earlier (Genesis 20:1-17). Some say they are the same person. Others say they are two different people with the same title or name.

🙂 Let's learn from this story. The obvious solution is not always GOD's solution. Obedience precedes, if not preserves, the blessing. Isaac wanted to go to Egypt. But GOD told him to go to Gerar because that was where He had decided to bless him. GOD can ask us to go to Gerar too. He can ask us to change our plans, to do things differently, to go where we don't plan to go.

Prayer : FATHER , dispose our hearts to obey you. Do not let us go in a direction contrary to your will. Amen.

** Magandang umaga = Good morning in Filipino (Philippines)

** Buenos días = Good morning in Spanish