Genesis 26:26-33

2008.Jul.26 02:45

Treaty

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?" They said, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.'"
(Genesis 26:26-29, NASB)

Abimelech wants a treaty, more or less, with Isaac. He is aware that Isaac is becoming increasingly powerful, and is an economic force to be reckoned with, that he is “the blessed of the Lord”. This is a bit uncomfortable. After all, Abimelech, shortly before this, recommended that Isaac buzz off. Yes, it was probably for mutual good, but still, you can understand that Isaac is less than happy to see the king, especially accompanied by his adviser and military commander. Abimelech’s explanation seems to appease him, though. Or, maybe Isaac just sees this treaty as advantageous to himself as well.

Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac's servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water." So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
(Genesis 26:30-33, NASB)

So, it could have gone like this. Isaac’s sitting at the entrance of his tent, and sees the king coming with the army commander. He’s had all these troubles with the herdsmen of Gerar, on top of having to move from the land he and his family have been living in. My mind, in this situation, might have jumped to the possibility that Abimelech is about to offer a treaty, yes, but a very poor one on Isaac’s side, with the other option being Abimelech’s army against Isaac’s group. Because things have not been going well for Isaac.

Instead, the treaty is a positive one, and they finally have a well that’s not being contested. One of the biggest difficulties of having faith is those really dark moments, when it just seems like everything is going wrong and one more trouble is going to be too much. And, yet, as here, as with Job, you may be on the edge of a huge blessing. Or, at least, know that if you fall of the cliff, Yahweh is quite capable of catching you still.

Genesis 26:12-22

2008.Jul.12 21:04

Diggin’ the Wells

Read Genesis 26:12-22 | Full Chapter

Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us."
(Genesis 26:12-16, NASB)

Okay, one thing I want to note here is Yahweh providing such blessing as to cause problems for the person blessed. Isaac’s wealth grows to the extent that he and Rebekah become targets of jealousy. In addition, there’s probably some difficulties with Isaac’s livestock using up land that the native inhabitants wanted and possibly needed.

I often find myself annoyed with “name it, claim it” mentalities because they seem not to consider this aspect. If I taught, for example, a youth Bible study, one thing I would like to do is take the group somewhere from which we could all see a mountain, and read Mark 11:23. No, there’s probably half a dozen additional issues to address when talking about such passages, but the thing I’d want to have these young people do is to decide whether to ask for that mountain to be cast in the sea, understanding that “it will be done” (assuming they have faith, etc).

Because I really believe that an essential part of faith is wisdom, specifically discernment of what really is “a good thing”. Sending this theoretical mountain into the sea would have negative consequences, probably for no gain. Many situations though are not that clear, as here for Isaac. Yahweh is blessing him, I imagine largely to prepare for the future Israelite nation and also as a testament to Himself among those Isaac meets. But those blessings directly result in confrontation.

So, now, Isaac and Rebekah make the choice to leave as Abimelech has demanded. Or, faith does not exist in a vacuum.

And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there. Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, "At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."
(Genesis 26:17-22, NASB)

With this, we see more of this difficulty playing out. Again, the blessings on our nomadic heroes lead to conflict with their neighbors. So, they move on, digging wells, until finally they land in a spot where they have room. Isaac could have done the “God blessed me and I’m not moving” thing that some people do (probably I do sometimes without even being aware of it), as though Yahweh’s blessing in our lives is permission to be selfish rather than opportunity to bless and help others. Instead, Isaac accepts that receipt of God’s blessings on this earth is inseparable from sacrifice.

Genesis 26:6-11

2008.Jul.04 19:05

Better Job This Time, Abimelech.

Read Genesis 26:6-11 | Full Chapter

Isaac moved to Gerar with his beautiful wife Rebekah. He was afraid that someone might kill him to get her, and so he told everyone that Rebekah was his sister.
(Genesis 26:6-7, CEV)

Here, we have part two of the Abimelech and husband-pretending-to-be-brother stories (My discussions on the first). The first stars Abraham and Sarah, the second Isaac and Rebekah. In my limited understanding of Biblical scholarship, I remember (hopefully this memory is accurate) that some (perhaps many?) scholars consider these two passages to be two versions of the same story, with differences due to different early sources. The basics of the accounts are pretty close, and I don’t get any major difference in understanding between the Sarah/Abraham or Rebekah/Isaac as the subjects.

Outside of all that, what I really notice is the different response of Abimelech. I like the idea that both situations happened and Abimelech learned from the first (or, maybe one of his descendents of the same name did).

After Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech looked out a window and saw Isaac hugging and kissing Rebekah. Abimelech called him in and said, "Rebekah must be your wife! Why did you say she is your sister?" "Because I thought someone would kill me," Isaac answered. "Don't you know what you've done?" Abimelech exclaimed. "If someone had slept with her, you would have made our whole nation guilty!" Then Abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death.
(Genesis 26:8-11, CEV)

Abimelech, in the earlier story, “sent and took Sarah” (Genesis 20:2, NASB). In this case, the king leaves Rebekah alone, so that when he discovers the deception, it’s not really problem. Sure, he now needs to address Isaac, and he does, but Abimelech has not put himself into a problematic situation, to understate it. He also shows concern not only for his own potential guilt, but that of the other men in his nation. Then, he provides protection for the itinerants by means of a proclamation that the punishment for hurting them is death.

In other words, this time, Abimelech does everything right, at least as far as I can tell. Perhaps he learned, either from his own previous wrongs (I consider kidnapping a wrong regardless of the prevailing culture) or that of an ancestor. In any event, Abimelech acts honorably, identifies a potential problem, and handles it. I like it.

Genesis 26:1-5

2008.May.02 15:36

Not to Egypt

Read Genesis 26:1-5 | Full Chapter

Once during Abraham's lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, because the LORD had appeared to Isaac and said: Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go.
(Genesis 26:1-2, CEV)

Famine. It happens. Welcome to Canaan, eh?

Yeah, so, yet another famine, as there was during Abraham’s lifetime, as there will be many other times. In the case of Abraham, Jacob, and Jacob’s kids, they go to Egypt, a theme which I’ve pondered a bit. This time, however, Yahweh tells Isaac that Egypt is not an option. While not explaining his reasoning, Yahweh does promise Isaac that he (God) will send him to a good location; this turns out to be the lands of our good friend Abimelech.

I want to avoid, in my life, responding to God’s saying “No” with a frustration, anger, or fear. Instead, I want to respond with acceptance and hope, recognizing that, as in this case, he always has something better planned for me.

You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants. I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth, because Abraham did everything I told him to do.
(Genesis 26:3-5, CEV)

Yahweh reiterates to Isaac his promises to Abraham, chiefly those of possession of Palestine, multitudinous descendents, and of being a conduit through which God blesses the world. His reasoning? “Because Abraham did everything I told him to do.” That’s right, God blesses because of obedience. Note that this does not imply that God only blesses because of prior obedience, nor that God’s blessings will always be clear or immediate, but simply that obedience pleases Yahweh and he often–utlimately, always–responds to that obedience with blessing, with abundant life (John 10:10).

While Isaac is not sent to Egypt, he does have to live “as a foreigner”, something that pretty much all the patriarchs and matriarchs have to do from time to time. Living as a foreigner has its downsides, if only in being in an uncomfortable environment and probably lacking control, but God often uses these trips to “elsewhere” to both bless and mature the folks in question. This shouldn’t after all come as a surprise; Yahweh seems willing to put us through pretty much anything uncomfortable–as up to downright terrible (see Job)–to bring us that much closer to him.

Genesis 21:22-34

2007.Nov.28 15:13

Covenant between Humans

Read Genesis 21:22-23 | Full Chapter

About this time Abimelech and his army commander Phicol said to Abraham, “God blesses everything you do! Now I want you to promise in the name of God that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants, just as I have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner.” And so, Abraham promised.
(Genesis 21:22-24, CEV)

Abimelech and Abraham promise to be nice to each other. Wow, isn’t that sweet. But this promise seems to be more of a promise in passing. So far, it seems to lack depth. But that will change.

One day, Abraham told Abimelech, “Some of your servants have taken over one of my wells.” “This is the first I’ve heard about it,” Abimelech replied. “Why haven’t you said something before? I don’t have any idea who did it.” Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and then the two men made a peace treaty. Abraham separated seven female lambs from his flock of sheep, and Abimelech asked, “Why have you done this?” Abraham told him, “I want you to accept these seven lambs as proof that I dug this well.” So they called the place Beersheba, because they made a treaty there. When the treaty was completed, Abimelech and his army commander Phicol went back to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped the eternal LORD God. Then Abraham lived a long time as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines.
(Genesis 21:25-34, CEV)

Now, Abraham and Abimelech have gone through a situation that has promoted their mutual promise into a covenant. You can divide the covenants in the Bible into groups based on the participants in those covenants: God with group of humans, God with single human, single human with single human, and so on. Something I’ve noticed throughout the Bible is a difference between promises and covenants within all these groups.

Now God’s promises are secure, but even in his case, covenants seem to be, if you will, a higher order of promise. They involve some sort of “signing” activity. So the promise that Abimelech and Abraham make is not backed by any marker to which they can point; that promise comes under fire over the issue of one of Abraham’s wells, which some of Abimelech’s servants take over. (Unless, that is, verses 22-24 are meant as a summary rather than a separate event; but I’m going to persist with my current point in either case). The two “A” guys sort it out, but Abraham adds something to this.

Abe presents Abimelech with seven lambs, to be proof that Abimelech has accepted this particular well as belonging to Abraham. They also make a treaty (written?). So, now there’s an evidence of the promise, which I think is a significant part of a covenant. But Abraham actually adds an additional marker, a tamarisk tree. My guess is this tree is a marker of Abraham’s thanks to Yahweh for whatever part he played in working this out (I imagine including given wisdom to Abraham).

So, in summary, it seems a covenant needs (at least benefits from) a marker of some sort. Markers are generally used in covenants anyway; maybe more important is to recognize that the addition of a marker ought to bring the promise to a higher level, ought to be accompanied by a deliberate decision to count the cost of the covenant before entering.

« 1 2 »