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6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful." 8 After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister?' Isaac replied, 'Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.'" 10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, "What in the world have you done to us? One of the men nearly took your wife to bed, and you would have brought guilt on us!" 11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, "Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death." 12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent. 14 He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. ~ Genesis 26:6-14
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 26 where we observe the development of Isaac's relationship with God. The first thing we saw in our last study from Isaac was that faith cannot grow apart from trials. In fact, this chapter is all about trials of various kinds. In the first five verses of this chapter we learn of the first trial in the life of Isaac: There was famine in the land. And, Isaac learned to some degree to depend upon God. This is the point of all of our trials, learning to know this patient God who is bigger than we can imagine.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "So Isaac dwelt in Gerar."
Here, Isaac is seen immediately obeying God. The Lord had told him to stay where he was, so, Isaac stayed in Gerar. Whenever we do something right in reference to God's word, we must expect that soon thereafter another trial will come. Like Isaac, God has brought us to the place where we now know Him to some degree. He has done this not to just take us home to heaven, but to use us in this world to tell others about our hope in Him. God created us for two things: to worship Him and to serve others.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, 'She is my sister'; for he was afraid to say, 'She is my wife,' because he thought, 'lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.'"
So, the stage was set for yet another trail to come into Isaac's life. God causes or allows the trials to come about in our lives in order to free us from the bondage of our fears. Like his dad, Isaac deceitfully claimed that Rebekah was his sister and not his wife. Man, the fruit does not fall far from the tree. Isaac lied because of the same reason as Abraham, because Rebekah was incredibly beautiful. Like Abraham and Isaac, our faults are like a grain of sand next to the high mountain of God's mercy. So, don't be too surprised when people like Isaac do all of the stupid things that one does as they fumble and bumble their way on the pathway of their journey of faith. Don't be surprised when God, who is merciful, blesses them in spite of their foolishness.
Like Abraham and Isaac, we hear God's promises, and we see God do miracles and then we quickly degenerate into an old pattern of sinfulness. And, that is okay because the struggle to get to this place is a very valuable part of being convinced that all we need is Him. God knows this about all of us and yet He does not give up on us.
C.S.Lewis once wrote, "Aslan" said Lucy "you're bigger." "That is because you are older, little one" answered he. "Not because you are?" "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.” God is forever calling us to a life of complete surrender to Him but we struggle to get there. As we grow in our faith, like Lucy in Lewis' writings, we see Him more clearly.
In v.8-9 of today's passage we read, "8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, 'She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister’?' Isaac replied, 'Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.'"
The word translated "long time" can mean days or even years. Isaac and Rebekah hid their secret for some time until Alimelech the king of Gerar figured it out. Abimelech means Father of the King. Very subtly God the Father spoke to Isaac through this true story. Until we are defined correctly by God, we will never know life as it was meant to be because sin will always mare our understanding of it.
Isaac lied to cover his butt and he was all about himself. This is where a life defined by anything other than God leads us; it leads us to places that we never wanted to go in the first place. We will never regret resisting sin, but we will always regret giving into it. To his credit, Isaac resisted the lust of the flesh and responded to Alimelech's question honestly, just as his father Abraham had in exactly the same situation and in exactly the same place many long years earlier.
In v.10-11 of today's passage we read, "10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, 'What in the world have you done to us? One of the men nearly took your wife to bed, and you would have brought guilt on us!' 11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, 'Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.'"
The irony of this story is that the pagan king of Gerar seemed to have better morals than the man of God, the patriarch Isaac. This man of the world understood that men and women of God should be honest, faithful, have lives filled with integrity, and so here is the unbelieving king rebuking this man of God. This just underscores that spirituality and morality are not the same. We are all in process and just as God is patient with us, we must be patient with one another.
The Lord graciously intervened before anything could happen, just like He did with Abraham. If something did happen to either of them, then the Philistines would have been in violation of the treaty Abraham made with Abimelech about eighty years earlier which is found in Genesis 21. Abimelech asked Abraham for a treaty and the treaty was cut between the two of them. It was binding on them. Abimelech remembered the covenant and he was a man who had reverence for the word which they agreed upon. And, if one of Abimelech's people had violated Isaac or Rebekah, they would have had the same punishment come upon them.
In v.12-14 of today's passage we read, "12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent. 14 He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him."
Isaac learned a hard lesson and eventually obey God who once again favored Isaac on the heels of his faith and obedience. And, hidden within these verses is a concept which is so deep we have the most difficult time understanding. The phrase "reaped a hundred times" shares the same root and basic spelling as the word "barley." Barley is known as the crop of hairy ears because of its hairy appearance. The root of this word is "hair." Hair in the Bible indicates an awareness of things. The goat for example is used in Leviticus for the sin offering and it is known for its hair. We have an awareness of sin in the hairy goat sin offering.
In the Old Testament book of Numbers we discover the Nazirite vow. This vow was made in order to consecrate a person to the Lord. During the time of that vow, they were never to cut their hair. Samson was a Nazirite from birth as were Samuel and John the Baptist. The hair on their head was a reminder of their state, just as the hairy goat is a reminder of sin. The barley harvest that Isaac reaped was a reminder of God’s covenant to him and the abundant blessing he received was because of his time of living faithfully within that covenant.
Despite Israel's unfaithfulness and unbelief, in 1948 they were returned to the promised land having been scattered throughout the earth. They are now living in the land as was promised by God throughout the Old Testament. For Israel, now is the time of hair, the time of awareness, the time of the barley harvest, and the mighty reaping of the grain.
As a result of Isaac's faith and obedience, God made him a great man. What a picture of the people of Israel today. Isaiah predicted this over 2700 years ago when he said,"Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit." Isaiah wrote those words at a time when it wasn’t even possible for the land to produce like it has and yet it has come true in our lifetime. Fruit from Israel is found around the world, and not just literal fruit, but the fruit of their labors in every way possible. They have flooded the world with the blessings of technology, medicine, food, and prosperity.
As always, along with blessing and prosperity comes something else, something dark, and cold, wicked, and sinister. It is something that inevitably ruins everything it touches. I speak of the envy of the Philistines in v.14. Isaac inherited all that Abraham had and now he had even more. He had grown to the point that he was the greatest man in the land. And today, Israel has inherited the land of promise once again and has brought all of the wealth it obtained from the world into the Land of Israel. Once again they are now the greatest people in all the land and others hate them for their success. This is why we must not be defined by any other than the God of the Bible.
