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15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we." 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. 19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land." ~ Genesis 26:15-22
Today, we continue our study of Genesis 26 which is the one chapter in the Bible about the life of Isaac. Today's passage centers around wells. There are many different wells in this world. Some satisfy for a moment and then we need more, but there is one well which will fill us eternally. As the Lord Jesus told the woman at the well, "The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
As we mentioned in our last study, the key to the growth of our faith and our heart's ability to see God is what we do when we encounter trials. It is not the blessings of this life that hone our faith in God, it is the trials that push us to Him along with His word spoken to our hearts. In the first five verses of this chapter we learned 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 our last study we saw that Isaac didn't fair well with the second trial for he lied about the identity of his beautiful wife Rebekah. It was by the grace of God that Isaac was rescued out of the mess caused by his lying. In today's passage we see the next trial to come into the life of Isaac, the filling up with dirt of the wells that his dad had dug. Despite God’s blessing upon Isaac, he had to deal with the Philistines who just wanted to quarrel over everything.
In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, 'Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.'"
Amazingly Isaac's foolish habit of lying didn’t disqualify him from God’s blessing. God prospered him in the land of the Philistines, so much so that they wanted him to leave. In order to make things difficult on Isaac, the Philistines stopped up all the wells which Abraham’s servants had dug. This was in direct violation of the agreement which was made between Abraham and Abimelech some 80 years earlier. The Philistines told Isaac to leave them for he was mightier than they.
In v.17-18 of today's passage we read, "17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them."
Due to this conflict with the Philistines, Isaac departed from living closely with them and he and his people made camp in the Valley of Gerar. This area is about halfway between Gaza and Beer-Sheba. As in the days of Isaac, the same map reflects the divide to this day, some 4000 years later. All of the hard work that was accomplished, and the sources of water that were dug by Abraham were destroyed after he died. This shows the cowardice and envy of the people even more. They waited until Abraham died to do this, knowing that he would have gone in and destroyed them by force. In their attempt to destroy what they believed was the source of his blessings, the Philistines destroyed the wells.
In v.19-20 of today's passage we read, "19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, 'The water is ours.' So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him."
The words "running water" communicate something different. With the digging of this well there was literally "a bubbling up." This well was a unique source of water, like an Artesian well. Isaac named this well "Esek," which means "contention" "because they quarreled with him." "Esek" also describes the on-going conflict that still exists today between the Jews and the Palestinians who are the descendants of the Philistines.
Today, the equivalent to the water in the wells would be the oil in the land. In 1999 a maritime drill struck gas in commercial quantities just 800 feet beneath the Mediterranean 25 miles out from Israel’s southern port of Ashdod. Production began in 2004 at what is called the Mari-B, and some 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas are piped ashore each year from reserves. Another field, known as Tamar was discovered in 2009 off the northern end of Israel’s coast. Tamar was the world’s largest gas find in 2009. A bit further off the coast, there is another source of oil was discovered and this largest reserve of oil in Israel is named Leviathan. And all of these, of course, have the Palestinians protesting as to Israel’s rights to them. These are the modern parallels of this ancient story about Isaac and his wells. Just as water blessed Isaac, the oil God placed in the land of Israel will be a similar source of blessing.
In v.21-22 of today's passage we read, "21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."
Isaac dug another well which he named "Sitnah" which is the feminine form of the word Satan and it literally means "hatred." Then Isaac dug a third well which he called "Rehoboth" which means "plenty of room." From this well, the people of Isaac would be fruitful and the greatest fruit is that which ensures into eternity. Although the fruit spoken of in this chapter is the fruit of this world, the fruit that will endure into eternity is quite a bit different. The Lord Jesus said in John 15:16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."
The astonishing thing about the discovery of the wells is that Isaac kept finding water in the middle of a famine. This is evidence that God was with Isaac to bless him, despite the antagonism of the Philistines. In the end here what we learn is that with the increase of trials in our lives comes the increase of God's blessing into our lives. But, we mustn't stop there because it isn't about the blessings, it's about the Blesser. The highest goal of this life is that we come to know the Lord for ourselves most intimately. This is what our trials offer us, a deeper walk with the Lord.
A hundred years ago, a pair of English ornithologists took birds from their mother’s nest on the island of Skokholm off the coast of Wales. They tagged those birds and transported them to various far-off places, then released them to see whether the birds could find their way home to Wales. One of the birds was released in Venice, Italy. Despite the tremendous distance of about 1,000 miles, the bird found its way back home by a path it had never flown, in just over 14 days!
That experiment was repeated with even greater distances. Two birds were transported by train in a closed box to London, then flown by airplane to Boston. Only one of the two survived that trip. The lone surviving bird flew all the way across the Atlantic Ocean and found its way back to its mother’s nest in 12 days and 12 hours! Humans have a similar instinct hardwired into our souls, the longing to know God. In the words of Saint Augustine, "You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You."
