Chapter 26 begins with a famine in the land, and the Lord has Isaac move to the land of the Philistines. While there Isaac shows the same lack of faith as his father Abraham in trying to pass off his beautiful wife Rebekah as his sister. However, the theme of the chapter has to do with blessing. Even in the midst of famine God blesses Isaac by being able to grow crops and being able to find water. Isaac lived as a man of peace. When others disputed over water rights Isaac moved on. He names the wells he digs. I particularly liked the name Rehoboth which means “broad or wide.” Isaac after digging that well stated, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” After being asked to leave several places Isaac found a place where they were welcome and a place where they could flourish. Isaac was so blessed from the Lord that Abimelech sent advisors to make a treaty. Obviously, he wanted to be in good standing with one so blessed from the Lord.
I learn much from this passage. First, Isaac overall seems to be in tune with Lord and moves at His direction. Because of this God blesses him. Secondly, Isaac keeps moving until he finds the place where he fits. Instead of living in conflict he just keeps moving on trusting that God will help him find more water. Third, I like the fact that one can flourish and be blessed in the midst of famine. I wonder if the economic down turn of the economy in the United States might turn out to be a blessing if it will bring us back to our core values.
“Lord, I ask for blessing in the midst of a famine. I ask for blessing. I ask for our own Rehoboth that we might find the place that we fit. I pray this in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.”
About Me
- Robert and Ray Miller
- Robert is the pastor of First Baptist Texas City, Tx. And Ray is the pastor of First Baptist Mertens, Tx. Robert brings over 30 years of biblical study as a pastor. Ray brings a younger perspective to the Bible and also a command of the original languages. Our greatest passion is to see lives changed through the good news of Jesus Christ.
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THE UNITY OF GOD
"The glory that you gave me, I have given, to be one, as we are one. I in them, and you in me to be perfect in Unity, for the world to get from you sent me, and that you loved them as I too have loved you "(John 17,22-23)
Unity is one of the most valuable and beautiful ideas which are highlighted in the Scriptures. Appears implicit in the moment of creation when God begins to order selection, beauty, diversity, and life to things. Because the creation reflects the Unity of God.
Even the participation of the Triune God reflected Unit, when God uses the plural word "make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gn.1, 26). But the Unity of God is the one element that permeates so also in the man that he is "image of God" (Gn.1, 27). That is, does that image fit the man to be in unity with God, that God speaks to this subject and to God.
But God added a second unit in the form of a man and a bookshop in this loneliness. God created women to be both close to varon "one flesh" (Gn.2, 24). In this way there was a paradise in the perfect unity of man with God and of man with his wife (his neighbor).
Perhaps for this reason it is emphasized that the Lord Jesus as the great commandment to love God and love of neighbor (Matthew 22,36-40). The tragedy begins when these two types of unit were desecrated following the fall of man in sin. And because of sin by the idea of "unity" turns off the conscience of man. From here, the history of humanity is darkened in a series of events that make the man on a destroyer of all forms of unity. Despite the darkness that gripped humanity, God irradio again the idea of unity in some people such as Noah, Moses, Josue, David, Elias, and so on. However, obscurantism prevalecia more in the heart of man. But God had already devised a way in which the unit is made permanent, and did so with the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in human history. So that the Lord Jesus becomes an example of "Unity incarnate," the example of the true man of God united in perfect shape. Jesus is the light of unity that could remove the humanity from the darkness. But as the Unity of God aims to link back to men with their Creator, the unit has been, is and always will be the subject of relentless attack spiritual and earthly forces that oppose it. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered these attacks. His death apparently seems to be the triumph of the opposing forces on the Unity of God, but the resurrection of the Lord Jesus speaks more to the defeat of these forces and the resurrection of the Unit. From here the Unity of God begins to take effect on the fragile minds of men guided by the Holy Spirit, and takes its group with the appearance of the Church of Christ. Finally, the apocalypse describes the ultimate triumph of the Unity of God over all the opposing forces, and the exaltation of that unit that has always existed in eternity: God and the Lamb (Revelation 22:1). It also presents the final work of God on the conscience of man to forge unity in the idea of permanently improved over humanity (the sons of God).
No doubt that anything exists, the unit is the most glorious God who has witnessed the man because the unit is not only an idea but an attribute of God and that He would like to share with their sons.
As I struggle to overcome issues in my past I pray that God will grant me the wisdom and courage of Isaac - to know when to withdraw and when to stand and fight. I will keep digging my wells and pray that one day soon I will finally find my Rehoboth.
God leads us through the good times as well as the hard times. Sometimes we forget to lean on HIM, and let HIM show us the way. Isaac know who to trust and received many blessings. I to trust my furture to the Lord. As I go forward toward a new adventer.
Thanks for thinking of me. I'll keep reading and learning.
In verse 3 of this chapter, the covenant with Abraham is expanded with Isaac when God tells him For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and then He confirms His oath that was given to Abraham.
I also delighted in verse 24 when God tells Isaac, "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."
When my children were young and when I later had grandchildren, I often prayed that God would honor the prayer of my mother who prayed for her children and their children, and He has been so gracious to hear and answer both our prayers.
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