Emmanuel Baptist Church of Nipawin Sermons

God continue to keep His promises through Jacob's dysfunctional family.

There is one way to God, and it comes down from heaven—not the other way around.

Genesis 27 is messy—and it's a part of our story. This is the way God planned for His grace to flow to us.

Passage: Genesis 26:1-33 | Message By: Chris Hutchison | Series: Blood BrothersAny middle children in the room? Middle children someone's have sense of being lost in the middle. Oldest children tend to get a certain amount of attention because they are the first. Youngest children tend to be noticed in a certain way because they are the youngest. And then there's the middle child.

I don't know if this is really a thing or not. But it seems to be the case with the patriarchs. "Patriarch" is a word we use use for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We know lots about Abraham. Jacob had some pretty interesting stories told about him.

But Isaac? Well, other than a few events here and there, today's chapter, chapter 26, is really the only extended place where we see Isaac active as a main character.

But in this chapter we're going to find that Isaac isn't really the main character after all, any more than Abraham before him or Jacob after Him. God is the main character of this story and it's God's blessings, God's promises, and God's initiative that shapes and directs Isaac's life.

Which means that Isaac's story matters, and has a lot to say to wandering pilgrims like you and I today.

A. Prologue: Famine & Philistia (v. 1)

The prologue or introduction to this chapter is in verse 1: “Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines” (Genesis 26:1).

In the Middle East, water was a big deal. Unlike the other super-powers in the ancient world, the land of Canaan had no consistent supply of water. Most of the land depended on the rain. And if there was no rain, you had to go find water.

It's no surprise then that the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were each shaped significantly by their need for water. In Genesis 12, Abraham is hit by a famine and goes to Egypt. Lot's choice of the Jordan valley—because of its water—let to all kinds of major events for the both of them.

Jacob will also head to Egypt because of a famine, which will lead to the 400 years of captivity. Water is a big deal.

And here is Isaac, faced with a famine—a lack of water. What's he going to do? He begins by relocating to Gerar, to the land of the Philistines where Abimelech is king. We might remember an Abimelech that Abraham interacted with, and it's probably not the same person—this is probably a title like "Pharaoh."

Gerar was close the coast and had more rain, so maybe this was a first attempt at getting access to more water. But it seems like Isaac doesn't plan to stay here long. He's on his way to Egypt, the land of the Nile, just like his dad.

B. Blessing & Conflict (v. 2-22)

1. Inheriting the Same Promises (vv. 2-6)

But God stops him. Verse 2: “And the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you’” (Genesis 26:2).

When we read the Bible we can imagine that this kind of event was an everyday occurrence. But how many times did God appear to Isaac? Twice. Most of his life he walked by faith, just like us.

But here, God appears to him to tell him not to go to Egypt. Egypt was a dangerous place. Abraham almost lost Sarah there. Jacob's descendants needed Moses to get them out. Who knows what God is sparing Isaac from.

But there's more here. Because the main reason God wants Isaac to stay in the land has to do with the promises given to Abraham which Isaac is the heir of. Verse 3:

“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws’” (Genesis 26:3–5).

These are the covenant promises given to Abraham. The three-fold promise of the land of Canaan, of offspring that couldn't be counted, and blessing flowing through His offspring to all the nations of the earth. God had promised all of these things to Abraham multiple times, and here he confirms to Isaac that he had inherited these promises.

Isaac's offspring will inherit this land, and will be multiplied like the stars. In Isaac's offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

But we can't forget the best part of these covenant promises, found in verse 3: "Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you." This is the highest gift of any God had given: His very presence with His people. If He was with them, then they could be assured of His blessing and could choose to stay in the land, famine or no famine.

Notice also the reason given for these promises. Verse 3 speaks of establishing "the oath that I swore to Abraham your father." In verse 5, Isaac is told the earth will be blessed through his offspring "because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

There's a pretty clear implication there that Isaac would do well to do the same, walking in his dad's steps by also keeping Yahweh's instructions. Which at this point means, staying put in this land even though there's a famine and going to Egypt would make way more sense.

But at the same time, Isaac is pretty clearly told that these promises don't really depend on him all that much, if at all. Oaths were made and oaths will be kept for Abraham's sake, not his. That's very good news, but it's also very humbling. Isaac is a part of something a lot bigger than himself.

He's the promised child, but the promises are not about him. They don't end with him. They will flow through him to those who come after, and they will do so not because of anything he's done but because of the faithfulness of God to Abraham.

And the good news is that Isaac responds to the Lord, believes these promises, and proves His belief by obedience. Verse 6: “So Isaac settled in Gerar” (Genesis 26:6). Against the evidence, against the common sense, he believes that God will provide for him and he stays put.

2. Repeating the Same Sins (vv. 7-11)

But sadly, Isaac's streak of faith-filled obedience doesn't last very long. God has repeated Abraham's promises to him, but before long, Isaac is repeating some of his father's sins. Look at how this happens in verse 7:

“When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, ‘She is my sister,’ for he feared to say, ‘My wife,’ thinking, ‘lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,’ because she was attractive in appearance” (Genesis 26:7).

Rebekah was beautiful. We know this from when we were introduced to her in chapter 24. And here that same observation is repeated. The underlying Hebrew word here used in both places טוֹב, a basic word for "good." Rebekah was good in appearance—in other words, she was good looking, or beautiful. Which is how most other translations render this word.

And we should notice here that the Bible is not ashamed or embarrassed to identify beauty when it exists. The Bible doesn't describe every woman as beautiful—in fact it doesn't describe many women's appearance at all—but pointing out beauty like this.

That being said, I do struggle with the ESV's translation of "attractive," because instead of being an objective word about someone's appearance, the word "attractive" describes the subjective experience of being attracted to someone's beauty.

And that's something we need to be careful about. Christians, especially married Christians, should be able to recognize beauty in other people without needing to be attracted to it or desiring it for ourselves.

I've heard some Christian men talk as if being faithful to their wife means pretending that every other woman in the world either doesn't exist or is ugly. As if their wife is the only good-looking woman God ever created. And that's ridiculous. If we are to treat one another as brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters should have no problem recognizing beauty in one another, and doing so in purity without desiring that beauty for ourselves.

But that's not how our world thinks. That's not how the Philistines thought. Isaac knew that they would find Rebekah attractive—in other words, they would see her beauty, be drawn to her beauty, want her beauty for themselves, and some of them might actually take her for themselves.

What's he going to do? Well, he pulls an old trick out of the family hat, and tells people that she's his sister. Just like Abraham did, twice with Pharaoh and with another Abimelech.

Apparently Isaac didn't pick up on the fact that this didn't work out all that well for Abraham. Apparently Isaac is willing for Rebekah to be taken from him, which is what happened with his mom when his dad told this same lie. He's just looking out for himself here.

And what's worse, look at what God just told him: "I'll be with you and bless you and your offspring will occupy these lands." One moment he's displaying great faith by choosing to stay in the land, and the next moment his faith has taken a nose-dive and he's telling lies to protect himself because he's not convinced God is up to the task.

In other words, Isaac is just like us. And eventually he gets caught. Verse 8 says, “When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife” (Genesis 26:8).

There's a few things we learn here. First, Isaac's ruse went on for some time. Second, he had moved right in to the royal capital and was living right next to the king. Third, this part of the story must have taken place before Jacob and Esau were born, otherwise it would have been obvious that Rebekah was a mom.

And fourth,

Esau's appetite is a case study in the power of lust—and of how God uses sin to accomplish His plan..

God's reason for all of the impossible situations He puts His people into is to make crystal-clear that His promises will be fulfilled by His power and for His glory alone.

Jesus re-configures our expectations for the Kingdom of God.

The goal of all things is that Jesus be preeminent.

Jesus is a worthy treasure because He is supreme over all creation.

Nothing plus Jesus is better than everything else without Him.