Genesis 26:1-11
The Sins and Blessings of the Father

The Context: God Reaffirms His Oath (1-5)
1. The Setup: Isaac Tempted to Leave the Promised Land (1)
  1. There is a famine in the land
    1. Will Isaac be like Esau?
    2. Will he count the filling of his belly more important than the promises of God?
    3. Will he give up on this land for a bowl of lentil stew?
    4. What is more important to Isaac?
      1. On the one hand, God promised this land to the offspring of Abraham. To him. And this land is a picture of heaven; it represents his hope of salvation and eternal life.
      2. On the other, he cannot see how something as simple as his need for daily bread will be supplied. How then will God supply something as great as this land - as great as heaven and eternal life?
    5. To stay is to confess that he believes God's promises and relies on God alone to fulfill them.
    6. To leave is to confess that he has lost faith in God and must begin to provide for himself as best he can.
  2. Besides the first famine in the days of Abraham
    1. We are reminded that Abraham went through the same dilemma
    2. And he failed.
    3. He faltered in his faith in God.
    4. He left his country to come to this strange place at God's command; but when famine struck, he began to doubt.
    5. He went down to Egypt.
    6. Egypt, that constant temptation to the people of God!
      1. How they relied on Egypt again and again rather than God who is all powerful.
      2. Remember the children of Israel in the wilderness. When they were hungry and thirsty they longed to return to Egypt where at least they had leeks and onions. They no longer wanted to go forward to Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey.
      3. Centuries later, when Babylon was attacking Judah, Judah put its hope in an alliance with Egypt. The power of Egypt, not the power of God, would save them. Result: Babylonian captivity.
      4. Abraham went there for food. How could he resist?
        
        Egypt lies in the Nile basin
        
        The Nile river travels over 3,500 miles from what is now called Lake Victoria to Egypt. It is fed by many rivers and streams along the way.
        
        And Lake Victoria, its headwaters, is the largest fresh water lake in Africa, second largest in the world.
        
        That whole lake would have to empty out and all the rivers and streams feeding the Nile would have to dry up before Egypt lacked water.
        
        As long as it is raining somewhere in Central Africa or snowing somewhere in its mountains, the Nile will continue to rise every season and flood that basin and water the crops.
        
        Egypt is like a massive savings account of food and water, guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the geography of Africa.
        
        The temptation to trust in Egypt is overwhelming.
  3. Will Isaac go down to Egypt?
    1. Will he trust in that savings account of food and water, rather than in the Lord his God?
    2. What makes Isaac feel secure? The promise of God or the presence of food?
  4. He goes to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar
    1. We are told part of the outcome up front
    2. Isaac does not go down to Egypt, but stays in the Promised Land
    3. Verses 2 through 5 tell us why.
2. God's Exhortation: Dwell in the Land and Rely on My Promise (2-4)
  1. "Then" the Lord appeared
    1. This translation makes it sound as though Isaac went to Gerar first and then the Lord appeared.
    2. It is a possible translation, but it doesn't fit the context.
    3. Like a lot of Hebrew narratives, the first verse gives you a summary of the whole story; the following verses unpack that summary.
    4. So verse 1 (read it) is the summary of our story
    5. And verse 2 is saying, "Let me tell you how it happened that Isaac decided to camp in Gerar."
  2. "Do not go down to Egypt," God exhorts
    1. Now, why do I say "exhorts" rather than "commands"?
    2. There are two ways of giving instructions not to do something in Hebrew:
      1. The strong, dogmatic way.
        
        Do NOT eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
        
        Do NOT have any other gods before me
        
        These are stern warnings, complete with sanctions for disobedience. If you do these things I will punish you
      2. The gentle, exhorting way
        
        This is what we see here
        
        I urge you not to go down to Egypt.
    3. God is pleading with Isaac to consider the greatness of the promises made to him and not to abandon the land
    4. It is, if you will, a gospel command
      1. Not, "Obey me or you will die"
      2. But, "Consider my promises and my faithfulness and rely upon them by heeding my command."
    5. Don't go putting your trust in Egypt, Isaac.
      1. Consider what you've seen
        
        I provided a ram as a substitute so that you would not have to die
        
        I gave you a wife
        
        I opened her womb when she was barren
      2. Consider what you've heard
        
        How Abraham's doubting and going to Egypt only brought disaster from which I had to rescue him
        
        How I blessed Abraham in this land as he relied on me
        
        How Abraham tried to produce a child in his own strength, but I rejected him.
        
        How I opened Sarah's womb and provided you, the true seed of Abraham
  3. Considering all this, live in the land I'll show you (just as Abraham did in faith)
  4. But God doesn't simply leave Isaac to call all these things to mind if he wants to.
    1. He appears to Isaac as he did to Abraham
    2. God reminds Isaac of his oath and promise to Abraham
    3. He preaches the gospel to Isaac that Isaac may obey in faith, relying on the faithfulness of God.
  5. "I will be with you"
    1. What a precious promise! This is the first time God has ever said something like that.
    2. He has already told Abraham he will be his God and the God of his offspring (seed)
    3. Now he reinforces that in a personal way.
    4. What good is all the wealth of Egypt if it is in this land that God has said he will be with Isaac!
    5. This, surely, is the only important thing. If God is with Isaac, who can be against him?
  6. "I will … bless you"
    1. He already promised to bless Abraham and his offspring
    2. Now he confirms that Isaac is indeed the offspring of Abraham that he has chosen to bless.
  7. "For to you and your offspring I give all these lands"
  8. "I will perform the oath that I swore to your father Abraham"
    1. He grounds this in the surety of his oath.
    2. It is impossible for God to lie or go back on his word
    3. Therefore, Isaac, you may have absolute confidence that my oath is still valid
    4. So I still intend to make your descendants as the stars of heaven
    5. And I still intend that in your offspring all nations of the earth shall be blessed.
  9. Isaac may have utter confidence in this God who preaches this gospel to him so forcefully, lest he falter in his faith and trust rather in Egypt.
3. God's Reason for Blessing: The Righteousness of Abraham (5)
  1. Why will God do all this? "Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
  2. It is not your own righteousness, Isaac, that has brought about these blessings.
  3. I will do this for you because of the righteousness of another.
  4. What's happening? Is God really saying that Abraham was righteous enough to earn all these blessings?
    1. Has he forgotten?
    2. He was the one who chose and called Abraham when Abraham was worshiping other gods beyond the Jordan
    3. He was the one who remained faithful to Abraham even when Abraham went down to Egypt, or tried to produce an heir by his own strength, or laughed at the idea that Isaac would be born, or lied about his wife to Abimelech so he wouldn't be killed.
    4. Is it this Abraham who obeyed God's voice and kept his charge and his commandments and his statutes and his laws? Sufficiently for God to pronounce such amazing blessings?
    5. What is God thinking?
  5. Let's get a few things straight
    1. Abraham is not righteous enough in himself to merit these blessings
    2. God offered Abraham these promises before Abraham had done anything righteous.
  6. Nevertheless, Abraham did demonstrate the righteousness of faith when he obeyed God and prepared to sacrifice Isaac
    1. And God responds by saying, because you have done this I will bless you.
    2. He does not offer Abraham new blessings, but he does use Abraham's faithful obedience as the occasion for repeating his promise of blessing.
    3. Abraham was not righteous in himself.
    4. But because he acted in faith, he became a picture of the one who is truly righteous.
      1. He became a picture of Jesus
      2. It is Jesus who by his righteousness has truly earned these blessings of God.
  7. So now, in this speech to Isaac, the people of God are being prepared for this principle: It is not because of your own righteousness that I will bless you. You must rely on the righteousness of another
    1. Isaac is pointed back to Abraham, the picture of Jesus
    2. But ultimately he and Abraham both must look forward to Christ, the truly righteous one who has merited these blessings.
The Results: Isaac Falters; God Is Faithful (6-11)
1. Isaac Responds in Faith (6)
  1. The early returns are good.
  2. Isaac dwells in Gerar.
    1. He does not go down to Egypt in unbelief, relying on the promise of plentiful food and drink.
    2. He stays in the land, relying on God's promise that he and his offspring will be blessed and will inherit this land and will be a blessing to the nations.
  3. He has learned from his father Abraham
    1. Abraham got no good out of going down to Egypt.
    2. But when he remained in the land and relied on God's promises, God blessed him
    3. So Isaac will remain in the land and rely on God's promises
    4. Abraham's faith is reproduced in his son; and that is reason to rejoice.
  4. Isaac heard God preach the gospel to him, and he believed it.
  5. The demonstration of this is that he dwells where God tells him to.
  6. But then he falters.
2. Isaac Responds in Doubt (7)
  1. He has reproduced Abraham's faith by relying on God's promises.
  2. He has even exceeded Abraham's faith, at the point where Abraham experienced famine and was tempted to go down to Egypt
  3. Isaac now reproduces one of Abraham's less flattering moments
  4. He tells the people of Gerar that Rebekah is his sister.
    1. In doing this, like a coward, he protects himself at Rebekah's expense
    2. He fears one of the men of Gerar may feel free to take Rebekah by force and make her his wife
    3. Isaac fears that if he stands in the way, he will be killed
    4. So he steps out of the way and makes it easier for one of the men of Gerar to take Rebekah.
  5. Haven't we seen this sort of behavior before?
    1. In Abraham. Twice.
    2. In Egypt, Abraham pulled this stunt with Sarah
      1. He was relying not on God but on Egypt to provide food
      2. Yet he fears Egypt, so he lies about Sarah and tells her to lie also.
      3. Had he relied on God, he would have had no need to fear the hand that fed him.
    3. In Gerar, the very place where Isaac sins
      1. Abraham suspects the household of Abimelech and so lies again
      2. (This, by the way, is most likely a previous Abimelech to the one in today's story. We are probably in today's story looking at the son of that Abimelech - also named Abimelech - dealing with the son or Abraham.)
      3. Rebekah is taken into Abimelech's harem
      4. God closes up the wombs of Abimelech's household and appears to Abimelech in a dream
      5. Abimelech rebukes Abraham and gives his wife back .
    4. Didn't Isaac learn anything from this tale?
      1. He finds himself in the same location
      2. And he surely knows what happened to his father in this location.
      3. Yet he commits the same sin.
      4. Indeed, where do you suppose Isaac got the idea of saying Rebekah is his sister?
      5. Doubtless he remembers Abraham's story, but forgets the moral.
      6. All he can think is, that's a good idea. I'll try that trick.
      7. God had just said that he would bless Isaac because of the righteousness Abraham.
      8. Yet here it is the sin of Abraham that is being visited on his offspring
      9. Isaac needs a better righteousness than Abraham can offer if he is to dwell securely in this land.
  6. Isaac has lost his confidence in the protecting power of God.
  7. God had said, "I will be with you."
    1. But that promise does not comfort him.
    2. God seems remote and his abilities to protect minimal
    3. So Isaac tries to protect himself
    4. He relies on his own wits, his own ingenuity, his own ability
3. God Protects Isaac Anyway (8-11)
  1. Isaac dwells a long time in Gerar
    1. During that time, no one in Gerar tries to take Rebekah.
    2. She is a beautiful, apparently eligible female. Yet no one seeks her for his bride. The Lord protects her.
    3. This ought to have strengthened Isaac's faith, but it does not.
    4. He continues to sin, lying that Rebekah is his sister
  2. So finally, God in his providence, brings matters to a head
    1. Abimelech observes Isaac and Rebekah behaving toward one another in a way that brothers and sisters just don't behave.
    2. He concludes, rightly, that Rebekah is Isaac's wife, not sister
    3. And he becomes God's instrument of rebuke to Isaac, just as the former Abimelech had been to Abraham.
    4. Abimelech remembers what had happened in Abraham's day.
    5. He knows, better than Isaac, that God is with this man.
    6. He knows that to curse this man, even accidentally, is to be cursed by God
      1. This is what God promised Abraham - whoever curses you, I will curse
      2. This is what happened to the last Abimelech - he didn't even know he'd taken Abraham's wife and still he was cursed
      3. So this Abimelech knows better than Isaac what Isaac ought to know best of all - Isaac's God is not to be toyed with. He is a powerful God; he keeps his promises
  3. So Abimelech reinforces God's protection of Isaac
    1. "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death."
    2. Here Isaac was afraid of what Abimelech might do to him, so much so that he couldn't trust God
    3. But Abimelech understands so well who God is that he won't lift a finger to harm Isaac or allow anyone else to do so.
  4. How wonderfully God has cared for Isaac in spite of his sin
  5. Just as he did for Isaac's father, Abraham.
The Exhortation: Walk by Faith
1. We Have a Better Righteousness than Abraham's
  1. Isaac was told that God would bless him because Abraham was righteous.
    1. Yet we know that Abraham was not perfectly righteous
    2. This very story reminds us of one of Abraham's great failings
    3. It's as though Abraham's sin is imputed to Isaac so that he behaves the same way.
    4. He needs a better head; he needs a better righteousness than Abraham's
  2. He has a better righteousness in Abraham's Seed, Christ Jesus
  3. And so do you.
  4. It is Jesus who alone has truly and completely obeyed God's voice, kept his charge, his commandments, his statutes and his laws.
    1. Inspect this righteousness! It is stunning in its beauty and its completeness.
    2. Not a moment of doubt (unlike Abraham and Isaac and you and me)
    3. Not the smallest smidgen of sin
  5. Therefore, Christ has truly merited all the blessings that were promised to Abraham.
    1. You need offer God no righteousness of your own. You have no righteousness but that which is Christ's
    2. And God has already accepted it (explain resurrection)
  6. Therefore all these promised blessings are yours in Christ Jesus
  7. Live by this faith!
    1. Stop trying to justify yourselves, before God and men
    2. Stop wondering if God has really decided to bless you
  8. Stop being like Isaac! You have even less excuse!
    1. I.e. stop living in fear. What can man do to you?
    2. Stop relying on your own schemes, your own abilities, your own wisdom.
    3. Isaac relied on those and look where it got him.
    4. Sure, God protected him anyway - that's grace for you!
    5. But he could have lived those years without anxiety, giving glory to God by telling the truth in all things, and relying on God to keep his promises.
    6. All by believing God that the blessings had already been secured by the righteousness of another.
    7. Instead, though God was with him, he was as afraid and foolish as if he was alone
2. We Have a Confidence Founded on Better Promises
  1. God has appeared to us in Christ
    1. This is even better than the way he appeared to Isaac
    2. For in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.
    3. In Christ, the Father is fully revealed
    4. So now the promised Spirit of Christ is in you
      1. You don't even have to rely on this promise, as of something future
      2. The Spirit has come; he dwells in you.
      3. He testifies that God is your Father and that the inheritance of the sons of God belongs to you. Heaven, God's dwelling place, belongs to you.
    5. Christ appears to you now, through the preaching of the word. You receive it not by sight, but by faith.
  2. "I will be with you"
    1. Again, a promise that has in one sense already been fulfilled.
    2. Jesus, Immanuel, God-with-us, has come. He is with you by his Spirit forever.
    3. Imagine how comforting it should have been to Isaac - the Creator, the omnipotent God is with me.
    4. Who can do anything to harm me?
    5. You have the same assurance and even more so in Christ Jesus, by whom God is with you as fully as he possibly can be.
    6. Christ himself has assured us, "I am with you always, to the end of the age."
    7. Let us live fearlessly as those who have the Lord on and by our side.
  3. "I will bless you"
    1. Did God say this to Isaac? He says it even more plainly to you.
    2. He has clarified what he means by blessing
      1. no mere earthly riches that are passing away.
      2. Abraham received these.
      3. By the end of this chapter, so will Isaac.
      4. But they are nothing.
      5. The blessing God offers is clarified in Christ. It is richer and deeper. It is eternal.
      6. Well does Paul begin his letter to the Ephesians by blessing the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
      7. You have already received this blessing in Christ.
      8. Lay hold of this promise then, for how can God take back what he has given to Christ.
  4. "To you and your offspring I will give all these lands"
    1. This also is clarified: The offspring is Christ, the "lands" are the new heavens and the new earth.
    2. He has already earned them and entered in.
    3. What do we have to fear?
    4. Heaven and eternal life are ours by right of inheritance!
    5. We could lose our lives and still lose nothing that we will not gain back in the last day.
    6. Take courage in this, child of God!
    7. Do not go down to Egypt
      1. Do not put your trust in the things of this world.
      2. Whether your savings account is in the Nile river or an American bank, it profits you nothing; it offers you NO security.
      3. Your government cannot protect you; God can and does
      4. Your job does not provide for you; God does
      5. Your intelligence or work ethic or talent or skill - these cannot save you anymore than Isaac's craftiness in calling Rebekah his sister save him.
    8. Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken; let us lay up our treasure there.
  5. "In your seed all nations of the earth shall be blessed"
    1. In Christ, all nations of the earth have been blessed
    2. The gospel has gone forth into every corner of the world
    3. He has redeemed for himself people from every nation, tribe, and tongue
    4. Who can thwart the plans of God, of God who makes such powerful promises and keeps them in a more glorious way than we could have expected?
  6. Only trust in Christ, cling to his righteousness, rely on God's faithfulness in him, and fear nothing though you are surrounded by enemies
    1. The lust of your flesh may tempt you. What does it offer that compares with what God has already given?
    2. The desire of your eyes may try to turn you. But what do your eyes see that is more glorious than the unseen glories of God in Christ - glories to be revealed at the last day?
    3. The desire to boast in yourself may lead you astray. Put it to death! What have you ever done that was right or good? What can you do to care for and protect yourself? You are no better than Isaac; your plans will go no better than his! Boast in the Lord and to him give glory forever. Amen.

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Genesis 26:1-11 The Sins and Blessings of the Father

Genesis 26:1-11
The Sins and Blessings of the Father