GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 26 ISAAC AMONG THE *PHILISTINES V1 Now there was a *famine in the country. It was like the previous *famine when Abraham did not have enough food. And Isaac went to the town of Gerar. He went to Abimelech who was the king of the *Philistines. V2... [ Continue Reading ]
(For the previous *famine, see Genesis 12:10.) Gerar was a town that was west of Beer-sheba. It was near to the coast. The inhabitants were *Philistines. ‘Abimelech’ means ‘my father is king’. Every *Philistine king was called ‘Abimelech’. It was not the name of one king. Abraham had met Abimelech... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Do not go down to Egypt.’ Egypt was a good place to live when there was a *famine. The river Nile provided water for Egypt. Therefore, crops grew in Egypt even when there was no rain. And so there was food in Egypt even when there was a *famine in other countries. To go to Egypt would be a wise thi... [ Continue Reading ]
God repeated to Isaac the promises that he had made to Abraham. (See Genesis 12:2-3; Genesis 15:18-21; Genesis 17:1-8; Genesis 22:15-18.) V6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. V7 The men in Gerar asked Isaac about his wife Rebekah. He said to them, ‘She is my sister.’ He was afraid to say, ‘She is my wife.’... [ Continue Reading ]
During the previous *famine, Abraham went to Egypt. And he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. (See Genesis 12:10-13. At that time, Abraham was called Abram. And Sarah was called Sarai.) And on another occasion, Abraham went to Gerar. Again, he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. (See Gene... [ Continue Reading ]
Abimelech insisted on right moral standards. Probably he knew what had happened when Abraham visited Gerar. Probably his father had told him about his dream. (See Genesis 20:3. For ‘his father’ see the comment on verse 1.) So Isaac had no need to lie about his wife. He was not in danger. V12 And Is... [ Continue Reading ]
A harvest that was 100 times was a very good harvest. The *famine was over. And Isaac’s animals increased greatly. But the *Philistines did not gain so much. God brought good things to Isaac but he did not bring good things to the *Philistines.... [ Continue Reading ]
Wells were very important. The animals needed to drink water. Apart from the wells, there was little water in the country. Therefore, to fill wells with earth was like an act of war. Things like this happen nowadays. God may give good success to people who know him. Then other people may attack thos... [ Continue Reading ]
Abimelech would not attack Isaac. But he could not prevent his people from attacking Isaac. So he advised Isaac to go away. V17 So Isaac left there. He put his tents in the valley of Gerar and he lived there. V18 And Isaac repaired the wells that people had made in the days of Abraham his father. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaac did not fight against the *Philistines. He did not try to defend the wells that the *Philistines had ruined. Instead, he went away, as Abimelech had said. But he did not go far.... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaac repaired other wells, which the *Philistines had ruined on a previous occasion. Abraham had shown to Isaac where these wells were. That was important information. So Isaac was able to find them. He called them by their old names in order to prove that they had belonged to Abraham. Therefore, t... [ Continue Reading ]
The *Philistines still quarrelled with Isaac’s men because there was not enough space. But when Isaac moved far enough away they stopped quarrelling. ‘Esek’ means ‘difficulty’. ‘Sitnah’ means ‘quarrel’. ‘Rehoboth’ means ‘room’. GOD APPEARS TO ISAAC V23 From there Isaac went to Beer-sheba. V24 Dur... [ Continue Reading ]
God repeated the promises that he had already given to Isaac. (See verses 3-4 and the comment.) ISAAC’S AGREEMENT WITH ABIMELECH V26 Then Abimelech went from Gerar to visit Isaac. He took with him Ahuzzath, who advised him. And he took with him Phicol, who *commanded his army. V27 Isaac said to th... [ Continue Reading ]
Abimelech was the king of the *Philistines. (See verse 1 and the comment.) Abimelech realised that Isaac had become powerful. Isaac had many servants. So Abimelech did not want Isaac to be an enemy. Therefore, Abimelech wanted to make an agreement with Isaac. And probably he thought, ‘I sent Isaac a... [ Continue Reading ]
Isaac did not want to be friendly with the *Philistines. But also, he did not intend to fight against them. So he was willing to make an agreement with them. They agreed to live in peace with each other. V32 On that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him. They told him that they had made a well. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Abraham had called this well ‘Beer-sheba’. (See Genesis 21:31.) That means ‘the well of 7’. The number 7 was a sign of an agreement. (See the comment on Genesis 21:27-30.) Isaac calls it ‘Shibah’, which means ‘agreement’. ‘Shibah’ is almost the same word as ‘sheba’. Isaac might have said, ‘Abraham c... [ Continue Reading ]
Esau married foreign women. Genesis does not tell us that marrying foreign women was always wrong. But sometimes it caused trouble and it made people unhappy. And in later times, God told Jacob’s *descendants not to marry foreign women. (See the comment on Genesis 38:2.) PHILISTINES ~ people who liv... [ Continue Reading ]