Genesis 26:2

_AND THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM, AND SAID, GO NOT DOWN INTO EGYPT; DWELL IN THE LAND WHICH I SHALL TELL THEE OF:_ And the Lord appeared unto him. This was the first divine communication made to Isaac personally. It had been previously announced to Abraham that Isaac was to be his sole heir; and now that, on the death of his father, he had succeeded to the patrimonial inheritance, he was to receive also a renewal of the divine promise which guaranteed special blessings of inestimable value to him and his posterity. The covenant securing these blessings originated entirely in divine grace; but it was suspended on the condition that Abraham should walk before God and be perfect (Genesis 17:1): and since he had, through the grace which had enabled him to attain an extraordinary strength of faith, fully met that condition by an obedience honoured with the strongest expression of

2._And the Lord appeared unto him_. I do not doubt but a reason is here given why Isaac rather went to the country of Gerar than to Egypt, which perhaps would have been more convenient for him; but Moses teaches that he was withheld by a heavenly oracle, so that a free choice was not left him. It may here be asked, why does the Lord prohibit Isaac from going to Egypt, whither he had suffered his father to go? Although Moses does not give the reason, yet we may be allowed to conjecture that the journey would have been more dangerous to the son. The Lord could indeed have endued the son also with the power of his Spirit, as he had done his father Abraham, so that the abundance and delicacies of Egypt should not have corrupted him by their allurements; but since he governs his faithful people with such moderation, that he does not correct all their faults at once, and render them entirely p...

1-5 Isaac had been trained up in a believing dependence upon the Divine grant of the land of Canaan to him and his heirs; and now that there is a famine in the land, Isaac still cleaves to the covenant. The real worth of God's promises cannot be lessened to a believer by any cross providences that may befall him. If God engage to be with us, and we are where he would have us to be, nothing but our own unbelief and distrust can prevent our comfort. The obedience of Abraham to the Divine command, was evidence of that faith, whereby, as a sinner, he was justified before God, and the effect of that love whereby true faith works. God testifies that he approved this obedience, to encourage others, especially Isaac....

Verse Genesis 26:2. _GO NOT DOWN INTO EGYPT_] As Abraham had taken refuge in that country, it is probable that Isaac was preparing to go thither also; and God, foreseeing that he would there meet with trials, c., which might prove fatal to his peace or to his piety, warns him not to fulfil his intention....

- The Events of Isaac’s Life 5. משׁמרת _mı̂shmeret_, “charge, ordinance.” מציה _mı̂tsvâh_, “command,” special order. חק _choq_, “decree, statute,” engraven on stone or metal. תירה _tôrâh_, “law,” doctrine, system of moral truth. 10. עשׂק _‛__êśeq_, ‘Eseq, “strife.” 21. שׂטנה _śı̂ṭnâh_, Sitnah, “opposition.” 22. רחבית _r__e__chobôt_, Rechoboth, “room.” 26. אחזת...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 26:1 AND THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND (of Canaan), BESIDE THE FIRST (_i_._e_. first recorded) FAMINE THAT WAS IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM—at least a century previous (_vide _Genesis 12:10). AND ISAAC—who, since his father's death, had been residing at Hagar's well in the wilderness of Beersheba (Genesis 25:11)—WENT UNTO ABIMELECH KING OF THE PHILISTINES UNTO GERAR (cf. Genesis 20:1, Genesis 20:2;...

AND THE LORD APPEARED UNTO HIM,.... In a vision or dream, when he was at Gerar: AND SAID, GO NOT DOWN INTO EGYPT; as his father had done in the like case, and where Isaac thought to have gone, and the rather, as that was a fruitful country; and so the Targum of Jonathan, "and it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt, and the Lord appeared unto him, c.'' and charged him not to go thither partly to try his faith in him, and dependence on his providence for support in this time of famine, and partly lest he should think of continuing there, and be unmindful of the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed: DWELL IN THE LAND WHICH I SHALL TELL THEE OF; even the land of Canaan, which he was now about to give him on account of the promise of it to Abraham and his seed, and to renew it to him and to his seed....

GO NOT DOWN (_ See Scofield) - (Genesis 46:3). _...

CHAPTER 26 ISAAC IN GERAR _ 1. The famine (Genesis 26:1)_ 2. Jehovah appears unto Isaac (Genesis 26:2) 3. Isaac in Gerar where he denies Rebekah (Genesis 26:6) 4. Isaac's prosperity and the digging of wells (Genesis 26:12) 5. Jehovah appears at Beersheba (Genesis 26:23) 6. Isaac and Abimelech (Genesis 26:26) 7. The wives of Esau ...

GENESIS 26. ISAAC AND THE PHILISTINES. Apart from Genesis 26:34 f. this chapter belongs to J. The original has been expanded in Genesis 26:1, and Genesis 26:15; Genesis 26:18 are harmonistic insertions. Apart from Genesis 26:12 the incidents are parallel to incidents recorded of Abraham. On the relation to the earlier adventures of Sarah in Egypt and Gerar, see Genesis 26:20 *. The incident is misplaced; obviously it is earlier than the birth of Esau and Jacob.