Episode 288 - "Abimelech recognized God's presence with Isaac" - Genesis 26:17-35

So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

Gen. 26:23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Gen. 26:26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Gen. 26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

This is the second half of a two-part story. In our last episode, a famine had driven Isaac to find a better place to shepherd his flocks and herds. The LORD instructed him not to go to Egypt. So, he stayed in the area where the Philistines were, and he tried the same strategy his father, Abraham, had used to protect himself: he told the Philistines that his wife, Rebekah, was his sister. King Abimelech quickly discovered the truth and instructed his citizens to leave Isaac and Rebekah alone.

Isaac continued to dwell there, and the LORD blessed him and caused him to become very wealthy. This evoked jealousy among the Philistines, and so Abimelech told him to leave the area.

As we pick up the story in verse 17, we see that the Philistines were doing everything in their power to force him to move farther away. They kept filling up the wells where Isaac was keeping his flocks and herds, so that they had no water. Finally, Isaac’s workers dug a well, and the Philistines left it alone. Isaac credited the LORD for “making room for him” in the land (Gen 26:22). He went up to Beersheba, where the LORD appeared to him and reaffirmed his covenant promise that he had made with his father Abraham. Isaac built an altar and worshipped the LORD.

The next thing that happened was that Abimelech, along with his military commander and an advisor, went to visit Isaac. I’m sure Isaac was thinking, “What now?” It’s pretty evident in his words in verse 27. To paraphrase, “What are you doing here? You hate me and kicked me out of your region.”

Abimelech strikes me as a quick learner. It seems to me that he had Isaac leave to ease the political situation with his citizens, who were jealous of Isaac’s success. But his response to Isaac’s question acknowledges that the LORD was with Isaac. Abimelech and his top leaders want to ensure that, although they had Isaac leave their area, they do not want to be at odds with Isaac and his God. So, they made a covenant of peace with Isaac. This peaceful relationship between the Philistines and the people of the Abrahamic covenant would not last forever. But for now, the LORD was establishing Abraham’s descendants in the land of Canaan in a peaceful existence.

The story quickly turns to his son Esau. If you recall, Esau was the older son who readily sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of soup. Here, Moses writes that Esau took two wives, and both of them were daughters of Hittites. The whole purpose of this little detail is to show how Esau stands in contrast to Abraham and Isaac. Abraham made sure that Isaac’s wife was not a local girl who worshipped the various gods of the people in the land. Esau takes his wives with no consideration for their values. Moses writes that these daughters-in-law made life “bitter for Isaac and Rebekah” (v. 35).

What stands out to me most in this story is how the LORD makes himself known, and when people recognize that, they have choices to make. Do I want to be in harmony with this God and his people (such as Abimelech did with Isaac), or do I just want to do whatever I want with no consideration of the consequences (as Esau)?