Genesis 26

Frustration and fear are regular features of a world that is under the Lord's sentence of futility. Since the fall of Adam, God's most favored servants have had to navigate their way through many trials. Even the Lord Jesus Christ warned His disciples, “In this world you will have tribulation.”

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were greatly blessed by God, but they did face troubles. They lived in a hostile environment among nomadic tribes where envy might mean murder, and where everyday dangers were serious. As Abraham once had fears for his safety on account of his wife Sarah, Isaac now faced the warlord-kings of his day who might want Rebekah for their great harems.

Yet the promise of God is greater than the power of the greatest kings among men. God said to Isaac, “I will be with you.” The Lord reiterated to Isaac all the promises that He had spoken to Abraham. So Isaac followed the instruction of the Lord, and stayed in the land of Canaan, yet he was afraid. As his father and his mother before him, Isaac and Rebekah pretended to be brother and sister rather than husband and wife.

Eventually the Abimelech of that time and place noted the close behavior of Isaac and Rebekah, and the two were found out. But rather than bringing upon them some harm, this awareness of the truth was regarded with surprising respect by the powerful man, and he announced to all, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

Rather than suffering forever as a victim of the earthly powers all around him, like Abraham before him, and Jacob after him, Isaac was blessed by God. The Lord was able to protect Isaac and Rebekah through serious situations of danger, and to prosper them in places where they were strangers.

We are told that Isaac sowed in that land and reaped a hundredfold in just one year. It was the Lord's determination to be true to his promise. Isaac would be blessed. This would not happen because the man was congenial or clever. The Lord blessed him. So Isaac became a very wealthy man.

With wealth can come significant troubles. The forerunners of the Philistines who were already living in the land at that time envied Isaac. They made trouble for Isaac by trying to limit his supply of water, filling with earth all the wells that the servants of Abraham had dug in earlier years. Isaac attempted to live at peace among hostile people groups. He moved to land that must have seemed less desirable to his enemies. When they wanted him to leave, he eventually left. He attempted to dig again the wells from his father's days, but those who hated his success continued to plague him. Through all of these challenging years, Isaac was trying to be a man of peace, yielding to others, and suffering their abuse, until he found a spot where thy would leave him and his people alone. He received that place with thanksgiving and expressions of faith, saying, “The Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

God was with him, appearing to him again and reassuring him of the certainty of his covenant blessings. He spoke to Isaac of fear. God knows what we feel like when powerful people are against us and we are chased into situations where we are left alone only because others see our condition as undesirable. The Lord can prosper His people very well in such situations. Therefore, He says to Isaac, “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.” Isaac responds with worship. Are your enemies against you? The Lord God is your friend. Fear not.

In his place of exile, despised by the people in authority, Isaac received a visit from Abimelech. Why wouldn't they just leave him in peace? This time the ruler had come to acknowledge the blessing of God in Isaac's life, and to make a covenant of peace. Now fear had fallen on Isaac's enemies, since it had become obvious to them that the Lord was the Helper of this son of Abraham.

This covenant between Isaac and Abimelech was sealed with a feast and with the exchange of public promises. The Lord continued to bless Isaac with water and prosperity. But Isaac's son Esau, whom he especially loved, became entangled with the people of the land by marrying two of the local women. This disturbed Isaac and Rebekah.

The Lord is able to bless His servant even in this world that is under His judgment. Though God's enemies drive His chosen one into the most despised corner of creation, God will surely bless the one He has promised to bless.

There has never been a less desirable place to be than the cross of Christ. Those who were envious of Jesus of Nazareth and of the obvious blessing of God upon Him, conspired together to bring Jesus to a place of death. Though Christ came to Calvary through the hands of wicked men, it was also according to the plan of the Almighty Himself that our Savior occupied the worst space of all time, a Roman cross where the Lamb of God would take the sins of His people upon Himself. Yet God has made that place of shame into a place of glorious blessing. Out of defeat, the victory of resurrection has come to us. We can follow Jesus into places of lowliness and disgrace in our own lives with faith that even there, the Lord will surely bless His people.