Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 26:1-5”
Categories: Genesis“Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. The Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.’”
---End of Scripture verses---
“Now there was a famine in the land…” (verse 1) “The sharp contrast between God’s promises for the future and the threatening reality of the present is a recurring theme in the patriarchal narratives.” (Nahum Sarna) “Note that this famine, coming nearly a hundred years after the one in Abraham's day, was in the same weather pattern that meteorologists have frequently mentioned, and which even insurance companies take into consideration, ‘The hundred year flood plain’ of a river system is definable. The same is true of drought patterns, a drought apparently having been the cause of the famine mentioned here.” (James Burton Coffman)
“So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. “ (verse 1) This is, no doubt, a different Abimelech than the one that Abraham encountered over three quarters of a century earlier. “Abimelech” was likely either a title, such as “Pharaoh” or “Caesar,” or a recurring “royal name” such as “Louis” or “Charles,” kings of France. It appears that Isaac had actually set out for Egypt as his father had done previously during a similar time of famine (Genesis 12:10). On a purely pragmatic basis, the sizeable, largely populated, well politically organized capital of the region was a logical destination during a time of famine to acquire ample nourishment.
“The Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt…’” (verse 2) The Lord did not divulge His reasons for this prohibition, but repeating our commentary from Genesis 12:10—Very little good ever comes from God's children descending into Egypt during times of distress. It started out well for Joseph and his brothers, but soon their descendants were enslaved. God's people were forbidden to return to Egypt during the days of Jeremiah by fear of punishment and death, but they did so anyway. “The Lord has spoken to you, O remnant of Judah, 'Do not go into Egypt!'...clearly understand that you will die by the sword, by famine and by pestilence, in the place where you wish to go to reside.” (Jeremiah 42:19, 22) Of course, they foolishly went anyway! Once you turn your back on the wicked ways of the world to follow the Lord Jesus, never turn back to a life of sin and evil and error. There's nothing waiting for you in spiritual “Egypt” that's worth going back to!
“Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you…” (verse 3) It was God’s desire and command for Isaac to remain within the confines of the Land of Promise, so in reminiscence of another one of his father’s prior forays, Isaac sojourned in the land of the Philistines for a while and perpetrated some Abrahams’ same offenses. “For a pastoralist to stay in the land in time of famine means courting hunger and the loss of precious livestock.” (Nahum Sarna) Remaining in Canaan during the drought required a good bit of faith on Isaac’s part, so praise should be given to whom praise is due. But, whether in Egypt or Gerar, he would buckle to the pressures of fear as his faithful but fallible father had done before him.
“To you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.” (verse 3) “Here in Gerar, God affirms to Isaac the covenant He had made with Abraham. His initial revelation to the father bade him to the land; this first communication to the son exhorts him not to leave it.” (Nahum Sarna) “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” (verse 4) God’s plan of salvation would not be thwarted by the passions of heathen monarchs or the missteps of His fragile followers. Through the lineage of Isaac the Savior of the world would come forth and bless “all nations of the earth.”
“Because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” (verse 5) “Those who fancy that Abraham was saved by ‘faith only’ should read this verse. God's fulfillment of his promise to Abraham was here said to have been ‘because,’ that is, as a result of, Abraham's OBEDIENCE. The sequence here is not that God saved Abraham, and then Abraham obeyed because God saved him, but that Abraham obeyed, and because he did so, God saved him and fulfilled his promise.” (James Burton Coffman) Of course neither Abraham nor Isaac obeyed God perfectly, and His covenant and promises would not be stymied by the fallibility of the Lord’s patriarchs or people.
Please read Genesis 26:6-11
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
