“Genesis 26:12-17”

Friday, January 17, 2020

“Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. Then Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.’ And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.’

---End of Scripture verses---

“Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.” (verse 12) According to H. M. Morris, “This is the first mention of seed-sowing in the Bible.” Of course, after the universal flood, the Bible tells us that “Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.” (Genesis 9:20) The Author is careful to point out that this happened “in the same year.” So, when Isaac planted his crop and reaped that windfall, it was on the same year that the drought was prominent and the famine was severe in the land of Canaan. This stresses the point that “the Lord blessed him” with this tremendous increase and it was not because of his green thumb or fabulous farming skills. The Lord had promised Isaac that if he remained in the land and trusted Him that He would be with him and bless him greatly (verses 2-3). Once again, as in each and every instance, God proved himself truthful and faithful.

There is a great spiritual parallel and application for sowing and reaping a magnificent harvest with the help of the Lord. In the Parable of the Sower (or Parable of the Soils), when the good-hearted person receives the seed of the word implanted within him, he “indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” If our heart is good, and the powerful word of God is firmly lodged within, it will produce a spiritual crop and increase abundantly in proportion to the trust and faith that we place in God to give the increase. “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7). “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“The man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy” (verse 13). Isaac was the kind of person that everything he touched seemed to turn to gold. Even his small-scale, likely brief venture into farming blossomed into an agricultural bonanza during a drought. “He had possessions of flocks and herds,” much of what was, no doubt, inherited from his father, but that the Lord most certainly increased considerably. As is the case with all exceptionally successful and prosperous people, Isaac became the target of jealousy, and “the Philistines envied him.” “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23) “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.” (Proverbs 17:30)

“Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth.” (verse 15) Motived by hearts filled with envy and resentment for Isaac and his blessings from the Lord, saboteurs engaged in a bit of “domestic terrorism”. “The digging of wells or cisterns, usually in the dry beds of rivers, streams, and brooks, was essential to the pastoralist’s survival. Because the winter floods would silt them up and obliterate them, the wells were frequently lined with stone, or the cisterns were actually hewn out of rock. They would have to be cleaned out after the floods subsided. The Philistines spitefully and deliberately refilled them with dirt.” (Nahum Sarna)

“Then Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.’” (verse 16) Either Abimelech felt the tensions would only escalate between Isaac’s people and his people, or he felt inadequate to provide sufficient protection for Isaac, or Abimelech was motivated by envy himself. Whatever the case, he deemed it time for Isaac to depart, so he suggested or asked or ordered Isaac to vacate his domain. “And Isaac departed from there…” (verse 17) He offered no resistance—“Isaac’s attitude is one of concession and compliance towards the people among whom he sojourns.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) “And camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.” “‘Valley,’ means a narrow defile through which a summer torrent flows. In the bed of these streams water can generally be found by digging, and Isaac hoped that he was far enough from the city for the enmity to cease. But he was mistaken, though he seems for a short period to have been left in peace.” (Ellicott’s Bible for English Readers)

Please read Genesis 26:18-22 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

- Louie Taylor

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