| Subject: Genesis 26 vss. 12-17 Post 134 |
Author:
Hillbilly
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Date Posted: 17:13:11 07/25/10 Sun
Genesis 26:12-17 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: 14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. 15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
The blessings of Abraham continue to fall on Isaac. Genesis 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
Again it was not by works of righteousness at the hand of Isaac that brought the blessings. It was through the promise given to the one who exercised faith and received the promise.
There is a great analogy here. We as Christians receive. We receive not for the works of righteousness we have done but because of the righteousness of Jesus. We are partakers of His inheritance because we are His children. Isaac, Jacob and the sons of Jacob receive because of Abraham their father. It is unmerited favor on the part of the offspring of Abraham just as it is unmerited favor on our part as being children of the Son of God.
Isaac was blessed beyond measure and his greatness far surpassed those before. The nation of Israel was in it's founding days and would receive untold blessings although the people surely would not deserve what they would receive. We again may glean and analogy from this. This great nation we call America achieved it's greatness because of it's foundation. It was founded on the Word of God and it's constitution and framers of the constitution were well aware of what they were building on. For the most part they were all God fearing Christians. One may point to one or two that were not but remember Judas was one of the 12. We have inherited great blessings because of our constitution and it's framers. If we throw it away as did Israel we have no one to blame but ourselves. Remember the prodigal son of Luke 15. He took his inheritance and squandered it. He wasted all his substance on the good life and debauchery. In the end he repented and came back but he had lost his inheritance. The faithful son looked on and was angry that the father took him back in and showered him with love and a feast and let his father know of his displeasure. Notice what the father told the faithful son: Luke 15:29-32 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
"All that I have is thine"! The younger son lost his inheritance but was welcomed back into the fold. We as a nation may repent and come back but we will never enjoy the greatness we once had. Israel will come back into God's fold but it will never have what it could have had.
Each succeeding generation falls further and further from the founding but we can come back. Isaac never reached the pinnacle of his father and Jacob was far from what Isaac was. Among Jacob children were found those fell to the lowest depths of depravity and so on and on it goes. Of the original adults who started the journey with Moses from Egypt only Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land. Sin and unbelief had taken it's toll.
Greatness brings envy and jealousy. The end result of this is hatred and bitterness against the one so blessed. This was the case with Isaac and allegorically this is transferred to Israel and ultimately the Church. The blessings of God can be had by all but all are not willing to bow and worship before him. The Philistines recognized the greatness of Isaac's God but they would not give up their idols and manner of worship in order to reap the blessings with Isaac. Abraham had dug wells and Isaac was using the water from those wells. The Philistines would fill in those wells in order to deprive Isaac of the blessing of abundant water.. Isaac would move to another and God would supply with abundant water at the next well. The Philistines would take note and fill it in. This must have happened a few times before Isaac was asked to leave. What a lesson in the ways of a stiff necked humanity. God offers us unlimited water through the well spring of His Spirit freely given to those who will accept His Son Jesus. Rather than share in the "living water" (John 4:10). they rather think to stop up the well by getting rid of the source of this water. 2000 years ago they hanged Him on a cross at Calvary thinking to "stop the well". They only succeeded in increasing the source many thousand fold. When the Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost it unleashed a flood of "water" that has supplied millions acroas this planet and will continue to do so. They unleashed a well that would never run dry..
Christian persecution today is based on jealousy. We serve a living God and the rest of the world serves dead idols. They would rather join their idols than submit to the God of the Christians and receive living water.
As the persecution continued Isaac and all that pertained to him moved on to the valley of Gerar .where the cycle would start all over again.
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