Genesis Chapter 26 Discussion

Richard, I am just like you, just looking to learn from Scripture, but I went through Genesis in November and December and wrote comments in the comments sections of those chapters. I like to go and read all of the comments on a chapter before I write mine so that I can better know what would be best to write about. If you haven't yet, you can click on the comments button at the bottom of the page for each chapter to read prior comments. I am learning as I go. I look things up online on ideas that I have questions about. That is how I found out about the two Abimelech's. Have a good evening.

GUess you know this stuff better than me. i'm trying to learn the Word better myself through all this commentary and also broaden the viewpoint so that the instruction is edifying through examples that others can relate to. At some point; I could ask challenging questions as a friend of mine who used to send daily scripture devotional messages. Am thankful in this chapter of my life to have the time to write these commentaries; although I have to be proactive with witnessing opportunities as my previous residence elsewhere gave me Christian friends who I would go out with once or twice a week on a regular basis. No substitute for local fellowship which the Lord has now granted me here as well; though in depth discussions can be hard to find. May He provide these things for you as well.

Agape..Rich P

Hello Richard,

Yeah it is interesting that Isaac did the same as dad in this account. But, I read that this Abimelech was a different person than the Abimelech in the Abraham account. I think it was a family name or perhaps a kingly title for that group of people.

Incredibly; this chapter presents Isaac committing the same mistake with his wife that Abraham did TWICE before; AND once AGAIN Abimelech got into the crossfire! This was after blessings were promised in verse 4-same scenario there as well. This time Abimelech said that anyone touching Isaac OR his wife would be put to death. (verse 11). We see once again in this passage the strife caused by material blessing; as well as contention with the Philistines beginning. Isaac after this event also made a covenant (dejavu!) with Abimelech and a couple of his cohorts. God's blessing was something which caused a respect for power; but making vows foolishly; as many other scriptures indicate leave a binding agreement with the Lord and without careful thought can cause trouble. This is why whenever we invoke His name we shouldn't make hasty vows or swear by anything as Jesus said let your yeah be yeah your nay be nay. The exception is when we fulfill something God institutes such as marriage or when in O.T. times God Himself would make a covenant (or promise such as when He passed between the animals cut in two). Clearly; man being a fallen being is apt to lie in order to achieve His goals. We can attempt to keep God out of an agreement; but the enemies of the Lord like to use others to gain advantage invoking God (hence; the agreement with "death and hell" with Antichrist will be a covenant NOT desireable and the Beast himself will violate it.

The end of the passage shows how pagan marriages began to be a plague for the children of God's people. Esau in the N.T. was said to also be a fornicator; showing further reason that God hated him.

We now have two peoples those who believe and those who don't except for the Jewish people of Israel God's chosen people.

Hi Udondirim.

Esau married Canaanite woman, Canaanites was a Godless tribe of people. Canaan was pronounced a curse on them by Noah. This bothered Isaac and Rebekah.

BUT Esau was never in the plans of God so so the Canaanite woman or Shem bloodline had absolutely nothing to do with Gods plan. Here's why.

It's important to notice Ham had three sons Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Ham wasn't cursed neither was his other three sons.

It's interesting to know Rahab was a Canaanite, Ruth was a Moabite and these are the grandmother and great grandmother of king David! And Tamar "Judah's wife" who he had two children by is said to be a Canaanite by her pagan name.

All these is in the genealogy of Christ!

It's interesting Bathsheba's husband "Uriah the Hittite" was not of Israel, And God punished David for having him killed.

Joseph wife Asenath the mother of Manasseh and Ephraim was not of the tribe of Israel either, she was Egyptian from the town of On.

God didn't focus on Shems bloodline when he formed Israel out of the loins of Abraham. They were Idol worshippers as well as the rest of the world.

The focus was on Gods promise! "Isaac the promise child" and Jacob "Gods elect". Romans 9:11.

This emphasizes Gods sovereign Grace! Not bloodline, Not doing good or evil, God purposes his grace apart from anything man can offer!!

God is no respecter of person. There is some have built a very racial doctrine behind that notion which is against the body of scripture and generates pride.

So again to answer your question, Esau married two woman from Canaan and that didn't please Isaac but he still tried to give him the blessing, But it had nothing to do with Gods Choice.

God bless.

Udodirim,

Isaac was unhappy with Esau because Esau did not wait to take a wife from the family of Abraham back in Haran. Abraham's line was from Shem. Esau's wives were from the line of Ham. It seems that God must have designated the lineage of Shem to be favored and through whom He would work in history. We really don't know, but it was important to Abraham and Isaac that their sons marry a kinsman, not women from the tribes of Ham, who lived in the land of Canaan.

Why was Isaac unhappy with Esau for marrying Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite ?.

Who are the present day Philistines?.

You will love Genesis 24: a love story. The servant of the house is a picture of the Holy Spirit. He prays all along this journey to God. (Verse 9, 12, 26, 52,)

I think it's a perfect design for seeking a wife (for Christian men).

Ask God to send the Holy Spirit to take you to the right woman for you. Marriage is very sacred. God created it and performed the first marriage.

The story shows what a Christian bride to be,

is to model after. [ Proverbs 31 and the book of Ruth] Marriages can fail when one partner is unsaved; causing the other to be unequally yoked.

I like verse 65, Rebekah sees Isaac and says Wowie! And covers herself. Verse 67 says Isaac was a happy husband till he died. Inspirational.

Thanks, I do think they used familial terms loosely. God did not punish Isaac for what he said. To us, it seems like deception, but seeing that God blessed Isaac greatly, the people around were not willing to "mess" with him by violating Rebekah.

Just a quick comment on 'Rebekah being called Isaac's sister; I'm reminded of an oft expressed phrase in eastern culture, when a man you're speaking with introduces you to his brother who has just joined him. Ordinarily, the western mind safely concludes that the visitor is an actual brother. But in very close relationships, a cousin is considered a brother in the broader sense, so in their mind they have not misled you. Knowing this, I then might question him of the actual relationship, to which he sheepishly agrees that he is actually a cousin.

I wonder if the same 'deception' is used here as Abraham did with Sarah. Their action may not be commendable yet respected because of the acceptability of stretching the word . Therefore, this ambiguity was used to their advantage, guaranteeing preservation of their lives. Just a thought, though might not be so in this instance.

"Ishmael" will not stop until he takes all lands from Israel (Isaac).

God cut a covenant with Abraham, and that Covenant is still in force.

Ishmael was never at peace being the elder "son" but not the heir that got the Land.

Israel cannot give land for peace. Those lands are covered by Covenant. They might try to agree to Two State, in order to build the 3rd Temple peacefully. They cannot do that.

Antichrist will sit on the throne of the 3rd Temple. Then God is going to show up.

I think that God was pleased with the pact since Isaac's servants had found water from the new well that very day. Issac named the well Sheba, and the name remains to this day, Beer (well Of) Sheba, and became a major city in the trade routes from Arabia & Egypt to the north and east.

There is a break in the story for the remainder of the chapter. So, far nothing has been said of Jacob and Esau, now 40 yrs old. But it is apparent that they lived with Isaac and Rebekah. Since it says that Esau took wives from the Hittites, Judith and Basemath. Esau grieved his his parents with these choices. His parents had probably told their sons that they should take wives from the family's kin from Haran or Nahor. Esau didn't want to follow that plan. Maybe he was anxious to marry and leave to begin his own family. Maybe he had more contact with the Hittites than the rest of his family and so, got to know these women. Can we think back to times when we went against our parents advice. expectation, and teachings? I can. I hope I did not cause my parents too much grief as I entered adulthood and made my way in life. Some children are really bent on doing the opposite of what their parents desire for them. Others see their parent's wisdom and stay close to good things of their upbringings. Esau and Jacob had godly parents (not perfect) and these brothers saw how God blessed their family. Esau was not very impressed, it seems. he thought he knew better.

....and each time Isaac moved on to another place. he did not stay and feud with the herdsmen. He didn't shout that God had promised him this land. No, he went to the valley of Gerar and began to new dig wells there. When the herdsmen quarreled about having the rights to the water from these new wells, Isaac named them, (leaving his family's.) and then moved on until he dug a well that was not disputed by the herdsmen at Rehoboth. Rehoboth was halfway between Hebron and Beersheba he stated, "For the lord has made He room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. He spoke these words from a place of faith. From there he moved south to Beersheba. The very night Isaac arrived there, God appeared to him again.

God promised Isaac not to fear (as Isaac had done in Gerar) and that He would be with Isaac. What a comfort to know that the Lord is with His people. Jesus said that He would never leave us nor forsake Us. How wonderful that He not only stands by us in all of our circumstances, but he doesn't stand back and just let things happen to us without helping us. God promised to bless Isaac and multiply Isaac's descendants as he promised to his father. God said He would do this for Abraham's sake. Isaac immediately built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent in that place where God had appeared to him. His servants dug a well there. Soon Abimelech came with his officials with an intent to make a covenant with Isaac. Realizing that The Lord was blessing Isaac and allowing him to proper no matter where he went, Abimelech thought it better to propose a covenant of respect for one another and live in peace. Isaac's fist reaction was to accuse Abimelech of hating him by sending him away. Abimelech spoke graciously to Isaac who was reassured by what the king said. They had a feast, arising in the morning safe and sound, and made their oaths to one another. Did the Lord really want Isaac to make such a pact with this king?

continued...The king realized the connection between the barrenness of the women of the land and the exposure of Rebekah to be taken sexually by any of the men in the area. So, he charged his people to leave Isaac and Rebekah alone under threat of death if anyone tries to harm them. And so they did. The next section says that Isaac sowed a crop in the land and had a extremely large harvest, 100-fold. It does not say which property he sowed in. Was it one that he had purchased? Nor does it say which crop he sowed, but it was prosperous because God blessed him with abundance that was noticeable to those who lived around him. He had large flocks, and herds, and a large number of servants. Those who lived around him saw is prosperity and were envious that he was being more prosperous than they, the original inhabitants of the land were. They did not praise God that Isaac was being blessed. Instead, they went and filled up all of the wells Abraham had his servants' dig in the area, which provided water for agriculture, for the livestock, and for household needs. Water was vital and the land could not be used for family and farming needs without it. To solve the problem, Abimelech told Isaac to move away. Isaac tried a few places to settle in and farm, digging the wells out again. He called by the same names as his father had, establishing their family's influence and presence in the land. It says that Isaac also dug wells in the Gerar valley, between the city of Gerar near Gaza and Beer-Sheba and northward towards Hebron. It seemed that the herdsmen of the area followed Isaac, quarrelling with Isaac's servant about ownership of the water from the newly dug wells. isaac named the new wells and moved on instead of feuding with the herdsmen. They did not want Isaac to prosper and/or get a foothold on the land they thought was there due to residing there for some time. They were against God's promise, whether knowingly or unknowingly. This happened several times......

God told Isaac to stay put in the land promised to his father. It was time for the people God was setting apart to no longer be sojourners in the land, but to possess it. So, Isaac dwelt in Gerar, which is near Gaza. Interesting how this is land that is being disputed in Israel to day between the Palestinians and the Jews. God told Isaac that his descendants were given all of the lands surrounding Gerar. Isaac and Rebekah must not have lived there before because the men of the place began asking about Rebekah. If they lived there and were known by the people of the area, the men would have known that she was Isaac's wife. Like his father, Isaac says that Rebekah is her sister. When Abraham said this, Sarah actually was his sister, but here, Rebekah is a cousin, not a sister. This was an outright lie, not an omission of further information about their relationship. Like his father, by saying that his wife was his sister would provide safety for Isaac from the men and the king, who he thought might kill him. Like his father, he wanted to protect the family line of promise. This probably showed a weakness in believing that God would protect him due to the promise and oath of God. Like his father, Abraham was uncertain. Interesting that Abraham could believe that God could raise Isaac from the dead if he slayed him as god commanded, he did not trust the people around him, thinking they were ungodly. Same with Isaac. But both men found out that these people had some integrity and perhaps some respect for God.

After a long time, the king oversaw Isaac and Rebekah sharing affection that could only be interpreted as what would occur between spouses. Isaac and Rebekah probably thought they were alone and not aware that the king could view them from his window. The king summoned Isaac and called him out on his deception, which elicited Isaac's response of his concern for his life being taken on account of Rebekah's beauty. Abimelech must have been very angry.

All praise to our great God and King!

This chapter tells of a new famine in the area where Isaac was living, between Beer-Sheba and Gerar in the Negev. appears and speaks to Isaac. It is not known if He has done so before or if this is the first time. Abraham has died, but it is very likely that he had shared with Isaac the great promises and covenant that God had made with him and his descendants. Isaac knew the promises would continue through himself.

The famine is at least 100 years after the last one when Abraham went to Egypt for relief from the famine. Isaac goes to see King Abimelech, (probably not the one Abraham went to see). The name, Abimelech may have been used as a title. It means, "My father is king." This may be a descendant of the Abimelech Abraham visited 75+ years before. It is interesting that the verse says that Abimelech was the king of the Philistines. Some archeological evidence suggest that that the Philistines came from the area of the Aegean Sea around 1300 B.C. This event happened centuries before 1300 B.C. In Abraham's encounter with King Abimelech , the text said the area was inhabited by Hittites. So, it was probably the same in Isaac's encounter. It seems that along the way, God appears to Isaac, telling him not to go down to Egypt, like his father did in the last famine, but, instead, to dwell in this land. God promises to be with Isaac and to bless him because Isaac and his descendants are to have all these lands. God promises to perform the same oath that He swore to Abraham and the same promise. This is due to Abraham's obedience to God, keeping His charge, His commandments, my statures, and God's laws. We have not an account of when God proscibed these mentioned, but evidently, God had instructed Abraham about how he shall live before God and worship Him, but the overarching obedience of Abraham was that he lived by faith in God. I wonder if these are the commandments given to Noah after the flood, along with circumcision.

Mrs carol davis, i dont know the request but i just did.

pray for me and my husband

We're not told what crops Isaac sowed in the land of the Philistines. From research, I find that the Philistines grew a variety of crops, some of which are still cultivated in Israel. And these include: sycamore, cumin, coriander, bay trees & opium poppy. The fact that Isaac was able to produce such a great harvest in spite of the extensive famine there, was nothing short of the Hand of God & enabling Isaac to find water deep beneath the ground surface. ( Genesis 26:18-22).

What did Isaac sowed in the land that God blessed him 100 folds?

Love it but puthe some more stuff like ...... ( unlimited themileage thx

Jesus has a good reason to refer to himself as the Son of Man. That great promise was the multiplication of Christ in humanity. now unto abraham and his seed were the promises made but he said not unto seeds plural but unto 1 seed ( abraham's heavenly seed ) which is CHRIST thus its Christ that is gonna be multiplied as the stars of heaven thus the sower and his precious seed the word sown in our hearts initiating a birth of Christ in US thus he is truly our Son when we are born from above,Thats y Zech refers to him as our 1st born our only son. truly mans fruit unto God via the good seed.Smite the sheperd and the sheep will scattered then i will turn my hand to the lil ones multiplcation.

Mat 13 KJV Is tied to the woman in Rev 12,Its the seed of the sower which is the bridegrooms seed that is gonna initiate a birth in humanity th woman is th world God so loved the world etc.The book in the right hand of the father has the words of God remember Jesus said the good seeds are the Words of God ( book ) The kingdom has to come as a birth a child etc Unless ya receive the kingdom as a lil child etc impling a birth of Christ our king in us which is the H.G. TH CHILD OF PROMISE. When Isaiah saw the kingdom coming he says unto US child is born unto US son is given.She brought forth a MANCHILD that is gona rule all Nations simply b/c that good seed is gona be sown in all mens hearts.

Jealous God, Is Right for God to be called Jealous God while jealous is evil

The Hebrew word in this instance can mean exactly that.

I believe 26:10 should not say 'lien', but should say 'might lightly have lain with thy wife'. Please fact-check me on this.

betimes b t mz ADVERB archaic before the usual or expected time early. "next morning I was up betimes" synonyms: before the usual time before the appointed time prematurely too soon

Verse 8- Isaac was affectionate toward his wife and he showed his love for her.

The last verse of this chapter shows that our choice of a marriage mate can affect not only us but our family members.