Genesis 26:1-16 NKJV
26 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.” 8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”
10 And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Isaac faces a famine just as his father had. He goes to Gerar, some ten miles south of Gaza, where his father Abraham had sojourned decades earlier (Gen 20:1). He does not go to Egypt, as Abraham had (Gen 12:10), because the Lord told him to remain in the land which He would give him. The Lord renews the promise He gave to Abraham for Isaac. Isaac’s descendants will be as numerous as the stars of heaven, they will dwell in all the lands in which Isaac sojourns, and in his Seed—the Messiah—all nations of the earth will be blessed. He commends Abraham’s obedience to encourage Isaac to follow his father’s example of faithfulness to God’s command and promise.
Although Isaac is armed with God’s promises, he fears what man may do to him. When the men of Gerar inquire about Rebekah, he becomes afraid that they may kill him so that one of them may take her as wife. He tells them she is his sister. The ruse works until Abimelech notices Isaac showing husbandly endearment to Rebekah. Abimelech shows himself a righteous man. He allays Isaac’s fear by declaring the death penalty to anyone who touches either Isaac or Rebekah. Isaac then, trusting God’s word to dwell in the land. He sows and reaps a hundredfold by the Lord’s blessing.
There was no need for Isaac to fear the men of Gerar. The Lord had told him to dwell in the land. He had promised to make Isaac into a great nation and give him and his descendants these lands. Isaac should have strengthened himself against his fears with these promises. Isaac, like his father Abraham, has a sinful nature which does not always trust God above all things.
We have the same sinful nature as Abraham and Isaac. We do not always trust the Lord to fulfill His promises. Sometimes—from a human point of view—our fear is justified. At other times, we are afraid without reason. Regardless, the Lord gently reminds us to trust His goodness and His promises. Even in the face of real danger, we can say with David in Psalm 56:3, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Let us pray: Lord, strengthen our faith in Your promises, so that when we are afraid, we trust You to deliver us. Amen.