GENESIS CHAPTER 26 ------------------ Verse 1, See Chapter 20:2 where Abraham had done the same thing. This is 100 years later and this is probably not the same Abimelech as before, but perhaps his son. Besides, Gill says this name was common to the Philistines as Pharaoh was to the Egyptians. The first famine was recorded in chapter 12:10, where Abram went down to Egypt and sojourn there because of the famine. Verse 2, The Lord tells Isaac not to go down into Egypt as his father had done 100 years before. Evidently, it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt because of the famine. It is the same with us, when troubles come we have a tendency to trust in the world's system rather than the Lord. Verse 3, This land, the land of Canaan. The Lord would supply all his needs, and he need not fear the famine. He would give him and his seed the land which was now occupied by the Philistines and the Canaanites. He had made that promise to Abraham, his father, which concerned the land and Messiah. Verse 4, The 12 tribes of Israel sprang from Jacob, Isaac's son, the younger, which the Lord had chosen. And a great nation sprang from them. Messiah would come from that nation and in him would all the nations of the world be blessed, because He would redeem a people out of every nation, tribe and tongue (Rev 5:9). Verse 5, Gill says that this is mentioned more as an example for Isaac, rather than the promise resting on the obedience of Abraham. charge = 1) guard, charge, function, obligation, service, watch 1a) guard, watch, house of detention or confinement 1b) keeping, preserving 1c) charge, injunction 1d) office, function (ceremonial) commandments = AV - commandments 177, precept 4, commanded 2, law 1, ordinances 1; 181 statutes = AV - statute 77, ordinance 22, custom 2, appointed 1, manners 1, rites 1; 104 1) statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed 1a) statute laws = 1) law, direction, instruction 1a) instruction, direction (human or divine) 1a1) body of prophetic teaching 1a2) instruction in Messianic age 1a3) body of priestly direction or instruction 1a4) body of legal directives 1b) law 1b1) law of the burnt offering 1b2) of special law, codes of law 1c) custom, manner 1d) the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law Verse 6, The same place as he was. Continued there, see verse 1. Verse 7, They must have asked him about who his wife was in a way that he knew that they admired her beauty, but he feared them for his life. He fell into the same trap as his father Abraham had done before. Abraham had a least told a half truth, though Rebekah may have been a cousin to him, she was not his sister nor his half sister, and besides this he said this to deceive the men. Pr 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. Verse 8, The king happened to look out a window and saw Isaac and Rebekah carrying on in such a way that was not common between brothers and sister, but was lawful and common between a man and his wife. sporting = laugh 6, mock 4, sport 2, play 1 1) to laugh, mock, play 1a) (Qal) to laugh 1b) (Piel) 1b1) to jest 1b2) to sport, play, make sport, toy with, make a toy of Verse 9, The king could tell for certain from the way in which they were playing around that she was his wife and not his sister. "Because I said," within himself, that he might die because of men desiring his wife since she was fair to look upon. Verse 10, Gill says that to these people, adultery was detestable to them but not so fornication. They would not lie with another man's wife, but they would lie with a woman that was not a man's wife. This may have been the reason that Isaac feared for his life. Perhaps the king was so concerned, because he, himself, had looked upon Rebekah to lust after her and would have taken her to his bed. Verse 11, The king charged his people that if any man touch Isaac, to do harm to him, or his wife, that they might lie with her, they would be put to death. So the king put to rest any fears that Isaac may have had and now he can live in peace with Rebekah as his wife. Verse 12, Isaac plants and the Lord blessed him as He said that He would. The crop was 100 times what he had planted. Verse 13, He already had what his father had left him, and the Lord blessed him such that he was the greatest man in all the land, even greater than the king (see vs 16). Verse 14, He was so much above the Philistines in wealth, that they envied him, as they still do today. The word "Palestine" and "Palestinians" comes from "Philistia" which was occupied by the "Philistines." Verse 15, Abraham's servants had dug many wells for the watering of his flocks, and since Isaac was in possession of flocks and herds (vs. 14) and the Philistines were envious of him (vs. 14) they filled in the wells with earth that he might not water his flocks and herds. Verse 16, The king, which had protected Isaac previously, requests that Isaac leave them, since he was greater than them. Perhaps they feared him, now, instead of the other-way-around. Verse 17, Out from the city but still in the same country, and not so great a distance, since we see the king coming to Isaac in verses 26-29. Verse 18, Isaac dug the wells that his father had dug and which the Philistines had filled in after the death of Abraham. He called them by the same names that his father had called them. So too, Christ dug again the wells of water that the Pharisees had stopped up through "works for salvation." Verses 19-20, Isaac's servants dig a well in the valley which was a well of springing water, which flowed continuously and which the herdsmen of Gerar claimed to be their water, though Isaac's servant dug it. Jesus Christ is the well of springing water who came through Isaac. Isaac, according to Pink was a "man of the well." He was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, being heir of all that His Father has, and a giver of springing water. Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Esek: that is, Contention Verse 21, They dug another well and the same thing happened again and they named it Sitnah. Sitnah: that is, Hatred Verse 22, The moved a little bit and dug a third well and there was no contention, so they named it Rehoboth. Rehoboth: that is Room Verse 23, He removes himself from there and returns to Beersheba, where he and his father had previously lived, see ch. 21:33 & 22:19. Gen 21:33 And [Abraham] planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. This was still near to King Abimelech (vs 26). Verse 24, "I AM" not "I was" the God of Abraham thy father. Mt 22:32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Mr 12:26 And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I [am] the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err. This was the same night that he arrived in this place. It was the same place that his father had called on the name of the LORD. God would bless him, which was not a conditional blessing, but was for another's sake. Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Verse 25, The same place that his father had planted a grove and probably built an altar there also. See Gen 21:33. Pink says that Isaac was a "man of the well." (See notes on vs. 19) Verse 26-27, Abimelech, the king who had asked him to leave from them (vs 16) because they were envious of him (vs 14), came with a friend and his chief captain to Isaac. And Isaac wonders at their visit, seeing that they hate him and asked him to leave. Verse 28, They recognize that the Lord is with him, yet they don't want to join with him only make a "peace treaty" or covenant or oath between themselves because they fear him. So too, many of the Pharisees recognized Christ as a "teacher come from God" (Joh 3:2), yet they joined not with him and envied (Mat 27:18 & Mr 15:10) him when the people followed after him. Compare: Ac 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Verse 29, Circumstances and conditions of the covenant. They had not hurt him and they wished him not to hurt them, which thing Isaac had no problem swearing to. They said that they had only done good to him, yet they asked him to leave because of envy. Verse 30, Isaac made a feast for them, as an act of hospitality and friendship, not for the covenant, because that would take place the next morning. Pink says, that Isaac should have rebuked Abemilech before making a feast for him because the Philistines had stopped the wells of water. Lu 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. Verse 31, They swear to each other concerning the covenant, and they departed in peace. Verse 32-33, The well that they had started in verse 25. It must have been good water for them to come and tell Isaac. Shebah: That is, an oath Beersheba: that is, the well of the oath Verse 34-35, Esau was 40 years of age, which was the same age that Isaac, his father, took Rebekah to be his wife (Gen 25:20). Compare: Ge 36:2 Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; Compare: Deut 7:1-4 Ge 24:3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: This was not a "racist" statement, but a desire that his son take a wife not of the world. Gill says that the Hittites were the worst of the Canaanites. So too, a believer should NOT marry an unbeliever. 2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? Sometimes it happens that one is saved in time: READ 1Co 7:10- 16.