Genesis 26:12-22 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Genesis 26:12-22. Let’s go!
Genesis 26:12-22 (NIV)
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him.
13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy.
14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.
18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him.
21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.
22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
On verses 12-22: God blesses Isaac with great wealth (v12-13), so much so that the Philistines begin to envy him (v14) and stop up the wells that Isaac’s father Abraham had dug (v15). In fact, despite Isaac trying to cooperate with the government of Gerar (v16-17) and doing what was within his rights (v18), over and over the Philistines cause problems for Isaac, disputing with Isaac over one well after another (v19-21). Despite encountering problem after problem and dispute after dispute, Isaac refuses to give up. He persists in his well digging until he can find a well that no one will fight with him over. When he finally finds it, he calls the well Rehoboth, meaning “room” (v22), believing that now God has given him and his family the room to grow.
What can we learn from this? When God blesses you, it’s human (sinful) nature that others may begin to envy you and begin to do and say things just to hurt you. If that happens, don’t be discouraged. Like Isaac, persevere and outlast your critics and opponents. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart because Jesus has overcome the world and Jesus is with you. Keep fighting and don’t give up, believing that the time will come when one day you have room to grow peacefully.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Isaac’s example in persevering even after facing problem after problem. May I persevere as well, believing that the problems I am facing today will not last, but that a day of peace is coming. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
