{"id":16137,"date":"2021-06-06T22:00:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T05:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_25_19-34-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-06-06T22:12:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T05:12:10","slug":"genesis_26_1-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_26_1-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Like Father, Like Son"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 26:1-11\u00a0\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 26:1-11.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:1-6 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now there was a famine in the land–besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time–and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Isaac stayed in Gerar.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-6:\u00a0\u00a0Because of a famine in the land, Isaac moves his family to Gerar where they live among the Philistines and their king Abimelech.\u00a0\u00a0Isaac was thinking about then moving his family to Egypt, but God appears to Isaac and tells him instead to stay in this land because God will be with him, will bless him, and will give him this land and other lands as God promised his father Abraham.\u00a0\u00a0In verse 4 God gives the same promise to Isaac that God gave Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18: \u201cI will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed\u201d (v4).\u00a0\u00a0The reason God gives for giving Isaac this promise is \u201cbecause Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements\u2026\u201d (v5).\u00a0\u00a0Isaac believes in God\u2019s promises and by faith decides to stay in Gerar.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that Isaac\u2019s father Abraham did something similar years before: when there was a famine in the land he was living in, Abraham moved his family in Egypt (Genesis 12:10).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was even a time when Abraham also lived in Gerar and dealt with a king Abimelech (Genesis 20).\u00a0\u00a0Is this the same king Abimelech?\u00a0\u00a0Maybe not.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAbimelech\u201d may have been a royal title similar to \u201cPharaoh\u201d.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Isaac had a plan to go to Egypt, but because of God\u2019s promises Isaac decides to stay in Gerar.\u00a0\u00a0Likewise,\u00a0you and I may make plans, but may we be humble enough to surrender those plans to God and to let God determine our steps.\u00a0\u00a0May we be willing to obey God even when what God tells us to do is different from what we originally planned.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Just as Isaac was blessed with God\u2019s promises because someone else \u2013 his father Abraham \u2013 obeyed God, so we are blessed with God\u2019s promises because someone else \u2013 Jesus Christ \u2013 obeyed<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Also, when you read the Old Testament with New Testament eyes, you\u2019ll see that the reason God tells Isaac that all nations on earth will be blessed through Isaac\u2019s offspring is because the offspring God is ultimately referring to is Jesus Christ himself.<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:7 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 7:\u00a0\u00a0Here we see some striking similarities between the way Isaac dealt with fear and the way his father Abraham dealt with fear.\u00a0\u00a0While living in Gerar, Isaac is afraid that the men living there would harm him if they found out that he was married to Rebekah, since Rebekah was beautiful.\u00a0\u00a0So Isaac hid the fact that they were married and told everyone that they were siblings only.\u00a0\u00a0Abraham did the exact same thing in Genesis 21 with his wife Sarah.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Consciously or unconsciously, we may be inclined to deal with fear or to sin in the same way that the generations who came before us did.\u00a0\u00a0To the extent that the generations that came before us dealt with fear and temptation in sinful ways, we must be intentional about recognizing where our previous generations went wrong, being committed to not repeating the same mistakes, and trusting in the power of Jesus\u2019 name and word to empower us to blaze a new trail for our future generations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genesis 26:8-10 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-10:\u00a0\u00a0King Abimelech personally finds Isaac caressing his wife and calls Isaac on his lack of honesty.\u00a0\u00a0I find Abimelech\u2019s response to Isaac interesting: \u201cWhat is this you have done to us?\u00a0\u00a0One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.\u201d (v10)\u00a0\u00a0Abimelech would respond similarly to Abraham in Genesis 20:9-10.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s as if in both cases Abimelech is recognizing that adultery is a sin and that it impacts not only the individuals involved and their families but the surrounding community as well.<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:11 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 11:\u00a0\u00a0Despite Isaac not being forthright with Abimelech, Abimelech orders all the people in his jurisdiction not to harm Isaac or Rebekah.\u00a0\u00a0This was God\u2019s grace and mercy on Isaac\u2019s life, as God spares Isaac from the king\u2019s wrath.\u00a0\u00a0God showed Abraham similar grace and mercy after Abraham had behaved in a similar way (see Genesis 20:14-16).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0From generation to generation, God shows himself to be a gracious and merciful God.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0It is grace and mercy we don\u2019t deserve, unmerited favour.\u00a0\u00a0Thank God today for the grace and mercy He has shown you in times when you deserved much worse.\u00a0\u00a0The greatest example of God\u2019s grace and mercy on our lives is His sending Jesus Christ to pay for our sins when we deserved to face the wrath of God our king.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You so much that even when I behave badly, Your grace and mercy on my life persist.\u00a0\u00a0Thank You for Your unmerited favour and undeserved goodness in my life.\u00a0\u00a0May I not take Your grace for granted or abuse it.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 26:1-11.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 26:1-6 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Now there was a famine in the land–besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time–and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
\n5\u00a0\u00a0because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.”
\n6\u00a0\u00a0So Isaac stayed in Gerar.<\/p>\n

On verses 1-6:\u00a0\u00a0Because of a famine in the land, Isaac moves his family to Gerar where they live among the Philistines and their king Abimelech.\u00a0\u00a0Isaac was thinking about then moving his family to Egypt, but God appears to Isaac and tells him instead to stay in this land because God will be with him, will bless him, and will give him this land and other lands as God promised his father Abraham.\u00a0\u00a0In verse 4 God gives the same promise to Isaac that God gave Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18: \u201cI will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed\u201d (v4).\u00a0\u00a0The reason God gives for giving Isaac this promise is \u201cbecause Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements\u2026\u201d (v5).\u00a0\u00a0Isaac believes in God\u2019s promises and by faith decides to stay in Gerar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16137"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16138,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16137\/revisions\/16138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}