T H S K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
July, 1943
26X
Isaac, 180; Jacob, 147). God’s promise came to Isaac when he reached God’s place for lym—a place f u r n i s h e d through thè providence of God. When he r e a c h e d that place, “the same night” the Lord appeared to him. The promise came from the “God of Abraham.” It would arouse confidence as Isaac thought of his father, and the friendship with God which his father enjoyed. It was a promise of the Lord’s presence with him and the Lord’s blessing for him. Isaac accept ed it in faith, and thus it became ex perimental, even though not yet ful filled. The result of receiving the promise was the erection of an altar, speaking of communion with God. And with the altar came prayer, in which there was an expression of his dependence upon the God with whom he com muned at the altar. M o r e o v e r , he erected his tent, symbolical of being at home with the Lord, and then digged a well, indicating his obtain ing of life from the Lord. III. T he P eace for I saac (26-31) Abimelech was still afraid of Isaac. He could not understand how Isaac could get along so well and increase so> greatly. Pagan that he was, he could only suppose there was a con nection between Isaac and some un known god. Though he knew not the Lord, he evidently recognized that “the Lord” was with the man Isaac. Hence he came, with one of his friends and the chief captain of his army, to make peace with Isaac. Isaac’s history shows that he was more eager for peace than for pos sessions. He was ready always to fore go possessions for which he would have to fight, knowing that the Lord was entirely able to give him all the possessions he would need or desire. Thus dependence upon the Lord be comes the outstanding mark of Isaac’s character. Inasmuch as he is a type of the heavenly people, we have here a lesson for ourselves. When we allow the Lord to say just where we shall be and what we shall have, we find that ultimately we come to a large place, a place of room, wherein He provides for us both peace and the blessing of opportunity. BLACKBOARD LESSON BLESSEDARE THE PEAC£mAK.£R5. FOR. THEMSHALLBECALLEDTHECHILDBEDOFGOD“ --------------------------m*TT.5-.9~
hath made room for m , and we «hall be fruitful in the land. 23 And he .went up from thence to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and wil] bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abra ham’s sake. 25 And he builded an altar there, and* called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well. 26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phihol the chief captain of his army. 27 And Isaac said unto them, Where fore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? 28 And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said. Let there be now an oath betwixt us* even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; 29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away. In pegee: thou art now the blessed of the Lord. 30 And he. made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. 31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and swaie one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. LESSON TEXT : Gen. 26:18-31. GOLDEN T E X T : «Blessed are the peace makers: J o t they shall be called the chil dren of God” (Matt. 5:9). DEVOTIONAL READING: Matt. 5:38-45. Outline and Exposition I. T he P rovidence ■ for I saac ( 18-22) B EING FEARFUL b e c a u s e oi he departed with his f a m i l y and flocks. Then Isaac opened some wells that Abraham had dug in former days, but the men of Philistia claimed them. Isaac might have attempted to hold the wells by fighting for them, but instead he allowed the Philistines'to take them,, and he himself moved on to another place. This well was called Esek, or “Contention.” Again Isaac’s servants digged a well, and the Philistines demanded this one also. .Isaac called this one Sitnah, or “Enmity,” and moved on. The character of the world is seen in these names, “Contention” and “En mity.” Its purpose is seen lh the at tempt to seize the believer’s inherit ance. Once more Isaac digged a well, and, because the Philistines did not claim it, he called the name Rehoboth, or “Room,” or “Broad Places.” At last the Lord had made room for Isaac and he was content. It is better to allow the Lord to make room for us than to fight for jL. Fighting might succeed only in obtaining the wrong place. Every move of Isaac took him farther and farther from the Philistines and nearer and nearer to his God. II. T he P romise for I saac (23-25), Not much is told us concerning Isaac though he lived longer than the other patriarchs (Abraham, 175 years;
Points and Problems 1. "And Isaac digged again the wells" (Gen. 26:18). In svjch a land, water was an absolute necessity for a man. like Isaac, with his great flocks and herds. These w e l l s had been digged originally by Abraham, but the Philistines had ruined them by filling them with earth. There must have been plenty* of room for every one, for if the Philistines had needed the space for their cattle, they would also have needed the wells, and there fore would not have stopped them up. Their attitude was that of the “dog in the manger.” Even when the Je.ws of modern times have been willing to enter fields not wanted by the Gentile nations, such as junk •dealing and pawnbrokering, many times the Phil istines have tried'to “stop their wells.” 2. "Called their names a f t e r the names by which his father had called them" (v. 18). Even the names of the old, familiar places are precious, be cause in the names there is gathered up all the hallowed memories of past experiences in those beloved places. It is so in things which have to do with our Christian faith. There are some today in the professing church who would like to change both the old places and the old “names. We need, they say, a new faith; or, at the least, thè old faith should be restated in new terms. But I think the old names are best—the name of Jesus, Gethse mane, Calvary, the Blood, Grace, For giveness, Eternal Life, Resurrection, Heaven, The Good Shepherd—let us never surrender them. The Philistines may throw dirt in them, but to us they point to wells of living water. 3. "Digged in the valley . . . a well of springing water" (v. 19). The val ley referred to was the V a l l e y of Gerar, and the Hebrew word for “val ley” here means a rather narrow can yon through which during' heavy rain fall a torrent of water would flow for a short time. By digging in these dry stream-beds it was generally possible to find water which had been absorbed by the sandy bottom. But Isaac found something different, a well fed by a natural spring, immensely valuable in Palestine. Little wonder that the find ing of such a treasure should have precipitated renewéd conflict with the Philistine enemies. 4. "He went up from thence to Beer sheba. And the Lord appeared unto him the same night" (vs. 23, 24). Beer sheba was a hallowed place, where Abraham had planted a grove and called upon the Lord, the everlasting God (21:33). In going there, Isaac had deliberately brought his company into a dangerous position in relation to the Philistines. But he evidently trusted [ Continued on Page 263]
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