Genesis 26:1

Genesis 26:1 says, And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.  There was another famine in the land where Isaac lived, as there had been when Abraham was alive.  Isaac went to Abimelech the king of the Philistines for help.  We may at times face the same difficulties that our parents and grandparents faced, even if we are following God's will for our lives.  Verse two states, And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:  God instructed Isaac to not go to Egypt as Isaac had evidently thought to do.  We need to make sure that our plans are in accordance with God's will.  Verse three adds, Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;  God instructed Isaac to stay where he was, and assured Isaac that He would be with him.  Sometimes, when things get rough in life, if we believe that we are where God wants us to be, we just need to stay where we are.  God reassured Isaac and reaffirmed His promise to Abraham.  I believe that God will always reassure us when we are where He wants us to be.  This was the land that God had promised to Abraham.  Verse four continues,  And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;  This was a further reaffirmation of God's covenant with Abraham.  Through Abraham and his descendants, all nations would be blessed.  These were the people that God would work through in the world, culminating with Jesus Christ.  Then, God would work through those that put their faith in Christ.  Verse six concludes, Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.  Though Abraham was far from perfect, he did his best to follow God's calling.  God never failed in His part of the covenant, and He will never fail us today.  Verse six says, And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:  Then verse seven adds, And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.  History was repeating itself.  Like Abraham with Sarah, Isaac attempted to pass Rebekah off as his sister because he feared he would be killed if he said she was his wife.  In both cases, they ignored God's promise and attempted to find their own solution to what they saw as a problem.  We need to look to God for answer when we encounter a problem, whether real or imagined, and not look to our own abilities and understanding.  Verse eight declares, And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.  After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech caught Isaac in his lie about Rebekah.  This was not the same Abimelech from Abraham's day.  We can be sure that our lies will be come out eventually, if not by anyone else, then certainly by God.  Verse nine states, And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.  Abimilech asked Isaac why he had lied and called Rebekah his sister, instead of telling the truth that she was his wife.  Isaac said because he feared for his life.  We cannot allow fear of what may happen to keep us from telling the truth about our relationship to others and especially not about our relationship with God.  Verse ten asks, And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.  Abimelech basically asked Isaac how he could have done something that would have led one of Abimelech's people to into a sin.  Hopefully, no one will ever need to ask us the same question of how we could lead them into sin.  Verse eleven says, And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.  Abimelech put an end to Isaac's fear, though Isaac shouldn't have been afraid to begin with.  Isaac had God's promise, and all he had to do was trust God.  We today have God's promise to us, and all we have to do is live by faith in God's promise.  We are God's forever through our faith in Christ.