Have Courage, For God Is With You (Genesis 26:1-33)
Fear is a powerful motivator. It might be the most powerful motivator, especially when we consider events that have taken place across the globe. Communist countries across the globe used fear to keep their citizens from rising against their leadership. Mass incarcerations and years in the gulags could do that to a citizenry. Government after government has used fear as a motivator to keep its citizenry in line.
Another example of fear and its consequences is the Covid lockdowns. Covid fear kept us from our loved ones during the Covid lockdowns. How many people died alone during Covid lockdowns? And how many people skipped their cancer treatments or surgeries because of the Covid lockdowns? How many of our children are years behind in their learning because of the lockdown of the schools?
Fear is a very powerful motivator. It can motivate us to do foolish things, as we will see in our text today. The saints of old were not immune to it and neither are we.
Fear can cause us to endanger our families. Fear can cause us to not speak up for what is right. Fear can cause us to just go along with the wickedness of this world. Fear can cause us to sit down and cower in the corner while evil runs rampant.
This chapter of Genesis is an overview of the life of Isaac. Isaac is overshadowed by other members of his family. His coming was promised, and it took a while for him to arrive. After he was almost sacrificed by his father in Genesis 22 Isaac is sort of in the background of the story. Abraham’s servant went to find him a wife for Isaac, and we see him in the final verses of the chapter. But even there it seems that Rebekah is at the forefront of the story as she moves into the role of matriarch for this large household (Genesis 25:67). Then, after Abraham’s descendants are mentioned, Jacob and Esau take center stage. This struggle will be at the forefront of the narrative for a while. In fact, Genesis 26 feels like a stop in the action to discuss Isaac. And in this account, we learn a lot about Isaac.
Isaac tended to be fearful. He tended to be so afraid that he would endanger his wife and his entire household. But the Lord strengthened him, and by the end of the account he stands with courage in the face of a powerful leader. But he didn’t do this because he was strong in himself. He was strengthened by the Lord.
And that is the point of the sermon today. Have courage, for God is with you. It is a message that will be necessary more and more as time goes by. Have courage, for God is with you.
God Is With You, Do Not Be Afraid (Genesis 26:1-5)
There was a famine in the land (Genesis 26:1). This is a different famine than the one encountered by Abraham. But now that this one is here, Isaac planned to respond the same way that Abraham did. And this was a pretty good plan by all measures. Egypt was a popular place to go in the event of a famine or intense drought. As was already mentioned, Abraham went there, and later Jacob would send his sons there. It seems that the fertile soil of those Nile fed lands were able to withstand many of the problems that plagued the rest of the area, most of the time. So, as his father had done, so Isaac planned to do. But this time God said “no”.
Think for a moment about the stress of caring for such a large household. Under his care there were many people and animals. And they all needed food and water. Moving a large household was quite an ordeal, but it was worth it not to starve. But the Lord appeared to Isaac and told him to dwell in the land of promise rather than go down to Egypt (Genesis 26:2).
The Lord stressed to Isaac that He would take care of him and his household in the Promised Land. He was not to leave. They had no need of packing up and going to Egypt. And the promises the Lord gave to Isaac were tremendous. God stressed that He would be with Isaac (Genesis 26:3). And God promised that He would bless Isaac so that rather than starve they would be blessed. Isaac was given the promises given to Abraham with great stress on the fact that God would take care of him amid this hardship. There is a difference in wording in verse 4, in which God promises to give Isaac “all these lands”, but there is no substantive difference. He is already standing in the land, and it is likely a way of saying “all these Canaanite lands. God gave promises to Abraham and Abraham responded to those promises with faith. And this faith was acted out in Abraham with obedience to the Lord. Abraham trusted the Lord and was obedient, it was expected that Isaac would do the same thing.
In the gospel, I am promised unity with God and He has promised to be with His people. We were rebel sinners, born without hope and without God. He was far from us and had earned His wrath and justice. But God made a way for us to be brought near to Him. He sent His Son, born in human flesh, fully God and fully man. His name is Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness on behalf of Hell-bound sinners. And He died on the cross and bore the punishment for their sin. Then, three days later, He rose from the grave. All those who turn from ruling their own lives and trust in Jesus are united to Christ, their sins are washed away, and they are credited with perfect righteousness. Because of what Christ has done for us we are brought near to God, and He will never leave us or forsake us.
We live through any number of different circumstances and through it all the Lord promises to be with us. That should be enough for us. That should calm our fears. It should make us braver when those hard times come.
Life is hard. We will face incredible hardships. Sometimes it may be an illness, or a lot at one time. It may be the death of a loved one, or a few in a way that compounds our sorrow. And it may be that we are forced to face our own mortality, but we will not fare it alone. God, who is in control, will be with us.
The situation that Isaac was facing was not an easy one. But the Lord gave His promises to Isaac, and he trusted the Lord. So, he did not go to Egypt. This was a tremendous act of faith. But the next events that unfold show that his trust in the Lord waned in the face of powerful people.
When We Lose Sight Of God’s Faithfulness To Us We Act Cowardly (Genesis 25:6-22)
Isaac did as the Lord commanded, but he feared powerful people. This was very similar to Abraham, but it seems that Isaac’s fear was much worse.
Just like his father, he told his beautiful wife to say that she was his sister to save his own skin (Genesis 25:7). Of all the lessons to learn from Abraham, this was not one of them. And just like with his mother, Sarah, the act endangered Rebekah. He believed that they would kill him if the powerful believed her to be his wife.
God was with Isaac and cared for Rebekah, even when Isaac did not. God watched over her Rebekah and before any harm came to her, Abimelech saw the interaction of a married couple when he saw them together and realized what had happened (Genesis 26:9). Abimelech was not happy.
It was fear that led Isaac to make such a foolish decision. And Abimelech rightfully scolded Isaac and questioned him. It was fear that caused him to endanger his wife in such a way (Genesis 26:9). And this behavior could have endangered others by bringing guilt upon them (Genesis 26:10).
The juxtaposition of the righteous behavior of Abimelech here and the cowardly and wicked decision of Isaac is stunning. Isaac’s fear led him to behave in this wicked manner. He endangered his wife to save his own skin. And then Abimelech protected both Isaac and his wife with a word after having rightfully scolded Isaac for his misdeed (Genesis 26:11).
Because God was with Isaac, there was no harm done. Rebekah was kept safe and the household was kept from ruin even though Isaac had behaved so very poorly.
And God continued to bless Isaac, just as He said He would do. Some time after the ordeal with Abimelech, he planted a harvest and had “a hundred-fold” return (Genesis 26:12). This was an astounding return and was a sign of the tremendous blessing of God on his life. We know that a 50-fold return was considered a lot. 80-fold was considered a tremendous year. But to have a 100-fold return on your crops would have been considered astounding, miraculous even. And so, he became very wealthy. He already had the wealth passed down to him from Abraham, which was quite large. But through the blessing of God he was growing much wealthier in the Promised Land, even as a wanderer.
This wealth caused envy to arise among the Philistines (Genesis 26:14). The Philistines filled in and stopped up the wells of Abraham in the area. These wells were rightfully Isaac’s possession. They were his and he had grown in wealth and might. And his household would need water. And rather than help Isaac, Abimelech told Isaac to leave. The reason given was that he was mightier than the Canaanites (Genesis 26:16). Then the question becomes, why didn’t he stand up for what was his?
This is a devastating situation. He has a lot of mouths to feed and herds to care for. He badly needs water, which is being taken away from him. I would consider this to be a very dangerous situation, but rather than stand up to anyone he left (Genesis 26:17). Notice too that even Abimelech understands that Isaac could have taken what was rightfully his, he admits that he is stronger than the Canaanites. But he left anyway.
Isaac left and settled in Gerar. There he dug more wells and found water, but the herdsmen of Gerar fought with him and claimed the water as their own (Genesis 26:20). And rather than take on these people, he left and began to dig another well. There another fight broke out over water (Genesis 26:21). And rather than fight for what was his, he moved again (Genesis 26:22).
After moving that huge household of his repeatedly, finally he found peace. They dug another well and there was no fight, so he stayed. There he saw the blessing of God in having the well. He and his household had water in peace at last. And He praised God for it.
Isaac behaved this way because he was afraid of the people of the land of Promise. His fear put Rebekah then his entire household in harm’s way. And this must have been a pattern in his life. Rebekah should have been kept safe by him and he had a responsibility to the entire household. Isaac’s fear endangered the entire household.
But here, in Isaac’s shortcomings we see something else as well. The Lord was with him. The Lord protected Rebekah and did not allow any harm to come to her. And then the Lord eventually gave them a well with no enemies to contend with.
Think about this. The Lord was with him, but when he forgot that he made a lot of cowardly decisions. He had tremendous fear of powerful people that could have ended in the ruin of his wife and household.
We can do the same thing in our day. Powerful people exist today as well. Scary things are developing all around us that give reason to fear. It’s not only powerful individuals that we see around us, but also powerful mobs of people that will disrupt an entire population to get what they want.
What if a mob of protestors were to have a beef about something we believe or something that I have said from the pulpit? How would we respond to that? Many people today issue public apologies after something of that sort happens. What would we do?
When there is an FBI raid on a pastor’s house, or a believer’s home because they follow the Lord, how will you respond? It’s not a stretch to discuss these things.
Somewhere between 15-25 officers descended on a pro-life advocate’s home last week. A man was harassing his son as they stood at an abortion clinic. After some time trying to get him to stop there was an altercation and this pro-life advocate protected his 12-year-old son and pushed this man to the ground. Charges were filed and the case was thrown out because it was obvious that he was simply protecting his son and not attacking people in the parking lot. But after some time passed, 15-25 FBI officers drug this man out of his house with his 7 children and wife as witnesses. And the more I read about this story, the more I see that the FBI is at times being used, not for the good of this country but more in line with Stalin’s police force to shut down dissenters. Does that make you afraid? Does it raise fear within you?
If the government attempts a shutdown of churches, how will you respond? How will this church respond?
If the government attempts to regulate the speech of churches, how will we respond? How will you respond? How will I respond as the pastor of the church? There have been attempts to call speaking out against homosexuality and transgender issues hate crimes. Does that cause you to fear?
Isaac was afraid of powerful people. His response will likely be like the response of many in the days ahead. It is not easy to have courage in the face of powerful people.
Think about what happened in the USSR. By and large Soviet Christians were quieted. Those that remained faithful had to do so underground and in secret. Due to fear of the gulags the voice of believers was quieted. It took years for people to come out of hiding and realize that Christianity remained and, in many cases, had grown in the Soviet Union. The same thing occurred in China and in other countries. And we say to ourselves that this could never happen here. I am saying that it could, and there are reasons to believe that it will.
Christians are already thought of as hateful bigots by a growing portion of our country. You’ve likely been careful not to say certain things because of this. And realize it or not, we are being pushed to the edges of society. Christians are being pushed outside of what is considered civilized society. And if the government is beginning to round up dissenters, then things are beginning to look ugly already.
As Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Russian dissenter who helped the whole world to see what was going on in the USSR and the gulags said,
“There always is this fallacious belief: “It would not be the same here; here such things are impossible.” Alas, all the evil of the twentieth century is possible everywhere on earth.”[1]
How will we respond to the days ahead?
How are we responding now?
Fear will cause a person to do things they would not have considered otherwise. And fear will cause us to not do things that we should do. When we forget that the Lord is with us fear will control us. People are currently using fear to make Christian voices not be heard. And powerful people have used fear to make Christians disappear in countries around the globe for a long time.
How will we face the days that are coming?
Knowing That The Lord Is With You Gives You Courage (Genesis 26:23-33)
After all these things took place, the Lord appeared to Isaac and his main message was to not be afraid. It was “fear not” (Genesis 26:23-24).
I have not counted the number of times that some variation of “fear not” is found in the Bible. But I have often heard the claim that it is found 365 different times in Scripture. And the beautiful thing about this is that the command is given with an assurance. It is not just a bare command to not fear. It is a command that comes with a promise. It is like a ship riding atop rough waves in the middle of a storm. Suddenly the captain takes the helm and says “Do not fear”. Why is it that the people are not to fear? Well, the answer is obvious, isn’t it? The captain is in control. He has this and there is no reason for you to fear the outcome. That is why God announced who he was to Isaac and gave him the promises again. Isaac was likely beaten down by everything that had taken place and needed some assurance of God’s presence in his life. And he needed to face the people around him without fear for the Lord was with him.
God gave promises to Isaac again and this changed Isaac. He began to worship the Lord and dwell in that place.
Now is where thing get interesting for Isaac. He has found peace. The Lord has promised to be with him and things just seem to be going very well. Then Abimelech showed up with some muscle, the commander of his army (Genesis 26:26). Isaac did not cower. He says,
“Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” (Genesis 26:27 ESV)
Play that event in your head and things begin to make a little more sense. Isaac looks at Abimelech, this powerful man and says something akin to, “You’ve got some nerve showing your face around here after the way you treated me.” Suddenly, and without warning, Isaac has grown a spine. With a word this man had protected Isaac and his wife, this guy is powerful. And Isaac stood up to him, but how?
The Lord reminded Isaac of His presence. Isaac understood that the Lord was with him and would protect him.
Then Abimelech made a treaty with Isaac. Peace was finally struck between Isaac and the people of the land. They ate and made their agreement, which was the custom. And there Isaac’s servants dug another well, they found water and remained.
When we understand that the Lord is with us it changes us. We see that in Isaac. He trusted the Lord but tended to cower in the face of powerful people. He didn’t confront others and he tended to save his own skin. But when we understand that the Lord is with us, we can be bold in the face of danger.
How you respond to persecutions from powerful people will depend greatly on your understanding of God’s presence in your life. And it’s not just powerful people, it is the circumstances of life. It is illnesses and deaths. God is with you.
Do you believe that the King of kings and Lod of lords is with you? Do you live that way?
“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:8-10 ESV)
Conclusion
Fear can drive us into all sorts of bad decisions. Fear can keep us from sharing the gospel with a neighbor. It can keep us from saying and doing the things that need to be said and done. It can also move us to cower under the thumb of the powerful. But we see thins int eh life of Isaac, have courage for the Lord is with you.
R. Dwain Minor
[1] Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “The Gulag Archipelago” quoted from Rod Dreher, “Live Not By Lies”, Sentinel, 2020 p. ix.