Genesis 26:1-11

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac lived in Gerar. The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife,” lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” It happened, 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 caressing Rebekah, his wife. Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”

Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

Isaac, like his father, was promised protection from the Lord if he would obey, and like his father, he did obey and was protected. Also like his father, Isaac got scared and lied about his wife to save his own skin. I am sure that Isaac knew about what happened between Abimelech and his parents, but he still repeated their error.

This is a lesson for parents. Children learn to follow our patterns. It is much better to live what you believe than to just talk about what you believe. Our children may not learn from our mistakes, and may even repeat them. We need to live in such a way that we are examples of how to live.

It’s nice to see that Isaac was affectionate toward his wife even though he tried to save his own skin at her expense.

Isaac was not blessed because he was so courageous, but because He believed in God. He didn’t deserve what God promised, but when he heard God he believed and obeyed him. We are a bit different today than Isaac in that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. We have more in common with a prophet than a man without the Holy Spirit like Isaac. Because of this, God expects us to be courageous. When more is given, more is expected and we have been given more than Isaac had because we are God’s own children.

God loved Isaac and it was demonstrated by the fact that he got caught telling a lie. Good parents don’t just let their kids get by with doing wrong. They take the time and effort
to correct them.