Another famine came on, and Isaac went to the same Abimelech that his father had gone to years before. Egypt was not very far away and it must have been a temptation to Isaac to go down there to get away from the famine for God appeared to him, and told him not to go there, but to stay in the land where God would be with him and bless him. God further repeated to Isaac His promise to Abraham his father, that the land should be his and his children’s who should be as many as the stars in the sky, and in those children every nation should be blessed. Still You will notice God said that these wonderful things would become true, because of what He could say (in verse 5) about Abraham. He couldn’t say as much about Isaac as He could about Isaac’s father. Perhaps like some boys and girls, and older folks, too who may read this little paper, Isaac may have thought it didn’t matter very much whether he lived to please himself, or to please God, since he had trusted Him to forgive his sins, and to take him to heaven when he should die. He may have said to himself. “My father served God faithfully a long time, and I’m his son, so it will be all right anyway.” In this and different ways Satan tries to catch us, and if we are not on the watch all the time he will succeed. Every one of us has soon to give account to God for himself, and besides that, there is trouble and sadness for us here in this life we are now living, if we don’t put God first.
Isaac ought to have stayed where he was, and should not have gone to the Philistines for help, and while God stopped him from going still further away, He let Isaac get into trouble, and though lie got out of one difficulty, he soon got into another, until, at last, he went away back where he belonged, a separated man like his great father Abraham. The first thing that worried him was that the men of Gerar asked about Rebekah, and Isaac told them the same lie that his father had told in the same place, saying that his wife was his sister. Isaac was afraid the men would kill him, and take Rebekah, because she was nice looking. But after they had been there some time, King Abimelech saw Isaac and Rebekah acting very affectionately, I suppose, so he thought they couldn’t be brother and sister; he called Isaac to tell him Rebekah certainly was his wife, and Isaac had to own it was so. God took care of him, and so the men of the place didn’t kill Isaac, but God’s children. and no one else, are never really better off for telling lies. It is always best to trust God and not ourselves when we are in trouble.
Then we read of Isaac’s getting richer and richer, so that the people around there envied him and King Abimelech at last told Isaac to go away; he went away just a little distance at first. After Abraham’s death, the Philistines had filled up the wells his servants had dug, and Isaac had them dug out again, and then there was trouble. between Isaac’s servants and the herdsmen of Gerar about the wells they dug. Isaac moved from one location to another to get away from their disputes. At last when he went back to Beersheba, God appeared to him the very same night and spoke to him, telling him not to be afraid, for He would bless him and give him many children, or children’s children. Now at last we read of an altar, the first and only time we hear of Isaac’s building one, on which no doubt he offered sacrifices to God. For a time at least Isaac now seems to have lived in the fear of God, but when he was out of trouble for a while he, like so many of God’s people, just drifted back into an easy life. Was Isaac as happy as Abraham? No, I am very sure he was not. Let us learn from the mistakes Isaac made, and seek to live for God always.
After this Abimelech, and Ahuzzath, his friend; and Phichol, the general of his army. came to see Isaac and got him to promise not to do them any harm. They saw now at least that Isaac had the true God for his Friend.
Esau took two wives, named Judith and Bashemath, both Hittites, that is, people of the country around, when he was forty years old. These women made Isaac and Rebekah very sad. I suppose they cared nothing for God, and led Esau further and further away from Him. We couldn’t expect much else, because these women belonged to one of the ten nations (see chapter 15:19-21) who were to be judged by God. Abraham in chapter 24 was very particular that Isaac should not marry one of these people, and we may suppose that Esau knew this.