Genesis 26
Isaac lived all his life in Canaan, or Palestine, as the country is now called, the same land where his father, Abraham, had lived, and in tents with his wife, Rebecca, and their sons, Esau and Jacob. He had very great herds of cattle and goats, with many servants to watch them. Sometimes they planted grain and grew their food.
It was a warm, dry land, and one of the most needful things was to be near water. We read how Isaac’s men dug wells, and how sometimes other men who wanted the places, drove them away from the wells, and sometimes threw sand and stones in, so the wells had to be cleared out. The wells were not like those most of us see now; some were deep and a wall around, and steps down to the water, which was drawn up with a rope and pitcher or large bottle. Usually there were troughs made from stone for the animals to drink from.
Isaac gave names to the wells, and at one of these, built an altar to give God praise. And while there, God spoke to him and told him,
“Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee.”
Our greatest blessing is God’s Word, the Bible, and if people try to keep it from us, they are like the men who spoiled Isaac’s wells.
The last years of Isaac’s life were spent at Hebron where there were many wells.
The Lord has told us about these to make us understand that our souls need His Word, the same as our bodies need water. When the men worked hard and dug deep in the ground, or among the rocks, for the water, they felt repaid when they could draw out good clear water, and everyone who came to the well would be helped. So if we read the Bible, we will find its words are pure and true.
In the book of Genesis you can find the names of many wells. And in the book of Isaiah the salvation of God is called a well.
ML 08/30/1936