He Appeared

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

HE APPEARED

Gen 26:23-35

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham." 25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. 26 Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?" 28 They answered, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, 'There ought to be a sworn agreement between us' — between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD." 30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. 32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, "We've found water!" 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.  34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

NIV

We have several little nuggets we could chew on for a while, the first being that the LORD appeared to Isaac. We wonder because it was night did the LORD appear in a dream, or a vision, or did the LORD appear before Isaac in a physical sense. The Hebrew word translated as appeared only gives us more reason to think the LORD appeared in person, for that word means, to see, to have vision, to look at, to regard, and much more all in the same sense of seeing with the eyes. Although this was all before Jesus came to earth as one of us, and after his ascension he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, so in that sense, we have the Living God, the LORD always with us. Thus, he would unlikely need to appear before us to inform us of his blessing. Yet, how wonderful Isaac must have felt to have a visit from Yahweh, to see him and hear his voice. Of course, others in the New Testament have heard the voice of God. On the day Jesus was baptized in the river Jordon, when the Spirit descended upon him like a dove would descend, and the voice of the Father telling all that were there Jesus was his Son with him I am well pleased. Then Peter, James, and John heard the voice of God within that cloud that enveloped them, telling them Jesus was His Son and they were to listen to him. So, it is not beyond the realm of possibilities that the Lord God could speak directly to us, on occasion when we need a very specific direction in our lives. Yes, we can have the urging of the Spirit within, but when God needs to tell us something important for the future of his kingdom, telling us he has healed us, is moving us to someplace, or telling us where we should worship. God can do that and much more for nothing is impossible with Him. We cannot ever try to put God in a box, making our feeble effort to limit his power in our lives. If God wants to appear before us, all we can do is praise his name, worship him, bow down before him, low to the ground, in total reverence and humility. We can imagine the awe that must have filled Isaac as Yahweh appeared before him and spoke directly to him. We know that no one can look upon the face of God and live, although Moses did as we are told they met face to face, that was after God told Moses no one could see his face and live when he hid him in the cleft of a rock and passed by him. Nevertheless, we can be sure that when God wants to appear before us, he will, we cannot stop it, nor can we persuade him to appear. Let us always live in His presence anyway, as he is living within us. 

Room to Flourish

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

ROOM TO FLOURISH

Gen 26:17-22

17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.   22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

NIV

Dig wells and have them disputed so go dig another well and have that opposed, then go dig another well and finally have one for having water for himself. Isaac sure sounds like a quiet well-mannered follower of God. He would not get into a war with the Philistines over a well of water. Yet, it must not have been easy to dig a well in those days.  They had to do all the digging by hand, of course, it would have been the manservants of Isaac that did the digging, still to spend all the time digging a well and then have the Philistines argue that it was their well, would seem they were trying to provoke Isaac to become angry by quarreling with his herdsman, into a fight with them, and maybe give them a reason to kill him and take all his flocks and herds for themselves. We do not know the motivation of the Philistines for taking two wells that Isaac had dug, but we do see the response of a man who follows God.  He moved on and dug another well until he could have no one quarrel with him, so he named that well, room, and confessed it was the LORD who had given him room, and now he would flourish in the land. Here is our story, to be content with our lives, and if we are faced with opposition to turning the other cheek, move on, do not get angry, or upset with those who would try to provoke us into a war with them, so to speak. Humility and contentment are keys to a happy life in Christ. Of course, we cannot think of a time when something we have worked for our benefit has been disputed over and taken from us, but the point is simply living without giving in to any provocation against us, not getting sucked into an argument that is not winnable. Let those who live with aggression and greed have their fun for a season. We know the reward that awaits them, which is not really a reward. Because we live in Christ and follow him, follow his example, we must humble ourselves without a word just as Jesus did not defend himself or stop going to the cross, because he did the Father’s will. Jesus tells us to learn from him for he is gentle and humble or lowly of heart and if we follow him we will find rest. Within the Greek sentence, the implication is we will find rest in our life, or can also mean our souls, meaning our inner man. This is our lives, to be humble, void of aggression, void of arguments, void of greed or selfishness, and remain gentle, not offensive, not warring within, but moving on as we are blessed by the LORD, and he will lead us to those green pastures and those still waters, and He will restore us, giving us room to flourish, both in this world and the world to come. 

The Power of Envy

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE POWER OF ENVY

Gen 26:12-16

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us."

NIV

To have the blessing of God upon our life is everything. We see that Isaac did not just sit around waiting for something to happen. He planted crops, he had many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle or camels. His yield from his fields was one hundredfold because the LORD blessed him. It does not always happen that a person becomes as wealthy as Isaac had because the Lord blesses them. It is not always about the material blessing in life, but it sure was for Isaac. But he also worked for his wealth, he planted the field, or at least his servants may have. But the point of this portion of the narrative is the envy of the Philistines. However, Isaac was not much of an evangelist because we are not told that he said anything to the Philistines that his becoming wealthy was all because the LORD blessed him. He could have told them that if they turned to the LORD he served, they might receive a blessing from the LORD as Isaac did. Nevertheless, the Philistines became envious and put their envy to work filling in wells the servants of Abraham had dug, hence would have belonged to Isaac. Envy is a horrible disease of the heart; it can destroy a person from the inside out. First, it darkens the heart, keeping the light out. It overcomes the heart which then overcomes the thoughts of the mind. Everything else is put on the back burner, unimportant as muddling and almost consumed with envy. Everything they see Isaac’s flock, herds, and harvests he gathers from his fields, they cannot just look away, and forget about him or how much wealth he has accrued. Their darkened craving hearts caused them into action and they filled in those wells Isaac needed to water his flocks and herds, as well as drinking water for his people. They were so envious they told him to leave their area, that he had become too powerful for them. We cannot allow envy to have even the slightest little foothold in our hearts. We could also focus on the attitude of Isaac, as it might have been possible for him to share, but that was not, and it appears it is still not the custom of those who are wealthy to share their wealth with others. We all work for our own gain, and that is how society works, but the point is about envy. Some have far more than we do, and we most likely have more than some others. In the body of Christ, in the church, there will always be those who are considered wealthy, and to some extent exert their influence in the church, being powerful or controlling because of how much they give to the church. It might be possible that some pastors may yield to their influence as well. But the point is that we are the body of Christ and should rejoice because God has blessed them materially, instead of letting envy begin the long painful darkening of our hearts. Our main focus is our Lord Jesus, the Light of the world, our Savior. Our main focus is worshipping our God, our creator, and who has blessed us with salvation and eternal life. The trouble begins when we take our eyes off Jesus, stop wanting to be like Him, and look at others, wishing we could be like them. Turn our eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace. If we do that, there is no room for envy, not the tiniest little opening for envy to begin. 

The Correction

 DEVOTION

THE CORRECTION

Gen 26:7-11

7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful." 8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her." 10 Then Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us." 11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: "Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

NIV

Is this a, “Like father, like son” thing, or is it that Isaac did not know about his father, Abraham doing the same thing, saying that his wife was his sister because he was fearful of the men in the country where he lived. Again, it is the godless one who calls him out, finding the truth that Rebekah is Isaac’s wife. Just ask Abimelech found out about Sarah being Abraham’s wife. Interestingly the one who does not believe God gives instructions to the one who believes God. Can a non-believer teach a believer the truth of God? We have to remember that all things are possible with God and if we as a people who believe God are doing wrong a non-believer is used by God to give a word of wisdom or word of knowledge so that we are brought to the truth of our situation that is not pleasing to God. When faced with the truth both Abraham and Isaac confessed their fear, their truth, even if it was a deception. This should give us two clues regarding our work with the Lord. First, we should not live with any deceit or lies about who we are, what we are doing, or have done, or in some sense not live with that great façade in place, showing only our righteous front, while within there are some things that need fixing up, like acts, or thoughts of unrighteousness. Second, we should be open to always being teachable. First, from the Lord, whether from his word, or another believer, we could also learn something valuable from a non-believer. Although we may not think about it at times, the non-believer is watching us, for although they may not live to please the Lord, somewhere within them they are aware of the right from wrong. In the case of Abimelech, he catches Isaac in the lie, seeing him caressing his wife Rebekah. The non-believer may well catch us in an error, or a mistake that we make, an unrighteous moment, because we are but mere humans, and have not yet attained perfect righteousness. Yet, we still should always be open to correction from any source that God chooses to use, and we should not become defensive, but rather confess our error, and move forward from there. Even in the face of Isaac being corrected by a Philistine, God blessed Isaac abundantly, because he repented. When we are in error, God will always find a way to correct us. We simply must be open to his work in our lives and the correction. 

Listen and Obey

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LISTEN AND OBEY

Gen 26:1-6

26:1 Now there was a famine in the land — besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time — and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws." 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

NIV

Although we could talk about all the nations being blessed by his seed, which ultimately means Jesus, who would come through his line. His one son, Judah, born from Leah would come to David, Solomon, and Jesus. We could also consider that God confirmed his oath or covenant with his father and now it was with him, that is not our story today. When God appeared to Isaac, however that happened, the first and foremost words from the LORD were to give directions concerning the path Isaac should take. “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I will tell you to live”. This could not be any plainer. God ordered the footsteps of Isaac. Yes. Eventually, he and his whole family would end up in Egypt and his descendants would become slaves for four hundred years, until the time of Moses. But for now, God was clear where Isaac was not to go and where he was to live. This should show us how God works in our lives if we are listening for his voice, or perhaps expecting his appearance, even if in a vision or a dream. Then again, we have the Spirit dwelling within us so that we might know the path we are to walk in this life, including where we are not to go, where we are not to live, and where we are not to worship. He also tells us where we live, what city, what home, and where we are to work, worship, and play. Still, we must be willing to accept His Lordship in our lives, his complete Lordship, over every aspect of our lives. We can observe those who claim Christianity, but make all the choices in life based on their desires, but simply add Jesus for their spiritual or maybe even a physical need. However, God orders all our footsteps, every last one of them if we will only listen and obey. Isaac did not go where God told him not to, and he stayed where God told him to. This has to be our lives, to not go where God does not want us to go, and to stay where God wants us to stay, as well as go when and where God tells us to go. We simply have to listen and obey. 

Our Birthright

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

OUR BIRTHRIGHT

Gen 25:27-34

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. 28 Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." 32 "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" 33 But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

NIV

Why does a father enjoy seeing his son become a man’s man, spending his time in the open country, being strong and stealthy to secure the game in the hunt? While a quiet son, who perhaps has some inner talent, like Jacob, who possibly took up the skill of cooking is not thought of much by the father, however, he might be considered more of a mother’s boy. This is how this is recorded as to which parent prefers which son. Esau does have the birthright, yet is it Jacob who is the one who would be in the line of Jesus. It is Jacob who would become Israel and have the twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, just as Jesus would choose twelve to become his disciples. Interestingly, God’s plan for Jacob would come to pass through some deception, which of course is the meaning of the name Jacob is the heal-holder or supplanter. We do wonder why Esau would despise his birthright, just for a bowl of stew. Did he not care that all his father’s estate would be his? Was he so invested in being a man of the open country, that he had no interest in being the family patriarch, overseeing all the male servants, and maidservants, keeping track of all the family wealth, in essence being in charge of everything. Then again, we also wonder why God chose Jacob to be the one to gain the birthright and do it through such a means as we are told here. Of course, that does show that Jacob can get things done that he desires, the birthright, to gain all that belongs to his father, to be the man in charge, the leader, the governor of the family, a real man’s man, so to speak. What is our lesson from this narrative? How do we see this in our lives today? Surely we should neither try to have personal gain through deception nor through despising what is rightfully ours. It would seem our best lesson comes from Esau because we currently have a birthright as a son of God. Our birthright indeed comes through Jesus; however, it came into effect the moment we were born-again, or born from above, and became a child, or a son of God. We merely have to read what ours is for being an overcomer, or victorious. Our birthright is eternal life, to live even though we die. Our birthright is to have our name in the Book of Life, to wear a white robe, to have a new name written on a white stone, to eat from the Tree of Life in the paradise of God, to live in the new city of Jerusalem, to sit on the throne with Jesus and have Jesus acknowledge our name before the Father. Why would we ever despise all that? The Hebrew would translated as despise, which carries the meaning of disdain, to hold in contempt, of no value. We wonder how much value we put on this birthright when we consider what our daily lives look like. How much do we value our relationship with our Lord? What percentage of our day is spent doing other things, not related to our faith, compared to the amount of time our faith is the central theme of our daily activities. If we know the result of our birthright, should we not want to be that overcomer, the one who overcomes the world, and all it has to offer? How do we live in the world but not be of it? We need the daily things, we need an income, a residence, and all that includes, yet it is but stuff that will fade away. We should not get too comfortable with all the stuff but be fully invested in our birthright. 

Praying God's Will

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

PRAYING GOD’S WILL

Gen 25:19-26

19 This is the account of Abraham's son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, "Why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 The LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.   26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

NIV

We skipped the clans of Ishmael, as he no longer is part of the story about Jesus, the coming Messiah as Isaac and Rebekah are the two who shall bring forth the next in the line of Jesus. We are being introduced to Esau and Jacob. Of course, in time we will be introduced to the twelve tribes of Israel, from the loins of Jacob. However, what can we learn as a life lesson from this account of their birth? Perhaps the idea of prayer might be seen here, as because Rebekah was barren Isaac prayed on her behalf. Again, we see the LORD answered and opened her womb and she became pregnant. We do wonder because that had to be the plan of God all along, that Jacob would become the father of the tribes or nations of Israel. Yet, God may have been waiting for Isaac to pray for his wife so that His plan would come to pass. We do wonder if this was the providence of God that Rebekah would birth Esau and Jacob, He waited until Isaac prayed. This may be a clue to one of the greatest truths regarding the will of God and how that is played out in the lives of people. Certainly, we are not mere puppets being controlled by strings in the hand of God. Yet, at the same time, He does have a plan for our lives. We are not meant to be born, live pursuing our own pleasures and passion, collecting as much of everything we can, and then just die, ending up in hell, even if we thought we were a good person and would go to heaven. We were born meant to be the person God intended us to be for he knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb. We were intended to be a part of the kingdom of God, however, God did not hit us over the head with a hammer to get our attention, someone had to pray that we would hear his voice, or He used someone to send us on the right path to our meeting with him. We still have the choice to listen or ignore this new path, Just as Abraham, Isaac and we will see Jacob did. However, they heard from God, and they obeyed the path he sent them on because the world needed Jesus. We may not ever know the results of the path he has sent us on, some of us will have heirs some may not, so we can only consider the path we now walk and our prayers. What is the main focus of the prayers of our hearts? Of course, we know Isaac was interested in having an heir, that is the way of a man’s life. But what do we focus on in our prayers? Do we pray for success, for the blessing of God in what we do, or do we pray that God would have his way with us, that His will would be accomplished in and through our lives? Surely, Isaac was aware of the promise God made to his father, Abraham about the number of his descendants, and they would have to come through himself and Rebekah, yet she was barren. Therefore, God waited until Isaac prayed, and then His will was accomplished. Should we not be praying for God’s will to be accomplished in and through our lives? Although the Spirit had not yet been sent, it could still have been the moving of the Spirit who caused Isaac’s prayer to be perfectly in line with the will of God. Let us always sense the urging of the Spirit in our prayer for God’s will to be done in and through us. Then we saw how long it took for Abraham and Sarah, they were in their old age, so we can also know that we can still be within the plan of God in our lives, accomplishing his will in our old age. No matter how young or old we are, we should always be for praying God’s will to be accomplished in us and through us.