†. Gen 26:1a . .There was a famine in the land-- aside from the
previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham
That particular famine occurred in chapter 12 before Isaac was born; even
before Ishmael was born. Many good, prosperous years have gone by since
the last famine. This may in fact have been the very first famine that Isaac
ever witnessed, and probably his last too.
The Hebrew word for "famine" is from ra' ab (raw-awb') which means:
hunger (more or less extensive)
People go hungry either because they can't buy the foods they need, or can't
grow it for lack of soil or water. In Isaac's case it was probably a lack of
water that made the difference. He had lots of money. But cattle can't live
on legal tender. Down in the lowlands there would very likely be plenty of
water in wells and springs that could be used for irrigation. So it's off to the
lowlands they go; herds and all.
†. Gen 26:1b . . and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines,
in Gerar.
This was very likely another Abimelech-- not the same man in chapter 20
whom Abraham knew. That Abimelech was very likely dead by now. The
name "Abimelech" is more like a title than a moniker; sort of like Czar,
Pharaoh, or Caesar.
Gerar hasn't been fully identified, but the site might be in one of the
branches of Wady Sheri'a, at a place called Um Jerrar, near the coast
southwest of Gaza and 9 miles from it. The site answers fairly well to the
statements of Eusebius and Jerome, that it was 25 (Roman) miles south of
Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin). It's actually 30 English miles, but distances
weren't very accurately determined in early times. Gerar was known in the
first 5th century CE, when it was the seat of a bishopric; and its bishop,
Marcian, attended the Council of Chalcedon 451 CE.
According to ERETZ Magazine, issue 64, Abimelech's land is an ample valley
with fertile land and numerous springs; a perfect place for a man with cattle
to weather out the drought.
Isaac's decision to investigate the possibility of living amongst Abimelech's
people was quite possibly influenced by Abraham's pact with them back in
chapter 20. Hopefully they would be inclined to honor his dad's relationship
with the previous Abimelech and let Isaac's community live down there at
least until it started raining again up in the highlands.
†. Gen 26:2a . .The Lord had appeared to him
This is the very first recorded incident where God appeared especially for
Isaac. When he was offered as a burnt offering back in chapter 22, God
appeared to his dad while Isaac was with him. But God was not said to
appear to Isaac. This is the first time.
You know, probably nobody alive today will ever be honored by a divine
close encounter of a third kind. We will live out our pathetically boring,
uneventful little lives always never quite sure if maybe we were hoodwinked
- hoping against hope that the Bible is true. And wouldn't the joke be on us
if it isn't? What a bunch of gullible morons Christians would be if there is no
Bible's God after all.
†. Gen 26:2b . . and said: Do not go down to Egypt;
Isaac may have been considering Egypt as plan B if Gerar didn't work out.
†. Gen 26:2c . . stay in the land which I point out to you.
That had to be encouraging. Even if things looked bad in Gerar when Isaac
arrived, he could rest upon the fact that he was going in the right direction.
†. Gen 26:3a . . Reside in this land, and I will be with you and bless
you;
Suppose it turned out Isaac didn't like the land God selected for him and
moved to another one? Well he could just forget about providence. The
promise: "I will be with you and bless you" was conditional. He had to live
where God directed him to live.
†. Gen 26:3b-4 . . I will assign all these lands to you and to your
heirs, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will
make your heirs as numerous as the stars of heaven, and assign to
your heirs all these lands, so that all the nations of the earth shall
bless themselves by your heirs--
Although some translations render the word "heirs" plural, the word zera' is
one of those Hebrew words that can just as accurately be translated in the
singular as well as plural: like the words sheep, fish, and deer. In this case,
it's probably best to understand zera' in the singular because it most
certainly refers to Jacob rather than to both he and his brother Esau.
†. Gen 26:5 . . inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge:
My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.
That statement has led some people to believe that Abraham's progeny
would inherit the land of Cannan as a reward for his belief and faithfulness.
But the promises themselves weren't Abraham's reward; no; his reward was
the oath that notarized the promises. Here's how the promises are worded in
their original language.
†. Gen 12:1-3 . . Now Yhvh had said to Abram: Get out of your country,
from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show
you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name
great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I
will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed.
†. Gen 15:4-5 . . And behold, the word of Yhvh came to him, saying: This
one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall
be your heir. Then He brought him outside and said: Look now toward
heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. And He said to
him: So shall your progeny be.
What's missing in the original language? Answer: an oath. Does that mean
the promises as per Gen 12:1-3 and Gen 15:4-5 were incomplete? No; they
were good as gold as-is. But this next version of the promises contains an
added benefit.
†. Gen 22:16-18 . . By Myself I have sworn--testifies Yhvh --because you
have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son: in
blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your progeny as
the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your
progeny shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your progeny all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
Clearly then; Abraham didn't earn the promises by offering Isaac, no, he
earned the oath.
Yhvh would have made good on the promises He made to Abraham at Gen
12:1-3 and Gen 15:4-5 without having to swear to it. I mean: after all God's
word is His bond. The oath was icing on the cake. It was done for Abraham's
and his progeny's sake (in this case Isaac) to assure them the promises
were in the bag no matter what.
†. Heb 6:16-17 . . For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to
show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His
counsel, confirmed it by an oath.
Yes; and that oath was hard-won. It required nothing less than the sacrifice
of Isaac's life. Don't ever forget that; in point of fact, you might even wish to
take advantage of it; viz: "in your progeny all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed" refers to Christ.
†. Heb 6:18-20 . . By two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where
the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Mel officiated as a priest of God prior to Moses' covenanted law. Therefore,
since Bible law isn't retroactive (Gal 3:17) then Mel's constituents weren't
obligated to comply with Moses' law; and one of his more famous
constituents was Abraham.
Did Abraham have a license to steal? No. Though he was above Moses' law,
he wasn't above Noah's law (Gen 9:1-6) which stipulates the death penalty
for murder, and forbids dining upon bleeding flesh.
But the important thing to get out of all this is that Christ is a
Melchizedekian kind of priest; which means his constituents are above
Moses' covenanted law too.
†. Ps 110:4 . .Yhvh has sworn and will not relent: You are a priest forever
after the manner of Melchizedek.
In the matter of "obedience" and the matter of "charge" Abraham moved
when God instructed him to move, and set up camp where God instructed
him to set up: and he offered his only son Isaac when told to. That was
pretty important.
Isaac had some pretty big boots to fill; but he needn't ever worry about
losing the blessings-- his dad Abraham has that all locked in for his progeny
just as Christ has the kingdom of God all locked in for his sheep.
†. Rom 5:19 . . For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Adam ruined it for his race, but Abraham did just the opposite for his
progeny; and I sometimes wonder if Isaac ever really appreciated that.
Cont.
/
previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham
That particular famine occurred in chapter 12 before Isaac was born; even
before Ishmael was born. Many good, prosperous years have gone by since
the last famine. This may in fact have been the very first famine that Isaac
ever witnessed, and probably his last too.
The Hebrew word for "famine" is from ra' ab (raw-awb') which means:
hunger (more or less extensive)
People go hungry either because they can't buy the foods they need, or can't
grow it for lack of soil or water. In Isaac's case it was probably a lack of
water that made the difference. He had lots of money. But cattle can't live
on legal tender. Down in the lowlands there would very likely be plenty of
water in wells and springs that could be used for irrigation. So it's off to the
lowlands they go; herds and all.
†. Gen 26:1b . . and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines,
in Gerar.
This was very likely another Abimelech-- not the same man in chapter 20
whom Abraham knew. That Abimelech was very likely dead by now. The
name "Abimelech" is more like a title than a moniker; sort of like Czar,
Pharaoh, or Caesar.
Gerar hasn't been fully identified, but the site might be in one of the
branches of Wady Sheri'a, at a place called Um Jerrar, near the coast
southwest of Gaza and 9 miles from it. The site answers fairly well to the
statements of Eusebius and Jerome, that it was 25 (Roman) miles south of
Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin). It's actually 30 English miles, but distances
weren't very accurately determined in early times. Gerar was known in the
first 5th century CE, when it was the seat of a bishopric; and its bishop,
Marcian, attended the Council of Chalcedon 451 CE.
According to ERETZ Magazine, issue 64, Abimelech's land is an ample valley
with fertile land and numerous springs; a perfect place for a man with cattle
to weather out the drought.
Isaac's decision to investigate the possibility of living amongst Abimelech's
people was quite possibly influenced by Abraham's pact with them back in
chapter 20. Hopefully they would be inclined to honor his dad's relationship
with the previous Abimelech and let Isaac's community live down there at
least until it started raining again up in the highlands.
†. Gen 26:2a . .The Lord had appeared to him
This is the very first recorded incident where God appeared especially for
Isaac. When he was offered as a burnt offering back in chapter 22, God
appeared to his dad while Isaac was with him. But God was not said to
appear to Isaac. This is the first time.
You know, probably nobody alive today will ever be honored by a divine
close encounter of a third kind. We will live out our pathetically boring,
uneventful little lives always never quite sure if maybe we were hoodwinked
- hoping against hope that the Bible is true. And wouldn't the joke be on us
if it isn't? What a bunch of gullible morons Christians would be if there is no
Bible's God after all.
†. Gen 26:2b . . and said: Do not go down to Egypt;
Isaac may have been considering Egypt as plan B if Gerar didn't work out.
†. Gen 26:2c . . stay in the land which I point out to you.
That had to be encouraging. Even if things looked bad in Gerar when Isaac
arrived, he could rest upon the fact that he was going in the right direction.
†. Gen 26:3a . . Reside in this land, and I will be with you and bless
you;
Suppose it turned out Isaac didn't like the land God selected for him and
moved to another one? Well he could just forget about providence. The
promise: "I will be with you and bless you" was conditional. He had to live
where God directed him to live.
†. Gen 26:3b-4 . . I will assign all these lands to you and to your
heirs, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I will
make your heirs as numerous as the stars of heaven, and assign to
your heirs all these lands, so that all the nations of the earth shall
bless themselves by your heirs--
Although some translations render the word "heirs" plural, the word zera' is
one of those Hebrew words that can just as accurately be translated in the
singular as well as plural: like the words sheep, fish, and deer. In this case,
it's probably best to understand zera' in the singular because it most
certainly refers to Jacob rather than to both he and his brother Esau.
†. Gen 26:5 . . inasmuch as Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge:
My commandments, My laws, and My teachings.
That statement has led some people to believe that Abraham's progeny
would inherit the land of Cannan as a reward for his belief and faithfulness.
But the promises themselves weren't Abraham's reward; no; his reward was
the oath that notarized the promises. Here's how the promises are worded in
their original language.
†. Gen 12:1-3 . . Now Yhvh had said to Abram: Get out of your country,
from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show
you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name
great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I
will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed.
†. Gen 15:4-5 . . And behold, the word of Yhvh came to him, saying: This
one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall
be your heir. Then He brought him outside and said: Look now toward
heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. And He said to
him: So shall your progeny be.
What's missing in the original language? Answer: an oath. Does that mean
the promises as per Gen 12:1-3 and Gen 15:4-5 were incomplete? No; they
were good as gold as-is. But this next version of the promises contains an
added benefit.
†. Gen 22:16-18 . . By Myself I have sworn--testifies Yhvh --because you
have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son: in
blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your progeny as
the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your
progeny shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your progeny all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.
Clearly then; Abraham didn't earn the promises by offering Isaac, no, he
earned the oath.
Yhvh would have made good on the promises He made to Abraham at Gen
12:1-3 and Gen 15:4-5 without having to swear to it. I mean: after all God's
word is His bond. The oath was icing on the cake. It was done for Abraham's
and his progeny's sake (in this case Isaac) to assure them the promises
were in the bag no matter what.
†. Heb 6:16-17 . . For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for
confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to
show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His
counsel, confirmed it by an oath.
Yes; and that oath was hard-won. It required nothing less than the sacrifice
of Isaac's life. Don't ever forget that; in point of fact, you might even wish to
take advantage of it; viz: "in your progeny all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed" refers to Christ.
†. Heb 6:18-20 . . By two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold
of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where
the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest
forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Mel officiated as a priest of God prior to Moses' covenanted law. Therefore,
since Bible law isn't retroactive (Gal 3:17) then Mel's constituents weren't
obligated to comply with Moses' law; and one of his more famous
constituents was Abraham.
Did Abraham have a license to steal? No. Though he was above Moses' law,
he wasn't above Noah's law (Gen 9:1-6) which stipulates the death penalty
for murder, and forbids dining upon bleeding flesh.
But the important thing to get out of all this is that Christ is a
Melchizedekian kind of priest; which means his constituents are above
Moses' covenanted law too.
†. Ps 110:4 . .Yhvh has sworn and will not relent: You are a priest forever
after the manner of Melchizedek.
In the matter of "obedience" and the matter of "charge" Abraham moved
when God instructed him to move, and set up camp where God instructed
him to set up: and he offered his only son Isaac when told to. That was
pretty important.
Isaac had some pretty big boots to fill; but he needn't ever worry about
losing the blessings-- his dad Abraham has that all locked in for his progeny
just as Christ has the kingdom of God all locked in for his sheep.
†. Rom 5:19 . . For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Adam ruined it for his race, but Abraham did just the opposite for his
progeny; and I sometimes wonder if Isaac ever really appreciated that.
Cont.
/
