Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Genesis chapter 26. Genesis 26. I want to actually
look at. Verses 23 through the end of
the chapter. Just make a few statements. Bringing
us back. Isaac had been truly tried. And
proven. to be faithful by the Lord. He had dug some wells only to
have them taken by the Philistines and Isaac's submission unto the
good providence of God evidenced that he believed God. He believed
and trusted the Lord who had told him in Verse three of this
chapter, he said, Sojourn in this land, and I will be with
thee, and will bless thee. For unto thee and unto thy seed
I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which
I swear unto Abraham thy father. So Isaac had God's word. The Lord told him, you're gonna
be here just a while, I'm gonna be with you. In the good timing
and providence of God, after being mistreated by the Philistines,
the Lord made room, the scripture says, for Isaac and he would
be fruitful in that land. Paul the apostle was moved to
write in 1 Thessalonians 4, 11 and 12, this concerning our walk in this
world, and that you study to be quiet, and do your own business,
and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, and that
you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that
you may have lack of nothing. Brother Henry Mahan made a comment
on that verse of scripture that I just read, and this is what
Brother Henry said. He said, Make it your goal to
live peaceably and to cause no disturbance or turmoil. Avoid
gossiping, unkind words, or accusations. The Lord was through the means
of strife. the Philistines were exhibiting
toward Isaac. The Lord turned that for Isaac's
good, and what the Lord was doing was leading Isaac to himself,
to the Lord. Therefore, that strife proved
to be for Isaac's good and blessing. Well, here we pick up in verse
23, and the scripture says, and he went up from Thentz to Beersheba. I want us to just notice the
wording of the Spirit of God. He went up from thence to Beersheba. Now, he was in a place where
there was strife and contention, and the Lord was drawing him
out. And that going up, it just has
a sound of the Lord's blessing upon it. He made his way from
being among the Philistines and goes up, the scripture says,
to Beersheba, that name of that place that means well of seven
oaks. That name, which to a vessel
of God's mercy, sets forth in his heart that which demonstrates
and reminds of the peace and harmony that's been established
by the Lord himself confirmed with an oath between Almighty
God and his people only through the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So here's Isaac. Now he's been brought out, dug
some wells, Philistines came, claimed them, they're ours. Okay,
it's fine. It's all yours. The Lord made room for him and
here he is. And the scripture says in verse
24, After he went up from Thence to Beersheba, and the Lord appeared
unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham
thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee,
and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's
sake. Now, I read over that verse of
scripture, over, just kept looking and looking, and that word appeared,
the Lord appeared unto him. Now this, Isaac is a man just
like any other man. He's a human being. He's a creature
like every man, woman born in Adam of like passions. And God
appeared to him. That's what it said, God, the
Lord appeared. The capital L, capital O, capital
R, the covenant God of all grace, totally in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. Jehovah in the person of Christ,
he who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. God appeared
to Isaac the same night that Isaac came up from thence to
Beersheba, And the Lord spoke to him. I just don't want us
to just glaze over that. God appeared to him and spoke
to him. And he said, as I mentioned,
I know I mentioned this last Sunday. He said, I am, the word
I am is in italics. I, the God of Abraham, I said
last Sunday, Abraham's alive. Abraham is alive. All of God's
saints have departed. They're alive. They're with the
Lord. They're with the Lord. And the Lord appeared to him.
What mercy that the Lord God Himself would speak of the certainty
of the life. I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish. Now, Abraham's body is in the
ground. He got, he buried, he bought
the piece of property, he buried Sarah's wife, he's buried there,
some of those are buried there. That body is there and it's,
it's gone to corruption by now. But his spirit, his spirit's
with the Lord. I am the God of Abraham, my father. And so, I know we see through
a glass darkly, but we see, we know that. There's so much we
don't know. But God appeared to him, and
the scripture says, and he said, I'm the God of Abraham, my father.
And then he said these words. He said, fear not, for I'm with
thee. Fear not. There's a reverential
fear that we have for the Lord, and it's good, and it's right. They that feared the Lord reverenced
the Lord. But here the Lord's telling Isaac
that he has no reason to fear anything or anyone else. Fear
not. We do fear the Lord reverently.
Here he's talking about don't be afraid. Why? Because I'm with
you. I'm with you. Those who know him and reverence
him, he's with them. And so the Lord promised Isaac
that he would be with him. He said, I'm with thee, will
bless thee and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. You know, this is the desire
of God's people. They want to know something of
the presence of the Lord. The Lord tells us. He tells us,
I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. We know
that. I'm always reminded, always, almost always, where two or three
have gathered together in my name. I am in the midst of you.
You know, that just, that puts a, I don't know how to say it
respectfully. It just puts a new standard to
it. I don't know how to say it. But
the Lord's here. The Lord is here. Two or three
had gathered together, and he said, I'm in the midst of you.
The God of all grace, turn over, hold your place, turn over to
Exodus 33, Exodus 33. After the children of Israel had that golden
calf, built by Aaron, and they were
worshiping that golden calf, and Moses came down, and you
know, he threw the tablets, and Moses wanted to know. Here they've
come out of Egypt, they've crossed the Red Sea, they've come to
this place, Sinai, where God's gonna give them the word, the
law, And they're down there, they're worshiping this golden
calf. And Moses wants to be assured. And here's what he's saying,
Exodus 33, and I'm going to read verses 12 to 19. And Moses said unto the Lord,
See, thou sayest unto me, bring up this people, and thou hast
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if
I found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know
thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that
this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence, this
Lord speaking, he said, my presence shall go with me, and I will
give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein
shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in
thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall
we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken. For thou hast
found grace in my sight. I know thee by name. This is
where Moses said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said,
I'll make all my goodness pass before thee. I'll proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom
I'll be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. So it's a marvelous thing that
the Lord appeared to Isaac. It's a marvelous thing that the
Lord revealed unto Isaac that he being the covenant God of
grace has a people that are with him, departed saints. Marvelous
that he reminded Isaac of the blessing that he had promised
to his dad, Abraham, and to Isaac, and Isaac shall, I see, be called. And so here he is. He's had the
Lord appear to him, and after the Lord appeared to him and
promised him, I'm with you, I'm gonna bless you, I'm gonna multiply
thy seed. And then verse 25 says, and he
built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and
pitched his tent there, and there Isaac's servants digged a well. Now what a blessed revelation
of a believer's priority. Here, Isaac has been brought
out from Philistines, And the Lord has met with him, assured
him. And here's what Isaac does. He builds an altar and he called
upon the name of the Lord. Isaac, having met with the Lord,
did that which was the priority of God's people. He built an
altar. and worship the Lord calling
upon his name by doing that which gave honor and glory and praise
unto the Lamb of God. He built an altar. He's going
to alter a sacrifice there. Here's the obedient response
of one to whom the Lord has shown mercy. Isaac, by honoring God,
entered in by the grace of God into the sweet joy of the Lord's
presence. There's a sweetness where we
have the promise of the Word of the Lord, that He's with us,
that He'll bless us for the sake of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that. And then the
Scripture says, after He built an altar and called upon the
name of the Lord, and then pitched His tent. Got him a place to
rest in and have a place of shelter. And there Isaac's servants digged
a well. Now he pitched a tent there and
they dug a well after. Priority was met. He gonna honor
God first. Turn with me to Matthew 6. Hold
your place. Turn to Matthew 6. Matthew chapter
six, I'm gonna read verses 30 to 34. Matthew chapter six. Beginning of verse 30, wherefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, O ye of little faith? Wherefore, take no thought, saying,
what shall we eat? What shall we drink, or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have
need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for
the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things of
itself, sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof. Do you think
the Lord knew that Isaac needed a place to stay? Do you think
the Lord knew that Isaac needed water? What did Isaac do first? He worshipped
God first. He worshipped the Lord, built
an altar, called on the name of the Lord. And then the scripture
says in verses 26 to 33, then Abimelech, went to him from Jerar and Ahuzath,
one of his friends, and Phichol, the chief captain of his army.
And Isaac said unto them, wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate
me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, we saw certainly
that the Lord was with thee. And we said, let there be now
an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make
a covenant with thee. that thou wilt do us no hurt,
as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee
nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace, thou art
now the blessed of the Lord. And he made them a feast, and
they did eat and drink, and they rose up betimes in the morning,
and swear one to another. And Isaac sent them away, and
they departed from him in peace. And he came to pass the same
day that Isaac's servants came, told him concerning the well
which they had digged, and said unto him, We found water. And
he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city
is Beersheba unto this day." Now here we behold the blessing
of the Lord toward Isaac as Isaac had submissively, patiently,
waited upon the Lord. Abimelech was the king. As I
told you, from what I could read, it's probably a title, because
there was another Abimelech dozens and dozens and dozens of years
before that Abraham dealt with. His name was Abimelech, or his
title was Abimelech. So here it is. Abimelech visits
this vessel of God's mercy, comes where Isaac does, and he does
it With respect, I read this passage last time, Proverbs 16,
seven, when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his
enemies to be at peace with him. This was the king that had, because
the Philistines envied Isaac, they saw all the blessings, they
envied him. And the king told him that, you
know, he said, In verse 16, Bimelech said unto Isaac, go from us,
for thou art much mightier than we. And so he sent him away. He came here, and Isaac asked
him, he said, what, verse 27, he said, wherefore come ye to
me, seeing you hate me? You hate me. You sent me away
from you. And the king told him, he said,
we saw, verse 28, we saw certainly that the Lord was with you. And
we said, let there now be an oath betwixt us. And he said,
verse 29, that thou will do us no hurt. We've not touched thee,
and we've done unto thee nothing but good and sent thee away in
peace. Proverbs 21, one says, the king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. So here now this king has come
back. after the Lord takes Isaac away,
after the Lord separates Isaac from those that were oppressing
him. Then Abimelech wants to come and be united with him again. And Isaac exhibited God-given
wisdom in dealing with the king. Isaac was wise as a serpent and
harmless as a dove. The true way, read this from
one of the writers, the true way to deal with those who know
not our Lord is to stand decidedly separate from them in their ways,
but deal with them graciously for the sake of Christ, for the
sake of the witness of the gospel. So here Bimelech is saying, he
said, we know, we saw certainly. Verse 28, we saw certainly that
the Lord was with thee. Now what he saw, was he saw the
outward blessings that the Lord had bestowed upon Isaac. He saw,
you know, he saw the cattle, he saw the herds, he saw all
the things that he had received. We saw that the Lord was with
thee. And then he made this statement in verse 29, latter part of verse
29, a true statement. And these words right here, the
scripture says, all scripture, is given by inspiration of God. Now these words came out of the
mouth of this king. The latter part of verse 29,
thou art now the blessed of the Lord. Is that not true? Isn't
that the truth? Thou art now to the vessels of
God's mercy. Thou art now the blessed of the
Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which be in Christ Jesus. them who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. Right now, thou art now the blessed
of the Lord. Like I said, Abimelech saw all
the hundredfold blessings of Isaac and he saw all those other
things but the spiritual blessing. This is what Abimelech, that's
what, no one believer can see this. We're living in a world
and The world sees God's people just like anybody else, but spiritually,
thou art now blessed of the Lord. There's that true blessing. Isaac,
like every vessel of God's mercy, called out of darkness. They
have been shown to be the recipients of the spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Every child of promise has those
spiritual blessings bestowed upon them in Christ. Their names
have been everlastingly found in the book of life. That's what
the Lord told them. He said, blessed are you. Be
glad your names are written in heaven. You want to rejoice in
something, rejoice. in that. So, without a doubt,
the Lord had truly blessed Isaac. He took him out of Jerar and
made room for him, gave him a place to worship, established that
place, put in the heart of Bimelech an attitude of friendship toward
Isaac, and he found that Isaac was gracious toward him, and
Isaac prepared a feast With a forgiving heart, he swore, according to
the desire of Bimelech, to have peace, an oath between them.
And so, brethren, let's remember this. Romans 12, 18, if it be
possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men. So Isaac, obviously by the grace
of God, had done so, and according to the good providence of God,
the Lord made his blessing, The scripture says in verse 32, and
after Bimelech had departed from them, last part of verse 31,
came to pass, same day, that Isaac's servants came, told him
concerning a well they'd digged, and said unto him, we have found
water. We've found some water. So Isaac
did not, he didn't insist upon the restitution of the wells.
He dug those wells. And Philistines came and they
treated him horribly. Talked to him badly. And they
took those whales from him. And Isaac just quietly bore the
injury. And the Lord provided. The Lord
provided. He called the name of that place
Sheba. That means an oath. And there was a city close by,
right there, called Beersheba, well of the sevenfold oath. And so the Lord had blessed him.
But then in the last two verses, the Spirit of God was pleased
to insert something about one of Isaac's sons, about Esau. And I want us to consider this
in closing, and Esau was 40 years old. when he took the wife, Judith,
the daughter of Birai, the Hittite, and Bashamath, the daughter of
Elah, the Hittite, which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and
to Rebekah. Esau was 40 years old. That's
how old his daddy was. when he married Rebecca. And when Isaac was married, there
was a big difference between the marriages. Abraham had sent
his servant, he said, you go to my house, you go to the land
where I'm from, and you search out a wife for my son. Don't
you search out a wife among the women of the Canaanites. Don't
go to the Canaanites. You go and you find a wife for
my son out of my house. What if she won't come? If she
doesn't come, you fulfill the oath. You fulfill what I've told
you to say, but don't you go. Shall I get Isaac and bring him
back down here? No. If she won't come, you fulfill
the oath. You fulfill what I've told you
to do. Here's Esau, now this is Isaac's son. Isaac and Rebecca
had two boys. Jacob and Esau. Esau was 40 years
old when he took these two women, and each of these women were
said to be Hittites. Well, I just wanted to make sure
that I could trace this back. Hittite, just the title, Hittite. Definition of Hittite is descendant
of Heth. And turn to Genesis 10, Genesis
10, 15. Genesis 10, 15. Heth, we see
right here, Genesis 10, 15. Here's what scripture says. And
Canaan begat Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth. Now, okay, Heth was
the second son of Canaan. All right, well, who was Canaan? Well, Canaan was the son of Ham,
who was the son of Noah. And Canaan turned back to Genesis
9. Canaan was the one declared,
according to the scriptures, to be cursed in Ham's, his daddy's,
transgression against his father Noah, Genesis 9, 24, 25, and
Noah awoke from his wine, knew what his younger son had done
unto him, and he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants
shall he be unto his brethren. So these Hittites were Canaanites. They were Canaanites,
they were from Canaan. So being Hittites, They were
from among those that were forbidden of Abraham to be considered for
Isaac's bride. Don't go, don't go, don't go
to the Canaanites, don't go there. So Esau's marriages, the scripture
says, when he married these two Canaanites, two, two of them,
two Canaanites, and it said, which were, verse 35, were of
grief of mine unto Isaac and to Rebekah. These were among
the forbidden people, for God's people to marry. They were not
of the people of God. And so it was a grief that was
obviously, it says right here, which were a grief of mine unto
Isaac and to Rebekah. And I found a passage of scripture,
turn over to Genesis 27, 27, 46. Here's what it says concerning
the grief. Genesis 27, verse 46, it says,
and Rebekah said to Isaac, Rebekah said to her husband, Esau's daddy,
Rebecca said to Isaac, I'm weary of my life because of the daughters
of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters
of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land,
what good shall my life do me? The Lord told him, say, you come
out from among them and you be separate, saith the Lord. Don't
be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. The Lord has promised
to keep us in the midst of trials. We know that. Be not discouraged. Wait upon the Lord. And according to these scriptures
that we've just considered, how all things fell out. Wait on
the Lord. And our trials, by the good pleasure
of Almighty God, are gonna prove together to work. They're gonna
prove to work together. for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. I pray the Lord
bless this to us. Amen.