I'm going to look at, in this
chapter, one verse, previous chapter, five wells mentioned, four of
them in chapter 26 and one in 5. These five wells want us to
see something of the life and experience of believers. As I
said, I believe it was last week, I wrote an article, maybe it
was last week. They, back in the old Testament, they gave
names. They gave names that had meaning. Substance to them. Substance
had happened, you know, they would name, or either a child
by that name, or in this instance, they named these whales. by the
experience that they had gone through at that time, well had
been done. So I want us to look at that
and when you go home, read the whole chapter. Read chapter 26
because time wouldn't allow us to do this. In chapter 25, you look in verse
11. This is after Abraham died, buried
beside Sarah, his wife, in verse 10. It says in verse 11, and
it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed
his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt by the well Lehiroi. The name Lehiroi means the living
one. The living one sees me. Dwelt there, he lived there,
had his tent there by that well. It represents, what this well
represents is God's unfailing care of his children. He cares for us. far more than
we recognize and far more than you and I will ever acknowledge.
He cares for us every second of the day. Right now, He's caring
for us. Seeing to it that our bodies
doing what they should do. I'm breathing because of Him.
You believe the gospel, I believe the gospel because of Him. After
this service, I'm going to go home and you're going to go home
and we're going to eat. That food is from our Heavenly
Father. He's caring for us, continually caring and maintaining us, watching
over us. That's why he named this well
Lehiroi. Isaac lived in the presence of
God. He lived in recognition of thou
God, see us me. Remember Hagar said that? She had to take Well, put him
under a tree because she didn't want to watch him die. And God
showed her a well. And the name of that well was
Beer Lehiroi. The Living One sees me. The Living
One sees me. The Living One is watching over
me. God who is self-existing is watching
over me. And Isaac knew and realized that
he lived in the presence of God. Not just mystically, but actually. He actually and really realized
that he lived in God's presence. I want to live like that. I want
to live every day with the recognition that I'm living in the presence
of the Living One. One who cares for me. We live
in His presence at all times. Every believer, everyone in here
that believes the gospel can say, in Him, we live and move
and have our being. In Christ, we live and move and
have our being. We believe. We believe in the
omnipresence of God. Our God is everywhere. There
is no place He is not. Go over in Psalm 139. Psalm 139. Look in verse seven of Psalm
139. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? For whither shall I flee from
thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there. I make my bed in hell or in the
grave. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me
and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea,
the darkness hideth not from thee. The night shineth as the
day, the darkness and the light are both alike to me. Oh, I tell you, we ought to draw
a lot of comfort in the omnipresence of God. We are never alone, never
alone. I may be laying in a hospital
bed and nobody in the room, but I know, Lord Jesus Christ, I'll
never leave thee. That is Lechaim living one. Now over here, starting in verse
or chapter 26, something I want to point out before I go to the
next wills. If you'll see here, it says in
verse one, and there was a famine in the land. Beside the first
famine was in the days of Abraham. We have, first thing jumped out
at me this morning as I was going back over this, you'll notice
it says there was a famine in the land beside the first famine
that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac, during the same trials
that Abraham endured. We all, there's nothing new under
the sun. We all, whatever, whatever I'm
going through, somebody else has gone through it. Another
believer has gone through it. There's no new trial. But it says here, and Isaac went
unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar. The Lord appeared unto
him and said, go not down into Egypt, dwell in the land which
I shall tell thee of. 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 thy father, unto Abraham thy father and I will
make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven will give
unto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed all nations of
the earth be blessed. That is the Lord Jesus Christ
right there. The covenant hasn't changed has it? I tell you the
covenant of grace hasn't changed. The covenant that was between
the father and the son is still the same. It's repeated to the
believers in this generation and when you and I are gone Believers
in the next generation will have the same promises and the same war. But I noticed here, like I said
in the first of it, trials come to Isaac. All God's children
face these famines, sooner or later, throughout our lives. Not just a one-time thing, it
goes throughout our lives. But notice here how Isaac handled
it. He leaves the well of the living one who sees
him. He leaves that well, the place of God's blessing. And
evidently in his heart and his mind, he was going to go to Amazingly, when the children
of Israel were delivered from Egypt, every time trouble came,
where did they want to go? Back to Egypt. Egypt is not our
help. The world is not our help. The
first place we go is to Christ. We go to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we get our direction, our leadership from Him. Again, we
get it from There's nothing good that ever
happens down there. He stopped him and
he stayed there in the place called Gerar which is the border
between Egypt and Canaan. God had him to stay there for
a while. But I think one of the lessons
here is this. Don't leave where God is unless
God moves you. Don't move to improve your position
and your situation unless God moves you. I would rather, I
would rather, and I'm careful saying this because I may end
up having to do it. There are some things I've seen
come along and I'm thankful it happened. But I would rather
live in a one-room shack with an outhouse. Gospel preachers. I mean that. I believe I can
say that. And I don't just say that because it sounds good.
I say that because after 63 years and 40 years of believing the
gospel and living this life, I know that there's only one
thing important, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my
relationship with Christ. If there's anything I can get
across in the years that God has given me, nothing more important
than the relationship with Christ. Sooner or later we're going to
let it all go anyway. Now the Lord is merciful to Isaac.
He's merciful to him because merciful to us stops him from
going down to Egypt where he is and he repeats the
promise God listen God is a faithful
God our God is faithful care of us whatever our need is he will
see to it he will bring us safely home the way sometimes is going
to be rough there will be time we will go through as Isaac and
Abraham that's how that's how Israel
ended up in Egypt. Now let's look at the second
well before we run out of time here The second way I look at
verse 19, 19, turn over here. Now let me show you something
first back here in verse 15. Let me point this out. Isaac goes to Gerard and there
he stays and that's, where Abimelech is again, probably the son of
Abimelech that Abraham dealt with. Isaac does the same thing
Abraham did. He said, tell them, Rebecca,
tell them you're my sister. He gets chided for, he gets called
out on it. There in the verses 10, 11, 12
and down through there. But we see here in verse 15,
all the whales For all the wells which Abraham, that is, his father,
Abraham's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father,
the Philistines had stopped them, that is, they filled them with
earth. I thought, do we ever grow up, do we ever really, do
we ever really grow up? They dig these wells and out
of envy Out of envy and jealousy, they went behind him and they
just filled him up. I mean, just like kids, I mean, just like
they grow up. And so they fill all these wells
up. And what happens is Isaac's servants,
they go back and they dig these wells back up again. And Isaac's
servants dig in the valley and found there a well, verse 19,
dig their well of springing water. And Herdman of Gerar did strive
with Isaac's herdmen, saying, the water is ours. Water is ours. And he called the name of the
well Esek. They strove, they strove with
him over it. This well is called Esek. That
means content. Did they name these wells? These
wells have meaning. This tells what went on at this
well. There's a well of contention. Why is it called contention?
I'll tell you why. Everyone who drinks of this well,
everyone who drinks of the water of life, everyone who drinks
of the water of life will have contention over it. You will
have, in this life, you will have contention over it. Ungodly
men, false religion will bring contention. We have inward contention, inward
war, conflict going on. When God enables you, drink of
the water of life, you're going to find contention. You're going
to have outward contention. You're going to have contention
from your family. Our Lord said that your enemies
will be they of your own household. ESAC, well of contention. And then we have in verse 21
another way of sitting here in verse 21. 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. Bless thee and multiply thy seed
for my servants, Abraham's sake. See, wait a minute, I got the
wrong verse there. Here, verse 21, I've read verse 21. And they
digged another well, another one after that one, and strove
for that also. He called the name of it Sidney.
And that means, the meaning of that well is hatred. Our Lord said this. ye shall
be hated of all men. Hated of all men, all who are
not born of God will be hated by the namesake. There's nothing
that will bring out the natural hatred of men You want to find out where the
natural enmity lies. You want to find out by experience,
the natural hatred that men have of God. Tell the truth. Find out. Find out that men hate
the Lord Jesus Christ. They hate the sovereignty of
God. THEY HATE SOVEREIGN GRACE. THEY HATE THE GOSPEL OF GRACE.
THE WELL WAS CALLED SIN. THANK GOD WE COME TO THE FOURTH
WELL. And he removed from there and
digged another well, for that they strove not, called the name
of it Rehoboth. Said, for now the Lord hath made
room for us, fruitful in the land. Thank God for Rehoboth. It means room, abundance. Our Lord said, in my father's
house, many dwelling places, rooms, plenty of room. We may not have any continuing
dwelling place here, but we have one in glory. Our Lord said, I go and prepare
a place for you. I go and prepare a place for
you. I will come again and receive you to myself. For I am there,
you may be also. There's plenty of room in my
Father's house. It also means abundance, abundance. Where sin abounded, grace. abundant grace, abundant room.
Oh, he said that the Lord hath made room for us. Made room for
us. Room for us. I have a place. You have a place. You believe the gospel, you have
a place in God's presence. in God's glory, in God's heaven,
in God's paradise, you have a place that was specifically made and
equipped. Thank God for Rehoboabundance. Our Lord is a well of water that
never runs dry. He is abundant. Never drink Him dry. Look over
in John chapter four. Listen to how our Lord speaks
to this woman here at the well. John chapter four, where I want
to start reading. Verse 13, Jesus answered and
said unto her, this woman at the well, whosoever drinks of
this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, bringing
up into everlasting life. That's abundant. That's abundance,
isn't it? He says the water that I shall
give him shall never, it'll never run dry. This is a well that
will never dry up. And it's, listen, and it's in
him. It's in this person and it springs
up into everlasting life. It's life giving water. These wells were always tight
and simple. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
life-giving water, never runs dry, and that you can drink of
and never thirst again. And then the last well over here
in verse 33. We'll go to 32. And it came to pass the same
day that Isaac's servants came told him concerning the well
which they had digged, said unto him, We have found water. He
called it Sheba, for the name of the city is Beersheba. Sheba, an oath. Now, in the verses previous to
this, Bimelech and Isaac, an oath. Let's read this so you'll get
the picture here. Verse 26. Then Abimelech went
to him, that is to Isaac, from Gerar and Hezath, one of his
friends, and Phico, the chief captain of his army. And Isaac
said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing you hate me,
and sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly
that the Lord was with thee. We said, let there be now an
oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make
a covenant with thee. Thou wilt do us no hurt, as we
have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing
but good. 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 betide. Boy, Isaac was
just a, What an example of Christ he
is. You people don't like me. Well, we recognize one thing,
God's with you. Let's make an oath here. Here's why, you're
greater than we are. Greater than we are. Let's make
an oath here. They did, and Isaac, he made
them a feast, and they did eat and drink, and they rose up be
times in the morning, early in the morning, and swear one to
another. And Isaac sent them away, and they departed from
him in peace. And it came to pass the same
day that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the well
which they had digged. And Isaac says, I got a name
for it, because I got a name for this well. This well represents a covenant. It represents a covenant of peace
made between Isaac and Abimelech. We all know of that covenant
of grace. We spoke of it last week. That covenant of grace
between the father and the son. Do us good. Do us good. In Christ, we have peace with
God. Christ, through this covenant
of grace, we have all the blessings, all the blessings. There's not
one thing in the covenant of grace that you and I will not
experience, that I will not receive. Because of this covenant, that
they had made with one another, there was a feast made. Because
of this covenant of grace, you and I have a feast waiting for
us in glory. You know that? There's a feast
waiting for us in glory. Because of this covenant made
between the fathers. Now in closing, each time I want
you to I want to point something out here. Each time Isaac dug
a well, or his servants dug a well, Abimelech's servants came along
and contended for it. They came along, the first two
or three of them, they came along and, this is our well, this is
our... It's their land, they figured,
it's their water, even though they dug it up. But they contended
for it, and each time Isaac let them have it. Did Isaac have
no backbone? Is that what this is? Did he
have no backbone? I know Abimelech recognized his
greatness. He said, you've become great.
God blessed you. The king recognized this man
has become so strong he can take us over. Isaac let them have it because
one, much as lieth in you, live peacefully. He had a different nature in
him than the pretentious. He was willing. He was willing. All right. Isaac, being a type of Christ,
shines through when he seeks peace. Like our Lord, Isaac was meek
and lowly in heart. Meek and lowly in heart. He bore
no animosity in his heart toward them. By his graciousness, he let them
have it and went and digged another well. He didn't say, no, we dug
this, we're going to draw the line in the sand, and you're
not going to cross it. Meek and lowly, and he had a
heart in him to seek peace, to do it, and to lift people up. But if you notice in his conduct,
In his conduct, the King, Abimelech, submits to Isaac. He's the one who comes to Isaac
and pursues peace. He's the one who recognizes that
Isaac is the greater. He's the one who recognizes that
God is with him. God is with Isaac. God was in
Christ reconciling the world. When God gives life to a sinner,
that sinner recognizes God is with Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the
Savior. He's the one I am to go to. He
has all the power and all the authority. It's all given to
Him. You recognize that Isaac could do
could if he wanted to do as he willed to do. He could fight.
He could turn and fight. He knew he'd have a mess on his
hands if he did. I hope this has been good for
you. It's a study for me. Seeing these wells and the names
that were given to them, When I read these, and I could identify,
have only the gospel. There's some of that. Hatred
over the gospel. Abundance of grace. The abundance
of grace, Rehoboam, the room and abundance of grace that God
has provided.