Now, verse 6, And Isaac dwelt in Gerah,
and the man of the place asked him
of his wife, and he said, She's my
sister.
Now, Gerah is to the south.
Abraham and Isaac all lived in the south
part of that country.
And actually, Abraham had come into the land
way up in Shechem, up in the northern
part.
But he ended up by living down at
Hebron, the place of communion.
Now, Isaac dwelt in Gerah, and the man
of the place asked him of his wife,
and he said, She's my sister.
For he feared to say, She's my wife,
lest, said he, the man of the place
should kill me for Rebekah, because she was
fair to look upon.
And believe me, we've already found out that
she was a very beautiful person.
But now Isaac again is repeating the sin
of his father.
God warned him not to go to Egypt.
He didn't go to Egypt, but he went
to Gerah.
And here in the land of Gerah, why
he says to Rebekah, as he saw the
man of that place casting glances toward Rebekah,
said, You tell him that you're my sister,
not my wife.
Now, the difference between Abraham and Isaac is
that Abraham told a half a lie, and
Isaac told a whole one.
It was cut out a whole cloth, the
one that he's telling.
Now he says in verse 8, It came
to pass, when he had been there a
long time, that Abimelech, king of the Philistines,
looked out at a window and saw, and
behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
He's making love to her, by the way.
Or as the saying is, today they were
having a love-end.
And it came to pass, when he had
been there a long time, that Abimelech, king
of the Philistines, looked out at the window
and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with
Rebekah his wife.
And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, of
a surety, she's thy wife, and how saidest
thou, she's my sister?
And Isaac said unto him, Because I said,
lest I die for her.
And Abimelech said, What is this that thou
hast done unto us?
One of the people might lightly have lain
with thy wife, and thou shouldst have brought
guiltiness upon us.
In other words, Isaac had put these people
in danger of committing a sin.
Then he goes on to say, And Abimelech
charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth
this man or his wife shall surely be
put to death.
Now, Abimelech became a very good friend of
Isaac.
Isaac had the respect of the community just
as Abraham did.
Both of them are outstanding men.
We are not apt to get that impression,
by the way, from the rest of this
chapter, and that's the reason I mention it
here.
He that toucheth this man or his wife
shall surely be put to death.
Then Isaac sowed in that land and received
in the same year a hundredfold, and the
Lord blessed him.
God's with him, you see, and that is
the blessing that God promised to these people
from the day called Abraham was an earthly
blessing.
Well, later on when he put them in
that land, he says, I'll bless you in
your basket.
That is, I'll fill it with foodstuff.
And God made that good when they were
walking in fellowship with him.
Now, he's not promised us that.
He's promised us spiritual blessings.
We are told we are blessed with all
spiritual blessings, and that is our portion today.
And on the same terms, if you walk
with God, if you today will permit him,
he wants to bless you abundantly spiritually.