Isaac digged again the wells of water, which
they had digged in the days of Abraham
his father.
Now you see he's returning back to that
land where his father was.
For the Philistines stopped them after the death
of Abraham, and he called their names after
the names by which his father had called
them.
And Isaac's servants digged in the valley and
found there a well of springing water, and
the herdmen of Gerah did strive with Isaac's
herdmen, saying, The water is ours.
And he called the name of the well
Esek, because they strove with him.
Now this reveals a struggle, and very frankly
you have here the water, and may I
say that I feel the water is a
picture of the Word of God.
We are to drink deep of it.
It's called the water of the Word, and
it's for drinking purposes, to slack our thirst,
and it's also for washing.
You clean through the Word which I've spoken
unto you.
And water becomes a very important item in
life.
You can't have life without water.
You can fly over this desert of Arizona,
New Mexico, and California, and when you fly
over it you just see plenty of desert.
Then all of a sudden you see that
which is just lush green, and you raise
the question, what happened down there?
Well, water is the only explanation.
You can tell the same thing about the
children of God today in any church.
The difference is the Word of God, those
that study the Word of God.
And there's a struggle, friends.
It's not easy.
I think you almost have to pay a
price today really going to study the Word
of God.
You can do anything.
The devil will let you do anything except
get into the Word of God.
Now verse 20, "...the herdmen of Gerah did
strive with Isaac's herdmen."
Now verse 21, "...and they digged another well,
and strove for that also.
And he called the name of it Sitnah.
And he removed from thence, and digged another
well, and for that they strove not.
And he called the name of it Rehoboth.
And he said, For now the Lord hath
made room for us, and we shall be
fruitful in the land."
Rehoboth.
There's room for us, and we'll be fruitful
in the land.
We'll be a blessing.
Now notice this.
He'd dig a well, and they'd take it
away from him.
And he'd move up and dig another well.
They'd take that away from him.
And what happens?
Well, he just keeps moving up.
This reveals, may I say, that Isaac is
a man of peace and a man of
patience.
David wouldn't have done this.
I can tell you that.
Simon Peter wouldn't have done this.
And if you want to know the truth,
Vernon McGee wouldn't have done this.
But it's a lesson for us here, and
especially when it pertains to the Word of
God.
May I say, we'll have to do some
striving if we're really going to get the
Word of God out.
Now, we are told, "...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.
I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed
for my servant Abraham's sake."
Now, God appears to him to comfort him.
God appeared to the patriarchs, you see, with
the exception, of course, of Joseph here.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He appeared to them.
Now, notice, "...he built an altar there, and
called upon the name of the Lord, pitched
his tent there, and there Isaac's servants digged
a well."
Here he goes again, he's digging wells.
You can always put a well down next
to Isaac.
You can put an altar down next to
Abraham, and you'll put a tent down next
to Jacob, as we'll see later on.
Now, we are told in verse 26, "...then
Abimelech went to him from Gerah, and Ahazath
one of his friends, and Phicol 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."
You see, they had respect for this man
Isaac.
Now, we are told verse 34, "...and Esau
was forty years old, when he took to
wife Judith, the wife of Beri the Hittite,
and the daughter of Elon the Hittite, which
was a grief of mine unto Isaac and
Rebekah."