Daily Devotions
Genesis
"Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?" Psalm 77:13
Text: Genesis 26:1-35
AFFLICTIONS DESPITE OBEDIENCE
It was the Lord Himself who gave instructions to Isaac to stay in the land (Genesis 26:3)! For a while, there was great prosperity! The hundredfold increase in the efforts of Isaac confirmed that he was right when he chose the path of obedience! Suddenly there was a reversal of events! How should Isaac interpret the afflictions he had to endure from the unreasonable Philistines?
CHOOSING THE PATH OF NON-VIOLENCE
There was only one occasion when Abraham went into battle! But he had every reason to fight then! He sought to rescue his nephew, Lot! Though Abraham had a small army of trained servants, he never chose the path of violence as an answer to problems. Isaac must have cultivated this trait from his father. He too chose the path of non-violence. Did Abimelech want him to re-locate? Isaac would oblige! He would not risk the lives of his servants for the sake of a well! Neither would he take the lives of the people who had been gracious to him all this while. They had allowed him to stay in “their land”. He would not return favour with violence! He had cultivated a far nobler soul!
“Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent
in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And Isaac dug again
the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham
his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death
of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father
had called them.”GENESIS 26:17-18
Re-tracing the footsteps of his father
Abraham must have told Isaac of his years traversing the Promised Land! Isaac must have been glad that he had paid attention to all that his father had told him. That knowledge stood him in good stead in those tough days! Where should he go next? Wherever he chose to go, he must be sure that there was adequate water supply! His livestock would need plenty of water! His clan of hundreds of people, made up mostly of servants, would also require a large supply of water! His father had dug a good many wells in his lifetime. It was not easy to know exactly where water may be found!
“He called them by the names which his father had called them”
This was Isaac’s way of especially acknowledging his father. Each well that Abraham had dug was given a special name. A well was more than just a place where one drew water! To dig a well was to own it. To possess a well was another way of staking claim to the ownership of the land surrounding the well. A whole community can spring up around the establishment of a well!
Isaac claimed no credit for the wells that he re-dug. The hard work had been done by his father and his servants. Isaac must continue to trust in God, despite the afflictions that had descended upon him. Faith must prevail!