Today’s verse on fear is probably the most simple and straight forward we have talked about yet, but it also hold seeds of what I feel is a very powerful message for the Christian church of today.
The verse itself is Genesis 26:24 “And Jehovah 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.”
In the overall chapter of Genesis 26, we have the Israelites now under the leadership of Isaac arriving at their destination, at least for now. The Israelites journeyed under Abraham out from under the sway of the idols. Keeping in mind just for reference, that at the time that Yaweh spoke to Abraham, there were exactly ZERO believers on Earth. It started over with Abraham. There were no believers from Babel to Abraham, which was about 700 ish years. I digress.
Isaac and the Israelites have arrived in the territory of Abilimech the King of the Phillistines. The Israelites are specifically warned against going into the lands of Egypt, despite what to the ancient world would appear to be amazing bounty. Instead they are to settle near Abimelech, who allows the Israelites to camp near his people, despite being in the middle of a famine. The Lord blesses Isaac with 100 fold returns on his harvesting, and the Israelites grow strong off of the bounty. Since the Israelites grow strong, King Abilimech starts to fear their power, but he asks them to leave peacefully, and Isaac leads them to the valley of Gerar.
The Valley of Gerar is where the Lord appears to Isaac and has the conversation in 24. Jehovah affirms his covenant with Isaac and says since Abraham kept God’s laws, and followed his word, God held him in esteem. If Isaac does the same, he will be blessed as well. So Isaac builds an Alter to Jehovah and puts his tent next to it.
In the final verses of the chapter, King Abimelech and some soldiers come to walk with Isaac and look at the wells that had been dug in Abrahams day that were now closed in with earth. So Isaac begins digging new wells, and the first two are “strove for” by Abimelech (that means he took them under threat of violence), but then Abimelech not being a completely horrid person leaves the rest, and the other two that are dug are left for Israel, no doubt easing the famine.
That’s it for Chapter 24, which is largely peaceful and straight forward, and at first glance almost boring. Yet, there are some deep lessons here for the modern church, and for modern individual Christians, at least in my eyes. Let’s take a look at what they are.
I desperately kept trying to write that there were only TWO lessons, but no, I came up with three, so I get to sound like some kind of trite formula YET AGAIN. I assure you all, I tried.
The first lesson here, is that if you keep to God’s covenant here on Earth, he will take care of his people. The Israelites arrived in the middle of a famine, in what has to be some of the harshest and most unforgiving land in the ancient world, and it flourished under the care of God’s people. God specifically wanted them to avoid the easy green fields of Egypt. Not only because of the war with the Egyptian idols, but because if you go to the easy place and win, you tend to think it was all your smarts and your doing. If you go to the middle of a struggle, lay all your burdens on God, and HE makes you win, you remember who it is that’s actually doing the heavy lifting. This doesn’t mean you don’t have to work, this would be stone age farming here people, but it means you will be blessed.
The second lesson, go to where God appears to you, then stay there till he tells you to go. Isaac led his people to the valley of Gerar. In the valley Jehovah appeared to him. At that point Isaac built an alter, then put his tent right next to it. Why? Since God appeared to him there, that was where he was supposed to be. His first act is to glorify God in that space and claim it for Jehovah, his second act is to place his residence RIGHT THERE. So if you feel God calling you in life, or if you are blessed enough to receive a sign or a message from him, GO. Then immediately glorify God and claim that space, you will be blessed for doing so.
The third lesson here is how to be magnanimous in victory with the Lord. Yes, King Abilimech kinda just showed up with some large men and swords and helped himself to a couple of wells that the Israelites had dug. However, he had also treated fairly and peacefully with the Israelites. So yes, if Jericho and The Battle of the Red Sea (both in the future here) teach us anything, it’s that a small mob of Phillistine soldiers would prove no obstacle for the army of believers. So why does Isaac just hand the wells over?
This is just my opinion here, but I believe there is a distinction in the dealings of the Lord. When someone does a wrong to Israel that doesn’t glorify an idol, we should turn the other cheek and allow it to happen. For the entire time the Phillistines had these wells, they knew they were the work of Jehovah even if they weren’t honoring him. However, they didn’t claim them in the name of Moloch or some other idol. That is when we allow it to be peaceful.
The nation of Israel (and thus modern Christians) should be moved to spiritual war when the name of our Father and his children is profaned and his works claimed for the idols. We as Christians are given essentially two commands. Claim Christ as Lord, and have no other God’s. It’s when those commands are violated there must be action and consequences.
So my final thoughts for this morning. I believe the modern church has managed to hold on to what it is supposed to do when it is actually being persecuted by an idol temple. When our missionaries in Africa are being butchered by Muslims, even sleepy spiritually dead Protestant church’s generally get the idea of what’s going on. There was even a small outcry when the pagan idols silenced our brothers and sisters of the faith last year for their fake plague. At least SOME believers understood this was a spirit war.
I believe the lesson for our modern selves here isn’t what to do strife, but what to do in peace. Why are we comfortable crying “God save me!” when a maniac with a machete comes in the room, but don’t immediately fall to our knees and shout “Praise Yaweh, Lord of Spirits” when we close the big deal at work, or get the house we always wanted?
If the Lord calls you to a place, it is to your benefit. It is then your job to keep his covenant and his commands, build the alter to him in that new space, and proclaim his name for all to hear and build his glory. Be generous with the fruits of that glory. So what if you lose a few wells here and there. Let them be taken and be gone. Ours is the final victory, the final glory, and the final eternity. Be bold and proud in his victory, and most importantly, GLORIFY HIS NAME!
Go in bravery and boldness today my brother’s and sisters. Praise be to God.