Genesis 26:12–33 (ESV)
And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him, and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
From there he went up to Beersheba. And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army, Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
Extraordinary Blessing Brings Unexpected Tension
This passage describes for us a season of extraordinary blessing for Isaac and also tension with the Philistines. So Isaac sowed and reaped a hundredfold harvest. And so here we see that Isaac has this great prosperity right near the border of the promised land. But that this was neither ungodly nor unwise. He gave credit for it, to God, for his success.
His flocks, his herds and his servants increased until the Philistines envied him, and their envy is what ultimately led them to stop up Abram's wells. And so Abimelech, fearing Isaac's growing strength, politely, I guess, told him to leave. It is exactly this prosperity that made Isaac unpopular and made him unwelcome in the Philistine land.
A Pattern of Peace Over Conflict
But Isaac doesn't fight, right? He moves to the valley of Gerah and reopens all the old wells. And each time that his servants dig a well, a local quarrel erupts. And so Isaac names the well Essek, which means contention, and then Sitna, which means enmity. The names reflect the fact that there is this quarrel between his people and the people of the land. And he refuses to quarrel. He simply moves on again and then digs another well again.
The third well he calls Rehoboth, which means room, and that's an uncontested well. So this is the place where he sees God's provision and said, now the Lord has made room for us and we'll be fruitful in this land.
Now remember that this is a culture in which having water and water rights is a very important thing. It means life. It means success. And so Isaac keeps moving until he finds the place where God provides him a foundation upon which he will have success and supply the water that he needs.
God's Presence and Promise Renewed
And then from Rehoboth he goes on to Beersheba. And there the Lord appears to him. And again we see the same promise we've been following all throughout the book of Genesis. Fear not, for I am with you and I will bless you. And so as the Lord appears to him, Isaac builds an altar and he calls on the name of the Lord. Worship is Isaac's first response to seeing God. When God is in his presence, he can do nothing but worship him.
Now, as this is all happening, Abimelech and his advisor and his army commander come along and Isaac confronts them and says, why have you come? They reply, we see plainly that the Lord has been with you. And so they propose a treaty so that there will be no harm between them. And so again, they make a covenant between Isaac and this foreign king.
And so even in this moment, we already see a fulfillment of part of the promise that God had made to Abraham, that they would become a blessing to the nations. And so here, Isaac makes, I guess, a blessing of peace with the nation of the Philistines. And so the meeting ends with a feast and a peaceful departure. And the next day, Isaac's servants go out again and find water again. And there they named the well Sheba, giving Beersheba, the well of the oath, its name. The word Sheba sounds like the Hebrew word for oath. And so that's why they call it that.
What We Can Learn
Now, what can we learn from this? Well, firstly, I think we need to recognize that all prosperity is a gift. Now, Isaac's prosperity comes from God. Isaac sowed and he reaped, but it is the Lord who blessed him. When the Lord granted him success, he does the right thing. He thanks God and gives glory to God.
Often, we need to guard our hearts from pride and envy when we have success, because when God grants us success, our response should not be, look at how great I am, but rather, look at how great God is for giving me all of these things.
The second lesson here is that Isaac acts in a way like Jesus would on the cross. He acts as a person who responds to conflict with peace. Isaac doesn't fight over the wells. He trusts that God would provide. And in our families and in our workplaces, we're going to fight over and have quarrels over resources, over recognition in our work, over our status within the workplace or within our family. But we are called to be peacemakers. Jesus himself says, blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons of God. And so as we interact with this world, we are to be these people of peace, just like Isaac was and ultimately just like Jesus was.
And thirdly, I think this passage shows us our response to God's presence. In the midst of uncertainty, Isaac comes along, has an experience of God's presence, and the first thing he does is he builds an altar and thanks God. Our first response to God's grace to us also should be thanksgiving. We should thank God and praise him for what he does for us.
Pointing to Jesus, Our Living Well
And of course, all of this points us to Jesus, who is our living well of water. He provides a place for us. There is room for us because Jesus has made room for us in paying for our sins and allowing us to be adopted into God's family. He left the glory of heaven. He surrendered all of his rights to glory and he made peace between us and God through the cross. And so in Jesus we find now room to flourish, and God has made a covenant of everlasting peace with us through him. What a wonderful thing to thank God for. So let's do so now in prayer.
O Lord, thank you that you have, through Jesus, made room for us at your table, that you have adopted us as sons and daughters of the King, and that through his sacrifice we can now flourish as people who have everlasting peace with you. Thank you. Amen.