(Genesis 26:1-17) Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Like father like son...
More than likely, Abraham had told his son, Isaac, the stories about when he "had to lie" about his wife being his sister in order to protect himself on two different occasions. Then when Isaac found himself in a similar situation, these stories would have come to mind, because Isaac decided to do exactly what his father had done.
Again, there were consequences! Maybe Abraham forgot to add "the moral-to-the-story"... that there are consequences when one lies, like - causing a king and an entire nation to be upset with you.
Now, along the way, Abraham must have confessed his sins and missteps to God. As Isaac was reminded of the Abrahamic covenant, God also pointed out the fact to Isaac that his father had been a believer, obedient to God's will, commandments and laws.
So when we reminisce with our children (or others) and tell them stories of what we did "back in the day", we do need to be less spectacular and more honest. Use every moment as a teaching moment, and apply God's words appropriately, because - THEY ARE LISTENING! It's also a good idea to tell them stories about the times we did seek out God's will and how much better those situations turned out!!!
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