The Lord is with You - Pastor Tom Loghry

Isaac faces uncertain circumstances and is reassured by God of His promises.

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  There was a famine in the land besides the previous famine in Abraham's time and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land where I tell you to live.

Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants, I will give all these lands, and will confirm the oath I swore to your father, Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and will give them all these lands. And through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commandments, my decrees, and my instructions. So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

There is something that is fearsome about the dark. We all experienced it as kids. You wondered what was under your bed. Or maybe in your closet when the lights went out. If you're an adult, you will still at times fear it. Maybe you fear the predators lurking in the woods. Maybe you fear criminals who may be looming down a dark alley in the city.

We fear the dangers hidden in the unknown. The threats beyond our sight. And light may increase our courage, but light may also illuminate the reality of our fears. The danger may really be there. Our bravery becomes more enduring when we know that we are not alone. When we know that mom and dad are down the hall.

When we know that our pal is beside us and he likes to carry bear spray. And when we see a police car take up its post in that dark alley. We can move forward if we trust the one who is with us. In Genesis 26, we see this demonstrated in Isaac's life. We find him in perilous circumstances. Darkness gathers around him.

But God reminds Isaac that he is not alone. So looking to the beginning of Genesis 26, verses 1 through 6, as were read, we learn that there's a famine that had struck the land. And it was another famine. There was a, Moses makes a distinction here between this famine and there was a famine that had happened earlier in the time of Abram. And that famine had prompted him to actually go to Egypt for a while. So he went from Haran to, he was in Canaan for a while, the famine hit and he decided, okay, I'm going to go to Egypt. Which may lead you to ask, you know, why would he go to Egypt? And the reason for that, if you can look at the map behind me.

If we can get the map up there.

Why would Egypt possibly be a fertile place?

Any wild guesses? What was that? The Nile River. Yes. The Nile River. And, the Nile River would go through the seasonal process where its waters would become great, it would flood the land, it would spread all the fertile silt all over the land and stuff, and it would help them be a very, productive country when it comes to agriculture.

And so that was why, if you were living kind of out in the area that didn't have all the water and all the resources, you decide you want to go to Egypt because they've got the food. But in the case of Isaac, God tells him not to go to Egypt. Abram did go to Egypt, but God stops Isaac from going to Egypt.

And instead, he wants him to stay in the area of Gerar. You can see it on the map there, it's kind of close to the coast. It's not all that far away from where he would have been, which would have been kind of in the area of Beersheba. Not sure exactly why he may have been motivated to go to Gerar.

It may have been just simply maybe there was greater population in that area. Maybe there was more food resources. Whatever the case may be, the instructions God gave to Isaac was that he was not to go to Egypt, that he was to live where God was going to tell him to live for a while, which was Gerar.

And then he reminds Isaac of the blessings that have been promised to him by way of Abraham. He reminds Isaac that he's going to be with Isaac. He says he's going to be with him and bless him. And that he's going to have many descendants, just as was promised to Abraham. And that he would inherit this land.

And that his descendants would be like the stars. So it's basically just a rehearsal, again, of everything that has been given to Abraham. And now God's reassuring Isaac that all that was promised to Abraham belongs to you as well. Everything that belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. And the reason that God gives for this is Abraham's response to these promises.

In verse 5 it says, Because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees, and my instructions. Now that kind of maybe prompts a question in our mind, because we think of Abraham as being this great figure of faith, and of how God's promises come by faith, and of how our salvation comes by faith, not by works.

And I think this is a good opportunity to make some very careful distinctions here. The reality is, is that there is no faith that does not have works. Faith always bears the fruit of works. At the same time, however, we would say that works do not justify. That's what God tells us. None of us can justify us by our works.

So, even if faith does produce works, that faith, in and of itself, does not justify us. It does not save us. The question is, is who is our faith in? Ultimately, because all of God's promises are leading to Christ, our faith is in Jesus Christ. And it's Jesus Christ who justifies. We don't justify ourselves.

So we can completely say that, yes, if you have faith in Jesus Christ, we should see evidence of it in your life. But you're not saved on that basis. You're only saved on the basis of Jesus Christ.

So in the circumstances that God is meeting Isaac, He's really calling him to respond with faith. Because it's a sort of tentative status. He's not really sure how he's going to be able to take care of his family adequately. Remember, there is a famine going on. That's the whole reason why this question has been brought up.

They're in some sort of peril here.

So God is calling him to say, you know, trust my plan rather than what may seem logical to go to Egypt. And also to accept the fact that you kind of don't have roots here in this land other than my promises. Hebrews 11:9 reminds us of kind of the lifestyle that Abraham and Isaac lived. And Jacob lived.

It says, by faith, he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. Abraham lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. So a nomadic sort of lifestyle. Can't take anything for granted. It was a situation that required faith. And Isaac responds positively.

He does put his faith in what the Lord tells him. But Isaac's step of faith is soon put under a stress test when questions arise about his wife, Rebekah so we continue on in verse 7. It says, When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, She is my sister. Because he was afraid to say, She is my wife.

He thought, The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah because she is beautiful. When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife, Rebekah. So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, She is really your wife! Why did you say she is my sister?

Isaac answered him, Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her. Then Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the men might have well slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us. So Abimelech gave orders to all the people, anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Now, as we hear these details here, maybe some of you are feeling like, this sounds like a familiar story. And it should be familiar to you, because Abraham did the very same thing when he was in Egypt, and then when he was in this same area of Gerar. In Genesis 12, he first employs this tactic when he's in Egypt, and says, Oh yeah, Sarah, she's just my sister.

And Pharaoh plans to take her as a wife, and then they start getting sick. All of Pharaoh's household starts getting sick. The women, they can't give, they can't get pregnant. And so, eventually, Abraham has to say, Yeah, actually, she is my wife. Pharaoh's not happy. And then, later on, in Genesis 20, we have a record of how he does this, again, in the area of Gerar with King Abimelech, saying that she's my sister.

And then we, in Chapter 20, we get some more details as to Abraham's rationale. Um, His rationale is he thinks he's gonna get killed because people are gonna want his wife because she's beautiful. And, so we, it's interesting to see how you can see some of the good qualities reflected in Isaac in terms of him responding with faith to God's promises.

But we can also see him reflecting some of the faults of his father as well. Rebekah is beautiful. And so, because she's beautiful, he has the same fear that he's going to lose his life on account of her. Now, I'm sure most of, most of the women, most of you women probably wouldn't be very inspired by a husband like that.

You'd kind of want him to take a stand, and like, no, you're not going to take my wife. But, apparently, that was, you know, He was just very, he was very fearful, and we shouldn't discount it. Maybe it was, it was very dangerous times. I think we, you know, last time when we were in Genesis, I described it as being kind of like the Wild West.

Might makes right. So it was a dangerous situation, but Isaac should have took a stand. He should have had faith because of God's promises to him. He doesn't, though. Now, the thing that's interesting about this situation is, we don't have, no one actually takes Rebekah. There's no curses, there's no vision given, as in the case with Abraham and Abimelech, where God gave a vision to, and a dream to Abimelech warning him against touching Sarah.

None of that's required, they just observe that, the fact that, okay, this guy's interacting with her in a way that indicates that she's not his sister, she's his wife. And so, this leads Abimelech to say, anyone that's going to bother this man and his wife, they're going to face consequences, mortal consequences if they bother them.

So, despite Isaac's cowardice, we continue to see God's faithfulness. Isaac was afraid of getting killed. He doubted God's assurance. But God through Abimelech sends a loud and clear message that no one is going to touch you. No one's going to harm you. So moving on from this episode, we see how God's blessing extended beyond mere protection.

Going on to verse 12. It says, Isaac planted crops in that land; in the same year reaped a hundredfold because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, Move away from us. You have become too powerful for us.

What we find here in this set of verses is a notable contrast to the circumstances that Isaac had found himself in. Remember, there's a famine going on. No one should be doing well in these circumstances. And yet God blesses Isaac to the extent that he becomes abundant in fruitfulness. He becomes rich.

So much so that his neighbors, the Philistines, Abimelech, they become jealous of him. They become afraid of him. It's funny, you know, Isaac had gone into the situation very fearful. Now he's emerging in this situation as someone who is feared by others. And so they ask him, they tell him, move away from us.

And that must have been pretty disappointing and discouraging for Isaac. Because even while he was living a nomadic lifestyle, he had become comfortable where he had been. They had dug wells, they had everything that they needed sorted out. And so just as things were looking up for Isaac, he takes his hit to this progress.

He has to pick up and move. He has to go and dig up new wells. And, not that this is the main point of, of this story here, but I think a lot of us can empathize with that disappointment. Where things seem to be going really well in your life and you feel like, oh yeah, God's really blessing me. And then all of a sudden you hit this roadblock.

And you stumble. And you're like, I thought things were supposed to be going well. What's interesting that we see here in the case of Isaac, is that he perseveres. He continues to put his faith and trust in God, even in the face of that disappointment. So moving on to verse 17. It says, So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar where he settled.

Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father, Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, The water is ours.

So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also, so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, now the Lord has given us room, and we will flourish in the land.

So Isaac is moving away from Gerar into the valley of Gerar. He's digging up old wells that had belonged to his father, renewing them, reclaiming them, and he's digging new wells also. But even as he's doing that, he's like, okay, we're making progress here. We're getting water for the flocks. Other herders in the area begin saying, no, those wells belong to us.

It's interesting to see how he names the wells based on the circumstances surrounding them. So you have Esek, which means dispute. So if you know Esek, you know, Esek Hopkin's field down the road, now you know, trivia fact, that's what the word, name Esek means. It means dispute. And these kind of disputes weren't uncommon.

In Genesis 21, we hear about how Abraham had a dispute with some of the servants of Abimelech, who had seized a well of his. So, he, he keeps having to dig new wells, and eventually he finds a well that he can dig where they won't bother him. Called, and he names it, Rehoboth, which basically just means space.

Like, a spacious room. And you get that sense from, kind of the statement that's made, now the Lord has given us room, and we will flourish in the land. So, Isaac is plodding forward in faith, and as he leans in, God gives him reassurance. So looking at verse 23. From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the God of your father Abraham.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham. Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his personal advisor and Phicol the commander of his forces.

Isaac asked them, Why have you come to me, since you are hostile to me?

So, the Lord appears to Isaac, once again, in kind of less than ideal circumstances. He's had to move around, dig multiple wells. God meets Isaac in these circumstances, and reminds him of the promises that he gave to him. He would bless Isaac, he would increase him, give him many descendants.

And the cornerstone, the foundation of God's promise is this, in verse 24, he says, Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am with you.

If we were to sum up the promise that God makes to his people, it's simply that. That he promises to be present and with his people in all circumstances. He's not a father who would abandon us. And so in response to this reminder of God's promise, Isaac responds with worship. He builds an altar, he calls on the Lord, and he begins digging a well there, in that place.

And it's interesting, because as he begins this project of digging a well in this place, Guess who starts, who shows up on the scene? Abimelech and his crew. Everything leads to this climactic encounter between Isaac and Abimelech, and these leaders. We can imagine Isaac thinking to himself, What now? And we see him ask that, basically, when he says, What now?

Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away? He's like, I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with me. I've left you alone. I've gotten away from you, and now you're here. What else do you want? We find out, continuing in verse 28. They tell him this. We saw clearly that the Lord was with you.

So we said, there ought to be a sworn agreement between us, between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you, but always treated you well, and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord. Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully. That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug. They said, We found water. He called it Sheba. And to this day, the name of the town has been Beersheba.

So it's interesting to see how everything really kind of comes together here. God had promised Isaac that he would be with him. And Abimelech and his leaders confirm that reality. They make the observation. They say, we saw clearly that the Lord is with you. And so, because they realize, listen, this guy, Isaac, he's got God's blessing.

There's just no real stopping him. They decide, we want to be on peaceful terms with you. Now, they say that they treated him well, you know, granted, you know, they didn't harm him. But it seems like a little bit of a stretch to say that they treated him well, but in any case, they're ready to try to become friends.

And it's interesting, because once again, we see a precedent here. Because, this is the sort of arrangement that Abimelech had with Abraham. In Genesis 21, 22 through 23, said that, Abimelech and Phicol came to Abraham and said, God is with you in everything you do. Now swear to me before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants.

Show to me in the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you. So now we have this legacy of the family of Abraham in which it's been manifest that God is with them. And so this brings them to the negotiation table, to having peaceful terms with each other.

And it's sealed over a feast, over a meal, and they make oaths to each other. And it's interesting, kind of as a capstone, you know, Moses is a great storyteller here, and by that I don't mean that he's making things up, just by the way that he's stringing these details along. Because everything, all this great stuff is happening, and to kind of cap it off, in verse 32, it serves Isaac's servants come to him and say, we found water.

That well that you've been telling us to dig, after you, you know, responded with worship and praise to God when he met you, and we started digging that well, we've hit water. It's a sign of God's blessing upon Isaac. And so, he names it Sheba which means oath. The name Beersheba can mean seven, indicating seven wells, or it can mean oath.

So kind of a dual meaning going on there.

The God of Abraham is with his son Isaac. And the good news for us is that same God is with us.

David offers this testimony in the Psalms. In Psalm 23, a very well known Psalm, We hear, even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. In Psalm 27, he says, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?

When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. When God is with us, He's not just there to look on as to what will happen in our lives. He is a strong presence in our life. He is our fortress. We hear the prophet Isaiah speaking the word of the Lord.

This promise given to Israel in Isaiah 41 says, but you Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham, my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth; from it's farthest corners I called you. I said, you are my servant. I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I'm your God.

I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. This is a promise that God gives to the people of Israel. But as we've been learning, those who are God's chosen people, those who are the true descendants of Abraham, are those who have faith. And so this promise, which was given at that time to the nation of Israel, belongs to us today as well, this promise that, of God's abiding presence.

We hear this promise in the words Jesus speaks to us before he ascends to heaven. He tells us in Matthew 28, Surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age. We hear it in Hebrews 13: 5 which is recalling Deuteronomy 31: 6, reminding us, God has said, never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you.

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, is with us. He's with us on the mountaintop. He's with us in the valley. And so, we move forward.

Whatever your circumstances, you can take courage in knowing that God is with you. Christ is beside you. You are not alone. You are not abandoned. You are not forsaken. God has never abandoned us. Everything, working from Adam and Eve, to Abraham, all the way to Jesus, has brought us to this present moment of God's continuing work.

God did not just work in the past. He's working in the present, and He's going to work in the future. He's not done with us. You and I are part of His plan. We are not too small for Him. We don't escape his attention. He's working together our lives for his glory and our good.

So do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. God is with you. God is with us. Let's pray.

Dear Father.

Even as we look to examples of human faithfulness, father such faithfulness is overshadowed by your great faithfulness to us.

Father like Isaac, we can be filled with fear and we can try to take matters into our own hands. Father, we thank you for your abiding grace, which overcomes our faults, our weaknesses. Father, we thank you for the assurance that as we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, you have promised that the work that you have begun, you will bring unto completion at the day of Christ's return.

And so father, I just pray that you would impress upon us our sensation of your presence. And that by knowing that you are with us, we would take courage to move forward in doing whatever you are calling us to do.

Knowing that we can do this father, not because of our strength, but because of your power. Because we are not alone. Father, we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we continue our series entitled Israel Arises. It's our joy to welcome you into our community.

Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)