13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
God can speak so specifically through dreams. Not just vague symbols, but detailed conversation. I want greater interaction with Him. Why should someone under an inferior covenant enjoy greater intimacy than me? I seek your face O God!
53 The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
God is Holy, and worthy of fear.
Copied from http://www.avonmennonite.ca/sermonchat/?p=37
Isaac gets found out, gets a good stiff lecture, and then, oddly, things really start to go his way: he is blessed, incredibly blessed, so much so that the tables are reversed: Isaac had settled in the area as a refugee from famine, and now has more food than he knows what to do with; he began the story afraid of the Philistine and what they might do to him, now they are afraid of him. The man that was told by God to stay, is now told in verse 16 by a man, Abimilech, to leave.
After this the story is all about the wells. The Philistines begin by filling each of the wells Isaac’s father had dug. Isaac moves to Gerar and opens up some wells his father had dug previously, and gives them the same names that his father had given them, which was a way of asserting his property rights to the wells.
He digs 2 more wells, and each time the locals fight argue with him about it and he gives in and lets them have it while he simply moves on.
The third time he digs a well, they leave him alone.
The fear of Isaac
Something astonishing seems to have happened to Isaac somewhere around verse 16, so far as I can tell; somehow, this man who was afraid for his life that he was willing to pass his wife off as his sister, is so secure in his position that he is willing to walk away from his property, his hard work and his legal rights.
There is one last thing that is worth mentioning about the Fear of Isaac that I see in this chapter: the fear of Isaac, the fear of God inspires a response from others as well. Here the Fear of God makes such an impression on Abimilech that he says to Isaac, clearly, you are blessed; in Genesis 31.42 Jacob says that it is the fear of Isaac that has prevented Laban from doing more harm to Jacob than he did.
Isaac gets found out, gets a good stiff lecture, and then, oddly, things really start to go his way: he is blessed, incredibly blessed, so much so that the tables are reversed: Isaac had settled in the area as a refugee from famine, and now has more food than he knows what to do with; he began the story afraid of the Philistine and what they might do to him, now they are afraid of him. The man that was told by God to stay, is now told in verse 16 by a man, Abimilech, to leave.
After this the story is all about the wells. The Philistines begin by filling each of the wells Isaac’s father had dug. Isaac moves to Gerar and opens up some wells his father had dug previously, and gives them the same names that his father had given them, which was a way of asserting his property rights to the wells.
He digs 2 more wells, and each time the locals fight argue with him about it and he gives in and lets them have it while he simply moves on.
The third time he digs a well, they leave him alone.
The fear of Isaac
Something astonishing seems to have happened to Isaac somewhere around verse 16, so far as I can tell; somehow, this man who was afraid for his life that he was willing to pass his wife off as his sister, is so secure in his position that he is willing to walk away from his property, his hard work and his legal rights.
Apparently, when God is on our side, others will see it.
St Clement of Rome was an early church bishop, a disciple of the Apostle Peters, and in a letter that he wrote to the Corinthian church at the beginning of the 100’s he writes, “Let us rather offend men… than [offend] God. Let us reverence the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us…
Clement of Rome – 1st epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 21
(I know there isn't a chapter 21: this was cut and pasted, and I'm leaving it in till I work out the right passage he is actually commentating on)
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