Please take your Bibles and let's open them up this morning to Genesis chapter 26.
! Genesis chapter 26. We're continuing our series through the book of Genesis.
And if you don't have your own Bible with you this morning, that's okay.
We provide those in the seat back nearby.
It should be one in the seat back in front of you.
I think our passage this morning is on page 18 or thereabouts, 18 or 19.
You will want to have a copy of God's Word open with you as we walk through this passage together.
So Genesis chapter 26.
And when you found it, let's stand this morning in honor of the reading of the Word of God.
Now there was a famine in the land besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.
And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech, king of the Philistines.
And the Lord appeared to him and said,
Do not go down to Egypt.
Dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.
Sojourn in this land.
And I will be with you and will bless you.
For to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands.
And I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.
And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
So Isaac settled in Gerar.
And when the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said,
She is my sister.
For he feared to say, my wife, thinking,
Lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,
because she was attractive in appearance.
When he had been there a long time,
Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window
and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah, his wife.
So Abimelech called Isaac and said,
Behold, she is your wife.
How then could you say she is my sister?
Isaac said to him,
Because I thought, lest I die because of her.
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.
So Abimelech warned all the people, saying,
Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
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 that well, Isek, because they contended with him.
Then they dug another well and they quarreled over that one also.
So he called its name Sitna.
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 Ahuzeth, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army,
Isaac said to him,
Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?
And 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 they had dug,
and said to him,
We have found water.
He called its name Sheba.
Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
When Esau was 40 years old,
he took Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hittite, to be his wife,
and Basamat, the daughter of Elon, the Hittite,
and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
The grass withers, and the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we ask now as we open up your word,
as we step back into what seems like a familiar story.
God, would you teach us yet again?
Would you open up our eyes to see and our ears to hear
and our hearts to receive the truth this morning?
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
You've probably heard the phrase,
History repeats itself.
Mark Twain would say,
No, history does not repeat itself,
but it often rhymes.
Most of you are familiar with the story of the Titanic.
I assume the Titanic was billed as the unsinkable ship,
but we all know, of course, how that turned out.
The captain of the ship, Edward Smith,
he ignored repeated warnings, several warnings,
before eventually crashing into the iceberg
and sinking the Titanic,
ultimately leading to the death of over 1,500 passengers.
What you may not be as familiar with
is the story of the Titan.
The Titan was a much smaller vessel than the Titanic.
It was a submersible vessel.
It could only hold maybe five people,
but it actually met a similar fate as the Titanic.
The submersible Titan imploded about three years ago
on its way down into the depths of the ocean
to explore, guess what?
The wreckage of the Titanic.
And the similarities between the two stories
are pretty eerie when you start digging into it.
Just like the designers of the Titanic,
the designers of the Titan thought that their design,
their vessel, was unsinkable.
And just like Captain Smith of the Titanic,
Captain Rush of the Titan,
ignored many clear and repeated warnings.
Just like the Titanic,
the Titan now is destroyed
along with the lives of all those who were on board.
If you pay attention,
if you live long enough,
you might notice some of these repeated rhymes
and different events throughout history.
You might have seen some several repeated instances
even in your own life.
And as you read through the Bible,
it's interesting,
you see a lot of this repetition
even in the pages of Scripture.
Our passage this morning
ought to sound very familiar to you.
If you were here
when we preached through Genesis chapter 12
and then again with Genesis chapter 20,
what you'll notice is that
many of the same events
that Abraham went through
in chapter 12 and in chapter 20
are happening again here
a generation later
in the life of Isaac.
This is not accidental.
When we see this sort of repetition in Scripture,
I think we're meant to stop
and ask ourselves,
why is history repeating like this?
We're meant to connect the dots
and see what is it that connects
these similar events
and then to take it one step beyond that
to see what is it that connects us
to these events.
Is there any similarities here
between Abraham's experience
and then Isaac's experience
and then all the way to us
and our experience in Christ?
And what I think you'll see
as we walk through the passage this morning
is that yes,
there is many, many, many rhymes
with our own experience.
Here's the big idea this morning for us.
We, like Isaac,
and like Abraham before him,
face all sorts of problems in this life.
But we do so with all the confidence
of the promises of God for us in Christ.
And we'll see this in two parts this morning.
If you're taking notes,
this will be our outline.
We'll see both the promises first
and then second,
we'll see the problems.
So let's look first here at the promises.
The promises.
Look there with me,
starting in verse one.
And I wonder if you notice
the way that this chapter is structured,
it's sort of like a sandwich.
Now you have these promises of God here
followed by all sorts of dramatic problems.
And then at the end,
it ends again with these same
glorious promises of God.
So we have promises,
problems, promises.
We should notice also
that this story is out of chronological order.
Did you notice that?
You know, last week we saw
the birth of Jacob and Esau.
We're supposed to be moving on.
But now Moses is bringing us back.
We're going back in time
to this story of Isaac
journeying through the land.
It's like Moses is telling us.
This similar cycle of sin,
opposition,
trials,
problems,
problems that happened with Abraham
that's carrying on here with Isaac.
So we can probably safely assume
that's going to keep happening with Jacob
and on and on and on down the line
all the way to you, Christian.
We see here in verse 1,
a famine in the land
forces Isaac to relocate,
just like with Abraham in chapter 12
where a famine forced Abraham
to sojourn in Egypt.
So here,
this repetition,
a famine forces Isaac to relocate
to Gerar in the Negev.
Here a whole generation later,
not much has really changed,
has it?
The land is still rough.
The terrain is still harsh.
There's still famine.
And now Isaac,
like Abraham before him,
he's still a sojourner.
He's still living in tents.
He has no permanent dwelling
here in the land
that God's promised would be his.
I think it's clear to us
that yes,
God has promised this,
but the realization of his promise
is yet to come.
It's not immediate.
It's not instant gratification.
There's a delay here
where God's people
must live by faith
in the promises of God.
So this famine
has forced Isaac
to pick up and relocate.
He goes down to Gerar,
and here he encounters Abimelech.
Now,
I don't know if this is the same Abimelech
that Abraham dealt with
in chapter 20
when he went down to Gerar or not.
It could be,
but not necessarily.
That name Abimelech
is actually a title.
It means son of the king.
And so while it could be the same guy,
it could also just be another guy
in the same position.
That's what I tend to think.
But regardless,
Isaac goes down
to the king of the land,
but as he goes down
into enemy territory,
as he goes wandering
through the desert,
as he walks in the middle of famine,
look what happens.
He encounters the true king.
The Lord speaks to Isaac.
And more than that,
verse 2,
it says that the Lord
appears to Isaac.
And this is the same language
that we see other places
where this is a physical,
visible manifestation
of the presence of God.
It's what we call a theophany.
God appears in visible form
to come and speak with Isaac.
And what does he say?
Do not go down to Egypt.
Dwell in the land
of which I will tell you.
Sojourn in this land.
You know,
that might not have been
what Isaac wanted to hear.
Don't go down to Egypt
where it's lush
and plentiful
and where the crops are growing
and where there's plenty of water.
keep wandering,
keep living as a sojourner,
stay right here
in the middle of this empty desert,
stay right here
in the middle of this famine.
That's probably not the counsel
that he wanted to hear,
don't you think?
You and I,
it's human nature
that we want to seek out
ease and comfort,
don't we?
I mean,
naturally,
when we're in the middle
of some sort of trial,
we want God to lead us
out of that
as quickly as possible.
But sometimes,
we should recognize,
even in the midst
of incredible difficulty,
sometimes,
we are exactly
where God wants us to be.
We may not want to hear that,
but listen to the assurance
that God gives him here.
He says,
Isaac,
I will be with you.
This Emmanuel promise,
promise God with us,
and I will bless you.
For to you and to your offspring,
I will give all these lands.
I will establish the oath
that I gave to Abraham,
your father.
I will multiply your offspring
as the stars of heaven.
I will give your offspring
all these lands,
and in your offspring,
all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed,
because Abraham obeyed my voice
and kept my charge,
my commandments,
my statutes,
and my laws.
It's as if to say,
Isaac,
I know your circumstances
are difficult.
Isaac,
I know that you're
in the middle of a famine.
Isaac,
I know that my promises
have been slow in your eyes
to come to pass,
but my promises
have not changed,
and I will do it
in my time.
Do these promises
sound familiar to you?
This is an echo,
almost exactly an echo,
this rhyme,
this repetition.
The Lord is reaffirming
the promises
that He made to Abraham.
Only now,
it's to Isaac
a generation later.
Only did you notice
a slight difference
in the promises?
Verse 3,
He says,
to your offspring,
I will give
all these lands.
as small hint
that maybe,
maybe Canaan
is not the only
piece of land
that's promised
to God's people.
In fact,
as we see later on
and we flip over
to the pages
of the New Testament,
Romans chapter 4
tells us clearly
that Abraham
and his offspring,
that is,
all those who share
the faith of Abraham,
will be heirs
not just of Canaan,
but heirs
of the whole world.
All these lands
will come
to the one
true people
of God.
All those who trust
in the promises of God.
Or as we can say
on this side of the cross,
all those who trust
in the promises
of God
in Christ.
Hebrews chapter 11
says that
by faith,
that is,
faith in the promises
of God,
by faith,
Abraham obeyed
when he was called
to go out to a place
that he was to receive
as an inheritance.
And he went out
not knowing
where he was going.
And by faith,
he went to live
in the land of promise
as in a foreign land,
living in tents
with Isaac
and Jacob,
heirs with him
of the same promise.
Why?
For he was looking
forward to the city
that has foundations,
whose designer
and builder
is God.
See,
Abraham
and Isaac
were content
to live
in harsh circumstances,
to live
as sojourners,
to live
in the midst
of great difficulty,
to live
in enemy territory.
Why?
Because they trusted
by faith
that God
had promised
a better
eternal home
for them.
Not just Canaan,
the whole world
renewed.
the new heavens
and the new earth.
All creation
freed from the curse
of sin.
A world where
there is no famine.
Can you imagine?
A world where
there is no sin.
A world where
we no longer
move from place
to place,
dwelling in temporary
shelters,
but a place
where we are
finally home.
Church,
do you realize
in Christ
we share this promise?
It's God's promises
that carry us
through our time
here as an exile.
We,
like Isaac,
are sojourners
in a land
that belongs to us,
that's been promised
to us,
but not quite yet.
We are exiles
and strangers
in a land
that we know
will one day
be full of beauty
and free from the effects
of the curse of sin,
but not quite yet.
Right now
it's prone
to all sorts
of famine
and danger
and harsh conditions,
but one day
soon
and very soon
God has promised us
Christ will come,
Jesus will return,
and all the world
will be remade.
All the world
will be freed
from sin
and it will all
be ours.
All who have
faith in Christ
share this
glorious promise.
The time is coming
when we will
inherit the land,
but in the meantime,
like Isaac,
we face all sorts
of problems,
don't we?
Let's look here
a second
to the problems
that we face.
While we wonder
here as sojourners
and exiles
waiting for these
promises to come
to pass,
we face all sorts
of problems,
don't we?
Amen?
I'm glad I'm not
the only one.
And these problems
come at us
from two main
directions.
we face both
internal problems
and we face
external problems.
And we see both
of them here
in the passage.
Look with me
starting in verse 7.
And here we see
some of the internal
problems that
Isaac's facing.
Isaac shows up
and Gerar
and verse 7
says that the men
of the place
begin asking
about his wife,
Rebecca,
because apparently
she's very beautiful
in appearance.
And so what
does he do?
Like Abraham
before him,
he lies.
He tells everybody
that his wife
is his sister.
Why?
To save his own
skin.
Right?
To protect himself
so his own life
would be spared.
I mean,
at least when Abraham
did it,
it was kind of
a half lie,
right?
Sarah was his
half sister.
I know that's weird.
Times were different
back then.
But here,
I mean,
it's just a complete
full out,
flat out lie.
Didn't God
just promise
like two seconds
ago?
Didn't God
just promise
that I will
give you
as numerous
offspring
as the stars
in the sky?
Didn't he
just promise
that through
your offspring
all the earth
will be blessed?
But here,
Isaac,
just like Abraham
before him,
he shows this
deep disregard
for the faithfulness
of God.
And like Abraham
before him,
he takes matters
into his own hands
and this hero
of the faith
lies to preserve
his own life.
Now,
let me chase a quick
rabbit trail here.
This is one reason
why we as good
Protestants
don't venerate
the saints
like our Catholic
friends do,
right?
You know what I mean
by veneration
of the saints.
Our Catholic
friends,
they honor the saints,
they want to be
reminded of their lives
and so they'll put up
images of them
throughout their churches,
they'll give lessons
from their lives,
all that is fine enough.
But then they take it
one step further
and they will pray
to these men
and seek their intercession
that these men
might pray on their
behalf to the Lord.
They seek their blessing
that some of their
righteousness
might be overflowed
and credited
to their account.
So they lift
these men up
to this place
of reverence
and honor
but it seems
to me
that they miss
the fact
that even
these great heroes
of the faith
like you and I
are sinners
in need
of a Savior.
You know,
maybe one reason
why Moses
goes back in time
to give us this story
is to make sure
we don't miss
the fact
that Isaac
like you and I
is a sinner.
Just like Abraham
before him
was a sinner.
We may not have
that problem
of veneration
of the saints
but I wonder,
you know,
church,
your favorite
Bible teacher
and the one
whose Bible study
you buy right
when it comes out
the one
whose sermon
podcast
you're quick
to soak up
the pastor,
the preacher,
the teacher
that's ministry
has just blessed
you tremendously.
Do we remember
that they too
are a sinner
in need
of a Savior?
Isaac tells us
a lie here
and proves himself
to be a sinner
and verse 8
says that
they were actually
able to keep this
up for a long time.
They lived in the land
for a long time
until Abimelech
looks out of the window
and he sees Isaac
laughing with his wife
except I think
that's kind of
an unclear translation.
I don't know
exactly what they
were doing
but it was enough
that Abimelech
saw it
and he knew
that that was
not his sister.
He knew instantly
that he had been
lied to
that they are
in fact
married
and so this king
calls him out
and says
what have you
done to us?
You've put us
in the position
where anyone
here could have
lain with your wife
and you would have
brought this guilt
upon us.
Isaac has put
the king
and his people
in this position
where even
unknowingly
they could have
done something sinful
and broken
the seventh commandment
and committed adultery.
Isn't it shocking
to you
that this pagan
king seems
more sensitive
to righteousness
than Isaac?
He seems
a little bit
more sensitive
to the dangers
of sin
than this father
of the faith?
Here yet again
just as we saw
with Abraham
this pagan king
looks more righteous
than this chosen
vessel of the Lord.
What a shame.
Isaac's in a world
of trouble
isn't he?
But ask yourself
whose fault
is that?
This whole situation
this whole issue
here is
entirely
of Isaac's
own doing
at the core
of this problem
is Isaac's
own sin
and often
church
that is the
first layer
of problems
that we have
to deal with.
I know
you go through
problems
and you experience
trials
we all do
but when you
face these trials
you face
these problems
you walk
through these
issues in your life
how often
do you stop
and ask
how much
of this problem
is because of me?
Yes
of course
we face
an enemy
we have
external issues
we live
in a fallen world
we're going to get
to all that
in a minute
but before
we point
the finger
outward
and go
and blame
others
even go
and blame
the devil
himself
we need
to stop
and ask
how much
of my
suffering
is tied
to my
own
sinful
choices
and Peter
tells us
we just read
in 1 Peter
that we
shouldn't be
surprised
when the fiery
trials come
upon you
Christian
you will
encounter
suffering
but then he
goes on
to say
but don't
suffer
as a
murderer
and don't
suffer
as a
thief
and don't
suffer
as an
evildoer
don't
suffer
as a
meddler
in other
words
you are
going
to
suffer
but don't
bring it
upon yourself
because of
your own
sin
but of course
we also see
here Isaac
faces also
great external
problems
as well
just as we
do
church
look there
starting
in verse 12
it says
after all
this
apparently
despite
Isaac's
sin
God
continues
to bless
Isaac
doesn't he
and despite
the famine
in the land
it says
Isaac
sowed
in that
land
and he
reaped
in the
same
year
a hundred
fold
I don't
know much
about
agriculture
or farming
but that
seems pretty
impressive to
me
to sow
seed
in the
midst
of a
famine
and in
the same
year
to reap
a hundred
fold
I mean
he is
flourishing
there
he's
reaping
an
incredible
harvest
Isaac
gets a
taste
here
of this
future
blessing
that God
has
promised
he becomes
rich
he gains
flocks
he gains
herds
he gains
servants
and with
all of that
guess what
he also
gains
enemies
the
Philistines
they see
his success
and they
see the
blessing of
God
in his
life
and it
says that
they envied
him
Abimelech
the king
he doesn't
like how
strong
and prosperous
and successful
Isaac
is becoming
he's a
threat
now
so he
tells him
to get
out
and the
Philistines
go a step
further than
that don't
they
they go
and they
get a bunch
of dirt
and they
fill up
all the
wells
that Abraham
dug
they fill
them up
with dirt
and this
is not a
subtle
message
is it
the message
is we
want to
snuff
you out
you don't
belong
here in
this land
look at what
Isaac does
verse 17
it says
Isaac
leaves
he goes
to the
valley
of Gerar
and what
does he
do
he digs
up those
same
wells
again
those same
wells
that Abraham
his father
dug
and he
gives them
names
not new
names
he gives
them the
same old
names
that Abraham
his father
gave him
what's he
doing
it's almost
like he's
saying
you can
try to
stop
us
but God
has promised
me this
land
and so
yeah
you can
try to
snuff
me
out
but it's
not
going to
work
what is
he doing
he faces
this external
opposition
how
by
clinging
to
and living
in light
of
the promises
of God
verse 19
says
they dug
in the
valley
and guess
what
they find
water
God
here even
in the midst
of famine
and here
even
with all
the Philistines
filling up
the wells
with dirt
and here
with the king
sending Isaac
out as a
wanderer
yet again
God
provides
this blessing
of water
and with it
yet again
there's an issue
the herdsmen
of Gerar
they contend
with Isaac's
herdsmen
and they say
this water
is ours
and so
what does
Isaac do
he names
that well
a sack
which means
contention
it's like
he's getting
used to this
by now
right
problems
and promises
problems
and promises
so what does
he do
he moves
on
he digs
another
well
and apparently
that well
also produces
water
here's some
blessing
and guess
what
there's another
fight
and so he
names that
well
Sitna
which means
enmity
and so what
does he do
it's probably
time to give up
now right
probably time
just to
throw it
throw in the
towel
and move
on and be
done
no
Isaac moves
on and he
digs yet
another
well
and finally
at last
it says
there is
peace
so he calls
its name
Rehoboth
which means
room
saying
the Lord
has made
room
for us
and we
shall be
fruitful
in the land
church
do you see
this beautiful
picture of the
Christian experience
do you see
how
how this
rhymes
with our
experience
in Christ
the Lord
has told
us
I will put
enmity
between you
and the woman
Genesis 3
between your
seed
and her
seed
ultimately
this is
enmity
it's contention
between Christ
and the enemy
Satan
but it's also
enmity
it's contention
between the
offspring of
Satan
and the
offspring of
God
and Christ
in every
age
and in
every
place
God's
people
are at
war
contending
with the
forces
of evil
we do
not wrestle
against flesh
and blood
but against
the rulers
against the
authorities
against the
cosmic powers
over this
present darkness
against the
spiritual forces
of evil
in the heavenly
places
we face
an enemy
that prowls
around like a
roaring
lion
seeking
someone to
devour
we shouldn't
be surprised
then church
when trials
come our way
if you want
to live a life
of faithfulness
to Christ
then church
you can expect
the enemy
will want to
snuff you out
stop you
from doing so
but
those who
persevere
in Christ
like Isaac
eventually
will
overcome
come
the trial
is not
forever
the good
news is
the opposition
is not
forever
the good
news is
eventually
all who
persevere
will know
the full
blessing
of knowing
the Lord
eventually
those who
persevere
will know
the peace
that God
has promised
free from
our enemies
I wonder
what sort
of
opposition
faces
you
believer
what would
keep you
from prayer
this week
what would
keep you
from spending
time in the
word
this week
what would
prevent you
from sharing
the gospel
with a friend
this week
a neighbor
this week
a family
member
this week
what would
prevent you
from coming
and gathering
with God's
people for
worship
next Sunday
what would
prevent you
from spending
time building
up one another
in conversations
about the Lord
and in discipleship
this week
the enemy
would love
to fill those
wells up
with dirt
we face
these issues
these trials
by like
Isaac
clinging
to the
promises
of God
for us
in Christ
look there
with me
to verse 26
after all
of this
all of these
problems
we see the
Lord appears
yet again
to Isaac
and yet again
he speaks
and yet again
he reminds
him and us
of his promises
he says
I am the
God
of your
father
Abraham
fear not
I am
with you
I will
bless you
I will
multiply
your offspring
for my
servant
Abraham's
sake
how does
Isaac
respond
he says
he builds
an altar
and he
worships
the Lord
and he
pitches
his tent
there in
the land
and he
digs
another
well
this passage
ends
with
another
reminder
of these
unshakable
promises
of God
much has
changed
since the
beginning
of the
chapter
Isaac's
been through
a lot
but the
promises
of God
have not
changed
his
faithfulness
has not
changed
and if you
wondered
well what about
his enemies
are they gone
yet
no
no they're
not
but we get
here at the
end of this
passage
some resolution
here starting
in verse 26
don't we
this passage
ends
with a
reversal
and with
a
reminder
as for
Abimelech
he comes
to Isaac
with his
advisor
and with
his military
commander
and Isaac
at this
point
he puffs
out his
chest
a little
bit
doesn't
he
he's
like
what
are you
doing
here
don't
you
hate
me
you
sent
me
away
and he's
right
isn't
he
but look
how they
respond
they say
we see
plainly
that the
Lord
has been
with you
we see
plainly
that the
Lord
has been
with you
make a
covenant
with us
that you'll
do us
no harm
just as
we've done
you no
harm
and have
done
nothing
but good
to you
and have
sent you
away
in peace
that's
not exactly
true
is it
but Isaac
doesn't make
an issue
of it
God
is giving
him
peace
in the
land
he is
despite
all the
apparent
issues
God
is making
a way
here
to
fulfill
his
promises
it's a
reversal
in Isaac's
favor
and so
he makes
a feast
they eat
and they
drink
the next
morning
they go
out
in peace
and that
same
day
Isaac's
servants
come
and tell
him
they've
dug
a well
and he
calls
it
Sheba
which
means
oh
there's
a
complete
reversal
in
Isaac's
favor
it
seems
finally
like
everything's
going to
be okay
with
Isaac
doesn't
it
except
we know
better
we get
snapped
back to
the present
here
in verse
34
and we're
reminded
a generation
later
problems
still
remain
we still
have
these issues
Esau
is marrying
Hittite women
he's making
life bitter
for Isaac
and for
Rebecca
the promises
remain
but so
do
the problems
we get a
small taste
of blessing
but it's
always mixed
up with
all of
these
issues
and this
is exactly
how it is
with us
in Christ
until he
comes
isn't it
church
John Calvin
says something
interesting about
this passage
he says
that
this history
teaches us
that the
blessings
of God
which pertain
to the present
earthly life
are never
pure and
perfect
but are
always mixed
with some
troubles
is that true
with your
experience
blessings
in this
life
are always
mixed up
with trial
and problems
children are a
blessing from
the Lord
but that
blessing is not
without trial
money
is a blessing
from the Lord
but that
blessing is not
without trial
homes
are a blessing
from the Lord
but you get
HOAs that make
your life
miserable
blessing
often comes
with difficulty
why
he says
these blessings
are mixed
with troubles
lest quiet
and indulgence
should render
us negligent
it's to remind
us
church
that like
Isaac
we are not
yet
home
we must
persevere
to the true
blessing
that remains
ahead of us
for all
who know
the Lord
Jesus Christ
by faith
a true
unbothered
undiluted
unmixed
blessing
is yet
ahead of us
church
but until
then
we are
sojourners
the problems
remain
and so do
the promises
church
until he
comes
if you
wrestle with
patterns of sin
in your own
life
take heart
so did
Abraham
and so
did
Isaac
and so
does every
single pastor
you look up
to
so do I
and so
does every
hero of the
faith
everyone
but Jesus
who was
tempted and
tried in
every way
as we
are yet
without
sin
the only
hope for
sinners
like us
is that
Christ
Jesus
has come
to live
and to die
and to rise
for us
so that
any
sinner
who
trust
in him
will be
forgiven
of their
sin
and made
heirs
of all
these
wonderful
promises
of God
and if
you face
opposition
in this
life
as the
church
certainly
does
then
friend
take
heart
so has
every
part
and member
of the
body
of Christ
throughout
all the
ages
from
Abraham
and Isaac
and to
Paul
and to
Peter
and to
every
believer
everywhere
but church
we face
this
opposition
with
confidence
that
Christ
has
already
won
Christ
has
overcome
the
world
Christ
has
defeated
every
sin
Christ
has
defeated
our
enemy
and
one
day
all
the
world
will
be
ours
free
from
every
hand
of
opposition
what a
hope
until
then
we are
sojourners
and
exiles
wanderers
and
pilgrims
a
letter
to
Diognetus
written
at the
end
of
the
fourth
century
he's
commenting
on
this
he says
Christians
are
indistinguishable
from other
men
either by
nationality
or language
or customs
They do
not
inhabit
separate
cities
of their
own
or speak
a strange
dialect
or follow
some outlandish
way of
life
with regard
to dress
and food
and manner
of life
in general
they follow
the customs
of whatever
city
they happen
to be
living in
whether it's
Greek
or foreign
and yet
there is
something
extraordinary
about their
lives
they live
in their
own
countries
as though
they were
only
passing
through
and they
play their
full role
as citizens
but labor
under all
the disabilities
of aliens
any country
can be
their homeland
but for
them
their homeland
wherever it
may be
is as a
foreign
country
they pass
their days
upon earth
but they
are citizens
of heaven
church
we are
sojourners
passing
through
enduring
every trial
clinging
to the promises
of God
for us
in Christ
let's pray
father
we pray
that we
would
realize
this
identity
that we
would
realize
that we
are
not yet
home
that the
blessings
of this
life
are
partial
at best
that it's
always
full of
opposition
and trial
God
we pray
that we
would cling
to the
certainty
of your
promise
Lord
that there
is
hope
ahead
of us
God
that there
is
forgiveness
of sin
to be
had
right
now
by faith
in Christ
and there
is an
eternity
of
unmixed
blessing
ahead of
us
for those
that know
you
Lord
we pray
God
would you
lead us
to live
in light
of these
promises
we pray
in Jesus
name
Amen