My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning.
We're continuing our series in the book of Genesis.
You'll remember that the book of Genesis is the origin story of God's people, Israel.
And this summer we're looking at the story of Isaac and Jacob.
It's actually going to mostly be Jacob from chapters 25 through 36.
And to a certain extent, as I've said, we're asking the same question of the Abraham story that we asked last summer, which is what does it look like to follow God in faith?
And yet as this story develops, progresses, unfolds, some new themes get particular emphasis.
So two weeks ago we were in verses 1 through 5 and Isaac is taking on the mantle of Abraham.
We see God's faithfulness to his covenant generation to generation.
That's two weeks ago.
Last week, verses 6 through 11, Isaac then, it's not taking on the mantle of Abraham, he actually repeats the sins of Abraham.
And so we saw God's work in and through dysfunctional families.
By the way, we'll see that again.
That's a theme throughout the book of Genesis.
This week we're in verses 12 through 33 where Isaac experiences the blessing of Abraham.
The blessing that God reiterated two weeks ago.
God's faithfulness to his promises.
God's favor on his people.
And so it's at that I invite you to turn with me now to Genesis chapter 26.
We'll be starting at verse 12.
And as we turn to this, remember that this is God's word.
Jeremiah chapter 23 tells us that God's word is a hammer that breaks a rock into pieces.
Which is a way of saying that there is nothing so powerful that God's word is not more powerful still.
And so that's why we read now Genesis chapter 26 starting at verse 12.
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.
Verse 17.
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 Essek, because they contended with him.
Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also.
So he called its name Sidna.
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.
Verse 23.
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.
Verse 26.
When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzath his advisor 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.
Verse 30.
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 Sheba.
Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you again this morning that you've called us together as your people.
That we're here to worship you in spirit and in truth.
And we thank you that you're a promise-keeping God.
That you make promises and you honor them.
We ask that you would honor your promise in Isaiah 55.
That your word does not return to you void, but it accomplishes your purposes.
So we ask that you would use your word this morning to accomplish great things in our lives.
That you would help us to see Jesus.
You'd grow our love for him, our faith in him, our obedience to him.
We ask these things in his mighty name.
Amen.
Last year during my sabbatical I went back to the east coast for a little bit.
And I went camping for a few nights in North Carolina with one of my best friends.
And I have been in Colorado long enough now.
Actually nine years today.
I'm still an east coast boy, but I've been in here long enough that when I go back to the east coast
I have a little bit of culture shock.
Especially when I go camping.
Because most of the time, if you're on the east coast and you're out camping,
you can just make a fire.
Anywhere, everywhere, no one cares.
Okay, most of the time.
We don't have fire bans all the time.
You're not constantly seeing these ratings.
Like, what's the wildfire chance at this point?
Of course we know, and so we do this.
We make fires when you're camping without a second thought.
And as a nine-year Coloradan, I think, ooh, this feels really dangerous.
You can just start fires.
Wow, okay.
Fires are a different ballgame in this state.
And that's for a number of reasons.
One of the reasons is water.
We're a semi-arid climate.
There's not as much water out here.
You may not know this.
There's actually something called the Colorado Water Courts.
And they are courts that do only water and water rights.
We are the only state in the United States that has courts just focused on water.
Which highlights for you how important it is, right?
We could go on.
Artificial intelligence is controversial.
And it's controversial because of data centers.
And data centers are controversial because they require water.
Certain parts of the world, water is a huge deal.
Including the ancient Near East.
So remember where we are in the larger story of Abraham.
We're in chapter 26 right now.
We've moved on to Isaac.
And the story started this chapter, verse 1.
We find out there's a famine.
And why would there be a famine?
Most likely because there is not enough water.
And where do you go when there's a drought?
Of course you go to Egypt.
Egypt has the Nile River.
They have plenty of water.
Surprise!
Verse 2.
God comes to Isaac and says,
Don't go to Egypt.
Do what's counterintuitive.
Stay where you are.
Go against all human wisdom.
And so we talked about this two weeks ago.
There's this tremendous act of faith from Abraham to stay away from Egypt.
He has to trust God's promises.
And so God repeats that promise.
Verse 3.
Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and I will bless you.
And then in verses 3 through 5, he repeats the blessing, the promises made to Abraham of land and offspring and blessing to the nations.
Okay, this is all review from two weeks ago just so we understand where we're headed.
And I told you the point was this, that obedience to God's commands is enabled by belief in his promises.
That faith and promise always go together.
And then I reminded you Jesus has also made us a promise.
Matthew chapter 6.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Okay.
But will all these things actually be added to you?
It is nice to read Jesus' words from Matthew chapter 6 out loud.
But what happens in the long term?
It's great to hear God reiterate his promise to Abraham at the very beginning of chapter 26.
What's going to happen in the long run?
And this passage is basically the answer to that question.
Abraham makes a leap of faith, the beginning of chapter 26, and now we get to see at the end what happens.
And it's going to remind us of exactly what we saw last summer with Abraham.
In the long run, in the final analysis, God keeps his word.
He does exactly what he says he will do.
So we're going to look at two things.
We're going to look, and this is on page 8 of your worship guides.
You don't even have to write it down.
We're going to look at blessing from God and blessing before the Philistines.
Blessing from God.
Blessing before the Philistines.
And so first, blessings from God.
This is verses 12 through 13.
The first thing we find out in verse 12 is that there is an agricultural blessing.
Isaac sowed and reaped in the same year a hundredfold.
Wait, wasn't there a famine?
Wasn't there not enough water?
What happens in a famine?
Famine is when you don't have enough food.
And yet here Abraham is, reaped in the same year a hundredfold.
So Abraham, he's not just provided for.
He actually has more than he needs.
And it's not just an agricultural blessing.
We go on to find out verse 13.
It is a general blessing.
And the man became rich and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.
What did God say back in verse 3?
Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and I will bless you.
And what do you know?
God has been with him.
God has blessed him.
God's kept his promise.
Verse 13 tells us how abundant this is.
It's not just that he became rich also.
So we don't miss the point.
It is more and more.
Not just wealthy.
Very wealthy.
What did we read this morning from the New Testament?
Ephesians chapter 3.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think.
According to the power that is at work within us.
God kept his promise.
He kept it more than Isaac could have imagined.
That's blessing from God.
All this blessing though actually creates some problems.
Which goes along with that old phrase, right?
Be careful what you wish for.
There is strife and conflict with the Philistines immediately.
Verse 14.
These flocks and herds and servants are more than the Philistines can manage.
And so we find out, this is the end of verse 14.
The Philistines envied him.
They see God blessing Isaac.
They see more and more his wealth increasing.
And their eyes turn green.
So verse 16.
They kick him out.
They say, Isaac, this town ain't big enough for the two of us.
And it's not just their envy.
Also verse 16.
We find out they see him as a threat.
You are much mightier.
So we're jealous of you.
God has given you things we wish he'd given us.
We feel threatened by you.
You're so powerful.
And by the way, this is under the surface.
It doesn't say this explicitly.
But what do you need to have crops that are a hundredfold?
You need a lot of water.
And so Isaac is putting demand on the infrastructure.
It is time for Isaac to get out of town.
And of course, this is not an easy thing for him.
He's come to Gerar because of the famine.
So getting kicked out means, hey, I've got to start this search,
this need for water all over again.
And to make matters worse, notice what happened in verse 15.
They had already filled Abraham's wells with dirt.
So we're kicking you out.
You're too much of a stretch on our infrastructure.
We're envious of you.
We feel threatened by you.
And by the way, all your father's wells, yeah, we filled those up.
So good luck out there.
Now, some commentators say the Philistines filled up all the wells
because they just wanted to get at Isaac.
They were spiteful because it takes work, right?
You actually have to go out there and put dirt in the wells.
Some people say they weren't spiteful at Isaac.
Actually, they just wanted to discourage anyone from being close to them.
So they want to make it hard to get water.
Whatever the reason, if you think all the way back to the Abraham story,
Genesis chapter 21, Abraham had made a covenant with Abimelech.
Look, these wells were supposed to be protected.
They're supposed to be Abraham and his offspring's wells from generation to generation.
And whatever the reason, Abraham's got to figure out,
okay, my wells are filled up.
How am I going to get any water?
And so the same question with this crisis comes to the surface.
God's told him to go to Gerar, told him to stay there, not to go to Egypt.
What will God provide?
Is he going to give Isaac what he needs to survive in the desert?
That takes us to verses 17 through 22, where there's this conflict over wells.
So Isaac goes, he digs up his dad's wells,
and we're told he gives them the exact same names that Abraham gave the wells,
which reminds us once again that Isaac has taken on the mantle of Abraham.
It's also kind of a little dig at the men of Gerar saying,
hey, I'm making these what my father named them,
because you remember they're actually his wells.
And we actually made a treaty back in Genesis 21.
You weren't really supposed to mess with them.
Then in verses 19 through 21, he digs three new wells.
And the first two wells, the herdsmen of Gerar want to fight over it.
Isaac, we're going to see this next week, a little bit passive.
He decides he's not going to make a battle over it,
so they fight over one well.
He says, okay, fine, you can have it.
We're going to move to the second well.
They want to fight over that.
Okay, fine, you can have it.
Third well, no fight.
And Isaac looks at that, and he says, oh, okay.
God's provided.
God's honored his promise.
I've been kicked out.
I've had fights over wells.
Verse 22, for now the Lord has made room for us,
and we shall be fruitful in the land.
So the way Isaac interprets it is this.
Hey, this last well, the fact that there's no conflict over it,
just tells us, hey, God continues to provide.
He's given room for us.
It relates to his promise of land.
Remember, he told Isaac back in verse 3,
and now he's about to tell him again,
the land for you and your offspring.
Takes us to verse 23.
Abraham, or Isaac, excuse me, goes from Rehoboth to Beersheba,
and there is what we call a theophany,
which is appearance of God.
So God shows up again,
just like he did at the beginning of the chapter,
and repeats the promises made in verse 3.
This is verses 23 through 24.
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.
In other words, God shows up and says,
Isaac, do you believe me now?
Do you trust me now?
I told you in verse 3,
I was going to be with you
and I was going to bless you.
You see how I've done that?
And now I'm coming to remind you again,
I'm going to be with you
and I'm going to bless you.
So Abraham, Isaac,
I'm sorry guys,
I keep saying Abraham,
I'm so used to that from the previous time.
Isaac, verse 25,
doubles down,
he's committed to the place, right?
He builds an altar.
God
also comes to us
over and over
to remind us of his promises.
Now he doesn't do it
in the way that he did it for Isaac.
You're not going to have a theophany,
I don't think.
You're not going to have
a special appearance of God before you.
You're actually not one of the patriarchs.
But God does continue to remind us
of his promises to us.
And he does it in at least two ways.
He does it in his word
and he does it in our worship together.
Some people talk about Sunday morning worship
as our meeting place with God.
And that's not to say
you don't meet with God,
in other ways.
But there's a special sense
in which we come together
on Sunday morning
to meet with God
and be reminded
every week
of the promises he's made to us.
There's a sense
when we open God's word
day by day,
we are doing it
to be reminded
of what he said
he would do.
And there's another piece
to this as well.
It's not just that
that you are reminded
in worship
and in God's word.
We also remind
one another.
Part of your job
as a Christian
in a church
is to remind
your brothers and sisters
of what God
has said
he will do.
That we need
to be reminded
of God's promises
again
and again
over
and over.
God said
he would provide
verse 3.
He goes on
to provide
more than Isaac
could have expected
and God
shows up again
and says,
look,
I did what I said
I was going to do.
Here's my promise
again.
The author of Hebrews
in chapter 3
tells us
that this is what
we're supposed
to be doing.
Take care,
brothers,
lest there be
in any of you
an evil,
unbelieving heart
leading you
to fall away
from the living God.
But exhort
one another
every day
as long as
it is called
today
that none
of you
may be hardened
by the deceitfulness
of sin.
For we have come
to share
in Christ
if indeed
we hold
our original
confidence
firm
to the end.
Cheyenne
Mountain,
Presbyterian Church.
Remind
one another
of God's
promises
as long
as it is
called
today.
Even though
they've kicked
him out
the blessing
on Isaac
is so
intense
even as
he's wandering
around
uncovering
his father's
wells
that the
Philistines
have no
choice
but to
come
and sue
for peace.
This is
verses 26
through 31.
They kicked
him out
of the city.
They filled
his wells
and yet
somehow
mysteriously
Isaac keeps
getting
stronger
and stronger.
Remember
we talked
about this
a couple
weeks ago
this idea
of being
anti-fragile.
whatever
they throw
at Isaac
somehow
he just
keeps on
winning.
Just ends
up on top.
We're going
to see the
same thing
by the way
with Jacob
and Laban.
They come
to make a
treaty with
him.
This is
verse 26
and he
says
why have
you come
to see
me
seeing
that you
hate me
and have
sent me
away from
you?
And he
doesn't
mention
and you
took my
father's
wells
and you
tried to
destroy
them.
And they
tell him
point blank
verse 28
we see
plainly
that the
Lord
has been
with you.
We did
everything we
could to
cut your
legs out
from under
you.
And from
some reason
you just
keep going
from strength
to strength.
Verse 29
you are
now
blessed
of the
Lord.
The point
is this
it is a
fool's
errand
to oppose
God's
people.
It's a
fool's
errand
because it's
not a
fair fight.
What they
have is
greater than
the sum
of its
parts.
Church
what we
have is
greater than
the sum
of its
parts
because God
is fighting
for us.
it's a
fool's
errand
to oppose
God's
people.
Christian
God
is fighting
for you
and he
protects
his people
when they
obey
him
in ways
that are
risky
and
counterintuitive.
Isaac
has done
what God
told him
to do.
He stayed
in Gerar.
He did
not go
to Egypt.
He
violated
every rule
of human
wisdom
and God
has blessed
him.
Remember
what it
said there.
This is
verse 13.
God
has blessed
him more
and more
until he
became very
wealthy.
God
protects
his people.
God
provides
for his
people
when they
take the
risk
of
obedience.
I don't
know every
risk that
you've taken
in faith
to follow
after God.
I don't
know every
risk you've
taken trusting
that God
will provide
for you.
I don't
know every
way that
you have
suffered
choosing
obedience.
Maybe it's a
relational risk.
Maybe you
have lost
friends.
Maybe you're
scared of losing
friends for doing
and saying the
right thing.
maybe it's
led you into
conflict.
Jesus has
made us
promises as
well.
This is
Matthew
chapter 5.
Blessed are
those who
hunger and
thirst for
righteousness for
they shall be
satisfied.
Blessed are
those who
are persecuted
for righteousness
sake for
theirs is
the kingdom
of heaven.
It's a
fool's
errand to
oppose
God's
people.
Notice how
it all comes
together in
this passage.
Verses 6
and 7,
if you think
back,
Isaac was
very afraid
of the
Philistines.
He was so
afraid that
he lied
about his
wife,
Rebecca.
Okay,
that's the
beginning of
the chapter.
What happens
at the end?
He's not
afraid of
them.
Philistines
are afraid
of him.
The roles
have been
reversed.
Verse 1,
how did we
start out?
We started
out with a
famine.
How does it
end?
Verse 12,
Isaac has
crops a
hundred
fold.
And then the
cherry on top,
the very end.
Verse 32,
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.
Now
there's a
great well,
just one
more blessing
from the
Lord.
So God's
telling him,
hey, I'm
not just
going to
provide for
you.
I'm going
to super
provide for
you.
I didn't
just give
you that
one well
that no
one would
fight over.
No, I'm
going to
give you
this well
too.
You're
afraid that
staying away
from Egypt
was the
wrong move.
Wait and
watch what
I do.
I don't
know every
risk that
you've
taken to
follow God
in faith
and obedience.
Maybe it's
a material
risk.
Maybe it's
been making
less and
giving more.
Gerar was
in fact
less than
Egypt.
Maybe it's
a circumstantial
risk.
Maybe it's
living somewhere
you don't
want to
live.
Abraham,
we're told,
very beginning
is a sojourner
in Gerar.
He's vulnerable.
He's vulnerable
socially,
he's vulnerable
politically.
God made
Abraham a
promise.
Made him
a promise
of his
presence.
He made
him a
promise
of his
blessing.
He honored
it.
God's
made us
promises
as well.
Jesus has
promised us
Matthew
chapter 19.
And everyone
who has left
houses or
brothers or
sisters or
father or
mother or
children or
lands for
my name's
sake will
receive a
hundredfold
and will
inherit
eternal
life.
Does that
word a
hundredfold
sound familiar?
Verse 12,
Isaac sowed in
that land and
reaped in the
same year a
hundredfold.
world.
I heard an
illustration many
years ago that
I've never
forgotten.
It says that
evil is like a
vicious dog
snarling and
barking.
But that dog is
on a chain.
It's on a chain
limited,
restrained,
because God
is at work.
And if you
don't know
where to turn
or what to
say or what
to do,
if you feel
lost,
wherever you
are trying to
follow God
in faith,
unsure of
where your
journey ends
and how it
goes,
if you don't
know where to
turn, I want
you to do
this.
Take Psalm
27,
verses 13
and 14,
and make
those verses
your verses.
This is really
what Genesis
chapter 26 is
telling us.
I believe that
I shall look
upon the
goodness of
the Lord in
the land of
the living.
I believe God's
going to keep
his promises.
Wait for the
Lord, be strong
and let your
heart take
courage.
Wait for
the Lord.
In the end,
God always
provides.
Follow him,
he will take
care of the
rest.
For I know
that he is
working for
his glory and
my good.
Let's pray.
Our Father in
heaven, we thank
you that you're
a promise-keeping
God.
That no matter
where we're at
in the story,
we know how it
ends.
It ends with you
protecting and
providing for us
as we follow you
in faith.
faith.
We ask that you
would remind us
of that this
morning and it
would sustain us
as we continue to
follow after you.
We ask these
things in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
I invite you to
stand for our hymn.
Amen.