Blessing from God, Blessing Before the Philistines

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.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

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.

Jeremiah 23 · chapter mention

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.

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

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.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.

Okay.

Okay.

But will all these things actually be added to you?

It is nice to read Jesus' words from Matthew chapter 6 out loud.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

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.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

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.

Genesis 21 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

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

Psalms 27:13

27,

verses 13

and 14,

and make

those verses

your verses.

This is really

what Genesis

Genesis 26 · chapter mention

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.

Amen.

Amen.