Hello and welcome to another broadcast. We're in Genesis chapter 26. And again, it says there was a famine in the land. We'll see how Isaac responded to that. Stay tuned for our broadcast. Chapter number 26 gives us a focus on an ordinary man by the name of Isaac. He was just an everyday, ordinary man. He had a very famous father whose name was Abraham, and he's got about 14 chapters in the Bible here that talk about him. He also had a very famous son whose name was Jacob, who has at least a dozen chapters that talk about him. But this is the only chapter in the Bible that really gives most of the chapter to this one man whose name is Isaac. He's a very ordinary person facing everyday, ordinary tests. And as we start this chapter, we see in verse number one, it says, there was a famine in the land. And then it says, and Isaac. And so what we see here is his response and what he did during this famine in the land. Now it says there's a famine in the land. What land are we talking about? We're talking about the promised land. It will be a great day for all of us when we realize that life is hard and things will be much easier for us when we realize that life is hard. You look at the Bible stories and you'll find that's the case. You want to take the story of Noah, for instance? He had 120 years of building that ark. He had a hard life. You want to look at Moses? His life was hard for Moses. What about Paul? What about the missionaries of the past in yesteryear when missionaries went out and preachers and evangelists went out? They had a hard life. Today, what do we want? We want an easy life, and that's why we're having such a hard time with getting things done, and God's blessing is because we're trying to find a way to the easy life, and there's been a lot of compromising going on so we can make life easier. Well, as we mentioned in our last broadcast, it starts out here. It says there was a famine in the land, and there are four references in the Bible that talk about a famine in the land. In Genesis chapter 12 and verse number 10, this was Abraham's test when there was a famine and he failed the test. He went down into Egypt. In Genesis 26, we'll see here Isaac's test. There was a famine in the land. What's he going to do? In Ruth chapter 1 and verse number 1, it says there was a famine in the land, and we saw that Elimelech failed that test, and him and Ruth got into a lot of trouble as a result of that. Well, the fourth time we see this phrase, it says in Amos chapter 8, verse number 11, God said, I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing, the words of the Lord. Now here's our test. This is my test. This is your test. Today we are having a famine, not of water and not of food, but we're having a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Now, how are we going to handle our test? What will we do in this age that we are living in today? It's a very serious test. Well, let's look in chapter 26 and consider what we have here. Verse number one, it says, There was a famine in the land beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, in Jerar. Now, you don't want to go trusting those Philistines to help you out. You just simply need to trust God. Well, we read in verse number two, The Lord appeared unto him, that is, unto Isaac and said go not down in Egypt dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of said I sojourn in this land verse number three now notice what he says he says in verse number two I shall he said in verse number three I will, one, two, three, four times he says it in verse number three. He said, I will be with thee. I will give thee all these countries. I will perform the oath, which I swear unto my, unto Abraham. thy father, and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven." He said, if you will just trust me, Isaac, I will do it. Now keep in mind that Isaac is a very normal man, as I said. He wasn't a famous anybody. He had a famous father and he had a famous son, but there he was in the shadows just living the life that he should live. There's a tremendous lesson here for just ordinary everyday people who go to work every day. Isaac was one of those kinds of people. Now in verse number five, God said he blessed Abraham because he made the right choices. He said, because that Abraham, number one, obeyed my voice. Number two, he kept my charge. Number three, he kept my commandments and my statutes and my laws. He said, for that reason, I blessed him and I will bless you, Isaac, if you do the same thing. Well, we see here, like father, like son, it says here, Then the men of the place asked him of his wife, and she said, She is my sister, for he feared to say she is my wife, lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebecca, because she was fair to look upon. Well, it came to pass when he had been there a long time that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out at the window and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife, and how sayest thou she is my sister? Then Isaac said unto him, Because I said lest I die for her. And Abimelech said, What is this that thou hast done unto us? One of the people might lightly have lined with thy wife, and thou shouldst have brought guiltiness upon us. Then Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Well, we see the mercy of God here on this common man we call an Isaac. Well, then Isaac sowed in the land and received in the same year a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him. Now keep in mind, there's a famine in the land, and God is blessing him in a mighty way. It says, And the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became very great. and he had possession of flocks and possession of herds and great store of servants and the philistines envied him yeah they're going through a famine and here's this man receiving blessing upon blessing upon blessing it says in verse number 15 for all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of abraham his father the philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth yeah they envied him they didn't like him he'd come along and fill in his wells Well, we read here in verse number 16, Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us, for thou art much mightier than we. Get out of here. We don't want you around here. Well, Isaac departed thence and pitched his tent in the valley of Jerar, and he dwelt there. Interesting portion of scripture. Why was God blessing Isaac in this marvelous way? Well, verse 5 is very, very obvious. Why? Because of Abraham, his father. He had told Abraham, if you live like I ask you to live, I will bless you, and I will bless your descendants as well. Well, we find Isaac doing a good thing. It says here in verse number 18, he digged again the wells. We read that in verse 18, verse 19, verse 21, 22, 25, and verse 32. We find him digging the wells, and all those Philistines are coming back and filling them in, and he just keeps on digging the wells. Well, the Bible talks about that. It talks about springing water here. In verse number 19, it says, and Isaac servants digged in the valley and found there a well of springing water." That's what the Bible says about the Bible. First of all, concerning the Word of God, it satisfies the thirst, and it is a cleansing thing that will cleanse us by washing of water by the Word. And that's what is happening here in the life of this normal man, everyday businessman that we call Isaac. He is digging in the wells here, and that's what we need to do. Great lesson here for us. You decide you're going to dig in God's wells and you're going to have some opposition. And we read here in verse 20, And the herdman of Gerard did strive with Isaac's herdman, saying, The water is ours. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they strove with him, and they digged another well, and they strove for that one also. And he called the name of it sitting there, and he removed from thence and digged another well, verse number 22. He just kept on digging these wells. Someone's going to hinder you. Someone's going to try. Just keep on digging the wells. Well, as a result, we read in verse number 24, the Lord appeared unto him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father, fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.' And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, pitched his tent there, and Isaac's servants digged a well. Well, now we have an interesting turn of events. It's here, it says in verse 26, and then Abimelech went to him from Gerar. And Isaac said unto him in verse number 27, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord is with thee. And we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even between us and thee. Let us make a covenant with thee, that thou wilt do us no hurt. for we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace, thou art now the blessed of the Lord. And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink, and they rose up betimes in the morning, and swear one to another, and Isaac sent them away." Isn't that interesting? We read back here in verse number 16 that Abimelech sent Isaac away. Now who's in charge? Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. And he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day. And Esau was forty years old, and oh, look it, we got a problem now. He took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beri the Hittite, and Bathshma, the daughter of Elgam the Hittite. Now he's got two eyes going down the same old trail. And what do we read about that in verse number 35? Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and Rebekah. Now, in our next broadcast, we're going to be looking at chapter number 27. Now, you remember just three chapters back in chapter 24, we had this beautiful love story, and we have the servant who went down to get the bride for Isaac, and you know this represents This represents the person coming to Christ, the bride of Christ. We saw all that in a beautiful, beautiful love story in chapter number 24. And as they came over the hill, you remember that Isaac was out in the field and he saw the camels coming. and Rebecca jumps down off her camel, and she's just so excited about her new husband that she's going to have here, and it's a beautiful love story. Well, we get into chapter number 27, and absolutely everything changes here, and the same Rebecca She is now a woman of deceit. She's a liar. She has totally and completely changed She's deceiving her husband and it's hard to believe that just three chapters later Everything could change as it has changed here. What an awesome lesson for us to learn here We'll have to look at it in our next broadcast. We can't get into it much today but I'll just read a few of the verses and it says it came to pass and that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dimmed so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son and said unto him, My son. And he said unto him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold, now I am old. I know not the day of my death. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons and the quiver and the bow, and go out in the field and take me some venison. And as the story goes on down through here, he wants to have a final meal and he wants to bless Esau with his birthright. And so it says in this portion of the scripture that Rebekah heard, verse number four, when Isaac spake unto Esau's son and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it, and Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, and they're going to put a blessing on him, and we don't want that. Now therefore, she says in verse number eight, My son, obey my voice. According to that I have commanded thee, and go and get a couple of goats, and we'll dress these goats, and we'll trick your dad into thinking that you're Esau. Well, what should Jacob have done here? Well, Jacob should have said, absolutely not. I'm not going to get involved in this. Well, you say, well, he had to do what his mother told him to do. Well, if you keep in mind that at this point, Jacob is 75 years old. We're not talking about a teenager here telling and being told by his mother what to do. This story, everybody's just filled their heart with deceit. It's a terrible, terrible chapter. Kind of one of those chapters I wish wasn't in the Bible. I like chapter 24. It's a beautiful love story. This is a deceit story, and we'll have to look at it in our next broadcast. Be sure and tune in. We'll try to make it plain, and we will try to make it simple.