God’s Promise to Isaac
(Genesis 12:1–9)
Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. Gen 12:10Gen 25:11Gen 21:22-32Gen 20:1-2
The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you. Gen 12:7Gen 12:1Gen 17:1Gen 18:1Psa 37:3Gen 18:10-20 Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. Gen 28:15Psa 105:9Gen 22:16-18Gen 12:7Gen 13:15Gen 17:8Gen 20:1Heb 11:9 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, Act 3:25Gen 12:2-3Gen 15:5Gal 3:8Gen 13:16Gen 22:17-18Exo 32:13Gal 3:16 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Mat 7:24Gen 22:18Gen 22:16Jas 2:21Psa 112:1-2Heb 11:8Gal 5:6Psa 128:1-6
Isaac Deceives Abimelech
So Isaac settled in Gerar. Gen 20:1 But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.” Pro 29:25Gen 12:13Gen 20:2Gen 24:16Gen 20:12-13Col 3:9Eph 5:25Mat 10:28
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. Isa 62:5Jdg 5:28Pro 5:18-19Pro 7:6Sng 2:9Ecc 9:9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” Gen 12:18-19Gen 20:9-10 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” Psa 105:15Gen 20:6Pro 6:29Zec 2:8
Isaac’s Prosperity
Now Isaac sowed seed in the land, and that very year he reaped a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, Mrk 4:8Gen 26:32Co 9:10-11Gen 24:1Gen 24:35Zec 8:12Ecc 11:6Gal 6:7-8 and he became richer and richer, until he was exceedingly wealthy. Pro 10:22Psa 112:3Gen 24:35 He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. Gen 37:111Sa 18:9Ecc 4:4Gen 12:16Gen 13:2Job 1:3Job 42:12Job 5:2 So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham. Gen 21:30Gen 21:25
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.” Exo 1:9
So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. And he gave these wells the same names his father had given them. Zec 13:2Gen 21:31Hos 2:17Num 32:38Psa 16:4
Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water 1there. Jhn 4:10-11Jhn 7:38Sng 4:15 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, 2 because they contended with him. Gen 21:25
Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 3 Ezr 4:6
He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth 4and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” Gen 17:6Exo 1:7Psa 118:5Gen 28:3Gen 41:52Psa 18:19Psa 4:1
From there Isaac went up to Beersheba, Gen 21:31Gen 46:1Jdg 20:1 and that night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.” Gen 15:1Exo 3:6Gen 17:7Act 7:32Gen 24:12Isa 43:1-2Rev 1:17Gen 13:16
So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there. Gen 13:18Psa 116:17Gen 12:7-8Exo 17:15Gen 13:4Gen 22:9Gen 33:20Gen 35:1
Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech
Later, Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. Gen 20:3Gen 21:22-32
“Why have you come to me?” Isaac asked them. “You hated me and sent me away.” Gen 26:16Jdg 11:7Act 7:14Act 7:27Act 7:35Act 7:9Gen 26:14Rev 3:9
“We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you Gen 21:22-23Gen 21:31-32Gen 39:5Isa 45:14Isa 61:9Jos 3:71Co 14:252Ch 1:1 that you will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have done only good to you, sending you on your way in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.” Gen 24:31Gen 21:22Gen 12:2Gen 22:17Psa 115:15Gen 26:11-12Gen 26:14-15
So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. Gen 19:3Heb 12:14Rom 12:18Gen 31:541Pe 4:9Gen 21:8 And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. 1Sa 20:16-171Sa 30:15Gen 21:31-32Gen 25:33Gen 31:44Heb 6:161Sa 14:241Sa 20:3
On that same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We have found water!” they told him. Pro 10:4Gen 26:25Mat 7:7Pro 13:4Pro 2:4-5 So he called it Shibah, 5 and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba. 6 Gen 21:31Gen 26:28
Esau’s Wives
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. Gen 36:2Exo 34:16Gen 36:13Gen 24:3Gen 28:9Gen 36:51Co 7:2Heb 12:16 And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah. Gen 27:46Gen 28:8Gen 6:2