Genesis 26:12 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the signs of God’s favor toward Isaac. God blessed him, prospered him, and made everything he had succeed. First, his grain grew in a remarkable way, in Genesis 26:12. He did not own land of his own, but rented land from the Philistines and sowed it. That should encourage poor tenants who work honestly on another person’s land, because God blessed Isaac with a great harvest. He reaped a hundred times as much as he sowed, and the timing mattered too, since it was the same year there was famine in the land. While others could barely gather enough, he reaped with great abundance. Compare Isaiah 65:13 and Psalm 37:19.

Then his cattle increased, as in Genesis 26:14. He also had many servants, whom he employed and supported. As a person’s goods increase, so do the people who live from them, as Ecclesiastes 5:11 says. God’s blessing brought growth in every part of Isaac’s household.

The Philistines showed the opposite, they envied him, as Genesis 26:14 says. This shows how empty the world is, because the more a person has, the more others may envy and attack him. Who can stand before envy? Proverbs 27:4. See also Ecclesiastes 4:4. It also shows the corruption of human nature, because it is a sad heart that grieves over another person’s good, as if my life must be worse because my neighbor’s is better.

They had already shown their ill will toward Isaac’s family by stopping up the wells his father had dug, as in Genesis 26:15. This was a spiteful act. Since they did not have their own flocks to use the wells, they would not leave them for anyone else. That is how foolish malice can be. It was also a betrayal of the friendship covenant they had made with Abraham in Genesis 21:31-32. Bad temper and ill nature will break through every bond.

Then they drove Isaac out of their country, in Genesis 26:16-17. The king of Gerar began to look at him with suspicion. Isaac’s household was like a royal court, and his wealth and servants made Abimelech seem less important. So they told him to move farther away. They were tired of having him near because they saw that the Lord was blessing him. They should have wanted him to stay, since they too could have received blessing through him.

Isaac did not fight for his rights, even though he had made an agreement with them about the land he used. He did not press the issue, and he did not try to settle it by force, even though he had become very powerful. Instead, he quietly moved away from the royal city, perhaps to a less fruitful part of the country. We should be willing to give up both rights and comforts rather than stir up quarrels. A wise and good person will often withdraw into quietness, as Isaac did, rather than stay high up only to become a target for envy.

Isaac stayed steady in his work. He kept farming and kept looking for wells of water, as Genesis 26:18 and following show. Even though he had become very rich, he still cared about the condition of his flocks and herds. When people grow great, they must be careful not to think they are above their work. Even though he had been forced away from easier and better arrangements, he did his best with the land he had moved into. That is wise for anyone.

He reopened the wells his father had dug in Genesis 26:18, and out of respect for his father he kept the same names. In our search for truth, the living water of God’s teaching, it is good to use what earlier generations discovered, even when later errors have covered it over. We should ask for the old paths, the wells our fathers dug, which the enemies of truth have stopped up. Ask your elders, and they will teach you.

His servants also dug new wells, in Genesis 26:19. We should use the light of earlier ages, but we must not stop there. We still need to build on that foundation and keep learning, as Daniel 12:4 says. Truth should keep spreading and growing.

As he dug, he faced much opposition, in Genesis 26:20-21. Those who open the fountains of truth must expect arguments. The first two wells were named Esek and Sitnah, which mean contention and hatred. This shows three things. Worldly things often cause quarrels. Even the most quiet and peaceable people are often opposed by others, as Psalm 120:7 says. Jeremiah was a man of contention, in Jeremiah 15:10, and even Christ, the prince of peace, was opposed.

It is also a mercy to have enough water without having to fight for it. The more common that blessing is, the more thankful we should be for it. At last Isaac moved to a quiet place, holding to his peaceful way rather than fighting back, and unwilling to live among people who hated peace, as Psalm 120:6 says. He valued quietness more than victory. He dug another well, and this time they did not quarrel over it, in Genesis 26:22. Those who pursue peace will, in time, find peace. People who try to stay calm usually do. Isaac was very unlike his brother Ishmael, who would hold on to what he had against the world, right or wrong, as Genesis 16:12 describes. Which one would we want to be like?

They named this well Rehoboth, meaning room enough or enlargement. The first two wells picture the earth, which is tight and full of strife. People cannot prosper there without the pressure of others around them. This well points us to heaven, where there is enlargement and peace, and room enough for many, because there are many dwelling places there.

Isaac also stayed firm in his religion and kept close to God. God appeared to him graciously in Genesis 26:24. When the Philistines drove him out and kept troubling him, then God visited him and gave him fresh assurance of his favor. When people prove false and unkind, we can comfort ourselves with this, God is faithful and gracious. He often shows that most clearly when we are most disappointed in people.

When Isaac came to Beer-sheba in Genesis 26:23, he likely felt troubled by his unsettled life and by the fact that he could not stay long anywhere. In the middle of those worries, on that same night, God gave him comfort and strengthened his soul. Isaac may have feared that the Philistines would not let him rest there either, but God said, “Do not fear, I am with you, and I will bless you.” Those can move with peace who know that God goes with them wherever they go.

Isaac also did not neglect his duty to God. There he built an altar and called on the name of the Lord, in Genesis 26:25. Wherever we go, we must carry our religion with us.

Isaac’s altars and acts of worship may well have offended the Philistines and made them more hostile toward him. Still, he continued in his duty, even though it exposed him to their ill will.

The comfort and encouragement God gives us in his word should stir us to every act of devotion. In this way, God is honored, and our close fellowship with him is kept alive.