2/23 Through The Bible in Devotions

Genesis 26 The Sins of the father

(Gen 26:6 KJV) And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

It seems the sins of the father are visited unto the son! We see Abimelech again being deceived, this time by Isaac! Isaac had lied about his wife, just as Abraham had when he visited Gerar, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! What we allow in moderation, our children will pick up on, and often take to excess. Isaac didn’t actually fare too badly from this, but look at Jacob! He became a schemer, and a deceiver in much of the “business” he conducted. He went a few steps further in his deception. What could Isaac have been thinking? He jeopardized his wife’s purity and fidelity because he was afraid of the men of the land! Oh how precious our lives are to us! What we would not do to preserve them! We all need to put our lives in the Lord’s hands, and trust Him with circumstances. Only a great man would have a conviction stronger than his will to live. Dare to be great!

It was foolish of Isaac to think that if he stayed there a long time, his sin would go undetected, yet men think this way. We often think that our sin will go undetected, and that there will be no reproof for us, yet the wheels of judgment grind slowly, but they do grind! Jacob became a great man in spite of himself, but only because he was the “seed of promise” to Abraham; only because of God, and not because of himself. Thank the Lord that this is true with all of us, it is because of Christ we become anything at all, and not on our own merit. As the spiritual seed of Abraham (Gal.3), we are all under the promise. Praise God for this unspeakable gift.

Isaac dwelt there for a time, but God had other plans for him. Isaac went there because of famine. We ought not to move because of famine, unless we know for sure that the Lord is moving us. Some men pack up and move their families and start anew in another place for the sake of their jobs, but there is no need to do so when we are fully trusting in the Lord. Isaac was headed for Egypt, but God told him to dwell in the land where he was. The Lord blessed Isaac for staying put “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.” (v. 12)