He Dug Again His Father's Wells (The Agreement) (Gen. 26:26-33)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11-18-2006

 

My Worship Time     Focus:  He Dug Again His Father’s Wells (The Agreement)

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Genesis 26:26-33

 

            Message of the verse:  “26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army.  27 Isaac said to them, ‘Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?’  28 They said, ‘We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 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.’”

30 Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.  31 In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace.  32 Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, ‘We have found water.’  33 So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.”

           

            I suppose that Isaac could have gotten into a fight with Abimelech over the rights of the water, but he choose to leave.  This situation was different than the one that Abraham had when he went to rescue Lot from the kings that had taken him.  This situation is similar to the one Paul writes about in 1 Cor. 6:1-8, and in that passage Paul speaks harshly against those Corinthians who were going to court to sue a fellow brother instead of handling the situation with the help of the Lord.  The point is that when you try to handle things on your own you are saying to God that you can do it better without involving Him, and that of course is not true.

           

            There are two more points to this story that I want to touch on and that is that by leaving in a peaceful way Abimelech could then see that the Lord was with Isaac and this was a good opportunity for a witness for the Lord.  The second point is that just after Isaac and Abimelech had stuck their covenant Isaac’s men had unstuck a well that Abraham had previously dug and so Isaac called the name of the well Shibah, and thus came the name of that city Beersheba was named after the well.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the situation that we are involved in with Andrew Lech, I can only wish that it was handled like Paul described it should have been handled in the Cor. passage, for because there were people who did not trust the Lord, but went to the unrighteous courts we are in such a big mess now.  How will this all end?   Only God knows.

 

The Word of God has been a challenge to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  That God will give justice today in court to Andrew Lech.