Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Genesis 26:1-6 NASB

"Now there was a famine in the land... [but] the LORD...said [to Isaac], 'Do not go down to Egypt; stay (dwell) in the land of which I shall tell you.  Sojourn in the land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.  And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept my charge, My commandments, My satutes and My laws."

Abraham had died.  Would Isaac stay true to the God of his father?  The risks that God takes as He works out His purposes through human vessels, but the tremendous trust He puts in us, speak to God's deep belief in the human spirit. He thinks we can!   And, as is so often the case,  God's promises don't come to us in life's ease, but they come in the ruggedness of life's reversals, testing the very fibre of our faith. It was in the worst of times that God appeared to Isaac.  The writer, in Genesis 26:1, simply records, "Now there was a famine in the land..." In this land, this was about as bleak as things could get.  But when everything in Isaac screamed "run!", God said "stay".  "Dwell in the land."  Basically, what God was saying was, "Trust Me; not Egypt."  The lesson we all must learn is that, as appealing as Egypt can look to a hungry stomach, we dare not let Egypt become our goal.  Many souls have died in Egypt.  God's voice comes as clear as ever, "Stay in the land of which I shall tell you."  I like verse 6.  It just simply states,  "So Isaac stayed in Gerar."  God had found another man!  They're still around.  God bless them!

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