What is Ok for one many not be Ok for you!

Genesis 26:1-5

The chapter begins this way; “Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham.  And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.  And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.  Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.  I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.  And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

It has been around one hundred years since the famine that was in the days of Abraham, so Isaac has lived in an area that has been blessed with rains and crops and from all that is recorded it has been a good life.  In Genesis 12:10 we have the account of the famine in the time of Abraham and God did not stop Abraham from going to Egypt but that is not the case with Isaac.  God, who it seems from the record, has been silent since Abraham and Isaac were on the mountains of Moriah, speaks to Isaac, “Do not go down to Egypt.”

But that is not all that the Lord who appeared to Isaac said, “dwell in the land of which I shall tell you” does that sound familiar to you?  Have we not been taught the twenty-third Psalm from the time of our youth?  “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in the green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.”  That is not the entire twenty-third Psalm, but it should be enough to wake-up your spirit to the fact that Jesus had you in mind when He put these thoughts into the heart and mind of David.

The Scripture makes very clear that all of us who are in Christ are under the promises given to Abraham, and his offspring, this is what God promised Isaac, “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.  I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands.  And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac did what the Lord told him, but the Lord was also reminding Isaac that your father was “blessed because he obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”  My prayer is that you and I will be as Abraham, that we will not bring shame on the name of our Lord, for He alone is worthy of our worship and obedience.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice