Genisis 7/22/2017

GENESIS

July 22, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

Although we summarized chapter 28 last week, it is far too intricate to leave so soon. For those of you who have a history with WOW, you may remember the year (2014-15) we followed the Parasha or Torah teachings we did then and what we usually refer to as the portion including Jacob’s Ladder, starts the Parasha teaching entitled Vayeitsei, which in Hebrew means and he went out.

 

Hebrew titles encompassed the first few words of a passage or letter, so Vayeitsei translates (albeit personally) in English to the first words in 28:10, “And Jacob went out from Beer-Sheba and went toward Haran.” (Words are in bold in the ONM to indicate the translation.)

 

So as we can see, Jacob actually had two reasons to take off: to allow his brother to cool his heels and to get a wife that his parents will approve of. So he takes off to his mothers’ brothers’ house to find a wife, which was neither illegal nor creepy at that time in history, and actually had everything to do with who or Who a family worshipped. At least as far as God’s [Yah Weh’s] people were concerned.  

 

The first night Jacob spent on his journey was life changing: “And he dreamed, and there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached heaven and, behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³And, behold, the LORD stood above it and said, ‘I AM the LORD, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which you are lying, to you I will give it, and to your seed. ¹⁴And your seed will be as the dust of the earth and you will break out to the west, to the east, to the north, and to the south: and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed.’” Genesis 28:12-14 

 

Note that it is mentioned that they were first ascending, meaning that they were here on earth too. Thus, the Lord again shows us His eternal nature of protecting His own; “You must habitually not neglect hospitality, for through this some who entertained angels were not aware of it.” (Hebrews 13:2) This is not a New Testament reality, because as “Y’shua Messiah is the same yesterday and today and forever.”; (Hebrews 13:8) so is His protection, ministering and love. Which can help us understand why the Lord was reiterating His promise to Abraham to Jacob, as he was going to be very instrumental in fulfilling it, being the [then future] father the twelve (12) tribes of Israel and the third generation of the direct Hebrew descendants of our Messiah. In Genesis 12:3 we read one of God’s promises to Abraham He also spoke to his grandson Jacob in today’s verse 14, “And I shall bless those who bless you and curse those who curses you: and in you will all families of the earth be blessed.” 

 

Genesis 13:14-17 covers the rest of the promises of today’s verse 14, “And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, ‘Now lift up your eyes and look northward from the place where you are, then southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵for I shall give to you and to your seed forever all the land you see. ¹⁶And I shall make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then you seed will also be numbered. ¹⁷Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I shall give it to you.’” 

 

So Jacob wakes up, decided that he stumbled upon a place where God lives, builds an altar and named (or renamed) that place Beit-El (meaning House of God), and gives the first promise to tithe to the Lord, “And Jacob vowed a vow saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I am going and will give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD will be my God: ²²and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, will be God’s House: and of all that You will give me I shall surely give the tenth to You.’” (Genesis 28:20-22) 

 

Do not let anyone tell you that tithing is under the Law and therefore not applicable to New Testament saints. It is a show of our love for Him, just as was was for Jacob. Do we have to? No. In fact, the Holy Spirit led Apostle Paul to be sure and tell us NOT to feel obligated in 2^ndCorinthians 8:7-12, “But even as you are abounding more than enough in all things, in faith and in speaking and in knowledge and in every eagerness and in your love for us, as you also would abound in this grace of giving. ⁸I am not saying in a command, but proving the sincerity of your love through showing you the diligence of others: ⁹for you know the merciful kindness of our Lord Y’shua Messiah, that although He was rich, He became poor for your sake, so that you would, in His poverty now become rich. ¹⁰I am only giving an opinion in this: for this is to your advantage…¹²For if the willingness to give is there, which is said to be acceptable, but not to the degree that he does not have.”  This passage was speaking specifically about an offering that the Corinthians started a year ago, but never sent. However, the message to give is there as is the fact that it is not a command and should not be beyond your capacity. 

 

It is true that the tithe is the Lord’s and should – through love – be given to Him. And although we are redeemed from every curse, including the one mentioned in Malachi 3:9 by not tithing, His promise in Malachi 3:10-11 can be claimed by us when we do. “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, so there will be food in My house and test Me now by this’, says the LORD of Hosts, ‘if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing for all eternity. ¹¹And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, and he will not destroy the fruits of your ground. Neither will your vine cast her fruit before its time in the field’, says the LORD of Hosts.” This of course also means that if we do not tithe, we cannot claim this promise, as it is conditional. Not that He will not still provide for us, of course He will. He loves us. But the abundance of the open heavens cannot be claimed if we do not tithe. It is in our best interest. Everything that He does and says is in our best interest! If we seek His wisdom in matters of our day-to-day life, as I’m sure we all do, why wouldn’t we seek His wisdom in our finances too? (Just a little aside, that I put in for free.)

 

But getting back to Jacob, let’s look at the symbolism in this Parasha (portion of Scripture) as it is LOADED with Messianic symbolism! In Genesis 28:18, Jacob sets up the stone he laid his head on for a pillar and pours oil on it. Pouring oil on something or someone is anointing it or them. Christ is the Greek word we see in English New Testaments meaning Anointed One. Messiah also means Anointed One. He is actually Jesus the Christ in English, Y’shua Mashiach or Messiah in Hebrew, meaning Jesus the Anointed One, as opposed to Jesus Christ that reads as a surname (like Smith or Johnson). 

 

He is our Rock, “and all drank the same spiritual drink: for they drank for a spiritual rock, which was following them, and the rock was the Messiah.” 1^st Corinthians 10:4 

 

He is The Head of the Church, “…the Messiah is head of the congregation, He is the savior of the body.” Ephesians 5:23

 

So as Jacob anointed that stone, he was foretelling of the Anointed Messiah. “And Jacob rose up early in the morning and put the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. ¹⁹And he called the name of that place Beit-El…” Genesis 28:18-19

 

And the very place where he slept that night and his dream occurred was the mount where Abraham (his grandfather) offered up Isaac (his father) and thus where God saved Isaac by providing His own sacrifice(Genesis 22:1-19), as He also did for all of us when His Son appeared. It is also where the Temple Mount is, that was the site of Solomon’s Temple, (but is now the site of the Muslim Mosque with the Gold Dome). 

 

How can we apply all this practically to our daily lives? I mean, symbolism and sacred insight is great, but it cannot be purely intellectual and do us any good. Let us note first of all that the portal to heaven was available via ladder not pulley or escalator. Getting closer to our God requires effort on our part. It is true that our spirit is instantly resurrected and therefore born-again in holy perfection, but the soul or mind needs to be continuously renewed. “Therefore I urge you, brothers, through the compassion of God, to present your bodies holy, living offerings, pleasing to God, your spiritual service: ²and stop being conformed to this age, but you must from the inside continually be changed into another form, by the renovation of your mind, to prove what is the good and pleasing and perfect will of God for you.” (Romans 12:1-2)

 

Climbing a ladder takes deliberate effort. And you can go either up or down, but side-to-side will take you off the ladder altogether. Therefore when we climb up we are pursuing Him to “…continually work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: ¹³for God is the One Who works in you, both to determine and to work, for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13) I used these verses because they are so often misunderstood. It is NOT that we have to earn our salvation, because we know that our ultimate spiritual/eternal destiny solely hangs on our faith in His grace (see Ephesians 2:8-9). 

 

But the salvation of our new life on earth takes our effort! The salvation of our new life is the breaking of old chains and curses and bad habits or mindsets that sets us free to live for our Lord, being filled with His peace and shining His light wherever we go! 

 

And as those of us who have spent any time pursuing this new life knows it is a constant uphill climb – like climbing a ladder.

 

Of course, we don’t always climb higher do we? We can perch on a comfortable rung. However, rungs don’t stay comfortable for long do they? Have you ever noticed that when your thirst for righteousness is in full swing you can’t perch? You just have an almost irresistible pull that takes you deeper and deeper into His Word and prayer, higher and higher in spirit and farther and farther away from your problems and former desires or troubles. 

 

Our spirit is like an invisible muscle – the more it’s worked out the stronger and more predominant it gets! 

 

But when a time of spiritual restcomes, we not only perch, but soon go back down the ladder, pursuing our own selfish goals, feeling less and less like studying His Word or praying or going to church, etc. This is commonly called “backsliding” also. It usually comes very gradually, but (taking the ladder as our current metaphor) should we just slide a little to the left or right instead of straight up, which means compromising just a bit at a time, we will eventually fall off! 

 

Now does that mean we lose our salvation when we fall? No! If you were climbing an actual ladder and you fell off where would you land? Right next to it! It’s not a matter of losing eternity, but rather going back to ground zero as far as character goes. So it’s easily found and right there for us to start ascending again! God allows all the do-overs and U turns we need. In fact, He knew how many we would take before the beginning of time – and chose us anyway! How cool is that?!

 

And as mentioned earlier in Jacob’s dream, the angels ascended first. That means that they were down here with him, as they are with us. We will never know just how much our Father’s angels have helped us throughout our lives until we get to heaven and it’s revealed to us. And as we have seen in this passage, they have always been included in His protection package! 

 

We need to remember that:

1.     We are never alone. God lives in us and promises never to leave us (Hebrews 13:5), helping us change from the inside out, like it says in Romans 12:2.

2.     We are never alone. God’s angels or messengers are always around us ministering and helping us. Although unseen with the physical eye, they fight unseen battles for us more often than we know. “For He will give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your Ways.” (Psalm 91:11)

3.     It is our effort although not unassisted (because of #1 and #2) that determines how close we come to imitating our Savior. And Romans 8:29 tells us that His will is for us to be like His Son. 

 

Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and “the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces until the separation of breath of life and spirit, of joints and marrow and passing judgments on the thoughts and understandings of your heart: ¹³and no creature is hidden from Him, but everything is uncovered, since it has been laid bare to His eyes, to Whom an accounting by us is required.” (Hebrews 4:12-13) 

 

Therefore the study of His Torah (which means teaching) is as valid and helpful to us today and for those of us who have accepted His Savior, as it was in ancient times to those who were waiting for their Savior! For the Savior is interwoven into His entire Word – Old and New Covenants/Testaments. Let us learn from each because we know that everything He wants us to do is ultimately for our own good as well as for His glory!

 

“The LORD will bless you and He will keep you. ²⁵The LORD will make His face to shine upon you and He will be gracious to you. ²⁶The LORD will lift His countenance to you and He will establish Shalom for you.”

(Numbers 6:24-26) And the LORD’s Shalom for you is that no good thing shall be withheld from you. Amen! 

 

SHALOM!!

Gensis 7/15/2017

GENESIS

July 15, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

In chapters 27 and 28 we are pretty much leaving Isaac, or shall I say that Isaac is leaving us and we are going to the next generation – Jacob; Jacob, who was chosen to father the 12 patriarchs of God’s people! Can you think of a greater honor? Jacob must have been a pillar of integrity! Let’s read:

 

Genesis 27:1-10 “And it was that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son and said to him, ‘My son.’ And he said to him, ‘Here I am.’ ²And he said, ‘Behold now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death. ³Now take, I beg you, your weapons, your quiver and your bow and go out to the field and take me some venison. ⁴And make me savory meat, such as I love and bring it to me, so I can eat, so I can bless you before I die.’ ⁵But Rebeccah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison and to bring it.

 

“⁶And Rebeccah spoke to Jacob her son saying, ‘Behold, I heard your father spoke to Esau your brother saying, ⁷“Bring me venison and make me savory meat, so I may eat and bless you before the LORD before my death.” ⁸So now, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. ⁹Go now to the flock and fetch me from there two good kids of the goats, and I shall make savory meat for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰And you will bring it to your father, so he may eat and so he can bless you before his death.’” Go Mom?

 

But I have to think that the Lord had His hand in this. Remember the short bio we got about Esau in the last chapter? “And Esau was forty years old when he took for wives Judith the daughter of Be’eri the Hittite, and Basemat the daughter of Elon the Hittite.³⁵And they were a source of a bitter spirit for Isaac and Rebeccah.” (Genesis 26:34-35)

 

So as Esau was not the one who was selected to head God’s people in the first place, although that is not to say that the Lord could have done a miracle in his heart, Jacob received that majority of his father’s blessing. And He certainly had work to do in Jacob and did it, but Jacob was the chosen one, like Isaac was over Ishmael. Ishmael and Esau had this in common – both were born first, but neither were chosen by the Lord to birth His people.    

 

The remaining portion of this chapter tells us how Jacob tricked his father, at the encouragement of his mother, probably due to Esau’s choice of wives and we can only assume general nonchalant attitude toward the family. And let’s not forget Esau’s selling his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup also.

 

So Rebeccah and Jacob did everything they had to, to fool the near-blind Isaac:

 

“And Rebeccah took clean garments of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands ad upon the smooth nape of his neck, ¹⁷then she gave the savory meat and the bread, which she had prepared, to the hand of her son Jacob.” (Genesis 27:15-17) I know that’s gross! But you have to admit – Jacob was an obedient son.

 

So Isaac was fooled and blessed Jacob with the blessing of the first born: “May God give you of the dew of the heaven and the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. ²⁹Let people serve you, and nations bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you.” (Genesis 27:28-29) How could Esau have received this blessing? He couldn’t. Isaac gave his son the same blessing the Lord gave Abraham before Isaac was ever born. This blessing was for the descendants of Abraham yes, but obviously not all of them, as he fathered many nations before his death.

 

Remember his second wife Keturah? “And she bore him Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbak, and Shuakh. ³And Yokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴And the sons of Midian; Ephah, Efer, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ⁵And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. ⁶But to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away, eastward, to the east country from Isaac his son while he yet lived.” Genesis 25:2-6

 

But the Lord chose Isaac just as He chose Jacob. Therefore the ruse worked and Esau, unfortunately, did not get the blessing of the firstborn, although he fared well also and became a chief of multitudes. He became the father of the Edomites which eventually became enemies of Israel throughout the generations, the first seeds of which were planted right here: “And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ‘The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I shall slay my brother Jacob.’” (27:41) So Esau’s heart was nowhere near the Lord or anything that He was about, i.e.: love! Esau was continually hurting his parents with his choice of wives, selling his birthright, and we don’t even know what else, but we do know that we don’t have the full picture, only that which the Lord felt we needed to know.

 

So there were actually two reasons for Jacob’s next adventure in life, the first was to get out of Dodge so his brother didn’t kill him the minute their father died, and the second was to find a wife outside of Canaan, because his mother said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?” (27:46)

 

Wanting to make his wife happy and I’m sure knowing this was a good thing, as his father Abraham did the same, he told Jacob, “‘You will not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, so to Padan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s brother.³And God Almighty will bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so you will be an assembled multitude of people, ⁴and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you, so you may inherit the land in which you are living, which God gave to Abraham.’ ⁵And Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Padan-Aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebeccah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.” (Genesis 28:1-5)

 

[Just a side note: The Old Testament is written mostly in Hebrew, but also there are portions of Aramaic, mostly in the Book of Daniel. And Y’shua spoke both of course, but anyone who has seen The Passion has seen that it was also scripted in Aramaic with subtitles. Mel Gibson therefore had Y’shua speaking the native tongue of Abraham, the father of the Hebrew people, which would be why both languages were intermixed as part of the Hebrew culture.]

 

Now here is where I think Esau did his best to try and make amends. In his heart, I believe this was his way of apologizing and it kind of makes me feel sorry for him. “When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan-Aram, to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him gave him a charge saying, ‘You will not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.’ ⁷And Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and went to Padan-Aram. ⁸And Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan were bad in the eyes of Isaac his father, ⁹Esau then went to Ishmael, and took Mahalath to be his wife, in addition to the wives that he had. She was the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.” (Genesis 28:6-9)

 

Esau tried, but he had too much of the world in him. He was a polygamist and his father was not. He married heathen women and his father did not. He was much too self-centered to carry on the legacy of Abraham, which was why the arranged deception went through basically without a hitch.  

 

None of us are perfect but where is our heart? That has been the key as long as mankind has existed. “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his countenance or at the height of his stature because have refused him! For the LORD does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” 1^st Samuel 16:7. Therefore, “Do not gather treasures on the Earth for yourselves, where moth and rust are destroying and where thieves break in and steal: ²⁰but build up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and do not steal: ²¹for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Matthew 6:19-21

 

Revival starts on the inside of each of us, in our hearts. Let’s have revival!! It’s time the world knows Who their real God is and we’re the only ones who can tell them!!

 

                                                                                        SHALOM

Genesis 7/1/2017

GENESIS

July 1, 2017

By Pastor Kim Hickcox

 

(All Scripture taken from One New Man Bible unless otherwise noted)

 

As we should expect, the Lord protected Rebeccah and Isaac when they stayed in Gerar (and he lied) as He did Abraham and Sarah. In fact, this portion of Scripture ends with Abimelech’s declaration: “And Abimelech charged all his people saying, ‘Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.’” Genesis 26:11. Just a reminder that when we indeed do walk by faith and not by sight, as we are supposed to do, divine protection is there. And today we will see that provision is there too:

 

“Then Isaac sowed in the land, and in the same year reaped a hundredfold, and the LORD blessed him.” Genesis 26:12. Now please remember that we started with verse 1 telling us that “there was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham.” So there was a famine and, despite everything that made sense, Isaac stayed in the famine-struck land. So how could Isaac plant a crop (famine meant bad or dry weather or insect infestation or Judgment had swept across the land, and mankind had no way to combat any of those phenomena’s – and never will be able to combat the third) “in the same year” and reaped one hundredfold when no one else could even get enough? Simple – “the LORD blessed him.”

 

But then, as today, the Lord’s blessing does not necessarily come without a jealous reaction from the world. “And the man became great and kept increasing until he became very great, ¹⁴for he owned flocks, herds, and had numerous servants, and the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵For all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth. ¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘Go from us, for you are much greater then we.’¹⁷And Isaac left from there and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and lived there.¹⁸And Isaac dug the wells of water again, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called them their names after the names by which his father had called them.” Genesis 26:13-18

 

Notice that their respect was for Abraham only, not his God nor his family or heirs, if so, they would not have filled up his wells after his death, as Isaac was still there. Abraham was/is God’s friend (Isaiah 41:8) but then, so are we; “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life on behalf of his friends. ¹⁴You are My friends if you would do whatever I command you. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing: but I have called you friends, because everything which I have heard from My Father I made known to you.¹⁶You did not choose Me, but I chose you and I placed you so that you would go and you would bear fruit and your fruit would remain, so that whatever you would ask the Father in My Name He would do for you. ¹⁷I command you these things, so that you would love one another.” John 15:13-17

 

Is there any doubt that the devil is ruling the unsaved world when we see how quickly jealousy and coveting breeds hatred, when it could just as easily breed curiosity which would lead to people to the One True God?

 

Deception is a heart-wrenching thing because it makes someone truly believe something that just isn’t true! When I was working at a rehab facility for teenagers, I was passing through a room one afternoon and I heard one of my girls say, “I don’t believe I hell.” It made my heart ache! But all I could say was, “Well everyone who wakes up there believes in it.” That resulted in an instant change of subject.

 

She kept in touch for a while after she left, but I have no idea whether or not my comment made her think or change her heart. I haven’t heard from her in years, but I keep praying that I will be able to see her in heaven. You can’t argue away deception; it has to be prayed away. Only the Holy Spirit can pierce through that.

 

Back to Genesis: “And Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water. ²⁰And the herdsmen of Gerar fought with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, ‘The water is ours.’ And he called that name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. ²¹And they dug another well and quarreled for that also…” Genesis 26:19-21. And on and on it goes.

 

Have you ever been in a stage of life where it seemed like no matter which way you turned you instantly hit a brick wall? Boy I have! I’ve never told anyone this, but when I first moved to Orlando, I spun down into such a depression that all I did was go to work, come home and eat all the sugar and chocolate I could get my hands on. I have never been suicidal, but in the back of my mind, knowing that diabetes ran in the family, I ate all the sweets I could thinking that if it took me out early – no big deal. (I still cringe when I hear the term death by chocolate, because for me, it could have been.)

 

I went to church every Sun and Wed, and was lifted up until about the time I got back home, then it was back. Then I went to a church conference with my ministry partner and told the Lord that if He didn’t do something soon – like now, I didn’t know how I was going to deal with life, because I was losing my will to do anything at all and could not continue like this – period. Needless to say, that conference was a life changer! And I have described myself during that time as being a hologram.

 

I imagine Isaac felt like that too. He had done what God told him to. He had even done what the heathen king had told him to do and still he was getting cheated out of everything he touched! Does it cancel what I said earlier about the Lord’s protection and provision? Absolutely not!

 

We are not promised a trouble-free life as soon as we believe. God does not save us so we can turn into entitled brats. He saves us for His glory. And what glorifies Him? The transformation of our lives and hearts. The faith we express when we DO have problems. David said, “Yea, when I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death, I will be awed by no evil, for You are with me…” in Psalm 23:4. So not only is death just a shadow for us now, but whenever we feel we are in the valley we are only walking through it. So don’t camp there! Keep walking! This is why He gave us:

 

John 16:32-33 “Behold, a time is coming and has come so that you would each be scattered back home for your own things so that you would leave Me alone: but I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ³³I have told these things to you so that you would have peace because of Me: in the world you have distress: but be of good courage, I have overcome the world.”

 

And

Romans 8:26-28 “And likewise also the Spirit helps us together with us in our weakness: for we do not know what we should pray according to what is needed, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with unutterable groanings: ²⁷and the One Who searches our hearts knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because He intercedes with God on behalf of the saints. ²⁸And we know that, for those who love God, He works all things for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”    

 

And

James/Jacob 1:2-5 “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when various trials light upon you, ³knowing that the proving of your faith produces endurance. ⁴And the endurance must attain its purpose, so that you would be mature and complete and not falling short in any way. ⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, he must continually ask from God, the One Who gives generously, without reproaching, and it will be given to him.”

 

And

1^st Corinthians 10:13 “A trail has not taken you except what is common to mankind: but God is faithful Who will not permit you to be tested beyond what you are able, and therefore He will then in the test make you to be able to patiently bear the way out.”

 

So we keep going; KNOWING that He is faithful and always with us because THIS is how we walk by faith and not by sight, which means: circumstances and feelings. We go by what we know, not by what we feel. We go by Truth! And Truth is not a what, but a Who! “I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life…” John 14:6. Therefore “If you would remain in My Word, you are truly My disciples ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32. Keep walking because with every step, more and more of the valley is behind you and your freedom gets closer and closer!

 

So back to wells, do you know how long it took to dig a well? Remember these were ancient times – no bulldozers, no water seeking technology (although I’m more than sure that the Lord led him to where he should dig). And this was the desert!  A well was a literal matter of life and death.

 

But wells back then were not just holes you lowered a bucket down; it was WAY more work than that! Wells then had to be dug with a stairway to walk down with as big a vessel as one could carry – and you know how heavy water is – so as to make as few trips as possible because they were usually pretty deep. And they had to be about as big as a small lake, so until the diggers dug deep enough to touch the main source of the underground spring so as to start a small flood into the base of the well, they kept going!

 

It still fills me with awestruck wonder when I read about Rebeccah (chapter 24) making sure the 10 camels Abrahams’ servant came with had their fill before she even led him to her house. Camels can hold 1/3 of their body weight in water and they can weigh anywhere from 660# to 2,200#!! And you KNOW as they were loaded down they were not the tiny 660 pound camels! And she watered 10 of them! By herself!! Women must have been built like football players back then. Thank You Y’shua for faucets and pipes!

 

Anyway, it’s no wonder really, why wells were such a source of contention and commonly fought over. But still Isaac must have been at wit’s end (say nothing of his servants, who were doing the digging) by the time he got to the third [named] site, “And he left from there and dug another well and they did not argue for that: and he called its name Rehoboth, and he said, ‘For now the LORD has made room for us and we will be fruitful in the land.’ ²³And he went up from there to Beer-Sheba.” (26:22-23) Hallelujah!!

 

So it seems his trial is over – but no. However, the Lord is always right on time: “And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, ‘I AM the God of Abraham your father. Do not be in awe! I AM with you and will bless you and multiply your seed for My servant Abraham’s sake.’ ²⁵And he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there and Isaac’s servants dug a well there.” (26:24-25)

 

The ONM put certain things in bold print here for emphasis. I AM is God’s most serious, powerful, commanding name! He is more full of purpose than usual, if that’s possible, when He introduces Himself as I AM. It’s called Anokhi and should be a complete attention-getter!

 

So knowing that, Do not be in awe was a command! It can be translated more accurately as; Don’t you dare even think about being afraid! Because I AM with you! And in verses 26-33 we see why the pep talk.

 

“Then Abimelech, his friend Ahazzath, and Fikhol the chief captain of his army went to him from Gerar. ²⁷And Isaac said to them, ‘Why did you come to me, seeing you hate me and have sent me away from you?’ ²⁸And they said, ‘We saw that the LORD was certainly with you and we said, “Let there now be an oath between us, between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you ²⁹so you will do us no hurt, as we have not touched you and as we have done to you nothing but good…”’” Now I just have to stop here and remind everyone that these nimrods, if you’ll pardon the expression, are lying through their teeth! Unless of course, you think it was good of them to have filled up all of his fathers’ wells and then steal back all the ones that he dug himself! “^29b…and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.”’ ³⁰And he made them a feast and they ate and drank. ³¹And they got up early in the morning and swore one to another, then Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ³²And it was the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, ‘We have found water.’ ³³And he called it Shilbah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-Sheba to this day.” Shilbah is a form of the word oath and seven, depending on the dialect. Therefore this well could have been named Oath due to the covenant that was struck the night before, or it could have been named Seven, as it was the seventh well that Isaac had dug or re-dug (so I have read).

 

So the Lord told Isaac not to be afraid because He was going to show him His favor once more (albeit tongue-in-cheek on the heathens' part) and had he freaked out it could have ended very badly.

 

Now the last two verses of this chapter catch us up with Esau. We haven’t heard much of the boys save for their birth and the birthright soup incident, but God’s Word gives us a little snippet, as chapter 27 is all about Isaac’s death, what happens leading up to it and 26:34-35 pretty much explain why.

 

“And Esau was forty years old when he took for wives Judith the daughter of Be’eri the Hittite, and Basemat the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵And they were a source of a bitter spirit for Isaac and Rebeccah.” So Esau was fraternizing with the heathens, which is why the Lord allowed chapter 27 to play out as it did, and why Jacob is the father of the Hebrews, God’s chosen, and Esau is not.

 

SHALOM!

 

By the way, how did last week go with meditating on a verse or two? Mine went very well, hope yours did too.