The Book of Genesis is a history of nations, particularly a history of nations whose hunger and thirst is satisfied by the people of God streaming out into the world.
Genesis 26:1–33 is not a random account of Isaac suffering outside the land of Canaan. It is a three-story narrative about a seven- to ten-year period in which God gives the land of the Philistines to Israel so that the Philistines may eat and drink before the Lord.[1]
That is, Genesis 26:1–33 shows how the steadfast suffering of the people of God as strangers in a foreign land leads to a new alliance with Gentiles, to inheritance of more land than was promised before, and to eating and drinking between covenant brothers—fellowship that was at risk of falling away.
What was at risk? In Genesis 26, the household of God’s table fellowship with Philistines—who previously made a covenant with Abraham—was at risk. It was at risk because of the Philistines’ hard-heartedness.
And so, with the goal of table restoration in mind, when Genesis 26 opens, it is the eating and drinking of Isaac and his household which is at risk. A famine in Canaan drives Isaac and his family to provide or become food and drink for Philistines during that nation’s spiritual famine.
Why? So that Isaac might teach the Philistines how to eat (first story, Gen 26:1–12), pour out his own water for them (second story, 26:13–22), and finally learn that his eating and drinking resumes in wide open spaces when it may be done with Gentile converts (third story, 26:23–33).
The shape of Genesis 26 is the good news of table fellowship in the Lord. We see this by both remembering the historical context (a famine) as well as by considering the two stories on either side of Isaac’s sojourn among Philistines. With an emphasis on food, especially a lack of food or table fellowship among the nations, the two bookends to Genesis 26 may help us understand why Isaac’s story interrupts the larger narrative of a struggle between the brothers Jacob and Esau.
The first bookend is the genealogy of Isaac (25:19–34), which sets up the drama. Two sons, Jacob and Esau, are two nations contending with one another in Rebekah’s womb. At the end of the prequel, Esau forsakes his inheritance in exchange for a meal. The challenge for Isaac in Genesis 26, then, is that the righteous must not forsake what the Lord has given, whether it’s a trial or one of God’s holy commands, for the sake of bread.
The second bookend is Jacob’s righteous deception of the blind, esurient Isaac (26:34–27:29). The story reads as Isaac’s dramatic exit in a near-tragedy.[2] Rebekah delivers the ruler (her husband) as well as the two contending nations (Israel and Edom) by making Jacob a sacrificial representative of Esau, covered in hairy Edomite food-stuff. The righteous receive the blessing of their master by becoming bread for others.
Isaac’s conduct in Genesis 26 makes him a foil to Esau’s hunger in the prequel. In the sequel, Isaac foils himself by trying to bless Esau instead of Jacob, in contrast to his earlier success in Genesis 26.
IN GERAR (First Story: Genesis 26:1–12)
At the beginning of Genesis 26, Isaac plans to head to Egypt just as his father Abraham had done during the previous famine. But Yahweh tells Isaac to stay in Gerar and not to go to Egypt, that “paradise resort” of the ancient world. Gerar was hostile Philistine country (Gen 26:2).
Why? It is neither to bless Isaac in spite of some moral failure or even to bless Isaac in the face of adversity, but to save the Philistines as part of God’s mission.
Missionary work rarely meets immediate success, though. And like his righteous father Abraham before him, Isaac meets a culture of rapacious men in Gerar. So, like righteous Abraham did, Isaac instructed his wife Rebekah to tell the Philistines that she was his sister.[3] Isaac told her to omit the fact that Rebekah was his wife.
Was it a lie, or sinful deception in the way that we commonly think of lying or deceiving? No. A lie, as theologian John Frame defines it from the Bible’s examples, is when we purposefully deceive our neighbor in order to injure them. Deceiving enemies, however, is sometimes necessary, for the benefit of preserving life and as a restraint to our enemies’ sin (Rahab with spies, Jael with Sisera, &c.). Like Abraham, Isaac’s deception was intended to preserve life, not harm it. If murderous pirates are approaching my Swiss family’s vessel on the sea, maybe I choose to fly the Yellow Jack flag to deter the pirates, who now think there’s plague aboard my ship and decide against boarding us.[4]
Many have denounced Isaac’s deception in this account as though he was sinfully lying, and thus take Abimelech’s side against the godly patriarch (26:7–11). We shouldn’t. The text shows us that the Philistine King Abimelech had to threaten his people with the death penalty to deter the men from taking Rebekah, a woman living in the household of another man (26:11).
The threat of the death penalty indicates the outrageous wickedness of Abimelech’s people.[5] And Abimelech’s response to Isaac also is outrageous: “One of my people might have stolen the woman in your house and raped her, and if they had done that, it would have been your fault, Isaac.”
And yet the story in Genesis 26 shows us that God intends to bring this wicked king around, to turn his heart toward him.
The emphasis in this first story is on obedience. Look at how Yahweh speaks to Isaac, issuing the patriarch a command and stressing how his father Abraham “obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (26:5). Abraham was obedient, so the test for Isaac in Gerar is whether he will obey, too.
Many commentators and readers assume the obedience test for Isaac is about telling the truth or lying: Will he fear for his life and lie about Rebekah his wife? Or will he entrust his life to God and disclose Rebekah’s identity?
That’s not the obedience test given to Isaac. Yahweh emphasizes the need for Isaac’s obedience and gives to the patriarch a direct command. That’s the obedience test. Yahweh’s direct command is to “Dwell in this land.” And Isaac obeys: “And Isaac dwelt in Gerar” (26:3, 6).
Think about the test and how Isaac would have received it. He may have heard it in this manner: “Dwell in this land, away from the land of your fathers, where ungodly men are going to hound you and possibly threaten your life in order to take your wife for themselves.” And Isaac does not flee Gerar. He obeys; he stays. That is the test of his obedience.
If any of us were living in a place where our wife’s life or integrity was threatened because the men there were lecherous dogs, we would likely want to relocate. Yet Yahweh told Isaac to stay because God has plans for the Philistines.
In his youth, Jesus demonstrated obedience to God by submitting to his parents, and he grew in wisdom and stature with men through this obedience. By his obedience, Jesus prospered. And when it came time for Jesus to stay in hostile Jerusalem, he stayed. He obeyed.
The test for Isaac was whether he could leave the land of Canaan that was promised to him and stay in a land where his wife was threatened. God denied him an Egyptian vacation and gave him life among hostiles. Isaac obeyed. So God blessed him an hundredfold (26:12).
For us, following Jesus likewise means obedience to God’s commandments, even if that makes us the object of hostility: “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mk 10:29–31 NKJV).
We can also read Isaac’s story through a three-figural lens in light of Genesis 2–3:
- Isaac as Adam: Like Adam welcomed Eve as his sister (“bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh”), Isaac identifies Rebekah as his sister. In one way, Isaac (Adam) fends off Abimelech and the Philistines (the serpent) from attacking his bride Rebekah (Eve).
- Isaac as Eve: Like Eve beheld the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Isaac knows that Rebekah is “beautiful to behold” (3:6; 26:7). And Rebekah, like the fruit of the tree, is made off-limits to touching under threat of a death penalty (3:3–4; 26:11). When Abimelech challenges Isaac, the king says, “What is this you have done to us?” This echoes Yahweh’s statement to Eve in Genesis 3:13.
- Isaac as Serpent: Like the serpent who deceived Eve, it is the serpent’s primary tactic which Isaac deploys as a cunning stranger who has crossed into a new land, thus characterizing Isaac not only as one who improves on Adam’s failures but also as one who improves on the failures of Eve and the Serpent.[6]
This Genesis 3 dynamic sheds light on the role of the Philistine king and hints at Abimelech’s possible transformation.
- Abimelech as Serpent: Initially, Abimelech is like the serpent who observes the man and his wife. He then challenges them (3:1; 26:8).
- Abimelech as Adam: Abimelech shifts blame from himself and his lecherous people to the weaker party (Isaac), just as Adam shifts blame onto Eve (3:12; 26:10).
- Abimelech as Eve: As with the three-figural Isaac, Abimelech adopts the posture of Eve when he becomes the one to associate touching forbidden fruit with God’s death penalty. He charges the Philistines not to touch Isaac or Rebekah, lest they surely die (3:3; 26:11).
By echoing Genesis 3 in Genesis 26, the author characterizes Isaac and Rebekah as forbidden fruit protected by a death penalty. This establishes the dramatic setting of the second story in which satanic men try to violate the hedge of protection around them.
Also, if Isaac and Rebekah are forbidden fruit, Abimelech and the Philistines must first learn to abstain and not seize such food, as was the expectation for Adam and Eve with the Tree of Knowledge. If the Philistines want blessing, they must wait; they must first honor the food in Yahweh’s house.
IN THE VALLEY OF GERAR (Second Story: Genesis 26:13–22)
Another echo from early Genesis also fills out this second story in Genesis 26. Because of Abraham’s covenant with Abimelech, Isaac and the Philistines ought to be brothers in the covenant. However, rivalry between these brothers ensues over wells of water, similar to the rivalry between Abel the shepherd of flocks and Cain the tiller of the ground in Genesis 4. The conflict of this second story also features shepherds against men who manipulate the ground. They filled in the wells that Abraham dug and drove Isaac’s men away from the other wells in the area.
In the face of adversity, Isaac moves on to dig new wells of water rather than quarreling over two new wells. Why didn’t Isaac defend his property from Philistine attacks?
Certainly, Isaac enjoyed the right to protect the water wells as his property, and yet freedom for the man who fears God does not mean exercising and defending rights each and every time there is a crisis, but exercising wisdom and being flexible for the sake of the mission of God.
Whenever someone threatens our rights, we must always ask whether we should defend our rights (as a testimony against the pride of the strong) or forgo our rights (in solidarity with the weak, as a testimony to the feeble) and go on to receive greater blessing.[7]
Because the whole earth belongs to the Lord, and thus to us as well, we don’t place our faith in the wells of water which we have dug or those our fathers dug, even when we work hard to revive the work of yesteryear. For we may plant and another may water, but it is God who gives the increase (1 Cor 3:6).[8]
As Christians we are free. Thus we are flexible with the exercise and defense of our rights. Paul holds this same disposition: “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:7–8). The concept of a Christian’s freedom and flexibility in life situations is mapped onto liberty and slavery, according to the German Reformer Martin Luther, in The Freedom of the Christian. The Christian lives in freedom and under restraint simultaneously because of our union with Jesus Christ, who is both slave of all and lord of all: “A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” A Christian is lord of all, subject to none, meaning that they need not fear anything, for they are lords with Christ, and a Christian is slave of all, subject to all, so as to guide others to the same freedom of love, to the same liberty in Jesus Christ.”[9]
Willingness to die is important in Genesis 26 because Isaac is living out the calling of a king in a foreign land. He had proved himself in the first story to be an obedient priest and a servant who obeyed the direct commands of his master. Now Isaac faces the challenge of whether he will be a good king. A good king is willing to die.[10] Like Isaac, we must be willing to let our work and possessions die, trusting that it is God who gives life and new life again. He provides new wells and new pastures for us.
In the first conflict, the Philistine herdsmen see the running (living) water that Isaac’s men discovered and claim it as their own. Isaac does not stand his ground but calls the well Etsek, or “Quarrel,” and moves on.
The name Etsek suggests a pun: the name sounds similar to the patriarch’s own name, Yitschaq.[11] Even though he surrenders the well, Isaac gives it a name that sounds like his own, indicating the well truly belonged to him. Isaac knows the well was his but gives it up.
Isaac does not defend or exercise his right to the wells of water which his own father had purchased in Genesis 21, nor does the patriarch defend his right to this new well of living water.
James Jordan points out that sometimes the traditions of our forefathers are stopped up with dirt by other people, and when we revive the customs of the past, others may appropriate those customs, claiming them for themselves.[12] What do we do? Sometimes we must retrieve the past and apply it to our own time, and other times we must let it go and move forward.
Isaac moves on and digs another well, only to once again stir up rivalry between shepherds. Before moving on, Isaac calls the second well Sitnah, a name derived from the Hebrew word satan, meaning an “accuser” or “adversary.” That is, in his contentions with the Philistines, Isaac recognizes the work of Satan behind the scenes. Those who oppose the Seed show themselves to be servants and children of the devil.
In Genesis 4, Cain contended with his brother Abel because he hated him. At the end of Genesis 4, God cursed Cain and “alienated” him from the ground which opened its mouth to receive the blood of his brother Abel (4:10). But in Genesis 26, by being free and flexible in choosing not to assert his rights, Isaac discovers the ground opening up water for him.
Isaac improves on those who went before him. Instead of entering a fruitless, open space like Cain, Isaac does what Cain would not: to do well by giving up his work and life for the sake of these Philistine brothers with whom Abraham had covenanted (Gen 21:22–34). Because of Isaac’s faithfulness, God gives him a third well, Rehoboth (“open space”). For Isaac, this provision of water and a place to dwell signifies fruitfulness in the land (Gen 26:22).
During his time among the Philistines, Abraham dug wells of water and so dug into their hearts, hard as dirt, to build a river to water the Philistines and cause them to produce fruit. Biblically, wells of living water, or springs, are people. Jesus says, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (Jn 7:38). For a time with Abraham, the Philistines believed in the Most High God, but later they stopped Abraham’s wells with dirt. They stopped their own hearts with dirt.
Yet God did not abandon the Philistines but sent Isaac as a second witness to them. That’s what Genesis 26 is about. It’s why Isaac could not go to Egypt but had to stay in Philistine territory. Like his father the evangelist, Isaac digs wells of water, opens the hearts of men to God.
Think about the ministry and death of Jesus. In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus encountered such resistance they tried to throw him off a cliff. Jesus does not contend with them. Just like Isaac, Jesus withdraws from them and departs. The Pharisees plot to destroy Jesus, just as the Philistines contended with Isaac, and Jesus doesn’t stand his ground. He picks up and moves on. He goes on to dig wells of water elsewhere, to find wells of living water, to find people elsewhere.
That’s Isaac and Jesus’ ministry in a nutshell. They dig wells of water, encounter opposition, then move on to dig new wells, essentially forming a river of people to water the world. Over and over again, Jesus digs wells of water, quarrels with the scribes and Pharisees, and moves on, until the time when he stands in Jerusalem and is condemned to death on the cross.[13]
And even then, Jesus does not quarrel (Is 42:1–4) or contend with his enemies with legions of angels at his back. Instead, Jesus surrenders himself, a well of living water, from which blood and living water flow, waiting for God to raise him on the third day to receive open spaces.
Even this second story in Genesis 26 paints a “resurrection” when Isaac comes to the third well of water. This third well is like a third day; during famine and adversity, a well of water and peace with the Philistines extends hope for a greater “third day” resurrection.
IN BEERSHEBA (Third Story: Genesis 26:23–33)
In the third narrative unit of Genesis 26, Abimelech comes with two of his advisors, Phicol the army commander and Ahuzzath the chief counselor, to meet Isaac. Abimelech recognizes that he cannot separate Isaac from Yahweh’s blessing. Thus, Abimelech seeks to make a covenant with Isaac. It is possible that Abimelech had little to do with his shepherds contending with Isaac, but the Philistine king certainly did nothing to stop it. Isaac rebukes him for it.
Isaac has shown he is obedient as a priest and willing to die as a king. Isaac now acts as a prophet by confronting the king Abimelech with the truth: “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” (26:27).
Isaac is a priest who obeys God’s command to stay in a hostile land, but this does not mean Isaac can never reprove the Philistine king. Isaac is a king who lets his work die by surrendering his wells, but this does not mean Isaac can never confront the Philistine king. Yahweh brings Isaac through priestly and kingly trials so that Isaac can mature into the role of a prophet. As friends of God, prophets speak the Word of God to confront the hearts of others.
Isaac’s evangelism among the Philistines matured as well. Abimelech uses the covenant name of God, Yahweh: “We have certainly seen that Yahweh is with you” (26:28). The former king (also called Abimelech) came to Abraham and said, “We see God (Elohim) is with you” (21:22). But following Isaac’s ministry, there has been a change. Abimelech now uses God’s covenant name.[14]
In the first story, Abimelech falsely accused Isaac of causing his people to sin. In the second story, the Philistine men falsely accused Isaac (Sitnah, meaning “accusation”). But in the third story, Isaac is the one who accuses rightly. And through Isaac’s prophetic confrontation, the Philistines ask for Isaac’s protection.
Isaac established obedient commitment to Yahweh and sought peace among the nations. Isaac showed his obedience by obeying Yahweh’s command to live in a hostile Philistine territory rather than going to Hotel Egypt as he originally planned. Isaac’s witness to the Gentiles prepares the way for a godly covenant alliance between Israel and the Gentiles.[15] Isaac’s men find a well of water on the “same day” that the patriarch eats and drinks with the Philistines. God includes the Gentiles in the covenant and blesses Isaac with a superabundant well at the exact same time. God’s river of people is coursing out even farther.
But there is another important factor regarding Genesis 26’s place in sacred history. We know the land of Philistia was part of the Promised Land because Yahweh tells Joshua, now advanced in years, “Hey, you didn’t defeat the Philistines. The land of Philistia belongs to y’all and still needs to be conquered” (Josh 13:2–3, paraphrase).[16]
God promised the land of Philistia to the patriarchs, and that’s how Genesis 26 concludes. Philistia comes under Isaac’s protection and thus, under the Lord’s covenant protection.
Remember the shape of Genesis 26. When the story of Isaac’s sojourn begins, there is a famine “in the land,” meaning the land of Canaan, the land promised to Abraham. Isaac leaves the Promised Land, and God tells him to stay in Philistine territory.
Why? So that, through Isaac’s faithfulness and charity, Philistia might be incorporated into the land promised to the patriarchs and become part of the land promised to Isaac because of his father’s evangelism, and his own ministry there as a second witness.[17] Isaac fled from famine and endured hard trials in a strange land so that he might eat and drink with the Philistines as their brother.
CONCLUSION
All three stories of Isaac’s sojourn among the Philistines also apply typologically, or in history, to the story of the Woman (Church), and thus allow us to apply Isaac’s example as a Christian model for ourselves. There are many ways to make such application, but I will suggest only a few below to teach us about Jesus’ work as priest (obedience), king (sacrifice), and prophet (carrying God’s Word to others as his friend).
As priest in the first story, the son’s obedience to Yahweh threatens the woman’s safety, yet the son saves the woman while obeying God’s commands. Just so, in our youth or in the initial days of a new season of life, God expects us to be obedient to his Word in circumstances where we may not be free to do what we see fit to do.
As king in the second story, the son saves the woman by giving up his work and his life. Just so, in mid-life or midway through a journey, God expects us to be willing to die, to give up work and life itself, the things that make us who we are.
As prophet in the third story, the son saves the woman by being “with” Yahweh as his friend, confronting God’s enemies with the truth, and covenanting with Gentiles to become united with them (Gen 26:31).[18] Just so, in late life or when we have been established, God expects us to be his friend, his counselor, someone who truthfully witnesses to the world so as to make new God-honoring alliances.
As with Isaac, God places us in situations where it seems like we are at risk, where we seem to lose again and again. Yet through those trials God is working through us, just as he did with Isaac, so we may confront others with the truth and expand the Lord’s kingdom by making new friends.
Zach Parker is Assistant Pastor of Church of the Redeemer in Monroe, Louisiana. He is also the Managing Editor at Athanasius Press.
NOTES
[1] James B. Jordan, “The Chronology of the Pentateuch, Part 4.” The events of Genesis 26:1–33 occur over a period of seven to ten years, from Esau despising his birthright at age thirty (25:34) to Esau’s marriage at age forty (26:34-35). That is, the famine in the land of Canaan lasts seven to ten years, as does Isaac’s sojourn in Philistine territory (Gerar → Valley of Gerar → Beersheba; three sites, each outside the land of Canaan).
[2] James B. Jordan, Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis (Canon Press, 2001), 92–99. Jacob will “set right” his blind father’s error later, when dim-eyed himself, he blesses the younger son as one receiving a “multitude of nations” (Gen 48:10–19).
[3] Jordan, Primeval Saints, 90–91. Isaac truthfully identified Rebekah as his sister. She and Isaac were distant relatives, and Rebekah was engaged in marriage from the rule of one brother (Laban) to another (Isaac). In Genesis 24, Rebekah’s brother Laban negotiated the marriage covenant with Abraham’s servant, who served as a representative of Isaac. Later, in Genesis 34, the sons of Jacob will negotiate their sister Dinah’s marriage with Shechem. Jacob, who is Dinah’s father and still alive, does not negotiate the marriage, but his sons do. Also, in biblical language, a husband and wife, being one flesh, are brother and sister: “You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride” (Song 4:9). As in the Song of Songs, the brother-sister relationship of a married couple is before, or more preeminent than, their relationship as bridegroom and bride.
[4] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life: A Theology of Lordship (P&R Publishing, 2008), 831-840.
[5] Jordan, Primeval Saints, 91. See also James B. Jordan, “Isaac in Gerar, Part 2,” in The Life of Jacob (Biblical Horizons, 1990), audio.
[6] In Matthew 10:16, Jesus sends out his followers to improve on the failures of these three figures, too: You are sheep who die for others in the face of injustice (Adam); You are serpents who must be cunning (Serpent); You are doves who give life and protect it (Eve).
[7] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life: A Theology of Lordship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), 170ff. Frame’s discussion of the relationship between the “strong” and the “weak” in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 is excellent in emphasizing the Christian’s freedom and flexibility for the sake of others.
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[8] James B. Jordan,”Genesis 25:19 – Genesis 26:33,” Studies in Genesis (Theopolis Institute; orig. Biblical Horizons, 1985), audio lectures, https://app.theopolisinstitute.com/audiobooks/27872
[9] LW 31.144.
[10] James B. Jordan, From Bread to Wine: Creation, Worship, and Christian Maturity (Theopolis Books, 2019), 11–22, 115ff. Here and following, I rely on Jordan’s insights regarding the triadic shape of a person’s life through the stages and work of priest, king, and prophet.
[11] James B. Jordan, “Isaac in Gerar, Part 3,” in The Life of Jacob (Biblical Horizons, 1990), audio.
[12] Jordan, “Isaac in Gerar, Part 3”
[13] Being willing to let your work die and to die yourself, as Jesus did, is how we may distinguish Isaac’s picking up and moving on in charity from the fleshly instinct of responding to opposition by taking your ball and going home. Isaac says, “You guys can have the ball. I don’t want us to fight over a ball.”
[14] Also, God’s “oath” to Abraham (Gen 26:3) is fulfilled with an “oath” between Isaac and Gentile believers (26:31).
[15] Yahweh promises to be “with” Isaac (Gen 26:24), and the Philistines recognize the Lord’s presence, saying, Yahweh is surely “with” you (26:28).
[16] Which is what David does, as a killer of Philistine giants and Philistine armies. David completes the conquest of the land promised to the patriarchs.
[17] That’s also what David is doing. Instead of following Abraham and Isaac in covenant faithfulness, the Philistines rejected the good news the patriarchs declared to them and apostatized over time, leading to their defeat by Shamgar, Samson, Saul, and David.
[18] In the three stories, note also who/what is named/renamed (Wife→Well→City). In the first story, the wife is named “sister” then restored to the name of “wife.” In the second story, the wells are named Esek, Sitnah, and Rehoboth. In the third story, the city and well are named Shebah and Beer-Shebah respectively. The maturation of the mission field from Wife to Wells to City is suggestive: Though each renamed figure in the three stories is a feminine representation, or a “type” of the Bride (Church) in sacred history, the maturation through the son’s faithfulness also shows an expansion of missional authority and honor. Faithfulness to the Wife prepares for faithfulness to household and neighbor (well of water) prepares for faithfulness to a City of many peoples.