IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Do Not Go Down to Egypt

Date: Mar. 16, 2015

Passage

Genesis 26:1-15  (ESV)

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.”

So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 26:3a

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.

First, the Lord appears to Isaac (1-6). There was a famine in the land like the one in Abraham's time. Isaac was probably on his way to Egypt since Gerar lies south of Beersheba. But God knew his servant's weakness and appeared to him at Gerar. He gave him direction not to go down to Egypt but remain in that land. He promised to be with him and bless him. He renewed the Abrahamic covenant with Isaac (3-5). The God of Abraham was now the God of Isaac. Isaac obeyed God and stayed in Gerar (6).

Second, God blesses Isaac a hundredfold (7-15). At first, Isaac was afraid of Abimelek and the Philistines and lied about his wife just as Abraham had done (7-9). But Isaac found out that there was fear of God in Abimeleck (10). God showed that he was protecting his servant (11). When Isaac obeyed God in spite of his fears, God kept his promise and blessed him abundantly so that he reaped a hundredfold the first year (12-15). He became the envy of many neighbors. Obedience to God is the secret of a blessed life.

Prayer: Lord, forgive my calculation. Help me to trust you and obey your word.

One Word: Stay and trust in God!

Daily Bread

God Blessed Abraham’s Son Isaac

Genesis 25:1-18

Key Verse: 25:11

After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.

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