Genesis 26:23: Seven words, and the end of the Philistine years
Read it →Commentary on Genesis 26:23
The Philistines had pushed Isaac from well to well, until at last he left their land for good. The verse looks like a small travel note, yet the night he reaches Beersheba, God appears to him.
The Place and Its Name
Beersheba was not new ground. Its name was older than Isaac.
This name means well of the oath. It marks the place where Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant not to trouble each other, and confirmed it by an oath. It afterwards became the dwelling place of Abraham and of Isaac, who also dug a well there. Once the land was settled, Beersheba was always named as its most southern point, and Dan as its most northern; so "from Dan to Beersheba" meant the whole country.
Isaac was not the only one who needed reminding of what God had sworn.
Beersheba means "well of the oath." It shows that Isaac was learning to depend on the oath God had made to Abraham and to himself. God assures Isaac that He is with him, will bless him and multiply his descendants for Abraham's sake. How often did the Lord remind Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of this absolute, unconditional promise! But we too easily forget what God Himself has purposed concerning us, and we need as many reminders as they.
The End of a Long Schooling
The wells Isaac dug before this each got a name, and the names trace his schooling.
A slow and painful process teaches Isaac that he must leave the land of the Philistines completely. Each well he had to dig marks one stage of it. First "contention;" then "hatred;" next "room." But he had found "room," and he was shut out from the company that hampered him. So he moves on to Beersheba, on the edge of the land. He again takes the place of a stranger and pilgrim, depending on God; and the moment he does so, he gets his reward. "The Lord appeared to him the same night," and blessed him. The discipline had produced sanctification, and he builds an altar and worships. It had taught him that it is better to have a little with God than great possessions in a position outside his calling.
Blessing or Presence
What changes at Beersheba is not the size of Isaac's blessing but the nearness of the One who gives it.
"And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you." Notice: it was not the Lord's blessing only, but the Lord Himself. And why? Because Isaac had left the Philistines behind, with all their envy and strife and contention. He had gone up to Beersheba. Here the Lord could show Himself to His servant. His generous hand might follow him while he stayed in Gerar. But he could not enjoy His presence there.
How Isaac Got There
Commentators differ on Isaac's conduct here. One reading is that he had to be driven out, and that the move repaired a failure:
He fails like Abraham, and shows even less energy. He denies his wife, as Abraham had done, and he leaves the wells Abraham had dug in the hand of the enemy. He had failed in faith in God before Abimelech. Though God had said to him, "Sojourn in this land," he has to give way before the will of Abimelech. He is then driven from well to well, and has room only where the Philistine allows him room. In Beersheba he meets with God.
Another reading treats his patience as strength, and the move to Beersheba as a step he chose freely:
Patience had a perfect work with Isaac. If spite stopped up the old wells, if the new wells he found stirred up envy and ill-will, he did not argue. There was no hostility on his side. He left when the ruler told him to. At last a well was found further off, and the opposing herdsmen did not fight for it. Yet from there, however promising it looked, he went up to Beersheba.
What Followed the Move
Separation did not leave Isaac isolated. It produced worship, and then it drew the very people who had driven him out.
The result is that Isaac becomes a worshipper: he builds an altar. Then he becomes a pilgrim: he pitches his tent. There too his servants dig a well, which shows that blessing is always in proportion to how far we accept the truth of our calling. Then, what is more, the Philistines come and submit to him. They feared the man who was walking apart and enjoying the favour of God.
Summary
- Driven. Contention, then hatred, then room — the wells name a slow, painful schooling that drove Isaac out of Philistine land.
- Up. Beersheba sits on the edge of the land. Going up to it, Isaac takes again the place of a stranger and pilgrim who depends on God.
- Oath. The name means "well of the oath," and there Isaac learns to rest on a promise God swore rather than on ground he can defend.
- Presence. God's generous hand followed Isaac in Gerar, but he could not enjoy God's presence there. At Beersheba he receives not just the blessing, but the Lord Himself.
- Fruit. Out of that separation come an altar, a tent, a fresh well — and the Philistines coming to submit to the man they had driven out.
