Jo’s Place

Isaac’s Covenant with Abimelech One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.  “Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”  Abimelech and his advisers replied, “We can plainly see that the Lord is with you.  So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you.  Let’s make a covenant.  Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you.  We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace.  And now look how the Lord has blessed you!”  So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together.  Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other.  Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.  That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug.  “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed.  So Isaac named the well Shibah (which means “oath”). 

Conflict over Water Rights When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him.  He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.  He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.  So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt.  These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.  Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country.  “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.” So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down.  He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death.  Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.  Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water.  But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. 

Isaac Deceives Abimelech A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time.  So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.  The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.  Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you.  I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father.  I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands.  And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.  I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”  So Isaac stayed in Gerar.  When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.”  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.”  He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because sh

The Birth of Esau and Jacob This is the account of the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham.  When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.  Isaac pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children.  The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins.  But the two children struggled with each other in her womb.  So she asked the Lord about it.  “Why is this happening to me?” she asked.  And the Lord told her, “The sons in your womb will become two nations.  From the very beginning, the two nations will be rivals.  One nation will be stronger than the other; but your older son will serve your younger son.”  And when the time came to give birth, Rebekah discovered that she did indeed have twins!  The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat.  So they named him Esau.  Then the other twin was born with his

The Death of Abraham Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah.  She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah…  (and they all had children of their own) These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.  But, Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac.  However, before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.  Abraham lived for 175 years, and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life.  He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death.  His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.  This was the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites and where he had buried his wife Sarah.  After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev.  Genesis 25:1–11 (NLT) Praise be to God!

Bethuel gives his daughter Rebekah to his uncle’s son Isaac Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The Lord has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing we can say.  Here is Rebekah; take her and go.  Yes, let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”  When Abraham’s servant heard their answer, he bowed down to the ground and worshiped the Lord.  Then he brought out silver and gold jewelry and clothing and presented them to Rebekah.  He also gave expensive presents to her brother and mother.  Then they ate their meal, and the servant and the men with him stayed there overnight.  But early the next morning, Abraham’s servant said, “Send me back to my master.”  “But we want Rebekah to stay with us at least ten days,” her brother and mother said.  “Then she can go.”  But Abraham’s servant said, “Don’t delay me.  The Lord has made my mission successful; now send me back so I can return to my master.”  “Well,” they said, “we’ll call Rebekah and ask her what she think

​ Laban hears about Isaac (Abraham’s servant) went home with Laban, and Laban unloaded the camels, gave him straw for their bedding, fed them, and provided water for the man and the camel drivers to wash their feet.  Then food was served.  But Abraham’s servant said, “I don’t want to eat until I have told you why I have come.”  “All right,” Laban said, “tell us.”  “I am Abraham’s servant,” he explained.  “And the Lord has greatly blessed my master; he has become a wealthy man.  The Lord has given him flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, a fortune in silver and gold, and many male and female servants and camels and donkeys.  “When Sarah, my master’s wife, was very old, she gave birth to my master’s son, and my master has given him everything he owns.  And my master made me take an oath.  He said, ‘Do not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my father’s house, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son.’  “But I said to my master, ‘What i

A Wife for Isaac Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.  One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.  Swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.”  The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home?  Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?”  “No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there.  For the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants.  He will send His angel ahead of you, and He will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.  If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free fr

The Burial of Sarah When Sarah was 127 years old, she died at Kiriath-arba (now called Hebron) in the land of Canaan.  There Abraham mourned and wept for her.  Then, leaving her body, he said to the Hittite elders,  “Here I am, a stranger and a foreigner among you.  Please sell me a piece of land so I can give my wife a proper burial.”  The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Listen, my lord, you are an honored prince among us.  Choose the finest of our tombs and bury her there.  No one here will refuse to help you in this way.”  Then Abraham bowed low before the Hittites and said,  “Since you are willing to help me in this way, be so kind as to ask Ephron son of Zohar to let me buy his cave at Machpelah, down at the end of his field.  I will pay the full price in the presence of witnesses, so I will have a permanent burial place for my family.”  Ephron was sitting there among the others, and he answered Abraham as the others listened, speaking publicly before all the Hittite elders of the t

​ Abraham’s Faith Tested Some time later, God tested Abraham’s faith.  “Abraham!” God called.  “Yes,” he replied. “Here I am.”  “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah.  Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”  The next morning Abraham got up early.  He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac.  Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about.  On the third day of their journey, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.  “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants.  “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”  So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife.  As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?