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Day 28 – Blessing Genesis 26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD (Jehovah) appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants these lands; and in your seed the nations of the earth will be blessed; 5 because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” 6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 The men of the place asked about his wife. He said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.” 8 Now it happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” 11 So Abimelech charged his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD (Jehovah) blessed him. 13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So, the Philistines envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.” 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar and dwelt there. 18 Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them. 19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So, he called the name of the well Esek because they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So, he called its name Sitnah. 22 He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So, he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the LORD (Jehovah) has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” 23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 The LORD (Jehovah) appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD (Jehovah) and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. 26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD (Jehovah) is with you. So, we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we did nothing to you but good and sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD (Jehovah).’” 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32 It happened the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. 34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah. God’s name: Jehovah – Self-existent, Eternal God’s character: Provider How often have you tried to do something, and someone stopped you and took credit for your idea? It happens all the time. Isaac went to Gerar because of a famine in the land. He made the same deception his father made regarding Rebekah by telling them she was his sister. The king of Gerar called him out about it when he saw the endearment between them. Then he sent them away from him. When he did, Isaac sowed in the land and dug the wells his father had dug which the people of the land had stopped up. As he dug them, he gave them names because the people came against him. The first well he named Esek, meaning Contention because the people of the land contended with him. When he dug the second well, he named that one Sitnah, meaning Hatred. Then he dug the third well. He called it Rehoboth, meaning Room because the people of the land allowed him to keep the well. Then Isaac left there and went to Beersheba where Jehovah met with him and pronounced the same blessing on him, He gave to Abraham. When he did, Jacob built an altar to Jehovah, and dug another well. When he built the well, the king of Gerar visited him with his friend and the captain of his army. During the visit, they made an oath together not to contend with each other. Isaac called the well Shebah, meaning Oath. As Christians, you will experience the same thing Isaac did when the people came against him. People will contend with you, hate you, and allow you room to grow. You will sow in times of famine and see a harvest because you trust Jehovah to provide. Your life will experience hardship, but in the middle of your hardship, Jehovah will bless you and cause you to grow. What stage are you at in your walk with Jehovah? Do people contend with you, and frustrate your plans? Do they hate you because you trust Jehovah? Or are you at the stage in life where they allow you room to grow? Do you see the harvest in your life and not the famine others face? Your blessing is on the way. Don’t give up when Satan comes against you to destroy your plans and frustrate everything you do. Trust Jehovah and see the blessing in your life. Don’t wait until you see Jehovah’s blessing to build an altar of thanksgiving and praise to Jehovah. Build it now and watch what Jehovah will do for you. Let’s pray: Father, help me trust You and Your plan for my life when people contend against me, hate me, and frustrate everything I try to do. Let me see Your blessing in my life as I grow in You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. Copyright © 15 February 2024 by Valerie Routhieaux The image belongs to me.