Answers for a study in the book of Genesis: Chapters 24-26, The Patriarch Isaac

“Answers for a study in the book of Genesis” is a weekly post in addition to the regular “apologetics” posts on the weekend where the original questions can be found at the bottom of the study, and then answers appear here mid-week. This gives you time to do your own research, and then check your answers. Keep in mind these will be basic answers with a little depth, but you can go much deeper for discussion if you’d like.

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

Note: Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for Discussion or Going Deeper questions. If you use these kinds of sources share them with your group.

 1.  Review of Class Topic:  Before getting into the Bible study questions, discuss today’s class presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Answers will vary…

Read Genesis Chapter 24 through Chapter 26, then answer the following questions:

NOTE: Scripture passages are copied and pasted for underlining and highlighting purposes. Then answers to the questions are summarized below the passage. This is an example of just one of many ways to study Scripture in order to keep answers in their proper context.

2.  (Genesis 24:1-67) In this chapter Isaac and Rebekah are married. What are some things that happened in this story that show God was intervening to make Abraham’s servant successful? Why do you think it was important for Isaac to get a wife from Abraham’s relatives and not from the local Canaanites? Going Deeper: Are there any parts of this story that might be a foreshadow of something greater?

24 Now Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in every way. ² Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he owned, “Please place your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴ but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” ⁶ Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there! ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of good things of his master’s in his hand; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water. ¹² He said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I am standing by the spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴ now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,’ and ^[e]who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ Now when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹ Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father’s house?” ²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in.” ²⁶ Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring. ³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And he said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?” ³² So the man entered the house. Then Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ But when food was set before him to eat, he said, “I will not eat until I have told my business.” And he said, “Speak on.” ³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, so that he has become rich; and He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master in her old age, and he has given him all that he has. ³⁷ My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; ⁴¹ then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

⁴² “So I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; ⁴³ behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸ And I bowed low and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. ⁴⁹ So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.” ⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter comes from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.” ⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground before the Lord. ⁵³ The servant brought out articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.” ⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.” ⁵⁶ He said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the girl and consult her wishes.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, Become thousands of ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The gate of those who hate them.” ⁶¹ Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from going to Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master.” Then she took her ^[y]veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

This passage is a stand-alone picture of a beautiful love story, one that was God ordained. All participants were willing (and trusting of what God’s plan was, though not directly said, but implied). Each had a vital role to play in God’s big picture and covenant promise moving forward.

How God’s sovereignty played out…

• Answers may vary, but might include:
  • God led the Servant directly to Abraham’s family
  • Before he even finished his prayer, Rebekah came out with her jar – she fulfilled all of the Servant’s requests by…
    • being a part of Abraham’s family (some scholars think she is exactly the one Abraham was thinking about since he had gotten news of his brother’s growing family)
    • doing exactly what the Servant had prayed for (watering the camels, which was no small task to offer)
    • offered them a place to stay
    • willingly agreed to go with them and marry Isaac

• Because of God’s Promise concerning the land, Abraham wanted Isaac to marry from his family and not the Canaanites. This was a common and accepted practice in these days. God had not forbidden it yet (it will be in the Law during Moses’ time). The Canaanites were Pagans and would later become enemies of the Nation of Israel. The Canaanites were also cursed from Noah’s time (the incident with Ham and exposing his father’s nakedness to his brothers).

Going Deeper:

Some scholars teach the foreshadowing, or typology here as follows:

Typologies: (Isaac and Rebekah’s love story)

1. Isaac can be seen as a ‘type of Christ’ who was an obedient son to the father, and who eagerly and patiently waited for his bride
2. Eliezar, Abraham’s servant, can be seen as a type of the Holy Spirit who leads the bride to Christ as directed by the Father
3. Rebekah can be seen as a type of the Church, the bride of Christ, who faithfully comes to Isaac and trusts that what God has done is in line with the purpose of her life

3.  (Genesis 25:1-6) Abraham remarried after the death of Sarah. Who was Abraham’s new wife, what do we know about the children they had, and why did Abraham differentiate between them and Isaac concerning the inheritance?

25 Now Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. ⁵ Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; ⁶ but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

• Abraham’s new wife’s name was Keturah, and they had the following children:
• Zimran
• Jokshan
• Medan
• Midian
• Ishbak
• Shuah

From biblegateway.com:

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Midian-Midianites

1. The Biblical record. The name of the country and the people who comprised it come from a forefather named Midian. After Sarah and Hagar, Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah (Gen 25:1f.; 1 Chron 1:32). The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah (Gen 25:4, 1 Chron 1:33). Abraham sent all his concubines’ sons away, “eastward to the east country” (Gen 25:6).
2. The land of Midian played an important part in the life of Moses. Moses fled there from Pharaoh (Exod 2:15). He met and eventually was employed by Reuel (or Jethro), a priest of Midian who had seven daughters (2:16-22). One of these Midianite girls, Zipporah, became his wife. It was while Moses was watching Jethro’s flocks that he came to Horeb, the mountain of God (3:1). The location of Horeb (or Sinai) and Midian is a problem with many facets.
3. The people of Midian. Although the Midianites were descendants of Abraham through his wife Keturah, they never were considered part of the covenant people of God. The hospitality of Jethro to Moses is commendable, but beyond that the Midianites were a people hostile to Israel.

• Abraham had to send away Ishmael earlier because he was the oldest and poised the greatest threat to Isaac’s inheritance of the Promise Covenant [seed promise]. The other children were younger and therefore would not have a reason, or way, to fight against Isaac’s birthright – Abraham further confirmed this in verses 5 and 6 – “Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac; but to the sons of his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.” This would further confirm the “Land Promise” would be passed on to Isaac only. “Sending away” shows that they were not considered part of the promise.

4.  (Genesis 25:7-18) How old was Abraham when he died; where was he buried and who was present at his burial? How old was Ismael when he died, and how many sons did he have? Going deeper: What are some things we know historically about the descendants of Ishmael and their relationship to Israel?

⁷ These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. ⁹ Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, ¹⁰ the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. ¹¹ It came about after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

¹² Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; ¹³ and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam ¹⁴ and Mishma and Dumah and Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes. ¹⁷ These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.

• Abraham was 175 years old when he died, and Isaac and Ishmael both buried him in the cave of Machpelah he bought for Sarah – “He was gathered to his people.”
• Ishmael was 137 years old when he died – he had twelve sons who became twelve princes according to their tribes.
• Going Deeper: History will report that the sons of Ishmael are the patriarchs of the Arab people – notice that in verse 18 it says: “They settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes to Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his relatives.” Back in 21:16-21 God promised Hagar that he would take care of Ishmael and would make a great Nation out of him – it is fulfilled here in this chapter. The Arab Nation has been in conflict with Israel ever since, and we still see it in the Middle East conflicts today. For more information on the religion of Islam, see class presentation notes on this topic.

5.  (Genesis 25:19-34) In the second half of this chapter, after 20 years, Isaac and Rebekah finally have children, twins in fact. What happened between the children while they were still in the womb, and what did God tell Rebekah about the children before they were born? What were the boys’ names and what do they mean? Discuss: What happened between the boys when they were older, and what is the significance for the future.

¹⁹ Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham the father of Isaac; ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb;
And two peoples will be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger.”

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came forth red, all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau, because he had a taste for game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished; ³⁰ and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom. ³¹ But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” ³² Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” ³³ And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

• Important point: Verse 22 tells us that the children struggled together within her; … “So she went to inquire of the LORD” she asked the LORD (YHWH), and this is big because she came from a Pagan Nation and did not know the one true God – but through the example of the Servant, Isaac and his father Abraham, she had learned this importance of asking the LORD.
• God told Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb; and two peoples will be separated from your body; and one people shall be stronger than the other; and the older shall serve the younger.” Note: Rebekah now knew that Jacob would be the one to carry the Promise of the Covenant, not Esau.
• Jacob = “Heel catcher” (supplanter) or figuratively it means “he deceives”
• Esau = “Hairy” – later known as Edom = “red”

Discussion:

• Esau seemed to live in the moment, giving no thought to what was important. He was so hungry that he agreed to sell his birthright to his brother Jacob for stew, regardless of the consequence to his agreement.
• A birthright was a special honor given to the firstborn son. It included a double portion of the family inheritance along with the honor of one day becoming the family leader. The text says “Esau despised his birthright” which means he had no regard for it and consequently the father’s blessing which would come later (he would lose that as well). 

6.  (Genesis 26:1-17) In this chapter we get a repeat of what Abraham and Sarah had previously done (Note: this is not the same Abimelech as before; it may have been a title/family name). How is Isaac and Rebekah’s story different in this case? Going Deeper: What did God say to Isaac in verses 2-5, and again in verses 23-24, and why is this important?

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ⁵ because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” ⁸ It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account 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 charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy; ¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with earth. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Differences from Abraham’s encounter:

• God appears to Isaac and tells him to stay in that area and not to go down to Egypt
• God establishes the Covenant with Isaac at this same time
• The men of Gerar/the Philistines, did not take Rebekah, she stayed with Isaac
• Abimelech saw them together, there was no plague put on his people

Similarly, they lied to Abimelech the way Abraham did saying they were siblings; they also were scolded by Abimelech in the same way, but allowed to stay in the land. Eventually Abimelech sends him further away so as not to be near the people of Philistia as he grew too powerful.

Going Deeper:

Reinforcing the Covenant Promise with Isaac is extremely important because this confirms that God was passing it on to, and through Isaac [seed promise]. God does this twice, making it sure that Isaac knew he would be the one. We will see this continue on through Jacob, Isaac’s son.

7.  (Genesis 26:18-35) What happened between Isaac’s men and the men of Gerar? At the end of the chapter, what did Esau do that made his parents unhappy, and why? Discuss: How might Esau’s decision-making ability reflect on his character and family future?

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. ²² He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord 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 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 the sake of My servant Abraham.” ²⁵ So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’” ³⁰ Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. ³² Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac’s men and the men of Gerar:

• Isaac’s men opened up wells previously dug by Abraham’s men, later filled up by the men of Gerar.
• He had so many flocks, herds and servants that the Philistines envied him, and the way God had blessed him.
• Abraham had also lived in the land of Gerar for many years, and his men must have dug many wells during that time. Isaac is simply reclaiming old territories where his father once lived, but he is not just reclaiming old territories and old wells, he is also preparing new ones, helping fulfill God’s Covenant now through him.
• After quarreling over two wells, on the third try Isaac’s men were able to keep that well and this is where they settled – notice they never fought, they just moved on until successful.
• We can see God’s extreme blessing actually resulting in jealousy and conflict, and this continues throughout history with the Nation of Israel, even today.

Esau:

• Esau married two Hittite girls (Canaanites) and this upset his parents because they were pagans and not from their own clan or countrymen.
• This goes back to the curse of Noah on Ham through his son Canaan, and it will continue to play out through the Old Testament.

Discussion:

Answers will vary, but might include…

• Esau’s poor decision-making ability is seen throughout the story, from selling his birthright to threatening to kill his brother, to his bad choices in marriage.
• All of his actions point to someone who is impulsive, self- centered and reflects a person who does not think through the consequences of his actions – the results of which forever hurt his family, including his own ability to lead (thus the reason for the loss of both birthright and blessing).
• None of Esau’s decision-making ever included consulting God (as modeled by both his parents).

Please join us each week as we continue our case for the Old Testament, and a study in the book of Genesis!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in!  Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15