“Genesis 26:32-35”

Tuesday, January 21, 2020

“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.' So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.”

---End of Scripture verses---

““Now it came about on the same day...” (verse 32) Very shortly after the Lord had appeared to Isaac with comforting words of assurance that He was with him and there was no reason to fear, and in the very same day that he had sealed a peace deal with Abimelech and his advisors when they had visited him in Beersheba, “Isaac’s servants came in and told him...'We have found water.'” To say that Isaac's life was taking a turn for the better and that his prospects for the future were looking up would be an understatement. He and his family had weathered some prolonged storms, but, with patient endurance and much help from the Lord, they had come through high and dry and with new promise and hope.

Again quoting from my favorite Psalm: “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:15-19)

“We have found water.” (verse 32) It was with a cry of relief and rejoicing that the servants brought these words to Isaac's ears. Water was, and still is, such a precious commodity, and especially in the often arid climates that the patriarchs of our faith shepherded their flocks. Please do not take for granted the precious gifts of the readily available, clean, hot and cold running water that is piped right into our kitchens and bathrooms. We grow so accustomed to merely turning on a faucet and fresh water always flowing forth that we rarely stop to thank the Lord for it. Numerous people in the world do not share this precious blessing with us, and we are not guaranteed that it will always be so easily accessible to us in the future.

“So he called it Shibah...” (verse 33) “This word, denoting 'oath-taking' or 'swearing,' is here given as the explanation of the name 'Beer-sheba.'” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) “Like other wells Abraham had digged, this new well was named by one of the names that Isaac's father had used for a well. As Keil expressed it, 'As this treaty made on oath between Abimelech and Isaac was only a renewal of the covenant made before with Abraham (and Abimelech I), so the name Beersheba was renewed by the well Sheba. The reality of this occurrence is supported by the fact that the two wells are still in existence!'” (James Burton Coffman)

“When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.” (verse 34) Like Isaac, Esau married when he was forty (25:20). Unlike Isaac, he did not use good discretion in how and who he married. “The intrusive material here is a literary device to supply essential data that is preparatory to developments in a subsequent narrative. The information given here lends intelligibility to Rebekah's stratagem for saving Jacob from Esau's anger, as told in 27:42-46. At the same time, the passage reinforces the idea of Esau's unworthiness to be Isaac's heir, for he commits a threefold offense: breaking with social convention by contracting the marriage himself rather than leaving the initiative to his parents; abandoning the established practice of endogamy by marrying outside the kinship group; and violating the honor of his clan by intermarrying with the native women.” (Nahum Sarna)

“And they brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.” (verse 35) “Both Hittites, the worst of the Canaanites, Ezekiel 16:3; which, from his grandfather Abraham’s severe charge, Genesis 24:3, he must needs know would be highly displeasing both to God and to his parents.” (Matthew Poole's Commentary) Abraham had sternly warned his servant to not select a wife for Isaac from among the natives of Canaan. “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, 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, but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.'” (Genesis 24:1-3) Not only had Esau selected a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites, he chose two! And, unless Genesis 36:2 uses different names for the same women, possibly more! It was certainly a selfish move to knowingly exasperate his parents by such defiant choices! While we shouldn't allow other people to control our lives, we must be aware that our choices either bless or bruise the ones closest to our hearts! Please choose wisely!

Please read Genesis 27:1-4 for tomorrow.

Have a great day!

- Louie Taylor

Share