the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 1 of 5
Genesis 26:17-35
One after another, Isaac redigs these wells of Abraham, blocked by the Philistines. Let us ask the Lord for the same energy, the same perseverance to appropriate for ourselves the truths by which our predecessors lived. They can become our possession too by some deep digging personally for ourselves. To each effort of the enemy to deprive him of the fruits of his labour, Isaac responds by digging elsewhere without being discouraged. But he does not dispute with them, illustrating the exhortation of 2 Timothy 2:24. His gentleness can be known by everyone (Philippians 4:5). He suffers injustice but he does not threaten them; he leaves it to the One who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). At the same time he thus bears testimony to his faith. The inheritance belongs to him; what is the good of snatching it by force? The LORD has promised "all these countries" to his seed (v. 4). Isaac is relying on Him that he will receive them when the moment is right.
Vv. 34 and 36 show us Esau once again scorning God’s will by choosing his wives from the Canaanites from whom the LORD had utterly separated his family. By this he causes great heartache for Isaac and Rebekah. May the Lord encourage all our young readers to listen to their parents and to profit by their experience so that later they will not be a cause of bitterness and worry to them.
