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That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. The land that I bring you into is a land of hills and valleys that drinks in the water from the rain of heaven. And if you obey me, and trust me, I will give you the early rain as well as the latter rain.
The whole winter season at the early part and the latter part. What they call in Hebrew the yoreh and the malkosh, the early and the latter rain, I'll bless you with that. So, to be in the land of Canaan was a place of faith. You couldn't just go down to the river and pump the water into your vegetable garden. You had to trust that the Lord was going to bring it from heaven. Well, it hadn't rained for a long time. There's a famine in the land. What do you do? Do what Dad did. Dad went down to Egypt.
He survived. But Egypt is always seen as a negative move in the Bible. It would be sort of like equating it to the world, going back to the world to get your provision rather than trusting the Lord in your new place, the new life.
Looking to the world. Now, unfortunately, a lot of us believers begin the Christian life with these unrealistic expectations. And we leave the prayer room and we think what they told us was happily ever after. Well, true. Ultimately, that is true. But in the meantime, there's hills and valleys and places of trust and places of blessing and places of famine. But because they have the happily ever after white picket fence, everything's going to be perfect. I'll never struggle ever, ever again. The first struggle that happens in their life, they want to run back to Egypt. This isn't what I expected.
This is hard. Oh, that's good enough reason to sort of bag the whole Christian thing and go back to what? The path to hell?
Not a good idea. But that's how a lot of us think. So it brings up this question. If there's famine in the promised land, why? If that's the land God said, I'll bless you in, why would God allow there to be a famine in the land God told them to go to? Hear God telling them to go to this land as soon as they get there, famine, and then later on more famine, and now more famine, why?
Well, the answer is pretty easy. Because your faith in God is really worthless unless it's tested. How do you know if your faith is really valuable, if it really works? Do you think your faith only grows by a steady diet of blessing after blessing after blessing?
I'm under the spout where the glory comes out? 24-7? That's the Christian life?
Your best life now? It takes no faith for that. I'll tell you what takes faith is when you look at your cupboards and there's nothing in them in your bank account and there's, oh boy, nothing there.
In fact, negative balance. And you say as you close it, God is good. All the time. He'll take care of me no matter what. This is the land he brought me into. If I die, I die.
What's the worst that can happen? I die, I lose a few pounds, or I die and I go to heaven. God says, dwell in this land.
And I will be with you and bless you. For to you and your descendants, I give all of these lands and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. Stay in the land. Now he was in Gerar. That's where God stopped him.
Gerar is where the Philistines, the early Philistine encampments settled in Gerar before it became known as Philistia, later on in David's time. But this is really in the land of Canaan but on the border, that threshold as you go down to Egypt. God tells him to stay. God tells him he would bless him. And look at verse four, and I will make your descendants. Now listen how this sounds so much like the promise God gave to Abraham.
It's a reiteration of it. I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands and in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Because you're such a wonderful person. Because you're such a man of faith and I couldn't resist you. No, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes and my laws. This blows my mind.
I got to tell you why. Here's a disobedient patriarch, like father, like son, going down to Gerar, actually going down to Egypt. God stops him. And when God appears to him and speaks to him, notice what God doesn't say. He doesn't say, what is the deal with you stupid patriarchs? Every time there's a famine, you go rushing down to Egypt.
I'm sick of this. No, what God does is pronounce a blessing upon him. A blessing upon him. The disobedient patriarch God reiterates the grand blessing that he gave to Abraham. This is called mercy.
And oh, how we love it. The merciful, great God. Okay, I know we're in Genesis 26 barely, but I want to direct your attention one more time, if you don't mind, to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 is David's synopsis of the history of his people going all the way back through Moses up to the present time.
And it's all about how God dealt with them. And I want you to get this under your belt tonight, because you just may be in a place where you need to experience God's mercy and favor and grace. Psalm 103, I could just read it, but you know, it was fun a couple weeks ago when on a Sunday we did a responsive reading. Do you remember that? So I'm going to read verse 1 and the odd-numbered verses, and then you out loud read verse 2 and the even-numbered verses, and you go down to verse 10 and I'll close with verse 11.
Got it? Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Who forgives all your iniquities?
Who heals all your diseases? Who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles? He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. Isn't that great? That's where we stop.
Now, here's the point. Our faults, and there's a lot of those, right? Our faults are like a grain of sand next to the high mountain of God's mercy. That's how those last few verses render if I were to spin it in a poetic kind of a spin.
It's like a grain of sand next to the mountain of God's mercy. Paul in Ephesians 2 said, God who is rich in mercy. Jeremiah was looking at the destruction of Jerusalem, but the saving of a few, and he said in Lamentations 3, it's through the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed his mercy. Because his compassion, they fail not, he went on to say.
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. So don't be too surprised when you find people like Isaac doing all of the stupid things that one does as they fumble and bumble their way on the pathway of their journey of faith.
Don't be surprised when God, who is merciful, blesses. Again, not because of Isaac, but because God made a promise to Abraham. As he said in verse 26, verse 5, because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Okay, now verse 6, so Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
Now watch, here's the second failure, the second sin. And the men of the place asked about his wife. Now you remember Rebekah, right? Remember when in chapter 24 Abraham's servant saw Rebekah at the well, and he noticed she's a knockout.
That's my rendering. She was beautiful, the Bible says. She was noteworthy, she was gorgeous. And her beauty is noted a few times in the Bible, as it will be in a moment. And so the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, She is my sister, just like Dad, twice. 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. It came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech looked through the window and saw there was Isaac showing endearment to Rebekah, his wife.
Okay, back up. Do you find it a bit amazing that immediately after God pronounces a blessing and appears to him pronouncing a blessing, that immediately after he degenerates to lying about his wife? You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, if you've ever wondered what the Bible has to say about some of our culture's big issues, we have a great resource for you. When you give a gift of $50 or more this month to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you God Speaks, biblical answers for today's issues. This special resource bundle contains six of Pastor Skip's booklets that address topics like suicide, why the truth matters, heaven and hell, and the church's response to racism. You'll gain valuable insight into what God's Word says about the big questions in our culture and get equipped to stand for the timeless truth of Scripture.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give $50 or more. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. Wouldn't you think that if God appeared to you physically, you saw something, you heard Him, that that would motivate you to be really spiritual, at least for a while?
At least for a week? Immediately after this great blessing, He's afraid. Now, why should He be afraid that God would somehow preserve His life when God just said, I'm going to bless you and your descendants? You've got to have descendants and you've got to live to see that blessing for that to happen.
Why would He get all freaked out that God wouldn't preserve His life after God just said He had nothing to worry about? I'm going to bless you and gave that same promise. It's amazing, isn't it? Sort of. It's amazing only theologically. It is not amazing personally because we all know we're prone to that. We're prone to hear. We're prone to hear God's promises.
We're prone to see great things God has done and then quickly degenerate into an old pattern of sinfulness. I think of Peter. Peter was never higher in his spiritual career than when they were up north at Caesarea Philippi and when Jesus asked the question, who do men say that I am?
And they bantered back and forth with different answers. It was Peter who said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, Jesus turned to Peter. How would this feel to you if you were Peter? And he said, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. You'd feel pretty good if Jesus said that about you. Blessed are you. You're right on. You had the right answer. You kind of at least be tempted to go, I am a little more spiritual than John or Andrew.
Just a wee bit. He didn't say that to them, but he said it to me. He was at the very peak of his career. It was like the high point spiritually. But immediately after that, he took it upon himself to rebuke the Lord when Jesus talked about the cross and going to Jerusalem to die. And then our Lord had to turn to Peter and say, get behind me, Satan. From blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, to you talking from the devil, dude. Also very prone to do that.
Isaac was very prone to do that. He was so afraid. This is what I want to talk about tonight, because I do run into believers, precious saints of God, some of you who are so fearful about your future. You have nothing to be afraid of.
Nothing. Because you have a shepherd. David said, the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want. Now, if we were in Israel, and if we lived 2,000 to 4,000 years ago, and I referred to you as a bunch of sheep, you might not take that as a compliment, because sheep were stupid. Sheep couldn't think for themselves. They perpetually get lost.
They perpetually get into trouble. They need to be led by a shepherd. So you could either take that as an insult, the Lord is my shepherd, and you're God's sheep, you should be your shepherd, or you take it as a point for bragging rights, because you're saying, hey, I don't know who your shepherd is, but let me tell you who my shepherd is. The Lord is my shepherd.
Here's the analogy I often like to think about at that particular juncture of scripture. Have you ever met a dog owner who so pampers the animal that it's as if the animal is a child in the family? Little sweaters are knit for the puppy, and she goes, oh, I know what he's thinking when he looks like that. He's really thinking, because he's not. He's a dog. He's not thinking that at all.
He's not thinking at all. He's living in a whole different, but oh, no, no, you don't understand. And they pamper this little one, and little booties for the wintertime, and you think, it's pathetic. You know, the doghouse says Fido, but it's spelt in the Euro way, P-H-Y-D-E-A-U-X, Fido.
And again, you go, this is over-the-top, crazy pathetic. But of all of the dogs in your neighborhood, if you had to be one dog, would you want to be the dog that has never walked and barks in the backyard, or the dog who has pampered? You'd say, I'll be that dog. Here's David, the Lord is my shepherd. Look who my shepherd is.
Yahweh, the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for my name's sake. Now, you know this verse very well. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, for your rod and staff, they comfort me. Why is it then that we are afraid of the valleys?
Oh no, Lord, I can't face that. Don't let me go through that valley. I like the mountaintop experiences. In fact, I would love it, Lord, if in my life, you could just airlift me from mountain peak to mountain peak to mountain peak.
That's the victorious Christian life. Do you know that in the Middle East, when a shepherd leads the sheep down into the ravines, and by the way, you know why they do it? In the summertime, it's very hot, and the wool, even if it's shorn, it's still very hot on that animal, and so the shepherd, to cool down his sheep, will move the sheep into the cooler, dark ravines where the shadows are, and it's just better for them to hang out. But sheep hate going down into valleys. They hate ravines. They can't see very well. It's dark.
It's unpredictable. So the shepherd has to lead them through the valley. But at the very bottom of the ravine, guess what's there?
Water. That's where the rainwater, they call them in Israel wadis, and if you're going from Jericho to Jerusalem and it's barren, there's this little wadi kelp, and I always see shepherds leading sheep around there. But at the bottom of that wadi kelp, at the bottom of that ravine, there's flowers growing.
There's vegetation growing because the rainwater or the springs are down at the bottom of the valley. So often it is the dark valley that you hate the most that is the very path of God's blessing and green pastures. God's saying, I'm trying to lead you to green pastures. I don't want to go. Yeah, but I'm talking about refreshment.
No, I don't want to be refreshed. You just got to know who your shepherd is. Well, he's freaked out.
He's scared, doesn't want to go through this valley. He's afraid about his wife, so he says, she's my sister. Now it came to pass.
We're not making very good time, are we? It came to pass. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked through a window and saw there was Isaac showing endearment to Rebekah, his wife. King James is sporting with her.
Flirting with her would be the idea. And Abimelech called Isaac and said, quite obviously, she is your wife. So how could you say she is my sister? Isaac said to him, uh, because I said lest I die on account of her. And Abimelech said, what is this that you have done to us?
One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us. Now just a little historical note on the name Abimelech. The name Abimelech means my father is king, Abimelech, my father is king. It is thought that that is either a family name, that is obviously not the same Abimelech when Abraham was around, it's a different one, or it's a dynastic name. It's either a throne name or a dynastic name. A throne name like Pharaoh, or a dynastic name like the Herod family.
You'd have several Herods, but they're all different people. So it's one of the relatives of the Abimelech with Abraham, but a completely different person. Now what's sad in verse 11, well let's finish off verse 11.
So Abimelech charged all his people saying, he who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Boy it's a sad day when the world rebukes the believer. That's a very, very, very sad day when the testimony gets so low that the world is rebuking the believer.
Jesus said, let your light so shine among men that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. Isaac isn't doing much of that these days. The irony of this story is that the pagan king of Gerar seems to have better morals than the man of God, the patriarch Isaac. This man of the world understands that men and women of God should be honest, faithful, have lives filled with integrity. And so here is the unbelieving king rebuking this man of God. It's sort of similar to the prophet Nathan after David sinned.
You remember the story. 2 Samuel, when Nathan came in after David committed adultery with Bathsheba. He said, you are the man. But then he said, because you have done this thing, you have given great occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, or literally show utter contempt. You've given unbelievers fuel for them to mock the believer because you've done this, David. And I would say the same thing for this man, Isaac. So Abimelech charged all his people. Look at that now, verse 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. Now, again, watch this. And the Lord blessed him.
I'm baffled. He blows it once. God says, I'm going to bless you. Here's the promise of Abraham.
He blows it again. God, a hundredfold. Now, it's one thing to get a hundred times what you expect in a harvest. It's another thing to get it in a place where it's a borderland, where you don't get very much moisture at all.
It's arid, it's desert, and there's not much water. And obviously, the blessing of God is upon him. The man began to prosper and continued prospering until he became very prosperous, for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds, and a great number of servants, so the Philistines envied him. God blessed him once. God blessed him twice. God did not bless him because he was Mr. Wonderful, but because he made a promise to Abraham.
Now, listen carefully. God doesn't bless you because you're Mr. or Mrs. Wonderful, though you might be a wonderful person, but that's not why he would ever bless you. God knows the truth about you and I. But he blesses you because of his wonderful son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the covenant that has been made through his blood that allows us to become children of God. That's the reason. It's not our merits.
It's his merit alone. Because of that covenant, God has blessed us. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you God Speaks, Biblical Answers for Today's Issues, which contains six of Pastor Skip's booklets to help you understand what the Bible says about big issues like racism, the importance of truth, suicide, and heaven and hell. To request your copy of God Speaks, Biblical Answers for Today's Issues, call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com slash store. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
