Expository Sermon on Genesis 21 and 26
by Maylan Schurch
Bellevue Seventh-day Adventist Church 1/25/2025
©2025 by Maylan Schurch
(To watch and hear this entire worship service, click the link just below..)
BSDA Worship Service | January 25, 2025 – YouTube
Please open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 21.
While you’re turning there, just a reminder about our chronological Bible reading plan. If you’d like to read the Bible through in 2025, the Blue Letter Bible chronological plan provides a way you can read the Bible passages chronologically, in the order in which most Bible scholars believe the stories actually took place.
For example, after directing us to read the first 11 chapters of Genesis, the plan took us to the book of Job, because that story seems to have happened somewhere in the time of Genesis. This week, once we made it through Job, we were sent back to Genesis again.
If you’d like to follow this plan, you can either look in each Sabbath’s bulletin, where you will find directions in the little announcement called “Join the Plan!” Or, you can go to our church website, Bellevue Adventist.org, click the “Home” tab, and then click on “Chronological Bible Reading Plan.”
If you glance at today’s bulletin, you will see that the coming week’s readings will be covering Genesis 38 through the end of Genesis, and then Exodus 1-6. Normally, each Sabbath I preach I will be creating my sermon from one of the passages taken from that week’s readings. And that’s what’s happening this week.
Today’s sermon is based on this past week’s Bible readings. I’ve called this sermon “The Isaac Interview.”
Back when I was in college, I took a photography class, and eventually fixed up a black-and-white darkroom in the basement of our farmhouse. I loved taking and developing photos, and one day I decided to start writing little photo-features for our town’s weekly newspaper, the Redfield (SD) Press.
What I did was to ask around town for people with interesting backgrounds or hobbies. Once I found someone, I would get their permission to visit them, ask them about their hobbies, and take photos, and write little features about them. I would send these in to the Press, and the paper would print them. I never got paid, because they didn’t have the budget for that, but once in a while they would send me a little bit of money to help buy more film and photo paper.
I loved doing these little photo features. What fascinated me was that, in my little town of less than 3000 people, there were quite a few people who had very interesting hobbies.
A fellow worker of mine named Lyle, for example, raised roller pigeons in his backyard. These birds would fly straight up, and as they came down, they would tumble in the air, turning somersaults. So I snapped Lyle’s photo with some of the birds, and on Thursday of the following week everybody saw it in the newspaper.
Of course, once people realized that I was doing this, they would call the Press with suggestions. That’s how I met Elsie DeNoon. Her hobby was finding beautiful nature-scene postcards, and creating oil paintings of that scene on larger canvases. I visited her in her little house and looked at some of those paintings. She didn’t sell them, and I don’t think she even gave them away – she just liked creating these beautiful and very professional -looking paintings for her own enjoyment.
This week as I was reading along in our Bible passages, I suddenly thought how nice it would be to interview Isaac. Isaac was sort of like Elsie or Lyle. Isaac doesn’t seem to have had the same kind of wild adventures his father Abraham had, or his son Jacob would have, or Jacob’s son Joseph would have.
But Isaac made it into the Hebrews 11 “faith hall of fame.” His name is listed there. True, he’s mentioned in only one verse, while his father Abraham gets two or three paragraphs, and even his mother Sarah gets more than twice as many words as Isaac. Isaac only got 11 words in the New King James Version.
So why interview Isaac? I can imagine that if, in heaven, I walked up to him and said, “I’d like to interview you for a story,” he might blink at me in a puzzled way. “Why me?” he might say. “I didn’t really do anything that special. Go talk to my dad, or maybe my son Jacob, or my grandson Joseph. They could tell you lots of stories.”
However, the reason Isaac caught my attention this week was not because of his daring deeds or swashbuckling adventures. I believe that Isaac has a lot to teach us about God. And maybe if I stepped up to him and asked him, “Isaac, what did you learn about God during your life on earth?” I can imagine his eyes lighting up, and I can hear him launching into some answers.
As I read through the life of Isaac this week, I found at least three truths Isaac could tell us about God. And I think these truths are exactly what we need as we peer ahead into a world which seems to be crumbling and incinerating around us. Let’s take a look.
First, a little bit of back story. God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son, and that this son would give them many descendants. But time went along, and both Abraham and Sarah got older and older, and no baby boy.
God insisted that He would keep His promises, and Abraham and Sarah waited patiently, but their hopes grew dimmer and dimmer. So, without God’s permission, Abraham married Sarah’s servant girl, Hagar, and Hagar promptly got pregnant, and gave birth to Ishmael.
But God still had His plan, and eventually, here’s what happened:
Genesis 21:1 – 8 [NKJV]: And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.” She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.” So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
And I’m sure that as Isaac grew, this story was told him again and again. “You are a miracle baby,” his mom probably said. Dad probably said, “Son, you are a child of promise. Don’t ever forget that.”
So if we came up to Isaac and asked him, “What have you learned about God?” one thing he might say is –
God is a surpriser.
Is that true? Let’s take a poll. How many of you think that God is a surpriser? Raise your hands. Next question: how many of you believe that God has brought unexpected surprises into your own life?
Are we pretty much unanimous on this? Isaac certainly could point to surprises. One of them might’ve been when as a teenager it gradually began to dawn on him that God had ordered his father Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice. That was certainly unexpected.
Then, another surprise. As dad gripped the knife, and Isaac closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, nothing happened. We’re not sure whether Isaac heard the same voice Abraham did, commanding Abraham not to go through with this after all. But Isaac did hear the ram, the sacrificial substitute, start struggling in a nearby bush.
And the surprises continue. Dad’s trusted servant goes to a faraway land and brings back a beautiful wife for Isaac.
So, what should I do now that I’ve been reminded that God is a surpriser?
One thing I can do, as I read along through the Bible in whatever plan I decided to use, is to keep an eye out for God’s surprises: such as the creation of a marvelous world with a few vocal syllables. The creation of a magnificent human body from the dust of the earth. A worldwide flood. The confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel. And on and on through the Bible, more surprises. God’s presence entering the uterus of an Israelite teenager, and growing to manhood. The shock of the crucifixion. The multiplied languages at Pentecost. And we can keep going and going.
Another thing you can do, aside from reading the Bible to find out what kinds of surprises God is good at, is to not ignore God’s surprises when they happen to you. Think about the ones that have happened in your life. Some surprises, of course, are probably not caused by God – but may come from our mistakes or from other causes.
One thing I used to do when I was younger was to ask God to keep my heart soft so that He would not need to use dramatic or painful ways of getting me to do what He wanted me to. I kept saying, “Lord, I’ll cooperate with You! I just want to know which way You want me to go.”
As I read through Isaac’s story, I discovered something else he must have learned about God, because he himself puts it into practice. Let’s pick up the story in Genesis 26.
Again, setting the stage. Isaac marries his “God surprise” wife Rebekah, and they have twin boys—Esau and Jacob. Esau was born a few minutes before Jacob, so Esau is the firstborn and thus has birthright privileges. But Jacob tricks Esau into selling him the birthright, and Esau goes along with it, thinking his brother is kidding. And that’s going to cause its own set of problems later on.
As chapter 26 begins, Isaac tells a desperate lie about his relationship with Rebekah, to protect himself from getting murdered so somebody else could take her. This is not Isaac’s proudest moment, but Abraham had made the same cowardly mistake.
But life goes on. Isaac is a farmer, and a very industrious one. Watch what happens.
Genesis 26:12 – 16: Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed 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. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Abimelech was the ruler Isaac had lied to about Rebekah. Now he is insisting that Isaac’s farming operation is too close for comfort to his own herdsmen. Everybody needs a little more elbow room.
Now at this point, Isaac’s personality shows through. He could have argued with Abimelech. He could have brought up the subject of his father Abraham’s wells, which the Philistines ruined years ago by filling them back up with dirt. But he doesn’t. Isaac simply gathers everybody up and moves out.
Verses 17 – 25: Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. And 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. Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 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. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. And 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 has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And 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 My servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Let’s lay down Sermon Point Two. As I look at how Isaac handled these issues, it shows me something else I think he has learned about God.
Isaac has learned that God is a surpriser. He has also learned that God is a peace-doer.
Remember in Matthew 5:9, where Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God”? In the original Greek, that word is literally “peace-doer.” To me, the word “peace-doer” sounds a bit more active than simply “peace-maker.” What Isaac is doing in these verses is “doing peace.” He is taking actions that will promote peace. He’s not just ignoring the whole situation and hoping it will go away. He is acting to help bring about peace.
Why is this so important? For one thing, it’s important because of what Paul said in Romans 12:17 – 18: “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”
And that’s what Isaac was trying to do. Isaac evidently sensed that God was a peace-doer, a peace-maker. Later, Isaiah 26:3 will say about God, “You [God] keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
In John 14:27, Jesus would say, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
And of course Isaiah 9:6 is a powerful prophecy about Jesus: “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
So. What does this have to do with me? What should I do now that I know this? What should I do in my home, my school (if I go to one), my workplace, my neighborhood, my apartment complex?
First, I need to assume that people mean well, unless they definitely show me that they don’t mean well. You can probably tell me stories, and I can tell you stories, about people who at first you were uncertain about, or may have been intimidated by, people who you decided to avoid if possible. But then later, you learned more about them, and you may have learned to understand them.
And of course there is James’ famous advice, in James 1:19 – 20: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
And that’s because God is a peace-doer. Jesus is a peace-doer. Colossians 1:19 says that God and His Son worked together to “make peace” through the blood of Jesus’ cross.
Let’s look at just one more very important truth I believe Isaac learned about God. Let’s stay here in Genesis 26, and let’s keep an eye on Abimelech.
Genesis 26:1: There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
Now if you know anything about the Philistines, you know that they were not worshipers of God. They had their own gods. Archaeologists have dug up quite a bit of information about Philistines, and it’s very clear that they were idolatrous. And for hundreds of years forward from this point, they will be constantly harassing the Israelites once they have entered the promised land of Canaan.
At this point, with Isaac naturally concerned about the famine, God steps in to reassure him:
Verses 2 – 6: Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 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. And 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 Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
And then comes the rather embarrassing story of the lie Isaac told:
Verses 7 – 9: And the men of the place asked about his wife. And 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.” Now it came to pass, 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. 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.’ ”
So. Keep a close eye on Abimelech. When we see him at the top of the chapter, he is an idolatrous Philistine. But now, it seems that he senses that there is a right and a wrong, and not only that, there is some higher power that holds people accountable when they do wrong.
Verses 10 – 11: And 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.” So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
And now come the verses we read earlier, the ones about digging all the wells, and finally Isaac’s farm operation moving far enough away so that things are peaceful again.
Afterward, God speaks to Isaac again.
Verses 23 – 25: Then he went up from there to Beersheba. And 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 My servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
But suddenly, just as Isaac thinks things are all settled down, here comes Abimelech again.
Verses 26 – 27: Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
Good question. Here’s Abimelech, along with the head of his army. What are they going to do, declare war?
Verse 28: But they said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. . . .
Do you see what’s happened? Abimlech has gone from being just a heathen Philistine, to someone who recognizes right and wrong and knows that there’s a higher power who will deal out justice. But now, Abimelech has taken a step further. He has come to the conclusion that there is a “Lord,” (and he uses the Hebrew word “Yahweh,” God’s own name for Himself). Abimelech has decided that Isaac is on the Lord’s side.
Verses 28 – 29: But they said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD 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, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.’ ”
I mean, isn’t that amazing? Abimelech now knows the Lord by His official Hebrew name, and he has developed such respect for that Lord that he wants to make an oath with Isaac the Lord’s servant, so that they will all be at peace.
So what could we put down as Sermon Point Three? What else has Isaac learned about God? Here’s how I think we could put it:
I believe that Isaac has learned that God is a surpriser. He has also learned that God is a peace-doer. And I believe that Abimelech has taught Isaac that God IS His reputation.
God IS His reputation? What do I mean by that?
I mean it, when you stop and think of it, that is true. God is also, of course, the creator of the universe, the creator of humanity, the creator of all the physics laws and chemistry laws and anything else which makes the universe works so well.
But in the eyes of the Abimelech, this probably meant nothing at first. At his first encounter with Isaac, Abimelech might have thought that Isaac’s God was just another “small-g” god, just another deity clung to by a wandering tribe. And Isaac’s cowardice about Rebekah probably didn’t do much to elevate Abimelech’s understanding of how much faith you could really put in this deity.
But to Isaac’s surprise, suddenly along comes Abimelech again, and tells him, “You are now the blessed of the Lord.”
I live in a longish cul-de-sac in south Renton. I wonder how many of my neighbors could say to me, “I know that you are the blessed of the Lord.” Shelley and I are nice to people, we behave in a moral way, we dress up in good clothes on Saturday mornings and drive someplace.
God IS His reputation.
This means that anything I do to enhance God’s reputation makes Him more respectable in the eyes of the people in my life. They start taking Him more seriously.
You know what this means? It means that, in a way, I hold the fate of other human beings in my hands. Every move I make, everything I say, everything I do, needs to enhance – and not detract from – the reputation of God. I need to be a follower of God “in the home and in the throng, be like Jesus all day long.”
And knowing this makes me tremble. But it also makes me call confidently up to the God who has the power to help me enhance who He is.
Because here in 2025, when so much of our culture is going the other direction, I want to dare to be an Isaac. I don’t need to be as famous as Abraham, or as influential as Joseph, or as talented as David.
But I do need to spread the word that my God is a surpriser. And that my God is a peace-doer. Because since my God IS His reputation, He needs all the glory and enhancement He can get from me. Because He is a God of love, and has proven it supremely by giving us His Son.
I need to direct my faith to my God, and allow Him to change my character to be more like His, so that others can see His face in mine.