Fear of Isaac

16Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

17So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek,^c because they disputed with him. 21Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.^d 22He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth,^e saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

25Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

26Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”

28They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”

30Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.

32That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33He called it Shibah,^f and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. (Genesis 26)

Thoughts: Jacob describes God as "the fear of Isaac"  (Gen. 31:22,42).  Isaac respected God's power to bless- to give water where once there was only desert.  Isaac's life is described as hard, yet persevering.   Abimelek's men plugged up their water wells.  Others claimed the wells they dug- even though they dug them.  Yet God continued to bless him- especially after he built an altar.