A Friendly Reminder

We all forget sometimes, don’t we? But our heavenly father understands this and, like a loving mother, He assists us in our walk by placing reminders along the way.

As a child, I was absent-minded. From time to time, my mother would send me to the convenience store to pick up some essentials like milk, bread, and cigarettes (back then kids could buy cigarettes). It wasn’t a difficult trip, just down the small hill we lived on, across the main street of our neighborhood, over the brook and the railroad tracks, a shortcut between the local pub and the beauty salon then around the corner and I was there. A trip of no more than ten minutes but, invariably I would lose track of what I was supposed to do and would eventually come strolling back into the house without any milk, bread or, most egregiously, cigarettes! Understandably, my mother would be frustrated but she was never angry because she knew what type of kid I was. She would simply turn me around, remind me of the task at hand and send me back again.

We all forget sometimes, don’t we? We’ve all had the experience of going into a room to get something only to immediately forget what it was you were looking for, or running into an old friend and forgetting their name.

But our heavenly father understands this and, like a loving mother, lovingly assists us in our walk by placing reminders along the way. When our Lord instituted the breaking of bread, he was insistent that we do this as often as we are able, in remembrance of him. Yet still, even with this weekly reminder, we can often forget what it means our Lord has died so that we might live. We may remember the words but forget the transforming power of this truth in our daily actions and attitude. So, in addition to these reminders, the Lord puts trials in our path so we might remember to “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.”

There are in Scripture some great examples of trials in the lives of the otherwise faithful brethren that they might remember their calling. We could consider the trials of Job or Jonah, or Peter or Paul. These trials are well documented and serve as great lessons for us. But I’d like to consider a similar trial in the life of Issac that might not come so readily to mind. Isaac was given a wonderful reminder of his special calling in the LORD and as so often happens, that reminder came from a friend.

The story starts with a famine and Isaac is told to “Sojourn in this land [Gerar], and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.” (Genesis 26:3).

So, Isaac dwelt in Gerar. When he arrived, Isaac told the men of Gerar the same lie about his wife Rebekah that Abraham had told the Philistines about Sarah, that she was his sister instead of his wife, and once again the lie was exposed. Genesis 26:8 reads: “And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.”

Why are we specifically told that he had been there a long time, as opposed to saying that he had “dwelled there” a long time? Because by this time they would have known Isaac very well. They would have seen Issac as a dedicated man of faith who lived among them but was not a part of them. So, not surprisingly, Abimelech would have been shocked to find out that Isaac had been lying to him.

We know that Abimelech had profound respect for Isaac’s faith because of the magnitude of what he says about the ruse:

And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. (Genesis 26:10-11).

Had they not known of Isaac’s faith they would never have worried about “guiltiness” being upon them, these were Philistines after all.

The record goes on to tell us that Isaac “sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great.” (vs. 12-13).

Isaac’s wealth became so great that in Genesis 26:16 Abimelech tells Isaac to leave “for thou art much mightier than we.” So, Isaac left and wandered toward Beersheba. At each point along the way, the LORD continued to bless him as he dug well after well in a dry and parched land, each time striking water. Each time, however, the Philistines came and seized the wells, driving Isaac further and further away until he finally ended up all the way back to Beersheba where, once again he dug a well that initially did not produce water. And it is here that Isaac, with help, rediscovered what all this was about.

On the surface, the account of Abimelech’s encounter with Isaac seems to mirror a very similar encounter that Abraham had with Abimelech at Beersheba many, many years before. In both encounters Abraham and Isaac appear initially to be quite upset at how the Philistines had treated them. At the encounter with Abraham, Abimelech and Phicol come to Abraham and make peace with him because they say: “God is with thee in all that thou doest.” (Genesis 21:22).

It had been so many years before that these two representatives, Abimelech and Phicol, had come to Abraham that these are unlikely to be the same individuals, but men who carried the same titles of “king” and “captain of the host.” But it is the addition of a third representative, a man named Ahuzzath, that made this a very different encounter. Genesis 26:26 reads: “Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.”

Why is this man Ahuzzath mentioned? The record seems to suggest that he was a friend of Abimelech, but what possible purpose would that piece of information serve? The key to understanding this comes in remembering Isaac’s time in Gerar and his relationship with the Philistines. In Gerar, Isaac had made himself known and who he served, and now Ahuzzath had come to remind him of that truth.

When they first arrived, Isaac was clearly upset saying, “Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?” (Genesis 26:27). Their response was to recognize that the LORD was with Isaac saying, “We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee.” (v. 28). They could see that because Isaac kept striking water in such a parched land that the LORD was clearly with him. But what they said to Isaac next is what grabbed Isaac.

Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD. (Genesis 26:27-29).

This was the message that Ahuzzath brought with him to Beersheba. To be blessed by God is one thing, to be the blessed “of the LORD” is something else entirely. One blessed by God receives favor from the LORD. The blessed of God is a servant of The LORD. In his anger, Isaac had forgotten that his life was fully in the hands of the Father, and it took Ahuzzath to remind him of this. Why Ahuzzath? Because Ahuzzath was not just Abimelech’s friend, he was Isaac’s friend as well and had been his friend since Isaac had made himself known in Gerar. We can be sure of this because of what his unusual name means. It means “possession,” and that’s exactly the lesson Ahuzzath brings to Isaac. “My friend,” he was telling him, “you have forgotten that you are the possession of the LORD.” This “friendly reminder” immediately transformed Isaac as we can see from the record that immediately follows:

And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. (Genesis 26:30-32).

Lesson learned and “the same day” the water of God’s word began to flow once again.

By the grace of God, you and me, brothers, and sisters, are the LORD’s possession. Sometimes, we forget this. After all, we’re only flesh. Though we may forget, we can be assured the LORD has not forgotten. He reminds us of this again and again in our walk of faith.

And let us be an Ahuzzath as well for others. Let’s continually remind those we love of the wonderful life we have serving the LORD.

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)

What a nice thought!

    

Jim Sullivan,
Stoughton Ecclesia, MA