Isaac’s Wells and the Life of the Spirit (Genesis 26)

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Isaac’s life.

In contrast, it tells us a lot about his father, Abraham, and one of Isaac’s sons, Jacob.

In fact, in the chapters of Genesis covering these three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), the author finishes Abraham’s story and moves straight into Jacob’s. Only after beginning Jacob’s narrative does the author return to provide a little more details about Isaac’s life. Which brings us to Genesis chapter 26.

Compared to other Bible characters, and especially compared to his father Abraham, or Isaac’s son Jacob, Isaac’s life appears rather unremarkable. The one thing that does stand out was his failure when, out of fear the men would kill him due to his wife’s attractive appearance, he lied and said she was his sister.

The other aspect of his life was the miraculous way in which God prospered him.

First, God opened Rebekah’s womb, Isaac’s wife, and they were able to have twin boys.

Second, God commanded him not to flee from a famine that came to the land where he lived and promised to bless him.

God blesses Isaac

Under this divine promise, Isaac sowed in that land, and in the same year he reaped a harvest of a hundredfold. We know that sowing doesn’t guarantee a harvest—many factors can destroy it entirely. In those days, yielding a harvest of five to tenfold was considered a successful harvest; that is, getting five to ten grains for every one sown.

Yet Isaac reaped a hundredfold from each seed he sowed. This miraculous harvest happened during a significant famine. God had promised to bless him in that land, and He fulfilled His word. God prospered Isaac in an extraordinary way.

The wells

Another way God blessed Isaac was through wells of water. This provision was vital, especially during a famine.

What’s interesting is that these weren’t new wells—Isaac reopened the ones his father Abraham had dug years earlier. In that era, owning wells was comparable to owning oil fields today; they represented immense wealth.

Reopening the wells wasn’t easy. Besides the hard labor involved, Isaac faced opposition from the people of the land, the Philistines. Their envy was so intense that, instead of benefiting from the wells, they preferred to stop them up and fill them with earth. Every time Isaac reopened them, the Philistines quarreled over the water rights.

Isaac did not contend for the wells; he simply left them to the Philistines and kept digging until they no longer opposed him. It is interesting to note that although God was blessing him with the wells, He did not keep him from having to face opposition.

Some Bible teachers praise Isaac’s humble and peaceable character for not fighting the Philistines over the wells. Despite the opposition, he didn’t give up and continued reopening his father’s wells.

The spiritual blessing

As I read Genesis 26, I noticed something profound in the text: Isaac’s wells represent the life of the Spirit.

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:25, ESV

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
John 4:14, ESV

Isaac represents the Christian believer who seeks to live by the Spirit. The wells represent the life of the Spirit.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
Romans 8:14, ESV

This spiritual blessing far surpasses any material prosperity.

“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:2, ESV

“For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 8:6, ESV

Isaac was diligent in reopening his father’s wells, even amid opposition. In the same way, today’s Christian must seek these “spiritual wells,” these spiritual riches. And this blessing is available to us.

One practical way to receive this blessing is through reading the Bible.

“That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.”
Ephesians 5:26, ESV

May the Lord help us to dig and keep open these spiritual wells in our lives, so that living water may spring up within us, leading to eternal life.

Speaking of genealogies

The biblical authors had a purpose in mind when using a genealogy. The first genealogy in the Bible is found in Genesis 5. The purpose of this is to show us how we got from Adam, to Seth, all the way down to Noah.

Then there are two different genealogies listed, beginning in chapter 9:18. The first genealogy tells us about Noah’s immediate descendants.

The second genealogy continue to list Noah’s descendants and in chapter 11:10, it lists the descendants of one of Noah’s sons, Shem. Why does the genealogy begin to focus in on Shem? Because from Shem comes a guy named Terah and he was Abram’s father, whom God later changed his name to Abraham. Yes, that Abraham.

The biblical narrative weave the different genealogies to tell us of the Son of Man who was to come many years later. The gospel authors, Matthew and Luke, include a genealogy to show us how Jesus was the son of Abraham and the son of Adam.

Galatians 4:4–5

[4] But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (ESV)

Hagamos al hombre

Mientras Dios estaba creando el mundo y todo lo que hay en el, él hizo al hombre en el sexto y último día de la creación. Quiero centrarme en lo que el texto nos dice acerca de Dios en la creación del hombre.

Miremos el texto:

Génesis 1:26
[26] Entonces dijo Dios: «Hagamos al hombre a nuestra imagen, conforme a nuestra semejanza. Y señoree en los peces del mar, en las aves de los cielos, en los animales domésticos, en toda la tierra, y en todo reptil que se arrastra sobre la tierra.» (RVR)

Notamos que hay un diálogo interno. En todos los otros días de la creación, y en todas las demás cosas creadas que Dios hizo, él simplemente las habló a la existencia. Pero algo cambia cuando Dios crea al hombre. Dios habla consigo mismo.

Ahora sabemos que este es el Dios Trino (Padre, Hijo, Espíritu Santo) discutiendo la creación del hombre. Detengámonos allí por un momento.

Ninguna persona de la Trinidad actúa por su cuenta para crear al hombre. En su lugar, hay un llamado a unirse en la creación del hombre: «Hagamos». Aquí hay una comunidad perfecta. Perfecta unidad en la Trinidad (Dios el Padre, Dios el Hijo, Dios el Espíritu Santo). Ninguna persona de la Trinidad se opuso a la propuesta. El Dios Trino estaba de acuerdo con el plan de crear al hombre, y es a partir de esta perfecta comunión, acuerdo y unidad, que el hombre fue creado.

La Biblia nos enseña que Dios es amor (1 Juan 4:8), y es este Dios de amor, el Dios Trino, quien se unió para crear al hombre. El hombre fue hecho por amor. No de carencia, sino de abundancia. El hombre fue creado de manera reflexiva, intencionada. Por esto, el hombre puede estar seguro de su lugar en el mundo. Por esto, el hombre también puede caminar con seguridad sabiendo que fue deseado cuando fue creado.

Por esto, el hombre también puede unirse con otros para lograr grandes cosas. El hombre puede llamar a sus semejantes y decir: «Hagamos», y caminar en unidad.