Title: Famine and Anxiety
Contents
Wednesday, May 2 Dawn Prayer Genesis 26:1-16
Today's sermon shows us through two events the principle of dramatic reversal in which a crisis situation for Isaac leads to a path of blessing at the same time. One was the external situation of famine, and the other was the inner heart of anxiety. Since both of these are a part of our daily life, Isaac's failures and successes today also provide clues for deep application to each of us.
The first situation was a severe famine. Verse 1 says, “There was the first famine in the days of Abraham, and there was another famine in the land.” This verse also suggests that the cycle of crisis and blessing that Abraham experienced is similarly approaching to his son Isaac. In Genesis 12, Abraham obeyed God's word and left the abundant Haran, but as soon as he arrived in Canaan, he experienced a famine. In today's message too, the first solution Isaac found when he met a famine was to leave for a prosperous Egypt.
This situation reminds me of two things. First, strong external hardships come without exception to Christians who struggle to live in obedience to the Word. The situation of famine and famine in the ancient Near East is comparable to a fatal financial crisis or oil shock in Korea today, and no one is free from the aggravation of this situation. Personally, when I am moved by the Word of God and want to work diligently in the church life, especially in the early morning prayer or study the Word, there are more tests. Therefore, it is not a biblical attitude of prayer to pray that this external crisis will not come. Rather, it would be a wise prayer of faith to pray for what to hold on to when such crises and hardships come, and to pray to obey God's providence overseeing history beyond these crisis situations.
Second, obedience and victory in the life of faith are not automatically transmitted. Just because a father has successfully passed the test of faith, the blessings and covenants are not passed on to the descendants. As we read today, God, who swore to his father Abraham, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and I will give all these lands to your descendants,” requires his son Isaac to obey his commands again. The Korean Bible lacks a conjunction, so it is not transmitted accurately, but the reason for the blessing in verse 4 is because Abraham’s obedience leading to “because” before verse 5, and about this interference of Jehovah God, before verse 6, “ So”, that is, Isaac did not return to his original intention and went to Egypt, but stayed in Gerar.
So, we can see that the simple written verse 6, “Isaac dwelt in Gerar” is a very important turning point in Isaac's life. This is because it was an obedience to God's voice in verse 2, "Do not go down to Egypt, but dwell in the land that I am showing you," and it was a bold rejection of realistic situational awareness and judgment. The result is quite surprising, skipping the middle inset and continuing to verse 12. “Isaac cultivated in that land, and in that year he reaped a hundredfold, and the Lord blessed him, and the man became prosperous and prosperous, and at last he was rejected.” When Isaac stopped his way and cultivated in that foreign land, he yielded 100 times more than the average crop. Is this really possible? It is unbelievable given the situation of the input labor force and the intellectual power it can produce. The reason is so simple. The Bible puts it simply: “For the Lord blesses you.” And the reason for this blessing is also connected with “Isaac dwelt in Gerar” in verse 6.
In this passage, I look back on the “land of Gerar” where we should live and the “way to Egypt” that we must turn around. When I am faced with any crisis or problem, I hope that I will completely put down the methods and solutions that I have thought of, defenselessly recall God's promises, and take time to pray quietly. If we do not wake up spiritually every day and do not check the direction, no matter how direct God's intervention is, we can commit the sin of disobedience due to our anxious hearts. So did Isaac.
The inset of verses 7-11 shows how devastating the inner state of mind of anxiety can be. Strangely enough, Isaac seems to have had the same anxiety as his father Abraham. It was because of the husband's anxiety caused by his wife being so beautiful, he feared that he might die because of it in a foreign land. This fear has two fatal weaknesses: a lack of trust in God, and a preoccupation with one's own life rather than one's wife. Once we face danger in the fear of uncertainty, it distracts us, weakens us, and renders us unfit to perform our duties. It also encourages people to use illegal means and, in doing so, falls into a trap. Isaac is also gripped by a powerful fear, and he comes up with an illegal trick to trick his wife into being her sister. In the end, these lies and extremely dangerous situations end with God's amazing providence revealing his love for Abimelech, the king of the Philistines.
It was a truly breathtaking moment, and such anxiety and lies often come to us as well. In this case, the first thing we need to rely on is the Word.
“Whoever offends you will offend his pupil” (Zechariah 2:8).
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
There is a book that helped me realize the importance of the heart, and it is a book called <The Heart of a True Saint>, written by John Flavel, a 17th-century British Puritan theologian. There are precious verses to remember and I want to share with you in order to manage your fearful heart.
“If I allow my heart to fear men humbly, I must respectfully fear God and give up the fear of God. And yet, for fear of man's frown, shall I dare cast off the awe of the Almighty? Shall I exalt a arrogant dusty man above the great God? Would you be stranded in a sure sin to avoid any danger that might arise?”
That's right. Even today, if you and I in this world truly fulfill the mission God has entrusted to us, there is a very high chance that we will face the threat of “dusty people who are more arrogant than God” and the “frown faces” of such people. If it's scary and you're afraid of it, first put forth every effort to bring joy to those people's faces. However, if you have more fear and reverence for Almighty God than that, you should immediately stop such adoration and effort. Unfortunately, both Abraham and Isaac committed the sure sin of lying to avoid such a possible danger. There is no need for us to follow the footsteps of Abraham and Isaac in order to stand in that class of faith. I hope that you and I will not be afraid of people or money, but only fear God.