Watch out! Hard times can lead to desperate choices that lead us entirely the wrong way.
Genesis 26 begins with a weather and crop report: “There was a famine in the land.” And lest we think this is old news, the Holy Spirit clarifies, “besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham.” It may not just be a clarification; it may also be an alarm bell. Remember Abram’s disastrous side trip into Egypt (see Gen 12:10-20ff). It may be the first time we discover that “denial is not just a river in Egypt.” The patriarch denied that God could look after him, even if there was a famine. Then he denied Sarai, saying, “She is my sister” (v 19). It was there he gained Hagar and where Lot lost his heart, leading him to Egypt-like Sodom (13:10). And even though the trip was financially successful, it was relationally fatal. There was too much stuff and too little room to dwell together, the tragedy of many a couple who invest so much into their house but so little into their home. It’s people that are the treasures, not things. Life isn’t a warehouse; it’s a care house. Well, time passes. But things don’t change much. Isaac and his family, facing food shortages in Canaan, decide to take the same journey as Grandpa Abram, down to Egypt. They only get a few miles on the way, however, into what is called Gerar, “the land of the Philistines,” when God puts up His warning sign: Danger Ahead! This seems to be Isaac’s first direct engagement with God since Moriah. “Do not go down to Egypt,” He says. “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you…and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father” (vv 2-3). Thankfully Isaac listens, and, as we always discover, God’s promises come true to those who obey His voice. That’s a great plan, isn’t it, even when things look bleak. When the outlook is dark, try the uplook!