Genesis 26 - The Perils of Compromise

This chapter starts by informing us that there was a famine in the land. Isaac goes to the King of Philistia and must have been planning to go on to Egypt because The Lord appears directly to him to warn him to stay in the land and God would bless him there and be with him.

You would think that this would provide Isaac some comfort that he could live on the high road and be assured of protection from God, but he decides to compromise his relationship with Rebekah to secure his own safety. Didn't he learn anything from his father's mistakes? Perhaps that is precisely where he learned it. There is a lesson in parenting there that we can't spend time on right now.

Isaac tells the men of the land that Rebekah is his sister so that he can live there in peace and safety. Abimelech the King sees him cavorting with Rebekah and calls him out on his lie. Abimelech holds the covenant of marriage higher than Isaac because he recognizes that if his men were to have slept with Rebekah they would have sinned. After explaining to the King his thinking, he is allowed to live in the land and God makes him wealthy. In envy, the men of the land create strife causing him to move further and further away. Finally once he gets far enough away to live in peace the King comes to strike a peace agreement with him.

The lessons I think we can learn from this is that we need to stay in close connection with God. If God gives his command he will supply the clear direction to fulfill the command. Notice Isaac didn't feel the need to pray about offering Rebekah as his sister to the men of the land and he didn't feel compelled to pray about the agreement with the king. In both cases his man made solutions brought him strife and grief. No surprise that his favored son Esau got a wife from foreigners. He was following in the footsteps of compromise.

Before we beat Isaac up too much, let's take time to reflect on the ways we have followed that same path. I know when I am in the midst of unbelievers at a meal I hesitate to offer a corporate prayer for the meal but pray silently so as not to disturb the group. How many times have I failed to witness when I was uncomfortable or didn't know what to say. Or perhaps created a solution that seemed to meet God's command but allowed me to live among the world I disturbed. Dear reader the world should be disturbed. Our ways should be God's ways and different from the world. It should make us uncomfortable to live among the world and the world uncomfortable to live with us. When we became Christians our whole heart should be devoted to living for The Lord as living sacrifices, but too often we have compromised.

Let me bring this principle into the realm of financial decisions. How many of us have accumulated debt because we gave into our immediate wants and presumed upon God to continue to supply as he had in the past? How often do we pray before swiping and wait for an assurance of Gods clear direction applied to our lives. Another example, have we failed to be faithful in our giving to God and in reaching out to those in need because we obligate our funds to meeting our current wants? If we had sacrificed even just a little could we have had greater impact for The Lord?

Isaac shows us that compromise may bring the exact opposite effect from the desired goal. Let's us make a practice of prayer and applying ourselves to obedience rather than making a way for ourselves that compromises with the world. It will be the harder way but in the end it may make us stand apart from the world enough that people say, "I see God has blessed you". A challenge from God's word to us.

Father, we want to serve you well and we recognize that we live in a world that is sometimes hostile to you. Help us to live wisely and let our witness shine brightly for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.