GRIFFIN COMMENTS—GEN 26 (Gen 26:1) And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. This was not very likely the same king that Abraham met some eighty years ago, so it could be that the name Abimelech was handed down to the next king, in which casethere may have been several kings who kept this name. Abimelech means “father of a king.” There had been a famine in the land a hundred years earlier, in the days of Abraham, and this one was mentioned in conjunction with it so if these were the only two in a hundred years, the land was blessed. (Gen 26:2) And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: This was the first of two manifestations of Jehovah that appeared to Isaac. He apparently was thinking of going down to Egypt as his father did in the famine of his days. But out of that visit came Hagar apparently and the troubles that ensued would have been repeated. Two things were noticeable in this renewed covenant (1) the land of Canaan belonged to the seed of Abraham, and (2) these things were given for the sake of Abraham. (Gen 26:3) Sojourn in this land, 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; God told him to stay in the land of the Philistines, which would be part of Canaan, and yet all the land from the Euphrates to the Nile was to be his. God did want him in Egypt. God does not ever want His people to live in a place that is a type of worldly ways. To Isaac God rests His promiseson the ground of his father's obedience. Thus the Lord would teach Isaac that His attributes are on the side of the saints; that they possessHim only so far as they are obedient; that he must not regard the promised blessings as a matter of course, to be given irrespective of conduct, but rather as, by their very terms, demanding obedience; and that the greatnessof his people could
GRIFFIN COMMENTS GEN 26—PAGE 1