INTERMEDIATE
AGE: 12 - 13
YEARS
STANDARD/GRADE:
VII & VIII
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LESSON – 4
ISAAC BLESSED
BY THE LORD
God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. Isaac was the promised son of Abraham, born to him when he was 100 years old. Isaac grew up and Abraham decided to find a bride for Isaac to marry. Abraham sent one of his oldest servants to find a wife for Isaac among his own people because he did not want Isaac to marry a Canaanite girl.
A bride
for Isaac:
Abraham's servant took ten camels and everything he needed for the long journey and travelled to Mesopotamia. He stopped at a well just outside the city. He prayed and asked God to show him the right girl for Isaac. He prayed saying, "I will speak to a young woman who comes to draw water from the well and will ask for water to drink, and if she says to me, ‘Drink, and I will draw water for your camels also,’ then let her be the bride whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son, Isaac”.
Rebekah offers a Drink:
Abraham's servant had not even finished praying when a young woman named Rebekah came to the well. The servant asked Rebekah for water, and after she gave him some to drink, she offered to fill the trough with water for his camels also. The servant was convinced that the Lord had led him in the right way.
Abraham’s servant gifted her a gold nose ring and two gold arm bracelets asked for a place to stay the night. Rebekah ran home and told her family what had happened. Her brother Laban went back to the well and invited Abraham's servant home to meet their father Bethuel and to stay the night. They all sat down to eat and the servant told the entire story and how God had answered his prayer. Laban and Bethuel agreed to send Rebekah with Abraham’s servant to be the bride of Isaac. Soon Isaac and Rebekah were married.
Isaac
Goes to the Philistines:
Isaac and Rebekah did not have any children for a long time. Isaac prayed to God and they had twin sons named Esau and Jacob after twenty years of marriage. Many years passed, Esau and Jacob grew up and a famine struck the land where Isaac was living. So, Isaac went to Abimelech, King of the Philistines, in the city of Gerar. God appeared to Isaac and told him not to go to Egypt and to live in the land where He tells him to live. God promised to bless him and to keep his covenant which He made with Abraham, if Isaac obeyed Him.
Isaac reaps hundredfold:
Isaac stayed in Gerar, the land of the Philistines just as God had instructed him, and the Lord blessed him. Water was rare and precious in the desert area where they lived. While Isaac lived in Gerar, he and his family used the wells that Abraham had dug when he lived there. His crops grew and his flock increased. The Bible says that Isaac planted crops in that land and in that same year he reaped hundred-fold i.e. 100 times more than he planted. That was because the Lord blessed him.
The
Philistines’ Jealousy:
Isaac became so wealthy that all the Philistines who lived there became very jealous of him. The Philistines filled Isaac’s wells with dirt. The source of his water supply was destroyed. In the olden days when modern gadgets were not available, they had to dig wells manually. It would have been a laborious work to dig those wells in the desert heat. All that hard work was destroyed in such a short time when the wells were filled with dirt by the Philistines. Yet, Isaac did not retaliate. King Abimelech also did not want Isaac there and told him to move away since Isaac had become too powerful.
Isaac digs wells:
Isaac did
not contest with the Philistines. Instead he left and settled in the valley
nearby called the valley of Gerar. He reopened more wells that his father
Abraham had dug before and gave them the same name his father Abraham had given
them.
Esek - Isaac’s servants dug a new well in the valley of
Gerar and discovered fresh water, but the shepherds of Gerar fought with them
saying that the water belonged to them. So, Isaac named the well “Esek”.
Sitnah - Isaac’s servants dug another well but the shepherds
of Gerar quarrelled over that too. Hence it was named “Sitnah”. Each time, the
Philistines argued that the water belonged to them, Isaac simply moved to
another spot.
Rehoboth - Finally, Isaac dug a well and no one quarrelled over it. Isaac named it “Rehoboth” saying, “Now the Lord has made room for us and we shall be fruitful in the land”. From there Isaac went up to Beersheba. That night the Lord appeared to him and once again confirmed the covenant He made with Abraham. Isaac built an altar there to worship the Lord.
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Abimelech makes Peace Treaty with Isaac:
Soon after that, Abimelech, the King of the Philistines travelled to Beersheba to meet with Isaac. The king brought his personal advisor and his army commander with him. Isaac was surprised and asked them why they had come to meet him. They had sent him away from their land earlier. Abimelech answered that they could clearly see that the Lord was with Isaac, so they wanted to make a peace agreement with Isaac. Isaac agreed and made an oath of peace with the men.
The Well
of Sheba:
That day, Isaac’s servants came to tell him that they had found water in the well they had dug. Isaac named the well “Shebah” and the town was called “Beersheba”. Even though, Isaac had to go to another country because of famine, God still blessed him and he reaped hundred-fold. His enemies became jealous because of his wealth and they constantly caused him trouble. He met many oppositions there and had to move from place to place. However, his enemies were forced to make peace with him, when they saw that the Lord was with him.
Bible Reference: Genesis 26
Memory Verse: Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 NKJV)
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ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES
Fill in the blanks:
1. Abraham's servant had not even
finished praying when a beautiful young woman named ……………………….. came to the
well.
2. Isaac planted crops in Gerar and
in that same year he reaped …………………….
3.
Isaac dug a well and no one
quarreled over it, so Isaac named it “…………………………….”
4. Isaac made an oath of …………………… with Abimelech.
Give
short answers:
1. What did Rebekah do when Abraham’s servant asked her for water?
2. Why did Isaac go to Gerar instead of going to Egypt?
3. Why did Abimelech come to visit Isaac?
4. Why was the city of Beersheba named so?
Answer in
brief:
1. What
happened when Isaac dug wells in the valley after he moved away from the
Philistines?
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