The Legacy of the Wells
Genesis 26:12-23
Intro: This coming Sunday is Western Sunday.
I had two messages on my heart, so I am preaching one of them tonight.
I’ll preach the other one on Sunday, Lord willing.
These verses tell us of a series of events that occurred with these wells.
The word LEGACY means: anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor:
These events transpired over a number of years; generations actually.
The events surrounding the wells of Abraham and Isaac are fascinating to me for a number of reasons.
The main reason is the similarities that we see today surrounding the struggles of God’s people.
When I see these wells, I see a modern-day correlation between the children of God and their water source.
There are several places where the believer gets their water.
These wells can be a picture of several things:
A. These Wells are a picture of the Word of God
Ephesians 5
· 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
· 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
B. These Wells are a picture of the Church of God
The house of God is to be a place where God’s people can come be refreshed and revived.
A place where they can come be washed and cleansed by the water of the Word of God.
A place where we can rinse the dust of the world off of our feet.
A place where sinners can come get life-giving water.
C. These Wells are a picture of the Homes of God’s People
· Genesis 26:18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
It is every dad’s obligation to provide for his family.
You can’t always live off of someone else’s provision; you need to provide for your own.
Daddy, you need to make sure your children have water at the house.
They can’t survive on water just a few days a week from the church.
In fact, this story exists because a dad dug a well for his family.
This story has so many similarities in the importance and the adversity surrounding it.
Let’s get started.
I. The Work for the Wells – Go back to Genesis 21:25-33
Back in Genesis 21:30, we read that Abraham dug a well.
There are several things that we can learn from this effort.
This wasn’t a preexisting spring or fountain that they stumbled upon. – (see Genesis 16:7 and Genesis 21:19)
The Bible is clear – Abraham dug this well. – vs. 30 “…I have digged this well.”
They didn’t have the tools we have today.
What tools they did have, they had to make themselves.
For them to dig a well by hand required an extraordinary amount of work and dedication.
It wasn’t an overnight job. Sometimes, it would take weeks, even months to dig a well.
The literal blood, sweat and tears that went into this well-being dug is unimaginable.
Yet Abraham and his servants dug this well.
But that is not all. The Bible tells us in Genesis 26:15, 18 that Abraham dug more than one well.
He dug a number of them.
One thing is certain – Abraham wanted his family to have water, and he put in the work to prove it.
A. The Witness that was Invested – “…these seven ewe lambs shalt that take…that they may be a witness…”
This was not a secret well.
This well was not only the result of backbreaking work and labor, but of financial sacrifice as well.
Having this well meant a lot to Abraham.
It was important enough for him to work to dig it.
It was important enough to sacrifice seven ewe lambs to keep it.
And for everyone to know that it was his.
He wasn’t ashamed of it; he wasn’t complacent about it; he wasn’t willing to give it up.
He named it Beersheba, which means "well of the sevenfold oath"
B. The Welcome that was Inviting – “…Abraham planted a grove there…”
Abraham didn’t just want the well to provide water, but a place of shade and rest.
He planted a grove there.
He didn’t transplant full grown trees.
He planted a grove. He was investing in long-term benefits and rewards.
He wanted the well of Beersheba to be a place for his family, for traveling visitors, strangers.
The well was a place of social interaction, fellowship and conversation.
A place of peace, tranquility, rest, refreshment, revival,
This well was meant to be a place where people wanted to come, enjoyed their time and stayed awhile.
NOTE: Isaac got his wife from a prayer that was answered at a well in Genesis 24!
The children of Israel encamped in a place where there were many wells and many trees.
· Exodus 15:27 And they came to Elim, where [were] twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.
C. The Worship that was Involved
This place became a place where Abraham would pray and worship.
This well was precious. It was priceless. It was a place of communion with God.
It was here that Abraham called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
Every home, every church ought to be a place where God’s people can get ahold of God!
Dad, your home should be a place where God can meet with your family.
The church should be a place where the atmosphere is primed and ready for worship!
II. The Wars at the Wells – vs. 15; 18
A. The Disruption – VS. 15 “…the Philistines stopped them…”
STOPPED: to stop up, shut up, keep close
I find this working interesting.
In stopping up the well, they stopped the well from being used.
The Philistines stopped the well from providing water, life, nourishment to the family of Isaac.
Make no mistake – the Philistines of today are still bound and determined to stop the wells.
They despise the fact that we are not drinking their water.
They hate the fact that we are not dependent upon them for our daily needs.
They are furious that we have an alternate life source.
The Philistines of today want us to drink only of the flesh, the world and the wells of Hell.
· They want to STOP the Christian family.
· They want to STOP the private and Christian schools.
· They want to STOP every Bible-believing church.
· They want to STOP soulwinners from being able to pass out literature.
· They want to STOP believers and conservatives from spreading their message on social media.
· They want to STOP preachers from preaching against their graven images of abortion and sodomy.
· They want to STOP young people from knowing the truth about genders and marriage.
The Philistines of today are obsessed with STOPPING the wells that our forefathers dug for us.
They will not stop until we are forced to drink their water; go to their wells for water.
Its either drink from their wells – beg them for water for our families, or die.
B. The Desecration – VS. 18 “…and filled them with earth…”
It is fascinating to me to see the same tactics that the enemy uses today to pollute the water.
The way that the Philistines will DISRUPT the well is by DESECRATING it.
Notice what they used to desecrate and dilute the water of the well.
They filled the wells with earth.
They took the common, base, filthy, defiled elements of the world and poured it into the wells.
The Philistines came and polluted the life-giving water with filth and earth.
The Bible says in Genesis 26:14 that the Philistines ENVIED him. So notice what they did.
They tried to stop what God had blessed and disrupt it with the earth.
The similarities in this verse and what happened in Acts is astounding.
Acts 7
· 4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
· 5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
C. The Discord – vs. 20, 21
Wells were a valuable commodity.
Many wars and battles were fought over these wells.
The water that they provided were the difference between life and death.
Whoever owned the well or controlled the water controlled everything.
Back in Genesis 21:25, the Bible tells us that the servants of Abimelech had “violently taken away” the well.
This whole story actually starts with Abraham reproving the Abimelech for taking away the well he had dug.
The use of the word “reprove” here reminded me of another place where we are commanded to “reprove.”
Ephesians 5
· 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
· 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
When we get to chapter 26, we find again the constant wars and opposition over the wells.
· 20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. Esek - "contention"
· 21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah. Sitnah - "strife"
One of them most amazing things to me is how many church members are turned off and turned away by the fight.
Wherever there is a well, there will be a fight.
The devil hates our well. The world hates our well.
They will do everything within their power to stop it and destroy it.
A well that provides life for you and your family ought to be worth fighting for!
If you want a well at your house, you’ll have to fight for it!
If you want a well at your church, you’ll have to fight for it!
It didn’t get there by accident, and you won’t keep it by accident.
That well was the result of blood, sweat and tears, and if you keep it, you’ll have to keep it the same way!
III. The Wealth of the Wells – vs. 22
I want to draw your attention to several very encouraging aspects of this story.
These wells of Abraham provided a long legacy for his children and grandchildren.
He dwelt in the same place as Abraham (Gen. 20:1) – Gen. 26:1, 6, 17
A. A Son that knew how to Dig Wells – vs. 18 “Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged…”
What his father had provided was good enough to maintain and make available to his children.
He was not a “recovering fundamentalist”.
He dug again the wells that his father had dug.
He didn’t let the opposition stop him.
He didn’t let the earth that had been poured into the well stop him.
He got busy digging it out.
His servants also digged in the valley and found a well of springing water.
The water is there, but you have to dig for it!
He dug as many wells as he had to. He never stopped. Vs. 18-22)
He didn’t let opposition and strife over the well cause him to quit.
He kept digging wells.
Every time he dug a well, the enemy fought him for it.
But he kept digging and kept insisting on water for his family until God gave him a reprieve. (vs. 22)
B. A Son that knew about Devoted Worship – vs. 23-33
He went to the well and grove that Abraham had planted back in Genesis 21:33.
The Lord appeared unto him there. - vs. 24
And he built an altar there. – vs. 25
And he called upon the name of the Lord there. – vs. 25
And pitched his tent there. – vs. 25
And dug another well.
He didn’t just live off what his father had done, he added to it.
C. A Son that knew how to Discover Water
The sweetest words that could be heard in those days are still sweet words.
WE HAVE FOUND WATER!!!
· 32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
They kept digging wells in Beersheba and they kept finding water! (26:32, 33)
Same place Abraham dug, but the water was still fresh!!
It was a new generation, but the water was still there!
Conclusion: The moral of the story is:
A. You can’t live without water
B. You can’t have water without having to fight for it
C. You cannot imagine the long-term benefits of digging and protecting your wells!
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