Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” (vv.2-5)
Though Isaac lived in the land God promised to his father Abraham and his descendants, it did not mean that life in the land would be without trouble or challenge. For just as there was a famine in the days of Abram (Genesis 12:10), now there was a famine in Isaac’s day. So Isaac began to go south towards Egypt just as his father Abram did. Then LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. Dwell in this land, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.” The Son of Promise was always to live in the land of promise; if Isaac did that, then God promised to be with him and to bless him.
The Abrahamic Covenant, in theory, could have ended with the passing of Abraham, but God was true to His Word. The covenant God made with Abraham was not only to Abraham, but unto his descendants as well (Genesis 17:7-8). This formal repetition of the covenant to Isaac made that clear and included the three essential aspects: 1) A land (all these lands), 2) A nation (your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven), and 3) A blessing (in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed). God therefore, extended the promise to Isaac because of Abraham’s obedience; “Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge.”
Now the promise will fall on Isaac. And as we shall see in the body of the text, although Isaac is not a perfect man (who is?), Isaac obeyed God’s warning and stayed in the land of Gerar (v.6), and did not go down to Egypt. Consequently, despite his failures, the LORD blessed him and kept His covenant with Isaac for Abraham’s sake. After this same pattern, God keeps His covenant with us for Jesus’ sake.
Thank God we stand in His (Jesus) righteousness and not our own.
The Truth: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
