Genesis 26:1-5 "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. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 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; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
Some one hundred years before this event, the scripture tells us there was a great famine in the land (Genesis 12:10). Abraham, who was at that time known as Abram, went into the land of Egypt during that time of famine. This would certainly be one of those family stories that was shared over and over again. Isaac may have remembered that his father had sought refuge in Egypt and though to do the same.
This was not the LORD’s purpose for Isaac. We are often tempted to do things because that is the way our forefathers did it. Obviously, that is not always the LORD’s will. God spoke with Isaac as He had with Abraham, and He told Isaac specifically not to follow Abraham’s footsteps in this particular thing.
We see here the unwavering purpose of God. Just as God had told Abraham to go into a land He would show him (Genesis 12:1), in like manner He instructed Isaac to go into a land that He would reveal to him. The land came to them by revelation from God. In the same fashion, the “land” of God’s kingdom here that we are blessed to walk in comes to us by revelation from God.
This is a land of “sojourning.” The Hebrew word translated as “sojourn” means to be a guest. We are guests in the land and have no claim to ownership other than the promise of God that He would give this land for His chosen people to dwell in according to the promise he made to Abraham. In this sojourn, God promised to be with Abraham, with Isaac, and with us. He promised us His blessing in this land.
The LORD wonderfully assured Isaac of His purpose to produce a “seed” that would bless all the nations of the earth. To this day, we find people in every walk of life, from every nation in the world, hungering for the truth of Jesus Christ. We are sojourners in this land because it is not our final home. Jesus will bring all of His children to a land where they will no longer be sojourners. Until that day, we are to walk in obedience and enjoy the wondrous promises of the LORD!