A great famine once again swept through the land—harsher than the one in the days of the Patriarch Abraham. Fields withered, livestock groaned, and dust veiled the sun. In this time of trial, Isaac, bearer of the covenant flame, set his eyes toward Gerar, realm of the Philistines, ruled by King Abimelech.
But as Isaac prepared to descend into Egypt, a voice like thunder laced with fire halted him. The LORD appeared to him and spoke with authority beyond the ages: "Do not go to Egypt. Dwell in the land I shall show you. I will be with you, and I will bless you. To you and your descendants I shall grant these lands, and I will uphold the sacred oath I gave to your father Abraham. I shall make your offspring as countless as the stars. Through them, the nations of the world shall be blessed—for Abraham obeyed Me."
So Isaac remained in Gerar, under the watchful eye of a land not his own. But fear, ancient and cold, gripped him. When questioned about Rebekah—his wife and the jewel of his heart—he lied, saying, "She is my sister," for he feared the men would kill him for her beauty.
But truth has a way of surfacing. One day, from the heights of his palace, Abimelech glimpsed Isaac caressing Rebekah—not as a brother, but as a lover. Fury flared. The king summoned Isaac. "What have you done?" he demanded. "You might have brought guilt upon us all!"
Isaac bowed his head and confessed, and Abimelech, both angered and afraid, declared before all, "Let no man touch this one or his wife. Death shall be the price."
And the LORD honored His word. In that same year, Isaac sowed and reaped a hundredfold. His flocks multiplied, his wealth spread like wildfire across the region. The Philistines, once courteous, grew restless with envy. They sabotaged the ancient wells his father's servants had dug, choking them with earth.
Abimelech, fearing the power swelling around Isaac, cast him out. "Go from us," he said, "for you are mightier than we."
So Isaac departed into the Valley of Gerar and began again. He reopened the wells of Abraham—wells with names and legacy. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with his men, claiming the water as their own. The first well he named Esek, meaning Contention. The second he called Sitnah, meaning Hostility. But when they dug a third and no man opposed them, Isaac named it Rehoboth—"Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall flourish."
He journeyed on to Beersheba. There, under the stars, the LORD appeared once more, whispering a familiar promise: "I am the God of your father. Do not fear. I am with you. For the sake of Abraham, I shall bless you."
Isaac built an altar, pitched his tent, and commanded his servants to dig a well.
And then came an unexpected arrival. Abimelech rode to him with his general Phicol and his advisor Ahuzzath. Isaac, guarded but resolute, asked, "Why come to me now, after casting me away?"
But they answered, "We have seen that the LORD walks with you. Let there be peace between us—a covenant of no harm. We sent you away in peace, and now the blessing of God clearly rests on you."
Isaac received them. They shared a feast under the moonlight, and by dawn, they swore oaths of peace.
That very day, Isaac's servants returned, their faces gleaming. "Master, we have found water!" they declared. He named the well Shibah, and so the place came to be known as Beersheba—the Well of the Oath.
But while water flowed and treaties stood, a different grief stirred in the house of Isaac. His firstborn, Esau, at forty years of age, took wives—Judith and Basemath, daughters of the Hittites. And the hearts of Isaac and Rebekah grew heavy, for the union brought sorrow, not joy.