Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

You may have been taught that this passage means, 'give bigger offerings to God when things are tough'. Was this what Isaac did?

It is critical to point out that this is not a formula. Hearing God's voice and flowing with his overall plan for each generation is critical. Famine was occurring in Canaan during Isaac's day just like it had in his father Abraham's.

No doubt his thinking went something like this; "We are in famine. My father Abraham fled to Egypt during famine and God blessed him there. If I flee to Egypt, God will bless me there."

Isaac was following in his father's footsteps when the Lord appeared to him in the city of Gerar.

Up to this point, Isaac was going by formula. But when the Lord appeared to him, he said He did not want Isaac to go to Egypt, but rather to stay in Canaan and the Lord promised to bless him there (where famine was raging). The Lord was doing a different thing in Isaac's day than Abraham's and it was critical to flow with His plan. The same is true for every generation.

How did God caused Isaac's crops to grow during the famine when nobody else's would. Obviously, there was no rain. That's what was causing the famine.

Did God cause it to rain only on Isaac's crops and nowhere else? Or, did He miraculously cause his crops to grow without rain at all? What did God do or prompted Isaac to do?

Bible Student Oya!

Why was it not made clear how God performed this miracle? Was it actually a miracle?

Lets get interactive and learn something new today, for some of us who may not know.

simplyOJ: Gen 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

You may have been taught that this passage means, 'give bigger offerings to God when things are tough'. Was this what Isaac did?

It is critical to point out that this is not a formula. Hearing God's voice and flowing with his overall plan for each generation is critical. Famine was occurring in Canaan during Isaac's day just like it had in his father Abraham's.

No doubt his thinking went something like this; "We are in famine. My father Abraham fled to Egypt during famine and God blessed him there. If I flee to Egypt, God will bless me there."

Isaac was following in his father's footsteps when the Lord appeared to him in the city of Gerar.

Up to this point, Isaac was going by formula. But when the Lord appeared to him, he said He did not want Isaac to go to Egypt, but rather to stay in Canaan and the Lord promised to bless him there (where famine was raging). The Lord was doing a different thing in Isaac's day than Abraham's and it was critical to flow with His plan. The same is true for every generation.

How did God caused Isaac's crops to grow during the famine when nobody else's would. Obviously, there was no rain. That's what was causing the famine.

Did God cause it to rain only on Isaac's crops and nowhere else? Or, did He miraculously cause his crops to grow without rain at all? What did God do or prompted Isaac to do?

Bible Student Oya!

Simple... the covenant God had with Abraham....same is at work in the new creation today

Gombs:

Simple... the covenant God had with Abraham....same is at work in the new creation today

Please can you expand it further? How did the convenant make Isaac's own farmland to produce so well in the absence of rain during a famine?

simplyOJ:

Please can you expand it further? How did the convenant make Isaac's own farmland to produce so well in the absence of rain during a famine?

Have a good read of Genesis 17

Simple, he did irrigation, dug wells

Dapsy70sk: Simple, he did irrigation, dug wells

And others weren't smart enough to do irrigation from their wells? Even wells they collected from Isaac?

Dapsy70sk: Simple, he did irrigation, dug wells

Great....

In the Word of God, Egypt is always a type of the world. Repeatedly we are admonished throughout the Word of God not to go to the world, nor depend on the world for our deliverance when things are tough. Yet this seems to be exactly what Abraham did during the time of famine.

I have never heard one preacher or teacher give a plausible explanation of this apparent contradiction concerning Abraham. Abraham went down to Egypt during the time of famine and God blessed him there to the point that Abraham returned to Canaan a very rich man.

It seems to contradict every other teaching regarding reliance upon the world system taught in the Word of God. Thank God for the Holy Ghost, our Teacher.

Remember, it is not by formula that we prosper, but rather by finding out the plan of God for each generation and flowing with that plan. God wanted Abraham to go to Egypt because He wanted Abraham to see something there.

Notice that during all of these famines, Egypt nearly always had excess crops. Why? Egypt is a very arid land and seldom receives sufficient rainfall to produce good harvests. The Egyptians had long since mastered the art of irrigation. The land of Egypt was blessed with the Nile River, which has it's headwaters deep in the mountains of Africa. Drought in Egypt did not affect the Nile because the source of its flow was in Africa.

God wanted Abraham to observe how the Egyptians irrigated their crops. You could put it this way: While Abraham was in Egypt he had the opportunity to observe the "cutting edge" of technology regarding crop irrigation in an arid land. I am sure, to Abraham, this technology was interesting but he could see no application for it in the land of Canaan. After all, Canaan had no Nile River from which to irrigate, and you certainly cannot use saltwater from the Dead Sea nor the Ocean.

Also consider the following verses:

Gen 26:18-19 And Isaac digged again the wells of water... And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

Gen 26:21-22 And they digged another well... And he removed from thence, and digged another well...

Gen 26:25 And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.

Gen 26:32 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.

Gombs:

And others weren't smart enough to do irrigation from their wells? Even wells they collected from Isaac?

I do understand, they may possibly be others smart enough to do irrigation then, but their plants
may not do well. Remember these sayings: where others say there is a casting down, you will say there is a lifting up. Two persons doing the same thing may not necessarily receive the same result. If God's favour is on you; you may well be better positioned than others.

simplyOJ:

I do understand, they may possibly be others smart enough to do irrigation then, but their plants
may not do well. Remember these sayings: where others say there is a casting down, you will say there is a lifting up. Two persons doing the same thing may not necessarily receive the same result. If God's favour is on you; you may well be better positioned than others.

Why?

For the rest of ur statement, it's back to what I said... the covenant

Gombs:

Why?

For the rest of ur statement, it's back to what I said... the covenant

The convenant would have been of no effect if he had sat down, planted his seedlings and started praying, hoping God will make his plant grow for him to enjoy the harvest. Isaac did something practical for the convenant to have effect. Just like God promised the Isrealite the promise land, but they needed to engage in battles to get in.

simplyOJ:

The convenant would have been of no effect if he had sat down, planted his seedlings and started praying, hoping God will make his plant grow for him to enjoy the harvest. Isaac did something practical for the convenant to have effect. Just like God promised the Isrealite the promise land, but they needed to engage in battles to get in.

Glad u finaaly accepted twas d covenant and not irrigation and wells, i was simply answering the below...my job therefore is done. You can debate whether one needed work or not, practical or theoritical

Please can you expand it further? How did the convenant make Isaac's own farmland to produce so well in the absence of rain during a famine?

Gombs:

Glad u finaaly accepted twas d covenant and not irrigation and wells, i was simply answering the below...my job therefore is done. You can debate whether one needed work or not, practical or theoritical

Come on! You may as well say no believer is suffering lack because we are all
still under Abraham covenant. As James 2:17 puts: Faith in itself means nothing............Faith without works is dead.

The covenant is not in isolation, the willingness to succeed and obedience to God's instructions perfected the increase for Isaac.

simplyOJ:

Great....

In the Word of God, Egypt is always a type of the world. Repeatedly we are admonished throughout the Word of God not to go to the world, nor depend on the world for our deliverance when things are tough. Yet this seems to be exactly what Abraham did during the time of famine.

I have never heard one preacher or teacher give a plausible explanation of this apparent contradiction concerning Abraham. Abraham went down to Egypt during the time of famine and God blessed him there to the point that Abraham returned to Canaan a very rich man.

It seems to contradict every other teaching regarding reliance upon the world system taught in the Word of God. Thank God for the Holy Ghost, our Teacher.

Remember, it is not by formula that we prosper, but rather by finding out the plan of God for each generation and flowing with that plan. God wanted Abraham to go to Egypt because He wanted Abraham to see something there.

Notice that during all of these famines, Egypt nearly always had excess crops. Why? Egypt is a very arid land and seldom receives sufficient rainfall to produce good harvests. The Egyptians had long since mastered the art of irrigation. The land of Egypt was blessed with the Nile River, which has it's headwaters deep in the mountains of Africa. Drought in Egypt did not affect the Nile because the source of its flow was in Africa.

God wanted Abraham to observe how the Egyptians irrigated their crops. You could put it this way: While Abraham was in Egypt he had the opportunity to observe the "cutting edge" of technology regarding crop irrigation in an arid land. I am sure, to Abraham, this technology was interesting but he could see no application for it in the land of Canaan. After all, Canaan had no Nile River from which to irrigate, and you certainly cannot use saltwater from the Dead Sea nor the Ocean.

You are contradicting yourself Sir...

You started by saying Egypt is not a particular location in space and time but a description of being out of Gods will or in the world. Then u ended that Egypt is infact, a location, a land that has d Nike River which takes it's source from deep inside of Africa.

U said there was always farming in Egypt but later said it's Canaan that always has famine, u said Egypt is an arid land that produces nothing but later said in Egypt there are superlative farming technologies for effective crop growth which Abraham learnt from.

It's important to properly understand d difference between fact and fable, history and parables in the bible so as not to get confused.

By the way the topic is an Interesting one and all the answers are in the scriptures If we care read them, and allow the Holy Spirit to Interprete and give us understanding without trying to introduce our own human knowledge.
Don't get it twisted.

simplyOJ:


The convenant would have been of no effect if he had sat down, planted his seedlings and started praying, hoping God will make his plant grow for him to enjoy the harvest. Isaac did something practical for the convenant to have effect. Just like God promised the Isrealite the promise land, but they needed to engage in battles to get in.

Part of the covenant is making ur ordinary works or effort to produce extraordinary results.

The covenant can also give u divine ideas for witty inventions that no other person has ever thought of or been able to achieve in other for you to produce outstanding results.
(Check d case of Jacob and Laban)

Ask yourself; why did they keep collecting Isaac's wells?...it's either they couldn't dig a well given the circumstances or they were also digging but not finding water. That's d difference the covenant brought.

The practical thing Isaac did was keep working, he didn't seat back and relax that his father was rich and he had abundant inheritance...he still tried to grow his own and increase whatever was left for him.

simplyOJ:

Please can you expand it further? How did the convenant make Isaac's own farmland to produce so well in the absence of rain during a famine?

This are the reasons why we believe in God's ability to renovate this planet.
Remember He CURSED the ground {Genesis 3:17} that's why there are deserts in some places where nothing can grow. But the same God promised to bless the earth and make it produce in abundance! Psalms 67:6; 85:12

If this is not recorded in the history of those He blessed {Hebrews 12:1} how do you expect us to put our trust in Him?