There was a famine in the land, and a similar famine had occurred during the days of his father. The current famine happened in the days of Isaac, the son of Abraham, and this caused Isaac to settle in the valley of Gerar, the land where the LORD told him to live. His father Abraham had obeyed God, knowing the whole earth, the nations, would be blessed because he (Abraham) obeyed.

Isaac sowed seeds in the land where he dwelled, and the LORD richly blessed him, and as the years passed, Isaac increasingly became wealthier, so prosperous, in fact, that the Philistines envied him. This led to quarrels.

In the Middle East, WATER IS LIFE.

Thus, the question becomes:

Why destroy something so life-giving?

Envy is a powerful sin.

Well after well after well was dug, and each time, the Philistines went to the well that Isaac’s servants freshly dug and filled it to the top with DIRT.

As you might imagine, this distress caused the herdsmen of Isaac who needed water for their animals to quarrel with the herdsmen of Gerar. Both claimed the life-giving water as their own. Each time a new well was dug, they quarreled, battling with words over who owned the well.

LIVING WATER—DIRT FILLED THE WELL—LIVING WATER—DIRT FILLED THE WELL—LIVING WATER—DIRT FILLED THE WELL—LIVING WATER.

When Isaac instructed his servants to dig that well, it was an action of peace, not conquest. He was acting in humility, and with perseverance, and displaying his faith.

Think about that well compared to all the other wells.

There could have been a container there on the dusty ground nearby those previously dug wells, and you might have seen the fresh dirt where the Philistine servants had collapsed the dirt onto the well’s life-giving water. You even might have watched them shovel the dirt into those wells until the ground was level so that you could not even notice where those wells had been.

Now, consider that freshly dug well in the land of Beersheba that the servants of Isaac toiled. This well stands open between them, and the water flowing from the well—

IT IS ENOUGH FOR ALL.

Later, an oath, a covenant was made—The Abraham Accords—one that remained a Beacon of Hope, one that built bridges where only warring walls once stood.

People see believers every day, as the LORD allows us to live, and they need to understand plainly how the LORD resides within us. The people the Christians encounter do not need to see the people of God fighting or demanding justice. Our neighbors watch us obeying God, putting Him first in our lives and loving them, our neighbors (individuals) we encounter during our days. They will notice God’s presence in our lives, just as they did in Isaac. Today, as God’s people, may our actions be invitations to receive God’s Life-Giving Water, seeing how IT IS ENOUGH FOR ALL WHO WILL COME and SEE and TASTE.

God’s Peace, His Shalom.