Isaac's Well

Excerpt from Genesis 26 (Torah/Bible)- Isaac and his stolen wells

12 Now Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year fruit a hundred times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was on him. 13 And his wealth became very great, increasing more and more; 14 For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy. 15 Now all the water-holes, which his father's servants had made in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by the Philistines. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are stronger than we are. 17 So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.

18 And he made again the water-holes which had been made in the days of Abraham his father, and which had been stopped up by the Philistines; and he gave them the names which his father had given them. 19 Now Isaac's servants made holes in the valley, and came to a spring of flowing water. 20 But the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen, for they said, The spring is ours: so he gave the spring the name of Esek, because there was a fight about it. 21 Then they made another water-hole, and there was a fight about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah. 22 Then he went away from there, and made another water-hole, about which there was no fighting: so he gave it the name of Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will have fruit in this land.

23 And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

24 That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said, I am the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you, blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my servant Abraham.

25 Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants made a water-hole.

Commentary

Isaac could be described as industrious, honest, and peaceful. He was a good person- “a God fearing man”. Isaac did not go looking for fights, but was apparently of the nature that he could not avoid being fought with. In this story, Issac would dig a well deep into the desert floor to obtain water for farming and livestock. As a result of this effort - Isaac would obtain the water that he needed and he would prosper- “God blessed Isaac”.

However as Isaac prospered, selfish people envied him and eventually they would take what he had for themselves. As the story goes, over and over again, Isaac’s wells would be taken away and he would be forced off of his land. Each time he toiled to establish his success he was met with opposition.

There is no evidence in this story that Isaac seriously fought back or that he lost confidence. Rather than fight, Isaac gave up his property rights to avoid contention. Isaac persisted and just moved on and dug another well. Each time he was driven from one place the lord made room for him in another. It appears he found out the hard way that his ultimate success was not contingent upon a specific endeavor (well); his success was contingent on his capability to endeavor (dig a well). After an unfair amount of drama, the story eventually ends with Isaac finally digging a well he was able to keep and God smiled upon him and blessed his work.

Observations

• In this story, ‘digging wells’ can be equated with any significant professional endeavor that requires industriousness. While today, rarely would someone dig a real well to establish professional success, we can relate to ‘digging wells’ to the extent that we have put significant long term effort into an endeavor.
• Each time Isaac ‘dug a well’ he was blessed for his industriousness. Similarly, industriousness generally leads to reward. But not always.
• Isaac repeatedly faced set-backs. It is probably a planetary truth that the more you have, the greater the chance that you will be exposed to ill feeling and injury. People often take from each other what they have not worked for. We can relate to Isaac to the extent that we have seen something we have put significant effort into wrongfully taken by someone else (or disregarded). Unfortunately it will happen.
• Using Isaac as an example, the road to peace in this world may not always be justice, but magnanimity.
• While Isaac certainly had fair reason to give up, Isaac’s most valuable possession, the values that drove his success, could not be taken from him.
• Belief in the scarcity of resources leads to ill will, theft, and fighting. Belief in abundance leads to good will, generosity, and peace. A belief in abundance may provide energy to one in hard work. Additionally, if you believe in abundance, innovation seems a natural progression.
• Despite widespread belief to the contrary, the earth is abundant; there is always a place for another well. Yet to acquire it, firm values, hard work and persistence is necessary.