Well, Well, Well

O.T. #51  "Well, Well, Well"
May 21, 2013
Genesis 26-Part 2
 
LET IT GLOW

Cool, sweet, well water. Unfiltered, uncloudy, non-flavored, no smell. You can't beat it. Actually,
it doesn't taste sweet, I just prefer it to filtered city water. (Sulphur water has a smell and taste life rotten eggs. )

Usually, we have an ample water supply, here on the farm, that never ends. Dad certainly picked
the right spot to drill the well, some 65 years ago. When I was a child, this same well furnished enough water for 2 chicken houses, 30 head of cattle, and a household of a family of 5. We didn't have any problems back then as I recall. Water was alway available.
Then it begain to happen last January, a cold, winter day. I could tell there was a problem. The
water pressure was low, spitting it out irregularly. I didn't dare use the dishwasher or washing machine while someone was showering.

The water was there, but the pump was wearing out and couldn't bring it up to us. Well, we had to
replace the old pump with an expensive new one. Now there's no problem. We maintain the air pressure and have sweet water at the touch of a handle. I am happy again.

I said all of that to show that there can be well problems (for you city folks). And Isaac had a well problem. He had a lot of stock that needed to drink water daily, and more than once a day. So to
solve the problem, his servants dig a well in the valley. There he found a well of springing water.

In John 4:14, Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman said, But whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life. 

Jesus Christ is referred to as the living water which is symbolic of eternal life mediated by the Holy Spirit from Him. (MacArthur)

Wells of water speak of the divine resources of God for the spiritual life. The spiritual wells at
which our fathers drank have been taken from us by the world. How we need to get back to the
old wells(such as prayer, the Bible, the family altar, the church). Isaac not only opened them again, but he called them by the same names that Abraham had used. Then he went on to dig some new wells to meet the needs of the day. (Wiersbe)

Is Jesus your spring of living water? Is His Holy Spirit springing up within you? Two other translations use the word bubbling. Is He bubbling down in your soul, providing refreshment to others.

In Strong's Concordance, a well is a pit; springing refers to alive, fresh, running.
So the water from the well that Isaac's servants dug was fresh, running water for the animals and people. 

LET IT GROW

Okay, you knew there was going to be a problem with the well situation, didn't you? Those Philistines! These wells Isaac dug was named the same names that his father Abraham used. They were in the same place. The herdmen of Gerar claimed the water was theirs. To keep peace, Isaac moved on.

Water was so precious in that desert land that wells were essential. Plugging someone's well was ruinous to them and constituted serious aggression, often leading to war. Isaac could have
retaliated, but he did not; rather he dug new wells. (MacArthur)

Isaac dug a second well and the same thing happened. He dug three wells in all. Were those Philistines trying his patience? Isaac must have been an easy-going sort of guy.

When Isaac went to Beer-sheba, God appeared unto him, and again confirmed the Abrahamic covenant. So he worshiped there by building an altar. (Falwell)

This was the same place Abraham built an altar to God (12:7) to mark the spot of God's appearing
to him. Later, Jacob, Isaac's son, did the same at Shechem (Gen. 33:18-20). (MacArthur)

Remember the Philistine king Abimelech? He made an oath with Isaac, in spite of the conflict
over the wells, for they saw how God had blessed Isaac's crops 100 fold. Instead of responding in bitterness, or retaliating, Isaac let it slide by and made peace with those who had wronged him.

We are to do likewise as Christians. do I let comments or insults slide by or do I have to straighten them out? Often it is hard to turn the other cheek, to forgive and go on. I heard years ago that forgiveness was acting as if it never happened. Hmm.

Well, well, well. What a good lesson for us. Now to apply it.

LET IT GO

Don't fight over trivial things; forgive and let it go.

Let God handle the situation. He can do it better than I can.

Let Him spring up in me like bubbling, living water.

Here's a camp song, The Gush Song, I learned years ago. Perhaps you know it:

Spring up O Well, (Gush, gush, gush, gush)
 down in my soul;
Spring up O Well, (Gush, gush, gush, gush)
 and make me whole;
Spring up O Well, (Gush, gush, gush, gush)
 and give to me,
that life, abundantly. Gush! Gush! Gush!
(Hands go up as if water is gushing up.)

Keep the Water flowing through me.