Room for Us — TDW Kids

The Peacemaker Who Kept Digging

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Isaac dug a well, and people fought over it. He dug another, and they fought again. Then he dug a third, and said, “For now the Lord has made room for us” (Genesis 26:22). Isaac was a peacemaker.

Why they fought. The Philistines “envied him” (26:14). God had blessed Isaac, and they did not like it. Envy is wanting what someone else has and being unhappy that they have it. “Love does not envy” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Isaac's choice. Isaac had many servants. He could have fought. But he chose to move on. The Bible says, “A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention” (Proverbs 15:18). Isaac was slow to anger.

Not a pushover. Isaac did not pretend nothing was wrong. He named the wells Esek, “quarrel,” and Sitnah, “hostility.” And when Abimelech came later, Isaac asked him plainly, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me?” (26:27). Peacemakers can be honest.

Blessed are the peacemakers. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” and “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:5, 9). Meek does not mean weak. It means strong enough to stay gentle.

As much as depends on you. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). Isaac did his part. He could not stop the herdsmen arguing, but he could refuse to argue back.

Kindness to enemies. When Abimelech came asking for peace, Isaac made him a feast (26:30). Paul says, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink” (Romans 12:20). Peter says, “not returning evil for evil… but on the contrary blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).

God makes peace. “When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). In the end it was Abimelech who came to Isaac and said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you” (26:28).

Before and after. This was not the first time Abimelech had seen God's blessing in the family. Years earlier, an Abimelech had told Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do” (21:22). Now another generation says it to Isaac: “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you.” Faithful living is noticed, even by people who do not like you at first.

What it means for you. Next time someone wants to fight over a toy, a seat or a turn, remember Isaac. You can be honest about what is wrong, and still choose not to fight. Ask God to help you be a peacemaker, and trust Him to make room for you.

In Genesis 26:17-31 Isaac refuses to strike back, but he is neither naive nor weak.

The source of conflict. The hostility grew out of envy (qin'ah, say: kin-AH, 26:14). James 3:16 states the principle: “where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” Proverbs 14:30 adds that “envy is rottenness to the bones.”

Yielding. Isaac twice abandons a well he had every right to (26:20-21). James 3:17 describes heavenly wisdom as “peaceable, gentle, willing to yield.” The Greek eupeithes (say: yoo-PAY-thace) means open to persuasion, not stubbornly insisting on one's rights.

Honest names. Isaac's names, Esek and Sitnah, record the wrongs instead of hiding them. His question in 26:27 is direct. Making peace God's way is not pretending; it is refusing to let a wrong become a war.

Strength under control. Abimelech had said Isaac was “much mightier than we” (26:16). Isaac's restraint is therefore a choice, not a lack of options. This is the sense of “meek” in Matthew 5:5, and it is the posture of Christ, who “when He was reviled, did not revile in return” (1 Peter 2:23).

The feast. In 26:30 Isaac already lives out what Jesus and Paul would later teach in Matthew 5:44, “do good to those who hate you,” and Romans 12:20. Isaac does not demand an apology before he welcomes his guests; the covenant comes after the meal.

God at work. Proverbs 16:7 states the outcome: God “makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” God's hand is on every step of the chapter: the harvest (26:12), the room (26:22), His appearing at night (26:24), the Philistines' confession (26:28), and the final well (26:32).

Generations of peace-seeking. 21:22-32 tells of Abraham's covenant with an earlier Abimelech at Beersheba, also over a disputed well (21:25), and also with the confession “God is with you in all that you do” (21:22). Isaac walks in his father's steps. He inherits the blessing, and he also inherits the calling to live at peace with his neighbors.

Blessing that provokes. God's blessing on Isaac stirred up envy and hostility (26:14-16). Do not be surprised when doing well brings resentment from others. Conflict will come. What matters is how God's people respond when it does.

Peace and truth together. Zechariah 8:16 would later command, “Speak each man the truth to his neighbor.” When Isaac met Abimelech, he spoke the truth (26:27) and he made peace (26:31). Peace bought by hiding wrongs does not last, and truth spoken with no desire for peace becomes just another weapon.

Application. When someone wrongs you, there are three ways to respond: getting even, pretending nothing happened, or being honest without striking back. Isaac chose the third. It costs something, and it depends on trusting that God, not our grasping, secures our place.

Living Water and Room to Spare

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In a dry land, a well meant life. That is why the herdsmen fought so hard over Isaac's wells. But Jesus offers water that is better than any well.

Living water. Isaac's servants found “a well of running water” (Genesis 26:19), which in Hebrew is “living water,” water that flows from a spring.

Thirsty again. Jesus met a woman at a well and said, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:13-14). The water Jesus gives is eternal life with God.

Come and drink. Jesus stood up at a feast and called out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). Long before, Isaiah had said, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters… without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). It is a free gift.

Nobody can take it. The herdsmen could fight over Isaac's wells. But nobody can stop up the living water Jesus gives. Once He gives it, it is ours forever.

Room. Isaac said, “The Lord has made room for us.” The Psalms use the same idea for being rescued: “He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19).

A place prepared. Jesus told His disciples, “In My Father's house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). There is room with God for everyone who trusts Jesus. He died on the cross for our sins and rose again to make that room for us.

The last invitation. The very end of the Bible says, “let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). The invitation is still open.

Broken cisterns. God once said His people had “forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). A cistern is a tank for rainwater. People often try to fill their hearts with things that leak, like money, popularity or winning arguments. Only God fills a heart for good.

What it means for you. When you feel left out, or like there is no place for you, remember that Jesus has made room. Come to Him and receive His living water. And then make room for others, the way He made room for you.

Genesis 26 is a chapter about water and room, and the Bible uses both as pictures of salvation.

“Living water.” Mayim chayyim in 26:19 denotes spring-fed water, as opposed to collected rainwater. Jeremiah applies the phrase to God Himself (Jeremiah 2:13). Jesus offers it in John 4:10-14 and John 7:37-38, where John explains that He spoke of the Spirit (7:39).

Inexhaustible and uncontested. Every well in Genesis 26 could be stopped, disputed or lost. The water Christ gives becomes “in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). It is internal and unfailing.

Free. Isaiah 55:1 offers water “without money and without price,” and Revelation 22:17 closes the Bible with the same offer: “take the water of life freely.” What the herdsmen fought to possess, God gives.

Room. Rachav, “to be wide,” supplies the language of deliverance in the Psalms: “He also brought me out into a broad place” (Psalm 18:19). Distress in Hebrew is narrowness (tsar); salvation is spaciousness.

The Father's house. John 14:2 gives the gospel's version of Rehoboth: “In My Father's house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.” The preparation is Christ's departure through death, resurrection and ascension.

Hospitality. Those for whom God has made room are called to make room for others. Isaac's feast for former enemies (26:30) is a small picture of the welcome the gospel extends and expects.

Broken cisterns. Jeremiah 2:13 sets the two choices side by side: “the fountain of living waters” and “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” A cistern stores collected rain; a broken one leaks. Turning from God to idols is like trading a spring for a leaking tank. The herdsmen's quarrel over water is a small, real-life picture of people fighting to grab what only God can give.

The Spirit given. John 7:39 identifies Jesus' living water as the Spirit, “whom those believing in Him would receive.” The gift follows Jesus' glorification, that is, His death, resurrection and ascension. The well that cannot be stopped is God Himself dwelling in His people.

Application. Think about where you feel hemmed in, in a “narrow” place, and what it would mean to trust God for “broad places,” the room only He can give. Then think about whom you could make room for among your friends, at school or in your family.

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