1 There was a famine in the land, besides athe first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to bAbimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the Lord appeared to him and said: a“Do not go down to Egypt; live in bthe land of which I shall tell you.
3aDwell in this land, and bI will be with you and cbless you; for to you and your descendants dI give all these lands, and I will perform ethe oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
4 And aI will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; band in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
5abecause Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And ahe said, “She is my sister”; for bhe was afraid to say, “Sheis my wife,” becausehethought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she iscbeautiful to behold.”
8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac,1 showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.
9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”
Isaac was about to do the same thing that Abraham had done. When there was a famine in the land, he decided to go down to Egypt. However, in his case, God intervened, saying, "Do not go there." In a sense, He was saying, "Stay here. Live by faith. I will take care of you."
