MAR 15 2026 | Genesis: Behind the Curtain S6E4 | Reverse the Curse

Sea Change Church · MAR 15 2026 | Genesis S5E4 - Reverse the Curse
Genesis 26:26-33
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

that you can just give them the honor and the blessing to tithe and truly bless this church through all your glory. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Hey, get ready for a great word from Pastor Harry. Thank you, Andres. You're the man. The book of Genesis, chapter 26, verses 26 through 33. Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahazeth, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you. They replied, We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties, between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you. You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you, but have done only what was good to you, sending you away in peace.

You are now blessed by the Lord. So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. On that same day, Isaac's servants came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, We have found water. He called it Sheba.

Therefore, the name of the city is still Beersheba today. This is the word of the Lord. Well, good morning, church. We are continuing in our series in the book of Genesis, and today you can open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 26. And we're finishing this narrative about an Isaac story. And really, if you look at all of Genesis chapter 26, when you study this narrative, you find that it's this repeat.

It has these striking similarities, all of 26, to Isaac's father's life. And many things Isaac's father Abraham experienced, there's this repeat happening between father and son. And when you're parenting, I know you kind of hope that your children don't repeat some of the same mistakes that you've made. You know, you want to only pass down the good stuff and not have them repeat the poor qualities, the mistakes.

And that's certainly my hope for my son of a two-year-old named Jude. And we have one on the way, actually. Kalina's 11 weeks pregnant. Yeah. So we haven't told a lot of people yet, so don't tell anybody. But I figured I'd just tell 200 at once. And, yeah, so, you know, that's our hope. And the reality is, is that's not always the case, right? You pass down things to your kids that maybe you're not always proud of.

I have a moment this week where my wife was, we were driving, and she was trying to park in this spot. And there's a guy who kind of pulled up next to her. And he was angry, and he was yelling at her and shouting and making hand gestures. And just, I couldn't hear anything he was saying because, like, both our windows were up. And then he kind of pulled away, and she parked in this spot.

And I didn't care for that at all. I'm not. I'm pretty protective over my wife and my family. And so it doesn't even take English words to rile me up, you know. Like, if you just pantomime angrily, I'm probably ready to fight you. And that's not a good quality. That's my reality. And so she pulls in to the spot, and I just take a deep breath. I go, whew, and all I say is, I go, man, that guy sucked.

And then, forgetting my two-year-olds in the back seat, he immediately follows by saying, that guy sucked. And I was like, oh, no, dude. Like, that's not, you shouldn't repeat that. And then my wife starts lying to him. Like, no, he didn't. He was great. Like, he's totally fine. He was good. You don't want him to repeat that kind of stuff, you know.

We also had a moment this week where my wife, she just got back from her first appointment, you know, with the doctor and saw the baby. And she comes home, and she's all excited. And she looked all cute. And I looked at her. I was like, honey, you look so cute. And out loud, my son goes, mama's not cute. She's big. And I was like, she's only 11 weeks.

She's not even showing really yet. Bro, like, are you trying to get us both in trouble? He repeats half the stuff I say. She's going to think that I've been saying that. And so he's already rude, you know. And he gets that from her. And so sometimes it's unavoidable, right? You pass down these things that maybe you don't want to. And you also, you pass down good things, too.

And so we see in our passage this repeat of some of the same things where Isaac and Abraham have the exact same deception to Abimelech about their wife being their sister. They both have a conflict over wells. Eventually, there's a covenant. There's reconciliation. There's finding of water, building of more wells. There's the naming of a city, Beersheba.

All of this is a pattern that repeats in our story. And any time there's a pattern repeating in the Bible, usually the Bible is trying to get our attention to the pattern. There's some meaning in the pattern. And so we're going to talk about that today as we dive into our passage. Let's go to verses 26 through 29. It says, It says, And so we see that Abimelech comes and he desires reconciliation with Isaac.

And what is the catalyst for reconciliation in this passage? It's not effort. It's not apology. It's not heartfelt speech. The catalyst for reconciliation is Isaac. It says, It says that he had reaped a hundredfold blessing. He becomes this blessing. He becomes this blessing clearly seen by others. And it's amazing because he speaks so little, not only in this passage, but Isaac in the whole Bible.

His father Abraham in the Bible is recorded to saying around 2,000 words. Isaac's son Jacob's son. Isaac's son Jacob's recorded saying around 1,500 words. But Isaac says, But Isaac only says about 100 words in the Bible. And yet, And yet, though he is one of the quietest of the patriarchs, The blessing that follows him becomes undeniable to those around him.

See, we are often, I think, overly concerned with our voice. Overly concerned with having a platform to be seen, to speak, to share. Or maybe overly concerned with saying the exact right thing in the exact right moment. But what is always more compelling than a rousing speech is a lived example. What example is your life as a follower of Jesus portraying to the people around you?

How do people see Jesus in you? In the way you live your life? In the way you raise your kids? In the way you conduct business? In the way you treat employees? In the way you spend your money? How do people see Jesus in you? And that doesn't mean you live a mistake-free life. But a meaning-filled life. Following God. Following his word. Following the spirit.

And setting an example for those around you. Jesus says it this way in Matthew 5, 14-16. He says this. He says, You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand. And it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others.

That they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. See, the evangelist is not the one who speaks the best. But the one in whom Jesus is clearly seen. Whose light shines as a bright and active example. So how can Jesus be seen in your life? Are you being obedient to the promptings of the spirit in your life? Are you following his word?

Are you engaged in community? Because if you're actually following Jesus, you're going to live your life a little differently than much of the rest of the world. And at some point, people will start being confused. They'll start asking questions. Like, wait, what do you mean? He spends his time doing what? You're telling me he gets up early every morning before work and is studying his word?

You're telling me that every week he goes, he spends his day off going to church? You're telling me he spends his money giving away to those in need and to the ministries of God at the church? You're telling me that this is how he's trying to raise his kids up in this antiquitous type religion? You're telling him, he does what? She does what? It'll start to have people ask questions.

Because your life is your best example. And when they see the way you love one another, as Jesus said, they will know that you are my disciples. How? By the way you love one another. So when they see how you care for each other, they'll be like, huh? How do they? Why do they have a different set of goals and values than me? Why does their life seem prosperous even in times of famine?

Like in our passage. Why does their life seem full of hope when all seems hopeless? Your life is your best example and it will beget questions from those around you. I put in your notes that the Christian life ought to be a questionable life. One that creates curiosity and compels examination. So you, as Jesus says, have the light of the world in you.

He also calls himself the light of the world. And so if the light of the world being Christ is in you, you are what? The light of the world. The problem is, is many of us have become pretty good at hiding the light for the convenience of others. Because we don't want to, we don't want to offend others. We don't want to be pushy. We don't want, we're afraid how we're going to be perceived.

So we kind of, we hide the light. We keep that to ourselves. And then we're, we're arms raised at church, but then we hide the light in the workplace. Don't hide your light. Our lives should be an unapologetic, loving example of Jesus. And you don't need to be a great speaker. You don't need to be the most talented evangelist. You just need to follow Jesus and not be shy about what he's doing in your life.

See, the thing that Isaac has the most going for him is not talents or abilities. The most thing, the thing he has the most going for him actually has very little to do with him. It is God's promise resting on him as it rested on his father. And now if you are in Christ, the Bible says that the familial blessing of Abraham is now on you. In Galatians, Paul says this.

He says, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So God's promise that rested on Abraham and rested on his son Isaac now rests on you. That blessing, that promise. Remember, God promised Abraham that he would bless the whole world through his descendants. You are now God's plan A to bless the world.

You are the courier that carries God's blessing to the entire world. And it's not going to happen without us stepping into faith, without letting our light shine, without a little obedience to God, without studying his word, without paying attention to the spirit. It probably won't happen without you being willing to take a little risks and follow him.

And when the people of God do this, that corporate body of Christ becomes, as Jesus says, like a city on a hill that shines brightly for all to see. A.W. Tozer, in his book, The Pursuit of God, he says this. He says, if my fire is not large, it is yet real. And there may be those who can light their candle at its flame. So for a moment, forget about your voice.

Forget about your platform. Forget about the width, the largeness of your fire. My question is, is your fire real? And can at least a few come and light their candle at its flame? Because that's the goal. If just a few can come and light their candle, then that city on the hill, that corporate body of Christ, shines just a bit brighter because a few could come and light their candle.

And we're good at this in this world. We can manufacture a whole lot of light. We can just make light, create some spiritual LED lights where it looks good. It shines super bright. But when the people draw near, they have no way to light their candle. Is your fire real? Can those draw near to you and be revived? Let's keep reading in our passage.

Let's go to verses 30 through 33. Verse 30. And so we see this moment of reconciliation. And it's important to remember that reconciliation always belongs to the one who's been harmed. In this case, it's Isaac. Isaac is the one whose wells have been filled up so they couldn't produce water. Isaac is the one who's been hated and kicked out. Isaac's been the one who's been moved in the land by Abimelech.

Isaac is the one who's been moved in the land by Abimelech. Isaac forgives him. Reconciliation belonged to him because that's how it works. When I was in middle school, a bunch of my friends and I went ice skating up at UTC Mall. And we're ice skating around. There's probably like six or seven of us. And we're ice skating along. And in this amazing moment of teenage unison, we decide to all hold hands and ice skate together, you know.

Just so pure. And so almost pure, though, because there's a girl in the group who I had a crush on. And so I'm like, well, what an opportunity. And so I make sure as we're kind of forming our line that I just happen to be next to her so that I get to hold her hand, right? And now we're all skating together. And I'm holding my crush's hand. And there's like six of us, but it feels like it's just me and her, you know, skating along.

And then in one moment, she falls. And though I'm holding her hand, I do not catch her. And so she reaches out to catch herself on the ice. And as she goes to catch herself, I still have forward momentum. And so the blade of my skate cuts through her finger, cutting her finger to the bone. There's blood everywhere. She has to go to the emergency room.

And it's not the best impression, I understand. And the reality is, if I want to reconcile with her, you know, if I want this to be going well, I can show up to her to the hospital with flowers. I can show up and write her poetry. I could do a song and dance. But unless she desires to reconcile with me, because I'm the one who's cut her hand open, then we won't be reconciled.

And it's pretty hard to get a second date when you cut a girl's hand open. And so we were not reconciled. But I want us to see in our passage today that this entire moment of reconciliation between Isaac and Abimelech all points to God's plan to reconcile with humanity. Because the Bible actually says that when we sin, we sin against God. When I sin against you, I've sinned against God's beloved.

And so my sin is not only against you, it's against God. And so when we sin, it's against him. And so reconciliation belongs to him. But the good news is that God does desire to reconcile. And this pattern, as we talked about in this story, is a gospel pattern that points to God's reconciliation plan. And so if you look in your notes in Genesis, this pattern in Genesis 26, which again is repeated a bunch by Abraham, starts with a deception in the desert where Isaac lies about his wife.

And that leads eventually to a conflict. And the conflict is over wells. And wells in the ancient world are a life source. So it's this conflict over life source. And then eventually there's a shared meal. And that shared meal leads to a new covenant between the two people. And then that leads to reconciliation. And on the same day of reconciliation, it says water is found.

Life springs up from the ground, right? That's the gospel pattern. Because now if you think about Genesis, going back to the Garden of Eden, we're no longer in the desert, we're in the garden. And it starts, we have a deception. Eve is deceived by the serpent. And that leads to a conflict. And the conflict is not only in their world, it's a conflict between man and God.

And now God cuts them off from the life source. God says he has to kick them out of the garden so they don't eat from the tree of life. So they get cut off from the life source. And the rest of the Bible starts to ask the question, how will humanity be reconciled to God? And then one day Jesus himself comes. And during Passover, he shares a meal with his disciples.

Another shared meal when he says, this is my body broken for you. This will be my blood shed for you. And he says that blood will be the new covenant shed for the remission of sins. And so his death now is a new covenant, Jesus announces. And then after Jesus dies and resurrects, there is reconciliation between God and man. And that reconciliation leads to abundant life, what Jesus called living water.

And so you can see that in our passage, this pattern is a gospel pattern that points forward ultimately to God's restoration plan for humanity. It's his plan to restore us to paradise in his presence. And the last thing I want to say within that pattern that I find so interesting is that it says in your passage that it's on the very same day that they reconcile, on the very same day, they find water.

And if we think back, that spring of water that comes up, think back to Genesis chapter 2. In Genesis chapter 2, God creates everything, and then before he creates man, it says a spring of water comes up from the ground. And then from the ground, God then begins to create life. He creates mankind from that spring of water. And then of course, there's the fall.

And after the fall, God curses the ground and makes it hard for the ground to produce life. And now what happens in our passage is in a dry desert place on the cursed ground, after reconciliation happens, life springs up. Water springs up from the ground. And so it's almost as if there's something about reconciliation that begins to reverse the curse and bring healing into our broken world.

And we are called to do just that. We are called to be curse reversers, to become people of reconciliation. This was a massive part of Jesus' teaching. Jesus went around forgiving sins. People asked him, well, man, how often should we forgive? Should we forgive that perfect number in the Bible? It's seven is the number of perfection in Hebrew. Should we forgive them seven times?

And Jesus says, no, 70 times seven. Like it's a continual, complete, perfect forgiveness. So who do you need to reconcile with? Who do you need to forgive? What debts or wrongs do you need to release? And I think it's important to keep in mind that forgiveness does not mean tolerance of abuse, but release of bitterness. I can release bitterness. I can release debts, but I don't necessarily have to engage in the same exact trusting relationship I had before.

I can be wise about that. There's room for wisdom there, but I can release bitterness and debts. And if you're struggling with forgiveness, I think two things are important to remember. One is that the psychological benefits of forgiveness start with the forgiver. There's been many studies about this where it's really beneficial to the one offering forgiveness, to be the forgiver for your own health and well-being.

The other thing is, is that reconciliation, one of the keys to it, is first recognizing your own need for forgiveness. It is to see yourself as the trespasser. And if you can see yourself as the trespasser, you might be more willing to forgive those who trespass against you. It is to see yourself as the one who hung, who nailed Jesus to the cross. And the one in whom he said over, he said, Father, forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing. If you see yourself as the persecutor, you might be able to forgive those who persecute you. It's to see ourselves in that light. And when we do, and we know the depth of forgiveness that we need, we become more eager and able to forgive those around us. John Stott, the British theologian, said this. He said, before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.

We have to recognize our own deep need for forgiveness and celebrate the good news that is you have been forgiven through the love and blood of Christ and then become eager to become curse reversers to extend that love and forgiveness to others. The Apostle Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5.18. He says, All this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

This is our ministry to become people of reconciliation, people who reverse the curse and bring God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. One of the most famous stories about reconciliation is the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981. The Pope was shot four times by a man named Mohammed Aliaka and the Pope lost nearly three quarters of his blood and amazingly, he survived.

But maybe more amazing is what happens after. Later on when he's recovered, he visits his attacker in prison and that image right there of him sitting in the corner, he sat for a long time in the corner privately with his attacker talking to him. And later when he came out, reporters asked the Pope, what did you guys talk about? And the Pope said, well that's going to have to remain a secret.

That's between me and him. Like he's already to the level of relationship where he's keeping secrets with his attacker. He's like, that's just for us. But he did share this. He said, I told him that he is my brother and that he is completely forgiven. Years later, when the Pope had passed away and Mohammed got out of prison, Mohammed was found visiting the Pope's grave, putting flowers on his grave.

There's pictures of him holding up articles about forgiveness as he's released from prison. It deeply impacted his life. But it doesn't take a Pope to forget. You and I have been given the ministry of reconciliation. So who do you need to reconcile with? Maybe it's one another. Maybe it's God. Maybe you're in here and you're like, I just, it's been a while and I just need a moment with God.

I need to come before the Lord. I just need to ask for forgiveness and I've been, I've been distant. I've been far. I've been sinful and I just, you might need a moment. We want this space to create that for you so you can have a moment. We got a great prayer team that will pray for you if you need that moment with God. And finally, we'll close with this. Isaac names the city Beersheba just as his father did and Beersheba has two meanings.

Beer, well and Sheba means one of two things. It means promise or oath, promise. So it's the well of the promise or it also means seven, the number seven. And the idea, I think, behind the name is two things. One is become a place of God's promise because of the reconciliation that happens. It points forward to the promise of reconciliation between us and God. It also points forward in the seven to how we should forgive one another as Jesus talks about.

But it points backwards to Genesis and the seven day creation and the perfection of the garden of Eden. And what happens when we forgive one another is we create these little microcosms of Eden where we become back in right relationship between you and me and there's right relationship between us and God. And one day God will restore all things to himself. But until then our ministry is to create these little Eden pockets of love and reconciliation with one another.

Amen? Amen. I'm going to invite the band back up and there's a couple practical takeaways I'll read in your notes. And the first practical takeaway is this. Live a questionable life. A life shaped by obedience to Jesus becomes a visible witness a light in the darkness. Live a questionable life. Number two become a curse reverser by pursuing reconciliation whenever possible because we're reconciliation happens healing and life begin to flow.

And then finally when struggling with forgiveness remember that you have been the recipient of much. Also do not forget that forgiveness does not mean tolerance of abuse but release of bitterness. bitterness. And if you want to release bitterness I just want to encourage you today just ask God. It's like Lord I can't do that in my own strength. I can't do that by my own ability but I just need you to help me forgive help me to see how much I've been forgiven that I might just go and start to forgive others.

Let's respond and worship and we'll close with a blessing. I'm forgiven because you were forsaken Let's stand together. I'm accepted You were condemned I'm alive and well Your spirit is within me Because you died and rose again Amazing love How can it be? I know it's true It's my joy to honor You In all I do I honor You I want to extend your hands as we just bless you today and if you need prayer I want to invite the prayer team up to pray If you have questions about next steps we've got a next steps table in the back and let me just pray for us Father God we just first we give you so much gratitude and praise because we have been forgiven we have been set free It is for freedom that we've been set free Lord and so we just praise You for that Jesus and God help us to become now people of reconciliation people who create Eden-like pockets in this world people who reverse the curse God and bring Your blessing to all the world We love You Jesus We praise You in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit