Genesis 26:24  And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. (KJV)

Isaac-the promised son of Abram is the “him” who the LORD (Yahweh) appeared too.

LORD- I AM-what God tell us His name is:  Exodus 3:14

I AM beginning and end  Revelation 1:8

I AM alpha and omega    Revelation 22:13

I AM the one true God     Isaiah 44:6

I AM the Word.                John 1:1

I AM who provides    Genesis 22:14

I AM reminds Isaac of His promise to his father Abraham

I AM the God who keeps His promises even after the death of the one to whom the promise was given.                     Genesis 26:24,

I AM does not negate His promise because of sin.   Deuteronomy 7:9   GOOD TO KNOW!

I AM’s ways are not our ways.    Isaiah 55:8

I AM is the way, the truth, and the life.  John 14:6

I AM is Jesus the promised one who will be a blessing to all nations.  Genesis 22:18

I AM cannot lie        Numbers 23:19

This God, the one true God, is appearing to Isaac for a second time!  The first time the LORD appeared to Isaac during a famine and instructed him to go to Egypt. Genesis 26:1  The second time God appeared to Isaac was while Isaac was digging water wells and was encountering great resistance.  God again confirms His word to Abraham thus reassuring Isaac.  He renewed his promise to Abraham that he would have many children, land, and be the nation through whom all nations would be blessed. Genesis 26:2-5, 19-24.

Kay Arthur, the founder of Precepts Ministries and Bible teacher extraordinaire, would be proud of this!  Looking up every Scripture that says “fear not” and looking up the Hebrew words and the definitions associated with them, cross referencing and in the words of A.L. Courtney, “hanging on every word of Scripture because it is important,” pays big dividends in the long run.  To be candid, sometimes this kind of study is tedious and makes me feel like I am drowning and can be exhausting because it exercises spiritual muscles seldom used in this instant age of knowledge.  Long gone are the days of digging through card catalogs at the local library seeking information.  Now we plug in our question in the search engine bar and instantly we have more information than we could digest in two lifetimes.  This slow and steady, one verse a day, to dig out the meaning of every word is how we glean God’s promises to us!  The wonderful thing about the Old Testament is it is the promise of Messiah and every word is His story.  Sometimes while studying I want to quit because I think I am wasting my time mining a single scripture verse, and suddenly I will find the clearest, coolest water and the effort to dig in and not give up is rewarded.  In this case:  I AM is with thee (me, you, us)!  Now that is a reward and a reason to fear not!

Blessings,

Yvonne