Genesis 26:25, commentary and pictures

After yielding the wells his persecutors seized rather than contending for his rights, Isaac settles at Beersheba where the Lord appears to him that same night to assure him of His presence and renew to him the promise made to Abraham, and in response he builds an altar and calls upon the name of the Lord, pitches his tent there, and his servants dig a well.
His altar and worship belong to God's providential care for Abraham's family as the chosen line through whom the promised Seed would come, and renew His covenant with Isaac as one of its progenitors.
As with Noah, Abraham and Jacob, his building an altar and offering sacrifices shows that directions concerning sacrifices, altars and priestly duties had already been given in the earliest age, and his worship teaches the same truth later set out fully in the tabernacle services, that God would restore fallen humanity and dwell among them through the Son of God in the flesh and His mediatorship.
In building an altar and calling on the Lord wherever he settles he keeps up patriarchal family worship and prayer from place to place, keeping the altar fires burning in trust in God's promises.
By sacrificing his own advantage for peace and committing his cause to God rather than striving, he is made room for to be fruitful and prosper, so that his meek, faithful life shows those around him that the Lord is with him and stands as a model for missionary work.

Setting at Beersheba

Famine carries Isaac into the land of the Philistines, where he receives abundant blessing. His differences with the Philistines over wells belong to that sojourn, in which he yields more than justice requires and God blesses him in consequence. The wells are fully his by inheritance from Abraham and by digging them anew, yet he refuses to strive over them. The Philistines had stopped them up, showing they did not want them, yet claimed them once opened. Rather than contending for his rights against his persecutors and their unjust demands, he yields each one and moves on until God makes room for him to be fruitful, committing his cause to God who works for him.

After that yielding he settles at Beersheba, also called Beer-sheba. That same night the Lord appears to him, telling him not to fear because He is with him to bless him and multiply his offspring for Abraham's sake. This assures him of God's presence and blessing and renews the promise made to Abraham, and his meekness is guided by the Lord who so appears to him.

In response to that assurance he worships and settles there. He builds an altar and calls upon the name of the Lord, showing his religious character. He pitches his tent and encamps there in a temporary settlement. There his servants dig a well to provide water and to seek water for the encampment.

Covenant Worship and Doctrine

Genesis 26:25 stands at the renewing of the covenant to Isaac and shows the constancy of angelic guardianship over him. It belongs to the providential dealings with Abraham's family as the chosen family through whom the promised Seed was to come. Within that purpose it shows God's special providence over Isaac as one of the progenitors of the promised Seed. Because Isaac refused to contend for his rights and committed his cause to God, God worked for him and prospered his settling and encamping there, his worship, and the digging of the well.

The blessing resting on Isaac is given because Abraham obeyed God's voice and kept His charge, His commandments, His statutes, and His laws, and Isaac's later conduct is to be understood in the light of that obedience. What Abraham kept is not to be reduced to three isolated commands to leave his people, to walk through the land, and to offer Isaac. It must be read alongside the broader account beginning in Genesis 12.

Isaac's building an altar and offering sacrifice does the same as Noah, Abraham, and Jacob did. This proves that God had already given directions to the patriarchs in the earliest ages concerning sacrifices, altars, priests, and related duties. Genesis gives no direct record of those commands because no books were written at that time. The practice is therefore evidence that the ceremonial law existed long before Moses, at whose time both the ceremonial and the moral laws were written out fully.

Isaac built the altar where he settled temporarily and called upon the name of the Lord, as the patriarchs did at their places of residence. The altar and its worship taught the same truth later set out more fully and in greater detail in the tabernacle services. That truth was God's plan to restore fallen humanity through the Son of God in the flesh and through His mediatorship. It was also God's plan to dwell among humanity through the gift of His Son.

In response to the assurance of God's presence and promise, Isaac worshiped and settled there by building an altar, calling upon the name of the Lord, pitching his tent, and having his servants dig a well. Like Abraham, he kept the altar fires burning and trusted in God's promises. His building an altar and calling upon the Lord at a new place presents the patriarchal family worship and family prayer that accompanied them as they moved from place to place.

Peacemaking Missionary Example

Isaac's faithful, practical way of life in Philistia is a model for missionary work, for his farm prospered and those around him recognized that the Lord was with him. His religious character is seen in that he built an altar and called upon the Lord. His servants dug a well there to provide water.

His meekness was guided by the Lord, for rather than contending for his rights he sacrificed his own advantage for peace and committed his cause to God, who worked for him. When famine carried him into the land of the Philistines he received abundant blessing, yet in his differences with the Philistines he yielded more than justice required. He refused to strive over wells that were fully his by inheritance from Abraham and by digging them anew, though the Philistines had shown they did not want them by stopping them up and yet claimed them once opened, and he yielded each one and moved on rather than contending for his rights under their unjust demands. After yielding to his persecutors he settled at Beer-sheba, where he worshiped the Lord, pitched his tent and encamped there, and sought water by his servants digging a well. His meekness was guided by the Lord who appeared to him that same night telling him not to fear because He was with him to bless him and multiply his offspring for Abraham's sake, renewing the promise made to Abraham.

God blessed his continual yielding in consequence and made room for him to be fruitful, prospering his settling, worship, and well-digging, so that away from his tormentors he found room and prosperity. As one of the progenitors of the promised Seed he was under God's special providence, and God worked for him because he refused to contend for his rights but committed his cause to God. His willingness to sacrifice his own advantage for peace was rewarded with peace with his enemies. His continual yielding gave Abimelech and his men opportunity to see that God was with him and that he was blessed by God, and the people around him recognized that the Lord was with him.