Water Wars Date to Biblical Times -- Isaac's Servants and local herdsmen quarreled over Groundwater

I was reading the book of Genesis a few evenings ago when I came across a pretty astounding group of passages in Chapter 26. That Chapter discusses the life of Isaac -- son of Abraham and one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people -- and his struggles with the Philistines.

Verses 12-14 tell us of Isaac's increasing wealth, and how it caused the Philistines to envy him. Verse 25 provides that "all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth." This struck me as an odd way to express envy, but then again, the Philistines were never known as gentlemen.

Eventually, Isaac is forced to move away from the Philistines, so he settled in the Valley of Gerar. Verse 18 tells us that "Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them."

Then the fighting started: Genesis 26:19 --

Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, [b] because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. [c] 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, [d] saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

This got me thinking...According to most Bible timelines, Isaac was born approximately 1850 years B.C. He was probably in his 40's or 50's when he was required to leave the Philistines on account of his great wealth and power. This means that the groundwater dispute between the local herdsmen and Isaac's servants occurred approximately 4000 years ago! That's a realluy, really long time ago, yet the water wars continue today.

In modern-day Texas, the water wars often pit local landowners against those who travel a great distance to secure a water supply. The quarrels that accompany today's groundwater disputes probably rival those that occurred in the Valley of Gerar.

Let's just hope that today's Texans eventually recognize the wisdom of Genesis 26:22 "the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land."