“And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them” (Genesis 26:18).
Contrary to the friendly covenant the Philistines had made with Abraham, they had stopped up the wells Abraham had dug and had re-named them in an attempt to obliterate remembrance of God’s people. As Isaac took over and settled in the land, God blessed him abundantly; and he became a wealthy man, arousing the envy of the Philistines.
To keep peace, Isaac agreed to re-locate; when he did, he opened up some of the wells the Philistines had filled in. And, further, he restored to the wells the original names given by Abraham.
These wells have become a symbol of the wells of living water, provided to the world by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Just as the wells of old were filled in and re-named, so man has made attempts to alter God’s plan for salvation and has even given man-made names to biblical items.
To receive God’s blessing and make heaven our eternal home, we must do as Isaac did: we must re-dig the wells of Zion. That is, we must associate ourselves with those who are diligent in following God’s plan as He gave it and in calling Bible things by Bible names. Only then will God be pleased.