"And Isaac sowed ... and received ... a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. (Genesis 26:12)
The Hebrew particle which is rendered "and" has also a host of other uses. In fact, there is scarcely any connective for which it does not stand. Gesenius, the Hebrew lexicographer, tells us that: "This particle is very widely extended in its use, since the Hebrews, in many cases in which sentences require to be connected, did not make any precise distinction of the manner of connection; and thus in the simplicity of ancient language they made use of one copula, in cases in which, in more cultivated languages, adversative causal, or final particles would be used."
Instances are numerous in which the same word so often rendered "and" is correctly rendered "because." With this explanation we may be sure that we are not taking any liberty with the text when we read it thus: "Isaac sowed ... and received ... a hundredfold; because the Lord blessed him."
Segond has it: "Car l'Éternel le bénit." "for the Lord blesses him." The blessing of the Lord does not come because of our prosperity, but is the cause of it. Man may sow, but it is God who gives the increase. He does not always give us material wealth, as an evidence of His blessing; yet we have this sure promise: "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed; for you shall be a delightsome land, says the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 3:10,12-13)
However, no thought of what we may receive should ever enter into our service to God; for in that case it would not be service to God, but mere self-serving. God's promise to Isaac was" "I will multiply your seed." (Genesis 26:24)
This was a repetition of the promise to Abraham, that God would bless him by giving him an abundant posterity. Now take notice of the significance of the statement occurring in the same chapter, that God blessed Isaac in giving him an abundant harvest for his sowing. God multiplied his seed that he sowed, and from this Isaac could learn the reality of God's promise when He said: "I will multiply your seed," (Genesis 26:24) meaning his own posterity. Thus every returning harvest is a reminder to us that God will multiply godly men and fill the earth with them, and it is at the same time an announcement of the coming gathering of the faithful at the final harvest, which is the end of the world and the coming of Christ.--Present Truth, August 22, 1901--Genesis 26:12.
E.J. Waggoner