God's Promise Fulfilled
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Text: Genesis 20-21
1 Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,
2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
3 One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”
4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?
5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”
8 Early the next morning Abimelech got up and summoned all his servants; and when he described to them all that had happened, the men were terrified.
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
10 Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do such a thing?”
11 Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
13 So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
14 So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.
15 And Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you please.”
16 And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—
18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
1 Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
3 And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.
4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
7 She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8 So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
10 and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
11 Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.
13 But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.
17 Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.
18 Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.
21 And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
23 Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”
24 And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”
25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
26 Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.
28 Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,
29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”
30 He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
32 After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
34 And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
PRAY
Introduction & Context
Let’s take a moment to review what we’ve seen so far from the life of Abraham.
The story of Abraham begins at the end of Genesis chapter 11, which records the genealogy from Noah’s son Shem down through Abraham’s family. We learn that Abraham’s family originally lived in Ur in Mesopotamia, where Abraham and his brothers were married, but at some point they moved to Haran in response to God’s command.
Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren, unable to have children. But in chapter 12, God appeared to Abram and made promises to him regarding land, offspring, and universal blessing through him. Abraham responded in faith and obedience and went to the land of Canaan.
Abraham’s faith faltered a little when they went down to Egypt during a famine, and he lied about his relationship with Sarah to protect himself. Despite his failure, God protected them both and continued to bless them.
In pursuit of peace, Abraham separated from Lot in chapter 13, and God made some additional promises to Abraham there. In chapter 14, Abraham risked his life to rescue his nephew Lot from the kings of the east, and he received the blessing from Melchizedek.
In chapter 15, we learn of Abraham’s faith in God’s promise and see God demonstrate the certainty of His promise with a covenant ceremony. Shortly after that, in chapter 16, Abraham faltered again and conceived a boy named Ishmael with Sarah’s Egyptian servant.
But once again, despite Abraham’s failure, God continued proving His faithfulness. God confirmed His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, gave him the sign of circumcision, and promised a son through Sarah. Abraham and Sarah both laughed at God’s promise, but God meant what He said.
Abraham enjoyed a time of fellowship with the Lord, speaking with Him as a friend, and pleading on behalf of Lot and his family. And God mercifully rescued Lot out of Sodom because of His love and concern for Abraham.
So what we find as we observe the flow of Abraham’s life is that God gives him commands and promises, and sometimes he responds in faith, love, and obedience, while other times he fails. God’s promises seem to keep getting bigger and clearer, and Abraham’s faith, love, and obedience seem to be growing, but his failures also keep growing more significant as we go along.
What stands out then is that despite Abraham’s failures to trust and obey God at times, he is growing closer to God, and God continues to prove Himself faithful to His promises as He keeps blessing Abraham even when Abraham falters.
And we’ll see the same thing in our passage today. Abraham fails in a spectacular way and puts the fulfillment of God’s promise in jeopardy, humanly speaking. But God remains faithful and keeps His promise despite Abraham’s failure.
God is faithful even when we are not. And this truth should provide great encouragement for us.
God always does what He says He’ll do, and our failures will not keep Him from keeping His promises.
God is always faithful.
In these two chapters we have sort of a sandwich — on both sides, the bread if you will, are human failures that threaten the fulfillment of God’s promise; and the meat in the middle is the fulfillment of God’s promise despite human failure.
So what the Scripture is communicating to us here is that while our failures and the opposition we face from others seem to threaten the fulfillment of God’s promises, God is always faithful, and He will fulfill His promises.
So let’s look first at…
A Threat to the Accomplishment of God’s Promise: Abraham’s Second Sister-Fib (20:1-18)
A Threat to the Accomplishment of God’s Promise: Abraham’s Second Sister-Fib (20:1-18)
If I had a nickel for every time Abraham lied about his wife and said she was his sister, I’d have two nickels — which is not a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. As we reviewed already, this is not the first time this happens, but this time it’s much worse because of the timing and the promises that Abraham has received.
The first time he lied about Sarah was shortly after he arrived in Canaan, about 24 years earlier. He was still new to the faith at that point, just starting to get to know God. And at that point, while God had promised him offspring, He had not specifically said that they would come through Sarah. Abraham’s action was still evil and cowardly, but more understandable and excusable.
But now 24 years have passed. Abraham has come to know the LORD in a much deeper and fuller way, enjoying close friendship with Him. He has seen God act in miraculous ways to protect him and his family, and he has received many additional promises from God. And God has specifically told him now that the promised offspring will come through Sarah. And God gave him a timeline — it’s in the next year.
At this point we would hope and expect that Abraham will do everything possible to protect his wife, knowing that they are supposed to be conceiving a child anytime (and it’s possible that the child was already conceived at this point). But instead Abraham risks his wife’s purity once again to protect himself. His cowardly actions put the fulfillment of God’s promise at risk.
But as we’ll see, although Abraham fails, God sovereignly intervenes to protect Sarah’s purity and assure the fulfillment of His promises.
Abraham’s Lie & Sarah’s Danger (v. 1-2)
Abraham’s Lie & Sarah’s Danger (v. 1-2)
1 Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar, 2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
Back in chapter 12, it tells us that a famine was the motivation for Abraham’s journey south to Egypt. Here it doesn’t tell us the reason he’s moving south, but this time he doesn’t go quite as far south. He goes to the southern region of the promised land, called the Negev, and he settles in the territory of the Philistines, in a town called Gerar — “sojourn-town.”
Once again, out of fear, Abraham lies about his wife and claims she is his sister instead.
This puts Sarah in danger. Even at 89 years old, Sarah is apparently still attractive and desirable enough that the king, Abimelech, wants her for himself. So he has his servants take Sarah and bring her to him.
Again, this is taking place within the year that God said Sarah would conceive and bear a son — probably before Isaac has been conceived, though we’re not sure of the exact timeline.
So Abraham is putting the fulfillment of God’s promise in jeopardy by risking his wife’s life and purity. The mother of the promised nation is at risk of being defiled before the nation even begins.
But God always fulfills His promises. Nothing and no one can stand in His way of doing what He has planned. And King Abimelech is no exception.
God’s Rebuke to Abimelech (v. 3-7)
God’s Rebuke to Abimelech (v. 3-7)
3 One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”
God intervenes in Abimelech’s dream, warning and commanding him to return Sarah to Abraham on penalty of death.
4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?
We breathe a sigh of relief in v. 4 when we learn that he had not gone near Sarah yet. And his question to the LORD is remarkably similar to Abraham’s from chapter 18 - a more literal rendering of his question is, “My Lord, will you slay a nation even though it is righteous?” Just like Abraham, Abimelech is now pleading with God on the basis of His justice.
5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
Abimelech proclaims his innocence, insisting that he has not knowingly done something wrong. This was an unintentional sin.
We do learn from the end of the chapter that Abimelech already had a wife, so like Abraham he would have been guilty of polygamy here, and yet God acknowledges the unintentional nature of his sin:
6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
God says that He kept Abimelech from sinning. God prevented Abimelech from touching or defiling Sarah in any way.
God has the power and ability to interfere in the thoughts, words, actions, and desires of men in order to accomplish His purposes. God sovereignly directed the circumstances in Abimelech’s life and the desires of his heart so as to keep him from sinning sexually with Sarah.
And God can and does sovereignly intervene in our lives to keep us from sin. How many times has God orchestrated the circumstances of our lives or directed our desires in such a way that we avoided sin?
The fact is, we don’t know how or how often God does this, but that He does in fact do it is clear from this verse; and the fact that Jesus instructs us to pray “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”, if it means anything at all, means that God has the ability to keep us away from sin.
This contradicts the idea that God is limited by the free will of man. God’s will is freer than man’s will, and God can and does interfere in people’s free choices to accomplish His good purposes. God is sovereign over all, and His purpose will prevail.
Here His purpose was to preserve Sarah’s purity so that she could conceive the promised son. So He kept Abimelech away from her.
7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”
So now God commands Abimelech to return Sarah to Abraham, promising healing in case of obedience and death in the case of disobedience - death not only for Abimelech, but also everyone in his kingdom.
Abimelech’s Interaction with Abraham (v. 8-15)
Abimelech’s Interaction with Abraham (v. 8-15)
First, Abimelech informs his servants of what’s going on:
8 Early the next morning Abimelech got up and summoned all his servants; and when he described to them all that had happened, the men were terrified.
Then he questions Abraham
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
10 Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do such a thing?”
Abraham responds with an excuse
11 Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’
12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
13 So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
Out of fear for his own life, he put his wife in harm’s way — even though God had told him that she also was vital to God’s plan to bring the promised son. Abraham is acting selfishly and cowardly here. He is living by sight and not by faith. He is relying on his own understanding instead of trusting in the LORD with all his heart.
Verse 13 also indicates to us that this was a planned pattern of deception. From the beginning of their journeys, they had planned to lie about their relationship — so it’s always possible that there were other accounts of this deception besides Genesis chapters 12 and 20 that are not recorded.
After this conversation, Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham and invites them to settle in his land
14 So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.
15 And Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. Settle wherever you please.”
As in the case with Pharoah in chapter 12, Abraham received great wealth from Abimelech.
But unlike Pharoah who drove them out of Egypt, Abimelech invites them to stay nearby in his land. Knowing that Abraham is a prophet and that he is under God’s special protection makes Abimelech think it’s a good idea to have him close by, even despite his lies and deception that almost cost Abimelech his life.
Abimelech and Sarah Vindicated (v. 16)
Abimelech and Sarah Vindicated (v. 16)
As an indication of Sarah’s purity and Abimelech’s, he makes a public payment of 1000 pieces of silver to show their innocence of sexual sin.
16 And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”
Abraham’s Prayer for Restoration (v. 17-18)
Abraham’s Prayer for Restoration (v. 17-18)
As God had told Abimelech, Abraham prayed for him and God brought healing.
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—
18 for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
Principles:
Some of the principles that we see in this chapter are
Life and Death Are in God’s Hand
Life and Death Are in God’s Hand
When God came to Abimelech in his dream he told him “you will surely die” — the same words spoken to Adam in Eden — if you do not return Sarah to Abraham. God has the power and the right to put him to death, but graciously spares his life.
As the end of the chapter indicates, God also has the power to prevent or allow life to be formed. It says that following Abraham’s prayer for them, God healed the people so that the women could bear children again, because the LORD had closed their wombs. God is sovereign over both taking life and giving it.
Life and death are in God’s hand.
God Is Sovereign over Men’s Actions
God Is Sovereign over Men’s Actions
The Bible affirms our freedom and moral responsibility in our choices as well as God’s absolute sovereignty over all things. We must be careful to affirm both things as well, regardless of how difficult it is to understand.
We freely make our own choices and we are morally accountable for those choices, and yet God sovereignly governs all things, including our free choices. He does not force us to act against our will, but He works in and through our choices to accomplish His good purpose.
I never have the right to blame God for my sin, nor do I have the right to take credit for anything good I do. God restrained Abimelech’s sinful desires to keep him from sinning with Sarah. And He restrains much evil in our world today and in our lives individually.
The fact that people are not more sinful than they are — and the reason that we do not sin more than we do — is not owing to any goodness inherent in us, but to the grace of God that prevents us from being as bad as we could be. The English Reformer John Bradford, as he watched criminals going to their execution, reportedly said, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
It is only great pride to think that we are incapable of gross sin. Humility forces us to acknowledge and give thanks for the grace of God in keeping us from sin and its consequences. He graciously protects us from countless sins that we might otherwise fall into. And so we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Because He can, and as we trust His grace, He will.
God Protected the Chosen Family despite Their Sin
God Protected the Chosen Family despite Their Sin
Hopefully it’s clear by now that God did not choose Abraham because of his righteousness. God chose Abraham in order to make him righteous and ultimately to bring through his line the only truly righteous One, Jesus Christ.
But despite Abraham’s failure here, God continues to protect him and bless him, fulfilling His covenant promises to Abraham. He protects Abraham and Sarah here so that He can bring forth the son He had promised, and that’s exactly what happened in Genesis 21.
God’s Promise Fulfilled (21:1-8)
God’s Promise Fulfilled (21:1-8)
Abraham has been waiting for 25 years since God first promised that he would become a great nation. God had made many promises to him in that time, and now, finally, he gets to taste a little bit of the fulfillment of God’s promises.
God’s Faithfulness
God’s Faithfulness
And what these first couple of verses of Genesis 21 remind us is that God is faithful to His promises. What He says, He will do, so we can and must trust Him.
1 Now the LORD attended to Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what He had promised.
2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised.
God did exactly what He said He would do. He enabled a 99 year old man and an 89 year old woman who were beyond the age of child bearing to conceive and give birth to a son. What’s more, He did it exactly at the time that He had promised, demonstrating His control over all things, down to the details of our lives.
How did they respond to this blessing from God?
Responses from Abraham and Sarah
Responses from Abraham and Sarah
Obedience from Abraham, in naming him and following God’s command to circumcise him.
3 And Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore to him.
4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Then Laughter from Sarah — but this time she’s not laughing in doubt, but rather in joyful excitement at the fulfillment of God’s promise. What seemed too good to be true is, in fact, true.
6 Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”
7 She added, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
God’s promise had seemed unbelievable - too good to be true. But it was true, and now Sarah laughs again and wants others to share her joy.
Then in v. 8, there’s a Celebration
8 So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.
In response to God’s goodness and fulfillment of His promise, they can’t help but be joyful and celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness to them.
This section is the center of these two chapters, highlighting God’s faithfulness to His covenant promise.
Threats to the Ongoing Fulfillment of God’s Promise (21:9-31)
Threats to the Ongoing Fulfillment of God’s Promise (21:9-31)
Before this we saw a threat to the fulfillment of the promise because of Abraham’s lie, and in the rest of chapter 21 there are further obstacles to the ongoing fulfillment of the promises.
Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael, Abraham’s son with Hagar, becomes a threat to Isaac’s wellbeing as he mocks him in v. 9:
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking her son,
It’s not completely clear in the Hebrew what Ishmael was doing — whether he was laughing at Isaac in a mocking way or doing something else deemed inappropriate, but whatever it was he did evoked a concerned and jealous response from Sarah:
Sarah’s response
10 and she said to Abraham, “Expel the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!”
They need to be gone because they’re not part of God’s covenant promises, and being 13 years older, Ishmael seems to be a threat to Isaac as he is growing up. Paul’s interpretation of this account in Galatians 4 says that the son born by the flesh (Ishmael) persecuted the son born by the Spirit (Isaac), and for this reason he was expelled.
Galatians 4 is a very interesting passage, by the way, where Paul argues for a typological connection between Hagar and the Old Covenant and Sarah and the New Covenant, showing how those committed to the Old Covenant (the Jews) were persecuting those in the New Covenant (Christians) just as Ishmael persecuted Isaac. It’s a fascinating passage, but I’ll leave that for your own study for now.
Abraham’s distress - How did Abraham feel about this?
11 Now this matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son Ishmael.
Abraham loved his son Ishmael of course, so he was torn. But…
God’s confirmation of the need for Ishmael’s expulsion
12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and your maidservant. Listen to everything that Sarah tells you, for through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.
13 But I will also make a nation of the slave woman’s son, because he is your offspring.”
God confirms that this is what needs to happen — Ishmael and Hagar need to leave; but God promises to protect Ishmael and bless him for Abraham’s sake. So Abraham obeys.
And we see in v. 14 Abraham’s obedience and his care for Hagar and Ishmael
14 Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
But more importantly, God is caring for Hagar and Ishmael
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I cannot bear to watch the boy die!” And as she sat nearby, she lifted up her voice and wept.
17 Then God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he lies.
18 Get up, lift up the boy, and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up and settled in the wilderness and became a great archer.
21 And while he was dwelling in the Wilderness of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Once again God shows His care and concern for Hagar and Ishmael, and He reminds them of the meaning of Ishmael’s name: God has heard. God heard, and He took care of them.
There is also a need for peace with those living around Abraham in order to guarantee the ongoing fulfillment of the promise.
Need for Peace with Abimelech
Need for Peace with Abimelech
Evidence of God’s blessing
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.
I love what Abimelech says here. We can tell that God is with you. God is clearly blessing you and everything you do. And we want to share in that blessing.
So they express a Desire for a treaty
23 Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”
24 And Abraham replied, “I swear it.”
Abimelech had treated Abraham very kindly, considering Abraham’s previous dishonesty and how he almost got Abimelech killed. But Abimelech gave Abraham generous gifts and allowed him to settle in his land.
Now he wants there to be a formal peaceful relationship between them, not only for them, but also for future generations.
Sadly, we’ll find that later on, Abraham’s son Isaac causes trouble for Abimelech once again, but that’s another story for another time.
As they are making a peace treaty, there is a Conflict that surfaces and needs to be resolved
25 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized,
26 Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.”
In response, they have a covenant ceremony and give a name to the well celebrating their commitment.
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.
28 Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock,
29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why have you set apart these seven ewe lambs?”
30 He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
32 After they had made the covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
Beersheba seems to be a play on words, because it means both “well of the oath” and “well of the seven.” So they swore an oath and made this covenant with each other to live in peace.
And the chapter ends with Abraham’s worship
33 And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham resided in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Perhaps in response to God’s fulfillment of His promises and His protection from the threats to the promises, Abraham once again calls on the name of the LORD — he worships the Lord, the Eternal God.
Despite Abraham’s failures, and despite the threats from outside, God proved Himself faithful to His promises. He did exactly what He said He would do, exactly when He said He would do it.
This gives us confidence as well.
Despite our own failures, and despite circumstances and people that may seem to work against us, God will always fulfill His promises.
He will most certainly be and do everything that He has promised to be and do for us. If you trust His promises, you will not be put to shame.
Hear some of His promises for those who will trust Him.
I will always be with you, to the end of the age.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
I will forgive your sins and never call to mind your lawless deeds.
I will adopt you as my child.
I will give you my peace that surpasses human understanding.
My grace is sufficient for you.
I will make every circumstance work for your good.
I will be your God.
I will strengthen you.
I will help you.
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
My love for you will never end.
I will guide you and lead you in paths of righteousness.
And there are so many more.
Nothing and no one can stand in the way of God’s fulfillment of His promises to you. If you truly trust Him, even if you fail in terrible ways, God will do what He has promised. Not because you have earned it or deserve it, but simply because God is gracious and merciful, patient and abounding in love. And He is always faithful to His promises.
Oh for Grace to trust Him more!
PRAY
