The Abraham Story Part 19: Abraham's Covenant with Abimelech

Abraham’s Covenant with Abimelech

Today we are going through the second half of Genesis 21 which happens in two parts

The first part is focused on Hagar and Yishmael, which makes sense. That's what flows right out of it. 

But next is gonna come another round of interactions between Avraham and Abimelech. 

Abraham just received the divine command to give in to Sarah's evil intent and send off his firstborn son.

Hagar and Ismael

Genesis 21:14–21 CSB

14 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes 16 and went and sat at a distance, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” While she sat at a distance, she wept loudly. 17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the boy crying from the place where he is. 18 Get up, help the boy up, and grasp his hand, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

"So Avraham got up early in the morning, he took bread and a skin of water, and he gave it to Hagar and he put it upon the shoulder and the child." There's a famous ambiguity here of, is he putting the bread and water on her shoulder? Or is he putting the child on her shoulder?

Back in chapter 17, we learned that Yishmael was 13 years old. So putting a teenage boy on his mom's shoulder But actually the reason for that ambiguity is intentional for something that's coming later. So just kind of note that.

"And he sent her away.

And so she went and she wandered in the wilderness of Beer Sheva," which is the Hebrew phrase, well, the word "well" is "be'er" and then "sheva" is the number seven. The Well of Seven. Sevenfold waters of a well.

"And so the water finished from the skin, the water ran dry." not enough water in the wilderness.

"And so she cast the child, she threw him under one of the bushes.

And she went and she sat for herself some distance away, going about as far as someone could shoot a bow." Why did she do that? Well, it's because, she said, "'I can't see the death of the child.' And she sat a distance away. She lifted her voice and she wept."

So think the Cain and Abel.

She's wronged, she goes out into the wilderness.

She's certain that she's going to die there in the wilderness. Think the Cain story. Remember what Cain says? "I'm gonna die out here.

Whoever finds me out here is gonna kill me for sure." And also in that scene, it's Abel's blood rising up and God hears it. So look at how all those motifs are turned here. 

She goes out and she's certain this is a death sentence. "And she cries and lifts up her voice and she weeps. And Elohim heard the voice of the boy." So we know mom's crying, but then apparently the boy is saying or doing something because the sound rises up to God.

So what did God hear in Genesis 4? The cry of the victim. What does he hear here? The voice and the cry of the victims.

"And the messenger of Elohim called to Hagar from the skies and said to her, 'What's the matter, Hagar? What concerns you? Listen, don't be afraid. Elohim has heard the voice of the boy right in the place where he is.'" Where is he?

Under bush.

He's basically in a bush. He's just sitting there in a bush.

"'Get up, pick up the boy, take him with your hands. I'm going to make him into a nation, a great nation.' And Elohim opened her eyes." Her eyes were opened, anybody?

And they ate of the fruit. And their eyes were opened. And what did they see? Nakedness.

Here then is Genesis 4, the mirror vision of Genesis 3. And here, the victim whose cries rose up to God, she opened her eyes and she sees not nakedness that leads to death, but she sees life and water. "She sees a well of water. And she went and she filled up the skin of water," 'cause remember it had run dry, "and she gave drink to the young one.

And from that day on, Elohim was with that young boy. He grew up big." Remember just like Yitzhaq grew up big in the previous scene, now Yishmael grows up big living in the wilderness. "Man, he was a great shooter of the bow.

He dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt." In Genesis 4, God has mercy on the murderer and gives him a sign of protection. And of course, Cain is more interested in his own version of protection, which is the city.

But nonetheless, God has mercy on this one. Even though the roles have been reversed, it's the same. The banished, non-chosen one is facing death, and God provides water in the wilderness. 

Water in the wilderness. Eden.

And then also because the story of Eden is a creation out of un-creation story, we're at this beat. This is Hagar's de-creation, death in the wilderness, and rebirth in the wilderness through the water of life. So notice the motifs, we're just in Genesis 21, but the motifs and images are all, have been all so established now that just a few little images can bring out all kinds of meaning.

Floodwater Images

The bow, the shooting of the bow. When's the last time a bow appeared?

Noah and his family are rescued from the flood of too much water and given a covenant sign of the bow to remember God’s promise. Hagar and Yishmael are rescued from not having any water and given protection and promise. The words “bow” and “multiply” are homonyms in Hebrew, different words spelled with the same letters, and this is a key linking word that ties the two narratives together.

God's sign that he wouldn't ever allow the waters to be too much again. And so this is such a clever, it is just a clever allusion. Whereas here it's the opposite. It's about not enough waters. So he gives water where there was no water. And this image of shooting the bow. 

we're recalling God's gracious promise as master of the waters. And there it was to shut off the waters. Here it's to give the waters.

A different Spirit Being

if you are doing study you might come across the idea that the Elohim here is a different spirit being then YHWH God of Abraham.

But with the growth of the divine council POV and the widely accepted idea that Ishmael is the founder of Islam. We are seeing a growth in such ideas.

I personally don’t hold to it, though I suppose it is possible that Yhwh kept his promise to Hagar through another Elohim, who then will later try and establish himself as God in the form of Allah.

It is an interesting Idea that has no biblical support other than the usage of the word Elohim instead of YHWH. and latter ideas.

Elohim emphasizes God's power and majesty; YHWH emphasizes His covenantal relationship and faithfulness.

I also don’t see why it would have to be an Elohim here for Islam to adopt it later.

Avraham Loses His Firstborn Son ... First

This story and the following story of the binding of Yitskhaq in Genesis 22 are the narrative culminations of Avraham’s many failed tests. The sin of Avraham and Sarah against Hagar that began in Genesis 16 has created a conflict that has boiled over in chapter 21. And while God allows them to expel Hagar and her son, the expulsion is depicted on analogy to the near loss of Yitskhaq that will soon follow

It’s as if God is finally requiring of Avraham the consequences of his and Sarah’s failures. The following list of parallels between the two stories shows a clearly intended analogy.

In both stories, God saves Avraham’s sons from the death that was set in motion by God’s own commands— first to expel Yishmael, second to offer Yitskhaq as a sacrifice.

Both crises are resolved by God providing a solution (water and a ram) at the last moment to a parent who has surrendered to the inevitability of death.

At each point, Avraham’s experience in Genesis 22 is a reversal of Hagar’s experience with Yishmael.

In both stories, God is the one who allows/causes the loss of the son, and in both stories it is God who intervenes at the moment of crisis (an “angel of Yahweh calling from the skies”) to deliver the son from death.

In these two narratives, Avraham is forced to give up both of his sons to death, and in both he provides them with items that will play a role in their reversal from death: Yishmael with the skin bottle, and Yitskhaq with the wood on his back.

This tragic loss of Yishmael is a result of Avram and Sarai’s sin in Genesis 16, resulting in a sibling rivalry pattern:

Sarai and Hagar are rival wives angered over each other’s offspring.

Yishmael and Yitskhaq are rival brothers. Like Qayin and Hevel/Seth, the firstborn will be banished to live in the wilderness, but unlike Qayin, the irrational anger belongs to Yitskhaq's mother.

This story pushes forward the paradoxical status of being the chosen son, which forces other brothers to reckon with their own non-chosen status, and which puts the chosen one in danger.

In the case of Yitskhaq, Yishmael’s story sets our expectations that Avraham will have to “give up” Yitskhaq too in some way. As in the story of Yishmael, it is precisely through the “giving over” of the promised son to death that the divine covenant purpose is fulfilled.

Both sons are appointed as carriers of a future legacy, though in this case their descendants will be rival kin living separated from each other.

So Yishmael is takhat the bush.

Avraham sees the ram takhat, oh, in the bush. And he offers it takhat in the place of his son. So that, this is like a little back reflection. The sacrifice is in the bush, in which, in Genesis 22, it's the ram that's offered in as a substitute for his son. But then you also think back about the Yishmael story. And in a way he is also like a tragic substitute 'cause he's lost as well. He doesn't die, but he's lost to Avraham. And so it's as if this is Avraham sacrificing both of his sons. Isn't that interesting?

Avraham and Avimelek

Genesis 21:22–34 LEB

22 And it happened that at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you, in all that you do. 23 So now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal with me falsely, or with my descendants, or my posterity. According to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall pledge to do with me and with the land where you have dwelled as an alien.” 24 And Abraham said, “I swear.” 25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized. 26 And Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing, neither did you tell me, nor have I heard of it except for today.” 27 And Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. And the two of them made a covenant. 28 Then Abraham set off seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe-lambs that you have set off by themselves?” 30 And he said, “You shall take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand as proof on my behalf that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place is called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath. 32 And they made a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech, and Phicol his army commander stood and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 And he planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, the everlasting God. 34 And Abraham dwelled as an alien in the land of the Philistines many days.

"Now it came about right at that same time,"

That's the author's way of saying, I am going to put a story that you are supposed to be comparing it with. . Now right at that time, here's something else to think about. 

"You remember that King Abimelech, and Phikol came with him. He's the captain of the army.

He said to Avraham," you're like, oh, just the scene. So anytime a king shows up with his army captain and they come to you, you know, this is kind of intense.

But surprise, with a twist.

"'Elohim is with you Avraham, in everything you're doing, Elohim seems to be with you.

Would you mind doing me a favor? How about you swear an oath to me in the name of the Elohim who is with you?

I wanna make sure that you will never deal falsely with me again.

Or with my seed or with my descendants. In fact, let's make the deal like this according to the loyal love (kindness, hesed) that I showed you. How about you promise to always do that to me? And with my land here that you're migrating within.'"

This is politics at its best, right?

I's a good diplomatic speech.

He alludes to the thing that happened.

So on one sense, it's a politician hedging his bets, isn't it?

But on another thing look, what does he know for sure now after what happened in chapter 20?

You may not deserve it, in my opinion, but your Elohim, yeah, he is for you, buddy.

In ways that you maybe don't even understand. And so that's one layer. He recognizes the chosen one. He recognizes the chosen and blessed one.

And so do you remember last time that some Canaanites made a covenant with Avram?

They joined his little Eden refuge on the hilltop, and they got in on the Eden goodies.

So here we have another Canaanite who can see that Avraham is the righteous, well, the blessed and chosen one. And so he wants to make a covenant in the form of an oath.

"Avraham said, 'Deal, I will swear that oath.'

Feeling somewhat empowered,"

Rival Families Make Peace Through a Covenant

Avraham brought up a matter of dispute with Abimelech. You see there's this well of water, and the servants of Abimelech had actually stolen that well." So think, you've got two men here, and they just made a pact, which makes them brothers. They're making like a pact. So we've got two brothers. And one, they have every reason not to like each other. One's the chosen, one's the non-chosen. Think through two stories right next to each other. We just watched a story where the chosen one just takes their chosenness for granted and abuses the non-chosen. Flip it over. Now you have the non-chosen who honors and recognizes the blessing of the chosen one. And actually instead of driving them away or generating conflict, there's peace. The brothers become one through a covenant, which emboldens Avraham to bring up this dispute about a well.

Abimelech's servants have stolen a well. "And Abimelech said, 'What?

I didn't know. I don't know who did this. You didn't report it to me. I've never heard about this thing to this day.' And so Avraham took sheep and oxen and he gave them to Abimelech. And the two of them cut a covenant." The two cut a covenant to be unified.

So it's this interesting flipping of the Cain and Abel story and of the Sarah and Hagar story.

There are two ways the family of God can relate to the people around them.

They take their chosenness for granted and use it to drive others away.

They become a genuine blessing to the nations.

Taking their chosenness for granted and using it to drive away or becoming a genuine blessing to the nations so that the nations look on and say like, "Whoa, yeah, I want some of that. 

Let's be at peace together and experience the goodness of the covenant and the blessing together."

And so normally things that would cause a war, we can take care of this 'cause we're in covenant together. And so the covenant is what enables those in conflict to make peace. 

So think all the way back to the flood. 

How does God make peace with an evil humanity? He makes a covenant, with that sign. 

In the two covenant stories with Avraham, Avraham's unbelief and doubt leads to the first covenant. It's his sin with Hagar that leads to the covenant of circumcision. 

And now here, it's this potential conflict between them, but it's resolved through covenant. 

Wells of Seven

Also what's the name of the place where this is all, the peace between the brothers? 

"Avraham set up seven female lambs of the flock alone. And Abimelech said to Avraham, 'What are these seven female lambs that you've set up alone?' And he said, 'Oh, well, because the seven female lambs, well you're gonna take them from my hand and they'll be a witness on my behalf that I'm the one who dug this well.'

And so, dear reader, this is why to this day people call that place the Well of Seven 'cause there, the two of them swore an oath to be unified and they cut a covenant at the Well of Seven."

So here at the same well, you have a portrait of the arrogance of the chosen ones over against the non-chosen. And then you have a portrait of the way the chosen ones can become a blessing to those around them. And both events happened at a well in the desert with sevenfold waters springing out of it, which is an Eden image.

Come on, this is a rad little story. Isn't this cool? Yeah. So there's two ways this can go.

And as you know throughout the story of the Bible, it's gonna go both ways, multiple times over and over and over again. Both are ways, this is kinda like, Sarah and Hagar, this is the Jonah theme, God's people as an obstacle to the nations. But then this story right here is like the Ruth theme, where the nations and God's people can join together and become unified through covenant loyalty. And both are possible. Both have happened and do happen in the story of God's people in the world.

The chosen and the non-chosen are both just as righteous and unrighteous. The line of the chosen must have some specific purpose that has nothing to do with whether they’re righteous or not. It has to do with the promise of the snake-crusher. - Tim Mackie The Bible Project

Planting a Tree

Genesis 21:32–34 CSB

32 After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham lived as an alien in the land of the Philistines for many days.

"And Abimelech got up, and remember, Phicol, the captain of his army," he's not making us sweat anymore. "And they went back to the land of the Philistines. And as for Avraham, well, you know, he planted a tree." Because that's what you do after you make peace with the nations. Yeah. "So he planted a tree at the Well of Seven and he called on the name of Yahweh, El Eternal, or the eternal God.

And he migrated in the land of the Philistines for many days." So that, just that little sentence right there, you plant a tree near a sevenfold source of water. 

we're to some kind of Eden moment, which sometimes is long. Like, remember with the tent and the meal under the tree, and that was a long exploration. Here it's just gonna be a quick sentence of an Eden beat.

Abraham’s Ultimate Test

Bibliography

https://bibleproject.com/classroom/abraham

Middleton, J. Richard. Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2021.

Cotter, David W. Genesis. Edited by Jerome T. Walsh, Chris Franke, and David W. Cotter. Berit Olam Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2003.

Josephus, Flavius, and William Whiston. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987.

Richard N. Longenecker, “The Melchizedek Argument of Hebrews: A Study in the Development and Circumstantial Expression of New Testament Thought,” in Unity and Diversity in New Testament Theology: Essays in Honor of George E. Ladd (ed. Robert Guelich, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 161.

https://bible.org/article/melchizedek-covenantal-figure-biblical-theology-eschatological-royal-priesthood#P8_421

Anders Aschim, “Melchizedek and Jesus: 11QMelchizedek and the Epistle to the Hebrews,” in The Jewish Roots of Christological Monotheism: Papers from the St. Andrews Conferences on the Historical Origins of the Worship of Jesus (eds. Carey Newman, James Davila, and Gladys Lewis, JSJSup. 63; Leiden: Brill, 1999), 130.

Paul J. Kobelski, Melchizedek and Melchiresa (CBQMS 10; Washington DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1981), 126-7.

https://bible.ca/manuscripts/Septuagint-LXX-Shem-was-Melchizedek-Masoretic-chronology-Messiah-Jesus-Christ-priesthood.htm

https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/history-circumcision-0010398

https://www.gotquestions.org/city-gate.html