Everlasting God — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 21:22 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 by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

Gen. 21:25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

Does the name Abimelech sound familiar? (Scholars suggest that Abimelech is not a name but a title like Pharaoh or Caeser.) Go back to Episode 277 and review that. He was the king of Gerar (the people were Philistines), to whom Abraham had told Sarah to say that she was his sister because he was afraid the Philistines would kill him to take her. That was the second time Abraham pulled that stunt.

Furthermore, he did this soon after the LORD had revealed to Sarah that she would soon conceive and have a son by Abraham. One of the purposes of the story is to heighten the tension through the threat to the promised “seed.” The conflict is resolved by the LORD appearing to Abimelech in a dream and telling him that he’s a dead man because he has another man’s wife. Abimelech feared the LORD and did what the LORD told him to do by giving Sarah back to Abraham and having Abraham pray for him to heal him and all in his household. The irony in the story was that Abraham’s excuse was that he didn’t think anyone in the land feared God. Yet, Abimelech demonstrated fear of the LORD when Abraham’s actions revealed a greater fear of Abimelech than of the LORD. The bottom line is that the LORD preserved the promise of the son in Abraham and Sarah.

In this story, Abimelech approaches Abraham and desires to make a covenant with him. Abraham has been allowed to stay in that region, and it seems that he doesn’t want to run crossways with God again, so he wants to have a peaceful relationship with this one who is favored by the LORD. The second part of this story is about a conflict that arises between Abimelech’s people and Abraham over a well. The conflict is quickly and peaceably resolved. The purpose here is to show that not only has the LORD preserved the promised son to Abraham and Sarah, but he has also given them peace in the land that he was promised to Abraham and his descendants. This is an essential story at this point of the greater narrative of Genesis because Moses is writing this primarily for the Israelites who were about to enter this promised land 400 years later. This story would testify to them that the LORD would be with them to fulfill his covenant promises to them by blessing them with all they needed and giving them peace with their neighbors. But they needed to trust the LORD.

The story closes with Abraham planting a tamarisk tree there and calling upon the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. I believe these two things go hand in hand. Abraham would have no purpose in planting a tree if he didn’t think he would be around for a while to enjoy it. Furthermore, he trusted the LORD to sustain its life with water. His confession that the LORD is Everlasting God expresses his faith the LORD will not go away or let him down concerning his promises. Abraham is learning.

What I love about Abraham is that he is so human. It is not difficult to empathize with him in his failures and celebrate his successes in his walk with the LORD. May we learn and grow in our faith, confessing and holding fast to the conviction that God is our shield. He is good and faithful to fulfill his promises. He is everlasting. He is not going away.