A SON IS BORN TO SARAH AND ANOTHER SON OF ABRAHAM IS CAST OUT (GENESIS 21:1). The account of Yahweh's fulfilment of His promise to Abraham in the giving of a son comes interestingly enough in the covenant made by God with Ishmael. Thus the writing down of the detail was by Ishmael. This explains th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And so it was at that time that Abimelech, and Phicol the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham saying, “God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son. But in accordance with the kindness that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abraham said, “I will swear”.' Abraham confirms that he wishes to live at peace and is happy to agree to a renewal of the treaty, but takes the opportunity to deal with certain matters that need sorting out.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well of water which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.' The well, clearly fed by a powerful spring, must have been of great importance for it to come up at this point, which was why both groups wanted it. Indeed regular supplies of water we... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing, nor did you tell me, nor yet have I heard of it until today.”' This may be politician's talk or it may be true. But his approach in itself suggests that Abimelech is aware of a certain uneasy feeling between the two groups. Now he has at... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and they two made a covenant.' Abraham makes a payment to Abimelech. He recognises that this is Abimelech's territory and that compensation must be paid for the use of certain facilities (compare the tithes paid to Mechizedek (14:20). ‘An... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said to Abraham “What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?” And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs of my hand that it may be a witness to me that I have dug this well”.' The well is so i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Wherefore he called that place Beersheba, when there they swore, both of them.' Beersheba means ‘the well of seven', and is the name given to that particular well. The name is given to remind both sides of the treaty that has been made about it, sealed by the giving of the seven ewe lambs. Genesis... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So they made a covenant at Beersheba, and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.' The treaty having been satisfactorily concluded the pair return to their land which is called ‘the land of the Philistines (see above prior to verse... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abraham planted a Tamarisk tree at Beersheba and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God - El ‘Olam.' It may be that the Philistines in Gerar worshipped El ‘Olam whom, because of the significance of his name Abraham accepted as being Yahweh for he knew Yahweh to be God from eve... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.' Notice the stress on the fact that he is a sojourner. Though he has settled down there the land is not his people's, as one day it will be. He still has to walk by faith. “IN THE LAND OF THE PHILISTINES.” It is clear that the area wh... [ Continue Reading ]