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Studies in Genesis, Abraham, The Ordinary, Lesson XLVII, Genesis 21:22-34
Genesis 21:22-34, And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: 23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. 24 And Abraham said, I will swear. 25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. 26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day. 27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. 28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. 31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
In our previous lesson the long-awaited son of Abraham and Sarah had arrived.
God had kept his promise and it was obvious this son Isaac was all of God, all of the Spirit and none of the flesh as was Ishmael, the son of Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid.
This fulfilled promise of God we will find, as we learn of Abraham, was one of a few highlights of his life.
For as we study today’s passage we find Abraham in a commonplace event of life, an event which is to tell us that he was a fairly ordinary man, except for the fact that he was a man of extraordinary faith which directed an extraordinary obedience to God.
All of us follow that path for none of us live the life of the spectacular as we too walk the walk of faith.
Abraham got up, cared for his animals, dealt with those that were sick, dealt with servants who had issues, dug wells, and moved his camp to the watering holes and food sources.
At times he faced crises such as the rescue of Lot and his family.
But God used Abraham, for most of his life an ordinary man and he will also choose to use you and me, ordinary souls in His great purposes declared in His Holy Word.
Think about God’s ministries such as our own.
Most all of us serve in the background, faithfully doing our duties every day,
Those of us who labor here are people who live rather ordinary lives, except for one important fact, our lives are lived for eternity because they are used by God to help fulfill His purpose in Jesus Christ.
So, in showing us this ordinariness God again brings us to meet King Abimelech.
Remember he was the king who had carelessly taken Sarah into his harem because Abraham emphasized his relationship to her as his sister instead of his wife, a deception which nearly cost Abimelech his life.
We have seen the tendency upon the part of Abraham to deceive in order to get along with those in authority in this strange land.
He and Sarah worked hard to bring about God’s promise of a son and the result was Ishmael who ended up banished from their sight in favor of God’s answer to his promise, a son named Isaac.
So, this whole life story of Abraham and Sarah is given to show that if God promises we are to wait on Him to carry out those promises and not scheme and conspire nor get in His way.
And this passage is included in scripture to show us that God is faithful even in the ordinary for it shows how he faithfully provided all that Abraham needed apart from his own schemes.
So, without Abraham’s initiative or deceptive schemes King Abimelech comes recognizing Abraham’s unusual relationship with God.
And he proposes a pact with Abraham that each will treat the other fairly and honestly, and that this pact will reach to the following generations stated herein as his son and his son’s son.
It is a pact whereby Abraham and his descendants can dwell securely in the land at least as far as this relationship with Abimelech is concerned.
And also, in this ordinary event of life Abraham’s need for water was secured by establishing that the well in dispute was clearly owned by Abraham who was the digger of the well.
Abraham was learning to live by faith and faith teaches that God will faithfully provide everything we need for life that we may do His will.
Abraham is learning that his fears are contrary to faith.
His fears have been revealed to us throughout our study, fear of leaving his homeland, fear of others wanting to kill him that they may have his wife, fear of living in a land of strangers.
So here in this ordinary event God shows Abraham that his fears are unfounded.
For the walk of faith is a walk knowing of God’s faithful protection not only in the highlights of life, the birth of Isaac experiences, or the visits from the Lord and angels, but in the ordinary, the trite, the commonplace.
All of us start our journey on the walk of faith as a babe, we as a babe in Christ.
And Abraham was no different.
Babies always make a fuss when they are hungry for within is a fear of not being fed.
But as the baby grows that fear grows to faith, a faith that believes that Mother will always be there to provide all he or she needs.
This experience of Abraham and Abimelech shows how God works ordinary things out and a faith maturity in the Lord will find fear fading away as trust takes charge in the life.
Abraham did not know the following Psalm but he learned to know its truth for faith led him to trust. Reading Psalm 33:18-19, Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. I am reminded of a personal experience in the things of the ordinary and it too includes keeping alive in famine. As you may know my wife and I operated a boarding home for children for many years and food for the children, including our own was always in the forefront of my wife’s mind for she was the chief cook and bottle washer among many other things. Even though we had a monthly fee for caring for the children those fees and my ministry salary usually reached near the end of the month but not quite. My wife found herself without money to buy food for the last few days of the month, so she earnestly prayed to the Lord for help. Was not the eye of the Lord upon them that fear him? So, in fear of Him to whom she prayed she asked for help. The thought came to her, look in the box of greeting cards for we always keep all greeting cards, don’t you know? And low and behold, upon opening a recent card a check was found within, overlooked and forgotten, and I believe another 4 or 5-month-old check was found and hooray, hooray was heard through the house for food would soon be on the table. Oh, how she rejoiced, dancing the dance of joy (only in her mind of course) for her prayers were heard for she hoped in His mercy for there is nothing better in which to hope. Jesus taught us to pray each day for our daily bread.
Each time we do this we are reminded that all things come from above.
God promises to give us each day our daily bread.
So why should we worry or fret or fear.
We are to simply trust Him as Abraham was called upon to do in order that God’s purposes would be fulfilled.
For God’s purpose was to bring forth his son Jesus Christ, two thousand years later, who would seek and save those who were lost.
To do this He set forth to make of Abraham a great nation and to make his name great so that he would be the channel of His blessings to all the earth.
And that was to come through Abraham’s descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ who came unto a people from the son Isaac, which no doubt was provided to Sarah by the hand of God.
God also had to provide protection and give him the land which He begins to do in a rather ordinary way through the peace pact with Abimelech.
God even used Abraham’s deceit of King Abimelech to show His favor of Abraham in His purposes and this brought Abimelech to say God is with thee in all that thou doest.
And therefore, he was willing to share the land with Abraham and willing to yield in matters concerning the water well.
Know this, that God’s purposes will be realized because of ordinary things.
And also we are to know that our testimony is important in ordinary things for this experience of Abraham is importable to our time.
It is so obvious today that the world is watching the lives of God’s people.
We easily hear of the notice the world takes of the downfall of those who have sinned against what they proclaim to be.
But those notices are few compared to what the neighbors see, to what our co-workers see, to what our loved ones see.
Abraham deceived Abimelech but God intervened on Abraham’s part so that Abimelech was forced to overlook his sin and see instead that God was with Abraham in all that he doeth.
Testimony is important.
God tells us to come out from among them and be ye separate.
This does not mean we are to live in a commune, but we are to be separate of mind, of actions, of attitudes, of words, and even of dress.
Do we proclaim God’s truths with our lives or do we simply mimic the world and go with the flow as we join in the culture, a culture of change, a culture of downfall?
We are to proclaim God’s truths with our lives and if so God’s purposes can be fulfilled through us.
Jesus told us to pray for our daily bread.
Jesus also said He is the bread of life.
Yes, we daily ask for bread on our tables but a deeper understanding of this is to pray for a daily portion of Jesus Christ, the bread of life.
Jesus boldly declared in John 6:53, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Talk about an absolute!
And in verse 58, This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
This is what faith commands, and this is what Abraham, our father of faith lived.
Faith requires a daily walk and faith asks for daily bread.
Abimelech knew that Abraham walked with God for God warned him to not touch Sarah and God closed up all the wombs of his household.
Abimelech saw that Abraham’s prayer to heal them was answered and he also saw Isaac, the miracle son, a son of their old age, was born to them.
Abimelech saw this daily walk and his role in God’s plan fell into place and because of this God’s purposes were advanced.
As I said most of us are ordinary servants of the Lord and behind the scenes on God’s stage.
We serve God in many and diverse ways, with hardly any of that which is looked at as spectacular.
But in this service God faithfully provides for our daily needs; he provides protection for our soul and body.
As we walk with him, the one who promised to never leave us or forsake us, we credit Him for his care.
In ordinary matters of life as we walk by faith, in everyday things, in things lost and found because He cares, we witness to a world that desperately needs to turn to Him.
God chooses to use all His children, from the one who has reached for the highest in education to the one who may not even be able to read.
The difference in God’s hierarchy is all based upon faith, and the reach of the hand of faith is equal to all for it reaches to the heart of God.
Think not that the ordinary life of faithfulness is of little value for God has made so many of us for the ordinary is what gets the job done.
What a privilege it is to walk with our Savior, enjoying His faithful provision while He uses the ordinary events in our lives to fulfill His purpose of blessings the nations through the Seed of Abraham, our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! |