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Sermon preached on Genesis 21:22-34 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 10/22/2023 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
We pickup our sermon series again in Genesis and find ourselves in another substory within the bigger narrative. What I mean is that we find ourselves again talking about Abimelech, a Philistine King, and his interactions with Abraham. That substory began last chapter. And it will pick itself up yet again in the future in Genesis 26 with Abraham’s son Isaac then interacting with Abimelech. In today’s episode, we see Abraham and Abimelech entering into a covenant relationship. Abraham, who represents in seed form, God’s set apart people, here enters into a covenant of peace with a Gentile. Let us see what lessons God has for us today.
Let us begin in our first point considering verses 22-24. Here we find Abraham and Abimelech beginning to discuss covenanting together. Abimelech is the one who takes the initiative here. He and his army commander named Phicol come to Abraham there at the place that will become named Beersheba. Abimelech says to Abraham, “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 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.” So, there Abimelech proposes they enter into a covenant.
Let us appreciate the context of Abimelech’s concerns. Recall that back in chapter 20, Abraham and his house relocated down to the area in and around the land of the Philistines where Abimelech was king. When Abraham arrived, he lied to Abimelech saying Sarah was just his sister. Abimelech was going to take Sarah as his wife but was stopped by God’s confrontation of Abimelech in a dream. There God told Abimelech that Abraham was a prophet and that he needed to have Abraham pray for his forgiveness for taking his wife. Abimelech was understandably concerned because Abraham had so lied to him. Abraham expressed that he had feared the Philistines were godless people and he might be killed if they knew Sarah was his wife. But it turned out that Abimelech and his people did have at least fear of God. So, Abimelech did ask Abraham to pray for him and gave him many gifts to bless him. Abimelech also allowed them to stay and continue sojourning there.
As time goes on, Abraham is surely becoming a bigger presence there in and around the land of the Philistines. Abimelech knows that God is with Abraham, which he even acknowledges here to Abraham. But if you are Abimelech, you might start to worry if one day this Abraham is going to betray Abimelech’s kindness by trying to attack and take the land of the Philistines. So, Abimelech tries to get in front of that concern by offering such a peace treaty. While they have an informal peace right now, Abimelech seeks something more formal and official. This surely explains why Abimelech comes with his army commander too. While he hopes that they can confirm their peaceful status, it also hints at the fact that Abimelech would be prepared to defend himself if Abraham turned out instead to be an aggressor.
I think we should recognize here that Abimelech’s desire for peace with Abraham is a reflection of God’s blessing upon Abraham. God was blessing and building up Abraham’s house. Abimelech sees this and has the wisdom to recognize the importance of being in peace with Abraham. As an analogy from later in history, when in the future Israel begins the conquest of the land of Canaan, there is a Canaanite people group known as the Gibeonites who trick Israel into a covenant of peace with them. The Gibeonites saw God’s power at work in Israel and didn’t want to become conquered like they were conquering all the other Canaanite peoples. So, the Gibeonites find a way to enter in a covenant of peace with Israel. So then, here too, Abimelech recognizes God’s being with Abraham means it would be good to be in a covenant of peace with Abraham.
Let us appreciate that dynamic a little further. God has established his special covenant of grace with Abraham and his seed. God has said that Abraham’s seed will bring blessing to all the world, though it also holds out curse to any who would curse his line. So, while there was something special that God was doing in Abraham’s lineage, it always had the intention to bring blessing to a far wider scope. In the New Testament, we learn more fully about the Gentile inclusion where the gospel goes out to all the nations to bring them into salvation through Abraham’s greater son, Jesus Christ. Abimelech’s covenant with Abraham is only a beginning step toward that, but it is a beginning. It teaches the importance of the nations not only blessing Abraham but also making peace with him.
Well then, Abraham agrees to Abimelech’s request. Verse 24, he says to Abimelech, “I will swear.” That leads us then to our next point, to consider verses 25-32 where they formally ratify this covenant. I appreciate that after Abraham agrees in principle to the covenant relationship, he then raises a concern that he had not previously. We learn in verse 25 that some of Abimelech’s men had taken a well that Abraham had made. In other words, before officially ratifying a covenant of peace between them, a matter of conflict needed to be addressed. After all, it was just Abimelech who had asserted that he has dealt kindly with Abraham so far. But now Abraham asserts that there has been some unkindness.
Well, Abimelech offers a multi-faceted defense. He gives three defenses. He says he doesn’t know which of his men did this. He says Abraham never let him know about it before today. He says that this is the first he’s heard of this issue. In other words, he pleads ignorance and the implication is that he would have gladly addressed it if he had known. Indeed, as we see, they do ultimately address the matter. So, I appreciate that Abraham and Abimelech can agree to peace, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t conflicts that may yet have to be worked out. That is normal in any relationship, and Abraham speaks to have this matter resolved. I also appreciate how this stands in contrast with the conflict that Abraham and Lot had. Remember, back in Genesis 13, Abraham’s servants and Lot’s servants were quarreling, and they decide to separate for the sake of peace. But here, Abraham and Abimelech seem to instead arrive at an arrangement that will allow them both to coexist together in and around the land of the Philistines.
So then, we have the actual covenant ratification in verses 27-31. You will note that those verses begin and end by saying that the two made a covenant. Again, in Hebrew, it is literally that they cut a covenant. The text doesn’t explain this, but we are probably to understand that this is partially why Abraham brings this livestock, to be used in a cutting ceremony to ratify the covenant.
So then, we see that part of the ceremony includes even dealing with the matter of this well that Abraham said he dug but Abimelech’s servants had taken. Abraham separates seven of the ewe lambs from the rest of the livestock that he brought to give to Abimelech. Now it is unclear if these are being separated to then cut and kill for the ratification ceremony, or if it is the other way around, that they are spared to give to Abimelech and the rest will but cut and kill for the ceremony. The text comes off a bit brief here because surely back then such covenant ceremonies were common enough that people could read in between the lines and would naturally understand what is going on. Likewise, when Abimelech asks “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart,” it very well may not have been a question he didn’t know the answer to. Rather, it is probably narrating for us a part of the covenant ratification ceremony. Such things were common in such ratification ceremonies that animals or other items were used in symbolic ways, and the ceremony would call out their symbolism There could be questions and answers given in the ratification ceremony that ceremoniously explain the symbols. In this case, these lambs as Abimelech receives them would serve as a witness that Abimelech acknowledges Abraham’s claim to the well. Ultimately, this all serves as a sort of payment from Abraham to Abimelech to secure the ownership of the well. A rough analogy in our day if you were to have a grievance with another party, but settle out of court, you might sign a settlement and release agreement that acknowledges the settlement and releasing any future claim to the matter. So too here, Abimelech receives these animals and asserts that Abraham is the one who dug the well and entitled to it.
But I digress. The main point here is to recognize that Abraham and Abimelech take their relationship to the level of a formal covenant. As we see here, there are oaths taken whereby they swear to their performance in the covenant. Again, we don’t see the details here, but this is generally an oath taken in the name of God where you are calling God to enforce the oath if you break it. Such oath-bound covenants strengthen the bond between the parties. Just like today if you sign a contract under penalty of perjury, so too ratifying a covenant strengthened your promise and also made you all the more accountable for breaching that agreement.
The significance of this event was also reflected by that location with the well getting a new name. It is called Beersheba. That means both, “well of the seven” and “well of the swearing,” since the word sheba has a double meaning. So, with a clever play on words, they recognize the covenant even in naming that spot. The name further memorializes the covenant.
At this second point, I’d like to make an observation that this is Abraham, patriarch of Israel, and Abimelech, King of the Philistines, making such a contract and covenant of peace. Abimelech even speaks of how this is something not just for them but for his descendants too. They have this covenant of friendship that should last for their posterity. Yet, what happens down the line? Conflict.
Remember the future history. Centuries later, after Israel is in Egyptian slavery, and after the subsequent Exodus, Israel will come back to the Promised Land. God will tell them to conquer the Promised Land. He will list seven Canaanite peoples that they are to destroy and in turn they are to come into possession of the Promised Land. But you see, the Philistines aren’t in that list because they aren’t of the Canaanite peoples. God said he’d give Abraham the land of Canaan and the Philistines are an interesting outlier. They are immigrants themselves, sea faring peoples that settled along the seacoast to the west of the land of Canaan proper. But, I might imagine the Canaanites would have seen them as encroaching on their land. But by the time of Abraham, the Philistines clearly have some definitive land recognized as their own, as we see here in verse 32 and 34. It seems verse 32 implies that this Beersheba was near but not in the Philistine lands. But it seems both the Philistines and Abraham sojourned all around the area, in areas of both Philistine and Canaanite lands. If you have a lot of livestock, you would have quite a large path that you roam over.
So, what should Israel and the Philistines do when Israel eventually comes and take over the land of Canaan? Would the Philistines welcome Israel back and remember the historic covenant of peace their families had made? Would Israel instead think the Philistines are on their land and need to be removed? It is hard to say exactly where the relationship fell off. There was a lot of war between the two during the time of the Judges and the United Monarchy. Indeed, in Genesis 26 we will see more tension in the relationship even though they do reaffirm the covenant there. Yet, sadly, the later history will show that covenant is no longer honored. Israelites and Philistines would be at war continually. The final outcome would not be good for the Philistines. Both the prophets Amos and Zephaniah would late prophesy the complete destruction of them.
So that bleak looking ahead stands in contrast to what we have in today’s chapter. It is good and blessed for the nations to come and be at peace with the children of Abraham. The alternative is evil and accursed. In our first two points today, we’ve had a chance to think of both to a degree.
Let us now turn in our third point to briefly consider verses 33-34 where we see Abraham worshipping at Beersheba. We see Abraham plants a tree. We aren’t told the significance. Some suggest it is a tree of longevity, to also memorialize the covenant. But I tend to think it is something more practical, that it is a tree that gives great shade, which would be a nice respite when you come to the well. You know, you don’t usually spend a lot of time fixing up a rental home, but if you own your home, you probably invest to make it nice. Well, Abraham has settled his claim to this well, and so he plants a nice tree. Actually, I would argue, that if anything, it would be more of a memorial to God’s covenant with Abraham than anything else.
For think about what we have. God had long promised Abraham that he would one day inherit the Promised Land. But so far, he’s just been a sojourner, living in tents, always an outsider. Within the Promised Land, he’s moved around quite a bit. Now most recently he’s been in this area, straddling Philistine and Canaanite lands. But now, he owns something in the land of Canaan. It may just be a well and a tree and the name Beersheba. But these are things he can call his own.
Indeed, think of what we’ve seen in this entire chapter. God’s two main promises to Abraham have found a small initial fulfillment, finally, after so very long. God had promised Abraham a people and a place. At the end of last chapter, he still didn’t have any of either. No heir and no land. But now he has Isaac. And now he has Beersheba. These are fulfillments. They are not anywhere yet what the full promises will become. Isaac is hardly a people as many as the stars in the heavens, but through Isaac that seed will come. A well and a tree are hardly the land of promise, but they are a start, a place recognized at least by Abimelech as his own. These promises are worthy of praise to God.
And that is what Abraham does. He worships the Lord there. He calls upon his name, the LORD, the Everlasting God. As God has begun to fulfill his promises, Abraham worships. Think of how things could have ended up here, even with just Abimelech. Remember, last chapter he was afraid that Abimelech had no fear of God and might kill him. But here, because of God, Abimelech respects Abraham and has blessed Abraham and helped Abraham to have a place.
We notice that his worship of God gives a specific praise. He refers to God as the Everlasting God. Abraham here believes it fitting to point out God’s attribute of eternality. I suspect it might be Abraham reacting to the marvel of God’s plans. God has given big plans to Abraham, but he is only going to work the beginning of them in Abraham’s life. Abraham has figured that out. But when Abraham thinks of the big plan that God works out over a long period of time, it reminds him that God is eternal. What seems like a long time to us for a promise to come about, is but a moment to the Lord. And surely Abraham has come to have the hope of eternity now himself. And so, he can worship God knowing that one day soon he’ll go to be with the Everlasting God and with him can watch his redemptive plans unfold.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, as I begin to conclude our sermon, let me note that in God’s providence, we have witnessed in the recent days the Israelite and Palestinian peoples fighting over the same basic geographical area as what our passage refers to here as the land of the Philistines. Sadly, there is again no peace in this area. The name Palestine derives itself from the name Philistine. Yet, to clarify, Palestinians are not believed to be actually descendants of the ancient Philistines. And these modern Israelites, though believed to be physically descendants of the ancient Israelites, are not true Israelites from a religious standpoint, that they are not, as a nation, partakers of the covenant blessings God bestowed upon Abraham and his seed of promise.
So Israelites and Philistines continue to fight over this land, but neither are really true to their name. And while it would be good if they could find an acceptable covenant of peace, let us be careful not to make that the main application from our passage today. To do so, would be to miss who the two parties here in Genesis really represent. Abraham represents the chosen people of God who are in a covenant of peace with God in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, Abraham here represents the Christian church. The Christian church is the offspring of Abraham, in terms of everything that really matters. And Abimelech here represents outsiders to God’s people who are beginning to recognize something special about God’s people, and want to be in a good relationship with them, versus those other outsiders that want to afflict God’s people.
With that understanding, let me summarize then the application for today in three points. One, outsiders to God’s covenant people are called to make covenant peace with his people. In fact, in the light of the New Testament, we see that outsiders are not only offered such a covenant, but in Christ are offered to become insiders into his covenant of grace. Gentiles can become grafted into the offspring of Abraham through faith in Jesus. This is how most of us here today have become a part of Abraham’s seed. So then, this means both Jews and Palestinians, Ukrainians and Russians, and anyone else, can become a Christian, if they call upon Jesus.
Two, thus we the church are the insiders, part of God’s covenant people. And thus we are a witness to God’s blessings to the world. And as we live in this world, let us look to live in peace with all people, with all nations. It is good for us if we are in peace even with outsiders. And we learned with Abraham that being in peace with the world doesn’t keep you from speaking truth to them and dealing with matters that need to be dealt with. In fact, that is how we pursue greater peace when we don’t leave serious conflict unresolved.
Three, let us remember to be faithful to worship God and thank him in remembrance for all his blessings. Let us praise again today the LORD, the Everlasting God!
Amen.
Copyright © 2022 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
