18 TREATY AT BEERSHEBA

1. God protected Abraham from hurtful neighbors 2. Abraham looked to the future.

When God called Abram, as recorded in Genesis 12, He told him that He would make his name great. It seems that this promise was beginning now to be fulfilled. Abimelek recognizes Abraham as a great man. His friendship is valued and sought even though Abraham is a stranger, foreigner and mere tenant living among the Canaanites and Perizzites. Earlier God had appeared to Abimelek in a dream and said, “Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die” (20:7). That would be enough to get someone’s attention. God would also later speak in much the same way to Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law, so that Laban would not harm Jacob as Jacob was returning to Canaan land from Paddam Aram. God can speak to people and protect us. Now, additionally, the neighbors, Abimelech, and Phichol his prime-minister of state and general of his army see that God is with Abraham and propose a treaty. “At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, ‘God is with you in everything you do’ (22). It seems as though Phicol, in addition to being the General also had another role.

God in His providence sometimes makes His blessing so obvious to some that their neighbors cannot help but take notice of it. Psalm 86:17 even records a prayer in which David prayed for that to happen to him. “Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” Sometimes it is God’s plan for our development that we should suffer, but not always. Not only the Apostle John desired that his friend Gaius would get along well, but evidently God did too, for God included John’s prayer for Gaius in His Word. 3 John 2 includes John’s prayer: “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” Abimelek saw God was with Abraham and wanted to have a good relationship with him.

The flavor of the treaty was for a firm and constant friendship between the two families, which should not on any account be violated. This bond of friendship was to be strengthened by the bond of an oath, in which they appealed to the true God as a witness of their sincerity and an avenger if either side were to break the treaty. Abimelek wanted the treaty to include his descendants. “Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants” (23). Would it not be good for us Christians to be as concerned as this man was for our descendants so that we train our children well and they would train their children just as well in the next generation?  Abimelek desires that the benefits of this agreement extend to his posterity and the extension of it to his people. He wanted his son, and his son’s son, and his people likewise, to have its benefit. Good men should do what good they can, not for themselves only, but also for those who belong to them and will come after them.

Abimelek’s request was reasonable seeing how that he had indeed treated Abraham well even when Abraham deceived him regarding his wife Sarah. We should watch for instances when we can learn from unbelievers. Abraham had received a kindness and now was a time to repay it. As those that have received kindness must return it, so those that have shown kindness do not do wrong to expect it in return.

Abraham immediately saw the fairness of the proposition and agreed to it. He may have had the issues of the wells in mind when he did this. Because just after the agreement is made he addresses a grievance that he had not brought up before. He was ready to enter into a treaty with Abimelech, finding him to be a man of honor and conscience that had the fear of God in him. We should not in our attempt to avoid ungodly company, therefore avoid all non-Christian company. God may bring our way someone whom He knows needs only a proper explanation of the things of God in order to believe in God. Abraham knows the request is fair and is not afraid to swear it making an oath to Abimelek to confirm it. Today we do not take oaths because Jesus taught us that a mere “yes” is enough for honest people who say what they mean and mean what they say and keep their word. But Abraham lived long before Jesus brought this advanced moral and ethical level of thought to us.

Abraham prudently settled a matter concerning a well, about which Abimelech’s servants had quarreled with him. Wells of water in that country, it seems, were prized possessions and an important commodity especially to anyone with a large amount of livestock as Abraham had. Abraham apparently gently told Abimelech of it. “Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.” (25). If our brother trespass against us, we must, with the meekness and wisdom, tell him his fault, that the problem might be quickly resolved and an end made of it. Jesus gives us this wisdom: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over” (Matthew 18:15). We need to learn when we can use candor in building longterm lasting relationships with others, even unbelievers, as this story demonstrates.

Abimelek apparently did not know anything about this matter and said so. “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.” (26) Some that are perfectly innocent are suspected of injustice and unkindness, and we ought to be glad when they clear themselves as Abraham evidently was when Abimelek’s name was cleared. The problem evidently stemmed from the servant’s behavior not from Abimelek’s. The faults of servants must not be charged to their masters, unless the master knows of them and defends and justifies rather than corrects them. No more can be expected from an honest man than that he be ready to do right as soon as he knows that he has done wrong. Abimelek did that when he learned that Sarah was Abram’s wife, and now he does it again when he learned that his servants had filled in Abraham’s wells.

Abraham evidently saw the sincerity of Abimelek and made the next move in the drama. He wanted to do something so that the circumstance would be remembered into following generations. It was proper that he do this and we will see in a future lesson that Isaac too had an issue with the local citizens over wells the Philistines filled in. Abraham made a very handsome present to Abimelek. “So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock” (27&28). It was not any thing decorative or fine that he presented to him, but something that was valuable and useful—sheep and cattle—given in gratitude for Abimelech’s kindness to him, and as an indication of hearty friendship between them.

He ratified the covenant by an oath, and registered it by giving a new name to the place, Beer-sheva, the well of oath in remembrance of the covenant they swore to, so they could remember it. An alternate translation of Beersheva is “the well of seven” since “sheva” means “seven” in Hebrew. This would then recall in remembrance the seven lambs given to Abimelech. Agreements should be kept and if renaming a place, giving or exchanging gifts (or even setting up a pillar of stone as Laban and Jacob did) helps us remember our obligation, then we can use such devices to help us not break our word.

Abraham had experiences in neighborhoods that were not so good and now having entered into a good neighborhood, knew when he was well off, wanted to and indeed did continue a long time there. Beersheba was in the south part of Canaan land close to but separate from the land of the Philistines. It was good for them to be good neighbors. There He planted a Tamerisk tree for a shade to his tent. The type of tree is specifically mentioned. A Tamerisk tree grows slowly, does not have a lot of immediate shade benefit, but is a symbol of hope. It would not do Abraham as much good as it would do for his descendants. Why would Abraham plant a slow-growing tree if he were concerned only about the present? That’s just it. He was not concerned just about the present. He knew his descendants could benefit from the shade of this tree. Abraham was a forward-thinking man.

Besides planting a tamarisk tree, Abraham called upon the name of the LORD, the eternal God. There he made, not only a constant practice, but an open profession, of his personal relationship with God. Jesus prayed in a grove of trees and Abraham very likely prayed and did other things too under this tree as soon as it grew enough. Abraham kept up public worship and his neighbors would notice.  Good men should not only retain their goodness wherever they go, but do all they can to propagate it, and make others good.

Abraham often called upon the name of the Lord, but in this reference he called on the name of the Lord “the eternal God.” Though God had made himself known to Abraham as his God in particular, and in covenant with him, yet he does not forget to give glory to Him as the eternal Lord: The everlasting God, who was, before all worlds, and will be, when time and days shall be no more. He prayed to the God referred to in Isaiah 40:28: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.”

You and I live in a specific time and place. Even so it is appropriate that as we pray to and think about Who God is, we remember He is the everlasting, eternal God. May we never lose our sense of awe at Who He is!

1. We can follow Abraham’s example in trying to keep good relationships with our neighbors.

2. We can be forward thinking as Abraham was and plant a tamarisk tree that will benefit others later.

3. We can continue to seek the Lord, the eternal God, as Abraham did.