A Treaty with Abimelech (Gen 21:22-34)
Genesis: The Book of Beginnings • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
If you have your Bible, please turn it to Genesis 21:22-34.
We’re continuing in our series through Genesis and from the situation with Ishmael and Hagar (and how God still showed them His grace despite them not being His people) back to Abraham. And in section, we see something that honestly, doesn’t make much sense until we take a step back and look at the whole picture. In a sense, this passage is almost like if you were to look at a great painting too closely—as in, you stand too close to the painting and miss out on the overall image. In this passage, we’ll be able to see some beautiful colors and some intricate detail, but until we take a step back and look at the full painting, we won’t see the full beauty of the passage.
So, what we’ll do this morning is we’ll take a close look at the passage and discuss the details given in this passage; and then we’ll take a step back and look how this passage fits into the overall context of Scripture—of redemptive history.
Abraham bumps back into the king named Abimelech, who if you remember, we met a few weeks ago as Abraham and Sarah lied to him and tricked him before God stepped in and protected him. In this passage, we see Abimelech reach out to Abraham for the purpose of making a covenant or a treaty.
But before I get ahead of myself, let’s read the text together.
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.”
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.
As we work through this text, we’re going to split this sermon into three parts: (1) God’s Blessing on Abraham (22-24), which starts this conversation between Abimelech and Abraham, (2) Abraham’s Treaty with Abimelech (25-34), which deals with the promise that they make together, and (3) What the Treaty Means. The reality is that for this passage, just knowing that Abraham and Abimelech made a treaty together doesn’t really help us too much. It’s when we see the treaty in the context of redemptive history that we then see that this treaty between Abraham and Abimelech, which only happened because Abimelech noticed God’s blessing on Abraham, actually results in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic land promise that we then understand why this is included in Genesis 21. The treaty is part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham about the land that will eventually be his.
For us, this is a great reminder that God keeps His promises even in aspects of life that might seem mundane. God always keeps His Word—thus, in every part of life, we can trust Him.
Prayer for Illumination
God’s Blessing on Abraham (22-24)
God’s Blessing on Abraham (22-24)
Our text starts by continuing the narrative of Abraham and Sarah’s life—we read in v. 22, that Abimelech and Phicol, who commanded Abimelech’s army spoke to Abraham.
We see three people in the first few verses of this text—we see Abraham, Abimelech, and Phicol. Out of these three people, Phicol is the one that we haven’t seen before. And unfortunately, we don’t know too much about him beyond what this text says and what Genesis 26 says about him.
However, even with all three verse references about him taken into consideration—the truth is, all we know about Phicol is that he was the commander of Abimelech’s army.
That does, however, give us a thought about why Abimelech came to Abraham in this instance—Abimelech is fearful at least to some extent concerning Abraham’s ability to either overrun Abimelech or even simply Abimelech is afraid that in Abraham’s prosperity, Abraham might war against Abimelech.
Keep that in mind as we turn our attention to Abimelech.
Remember that Abimelech is a king—he’s the king of Gerar, which is part of the Philistine nation in the Negev (the southern portion of what will later be Israel).
As a king, Abimelech has a lot of power and authority and as stated in my introduction, this isn’t the first time that Abraham had a run-in with Abimelech.
This is the same Abimelech from Genesis 20—the same king who Abraham and Sarah lied to due to their misplaced fear in man rather than a healthy fear of the LORD.
And yet, despite that situation Abimelech comes to Abraham and Sarah with a proposition.
At the end of v. 22 into v. 23, Abimelech makes a statement—”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.” Let me point out a few details about what Abimelech just said to Abraham.
First, Abimelech, who never ever claims to believe in Yahweh as the one, true God, makes a statement to Abraham—“God is with you in all that you do.”
Don’t take this statement as an admission by Abimelech that Yahweh is God or anything like that—the word translated into God is elohim, which is really just a generic term for any sort of higher power.
It would be right to make the argument that Abimelech is stating that Abraham’s God is with him in all that he does.
This is Abimelech essentially saying that whatever God that Abraham follows is clearly blessing Abraham.
And because of the blessing of God on Abraham—Abimelech and Phicol come with this proposition to essentially protect themselves.
The second detail I want you to see is the fact that despite Abimelech’s lack of faith in Yahweh as the one, true, God, it’s clear that he attributes Abraham’s prosperity to God, Himself.
That idea of God being with Abraham in all that he does, is very much what’s in mind—that the reason that Abraham has done so well for himself is because His God has been with Him.
I’m not sure that this says anything about how Abimelech came to the conclusion that Yahweh was who blessed Abraham, but it’s clear that Abimelech did come to that conclusion.
And there’s some amount of speculation as to how much of the covenant between God and Abraham did Abimelech know.
The third detail to notice is in v. 23, which gives us the proposition itself, “Swear to me . . . 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 kindly with me.”
Abimelech is essentially saying, “since your God has blessed you so much, be nice to me because I’ve been nice to you.”
You might ask when was Abimelech nice to Abraham—remember the first time that Abimelech and Abraham met when Abraham and Sarah lied to Abimelech? After Abimelech learns the truth, he gifts Abraham and Sarah a lot of cattle, money, and even authority in terms of where they can move.
Despite Abraham and Sarah’s sin against Abimelech, Abimelech dealt kindly with them. Despite them lying to him and tricking him, Abimelech treated them well.
And with that in mind, Abraham simply responds with, “I will swear.”—or I agree.
Now, of course, that’s all interesting and all, but the record doesn’t end there, it actually continues and it almost seems like a completely different conversation; and yet, I think what’s happening is that now that there’s a treaty between Abraham and Abimelech—Abraham is going to test that treaty. Let’s look at vv. 25-34 again.
Abraham’s Treaty with Abimelech (25-34)
Abraham’s Treaty with Abimelech (25-34)
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.
Abraham confronts Abimelech about a situation concerning some of Abimelech’s servants seizing a well.
Now, you might question why this is such a big deal, but the reasoning is quite simple when you remember that this is the middle east.
Even in the fertile crescent of the middle east, there aren’t significant amounts of water available.
Any water is a significant commodity when you’re dealing with a desert climate.
But there’s something more that we learn about this well in v. 30 it’s a well that Abraham dug—so, it’s more than just Abimelech’s servants keeping Abraham and his people from a random well in the desert—it’s that Abimelech’s servants are keeping Abraham and Abraham’s servants from accessing a well that Abraham dug himself.
So, of course, Abraham confronts this issue and Abimelech responds by stating that he didn’t know that this had happened.
Apparently, Abraham had never bothered to say something about it before.
You might ask why Abimelech didn’t know that his people had done this, but he is a king—what king knows every movement of all their people?
Depending on the size of Gerar, he might not even know the servants that had taken Abraham’s well, but he does make it right.
In fact, both parties determine to expunge the issue by expanding their previously mentioned treaty. We see in vv. 27-30 that Abraham takes the initiative to right these wrongs.
Abraham takes sheep and oxen along with seven ewe lambs to make a covenant with Abimelech.
We’ve actually seen a covenant made like this already in the Old Testament when God makes His covenant with Abraham—this instance is a little different in that Abraham and Abimelech are making the covenant rather than God alone making the covenant.
Note, that in this instance, we don’t really read the gruesome details like we did when God made His covenant with Abraham, but it can be assumed that the gruesome details were still part of this situation—that method of making covenants was a common Ancient Near Eastern custom concerning covenants—thus, we should anticipate Abraham and Abimelech taking those animals, cutting them open, and walking between them as part of their covenant-making.
Again, this whole scenario seems to me almost like a “let’s see if you’ll actually keep your word” type of situation from Abraham towards Abimelech.
And it’s clear that Abimelech does—he covenants with Abraham to essentially deal with the situation—we know this because v. 34 tells us that after Abimelech and Phicol went back to their home, that Abraham stayed many days in the land of the Philistines.
We know that Abimelech did keep his word because if he didn’t—if Abimelech didn’t deal with the issue of the well, the assumption would be that Abraham wouldn’t have stayed in the land of the Philistines.
And yet, Abraham does.
Now, here’s the thing—if you’re like the average person, you’ve listened to all that we’ve talked about through this text and the only thing you’re thinking is, “what in the world does any of this mean for us today?”
The reality is, just reading the passage alone won’t give you anything for yourself today, but remember, context is king when it comes to interpreting the Bible.
The meaning of this text in Genesis 21 is found when you make the effort to view it in light of the rest of Scripture. So, let’s do that:
What the Treaty Means
What the Treaty Means
Let’s back things up just a little bit and consider this passage in light of God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 17:1-8. Let me read that text to you:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
God makes a promise to Abraham and in that promise, there are three aspects to consider:
He promises that Abraham will be multiplied greatly—that he will be the father of a multitude of nations (that’s so assured that God changes Abraham’s name from Abram to match that promise).
Genesis 17 then tells us that all the land of Canaan will be given to Israel as a possession as part of this promise.
And there’s one more aspect of this promise that isn’t mentioned in Genesis 17, but it’s that a descendant of Abraham will be a blessing to all other nations.
What’s going on in Genesis 21 is part of the fulfillment of Genesis 17.
Clearly, Abraham and Sarah don’t have the aspect of the covenant concerning a multitude of nations, yet—though by Genesis 21, Isaac, the promised child, has been born.
And despite the fact that the promised child has been born, it’s clear that not all nations have been blessed through that descendant.
Which leaves just the aspect of the Abrahamic Covenant concerning land, which is when the situation between Abraham and Abimelech come into play.
In the promise given by God to Abraham, Abraham is told that his people will receive the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.
From Genesis 17-20, Abraham hadn’t received any part of that promise, but in ch. 21, the situation with Abimelech foreshadows the fulfillment of that promise.
Abimelech is the king of Gerar, which was a city of the Philistines located in the southern portion of what eventually becomes Israel.
As Abimelech recognizes that the well that’s located in what will eventually become Israel is indeed Abraham’s, we see a glimpse of what is to come when God gives the land of Canaan to the Israelites later on in the Old Testament.
This treaty, though it is a treaty between two men—Abraham and Abimelech shows us the providential working of God to fulfill the promises that He made to Abraham.
And the beautiful nature of all this is that Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac probably didn’t understand the significance of what was happening whatsoever.
But we do because we’re blessed with the Word of God, which records everything that happens after this point.
What the situation in Genesis 21 shows us is that in times of our life in which we think it’s mundane—the dull, seemingly pointless, or not exciting aspects of life—God is still providentially working for, in, and through His people.
And probably the best passage to prove that idea is Romans 8:28–29 “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
We often only think of Romans 8:28-29 when we’re dealing with hardship—as in, even in hardship, we know that God works together for good all things, but it doesn’t just apply to hardship in life.
It applies to everything in life—even the things that we think are mundane, dull, seemingly pointless, or not exciting.
And that’s where our application comes into play:
Application
Application
To Abraham and Abimelech, this seems to be nothing more than just a normal treaty between two people—a covenant between two people to not harm one another, but rather to respect each other’s boundaries and to prevent warring between the groups.
However, God used their mundane, dull, seemingly uneventful, or not very exciting treaty to foreshadow what was to come for Abraham and his descendants who become the nation of Israel.
If God is utilizing the mundane, dull, seemingly uneventful, or not very exciting things in Abraham’s life to bring about His purposes, don’t you think that He’s doing the same in your life today? And if God is doing the same for your life today, it ought to change the way that you think about the things going on in your life today. I’m suggesting that there are three things for you to consider in light of God’s ability to use every part of your life for your good. I’m going to list them and then work through them with you: (1) start viewing the mundane aspects of life as more than just mundane, (2) recognize that God is working in every aspect of your life, and (3) trust God to providentially work in your life for the purpose of keeping His promises.
First, viewing the mundane aspects of life as more than just mundane—often what we consider in life to be pointless turn out to be vitally important later.
It doesn’t take much for us to consider the truth of that statement—for instance, if you talk to any high schooler about whether they love school or not—most of them don’t.
They might love aspects of going to school, but there are always classes they don’t understand the purposes of, there are always parts of education that they think are pointless, there’s always something that they don’t want to do concerning education because it seems meaningless.
However, no one in their right mind would say that young people don’t need educated—we might disagree as to how a young person should be educated, but we all readily admit that education is important—and most high school graduates admit that same truth afterwards.
Of course that same idea applies to many other seemingly mundane aspects of life:
Those in a trade might think some of the training needed to be in the trade is dull or boring or too time-consuming; and yet, experts in that trade insist that you need to know the basics.
If you’re into baking, there are aspects of baking that seem tedious; and yet, when it comes to baking, if you don’t follow the recipe, you’ll liable to make something you don’t intend to make.
Those who are parents with children still at home—you often feel as if a lot of what you do is mundane—changing diapers, wiping noses, cleaning messes; and yet, God has charged you with raising up the next generation of Christian people—it’s a significant task.
All of these and more seem tedious, mundane, and maybe even pointless, but the reality is that God cares for every aspect of your life.
It doesn’t take much to realize that when the Bible itself teaches that God numbers the hairs on your head—if he didn’t care about the little things at least a little, he wouldn’t care about how much hair is on your head.
The reality is that much of the Christian walk is simply us being faithful in the little things in life.
Very few of us will ever be great in any earthly standard of that word and we’re never called to be great in the earthly sense of the word.
But we’re all called to be faithful in every aspect of our lives, which means that even though we’re tempted to see a lot of life as pointless, we really should see all of life as part of God’s providential plan for His people.
You’re called to be faithful in all things—so be faithful.
Second, recognize that God is working in every aspect of your life—since God cares for the seemingly little things in life, there needs to be a recognition in our own lives that God works in every aspect of our lives—even the seemingly little things.
Once you get rid of the idea that God doesn’t really care about the seemingly little things—you then have to realize that God works through everything in your life.
Again, consider Romans 8:28–29 “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
We know that for those who love God all things work together for good.
I don’t know about you, but that statement concerning all things working together for our good is actually a catalyst for hope.
If you don’t think that God is working providentially through your life—every instance in life that seems pointless or mundane or less than exciting, wears you down.
Every instance in life when you experience hardship or trouble or heartache will rock your life completely.
However, if you recognize that everything in your life is being utilized by God to make you more like Jesus, you realize that even when things feel horrendous and you think everything’s out of control, God still is working all things together for your good.
Note, that that concept does not mean that God is responsible for every bad thing in your life—James says that no one ought to say that God tempts us with evil because God cannot tempt anyone—He can’t do evil things.
It simply means that even when bad things happen, God can and does redeem the situation for your good.
This is a complete change in mindset for most people; and yet, that is what the Bible teaches
You need to recognize that God is providentially working in every part of your life—and the beauty of it is that as God is working providentially throughout every aspect of your life, you ought to recognize that He’s actually not doing it for you, He’s doing it for Himself and for His own glory by keeping the promises He has made to you.
So, lastly, trust God to providentially work in your life for the purpose of keeping His promises—I say that this is a beautiful thing and the reason why is really simple—it’s beautiful because God chooses to do these things not on the basis of what you do, but on what He has already promised.
And with that in mind, it again gives us hope while taking the weight off of our own shoulders.
I speak with a lot of people who have this idea that because they’ve sinned or because they’ve struggled or because they didn’t deal with things the right way—they assume God cannot use them and that God doesn’t love them and that God won’t keep His promises.
But the beauty of the Gospel is that it isn’t based on what we do whatsoever—it’s based on what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross.
And despite our inability to stop sinning on this side of eternity, God’s promises are still going to be fulfilled because they’re not based on us, but rather on God Himself.
In light of Genesis 21:22-34, what we see is that God is at work even through things that seem pointless or boring or dull for us. For Abraham, God was at work through the treaty between God and Abimelech.
For you, God is at work as you wipe noses, change diapers, and faithfully, care for your children.
God is at work as you clock into your job, work your shift faithfully, and clock out before going home.
God is at work as you faithfully care for your family.
God is at work as you are faithful with the seemingly little things in your life.
Thus, be faithful in those little things, recognize that He’s keeping His promise through the little things, and then simply trust Him.
Pastoral Prayer
