Treaty with Abimelech

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:10.630 Let's turn to Genesis Chapter Twenty one. Genesis Twenty one versus twenty two through 2 00:00:10.669 --> 00:00:33.219 thirty four. Remember that central to the promises that God gave to Abraham and 3 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:39.490 were promises about his offspring and his family and the families of the Earth, 4 00:00:39.570 --> 00:00:44.810 and also promises about the land, they place in which those people would dwell. 5 00:00:45.649 --> 00:00:49.409 In the last section we looked at the beginning of chapter one, the 6 00:00:49.490 --> 00:00:54.399 focus was on the seed of the promise those families of the Great Birth of 7 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:00.119 Isaac. And now we come back to the theme of the Land and Abraham 8 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:06.829 and his family's place in it. Let's give our attention to God's Word Genesis 9 00:01:06.870 --> 00:01:12.870 Chapter One, beginning of verse twenty two. At that time Abimelech and Phil 10 00:01:12.950 --> 00:01:17.950 Coal, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, God is with 11 00:01:18.150 --> 00:01:22.299 you and all that you do. Now, therefore swear to me here by 12 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:26.299 God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with 13 00:01:26.420 --> 00:01:32.060 my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will 14 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:38.569 deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned. And Abraham said 15 00:01:38.569 --> 00:01:46.010 I will swear. When Abraham reproved Abimelec about a well of water that abomlex 16 00:01:46.049 --> 00:01:51.000 the servants had seized. Seized, Abimilek said, I do not know who's 17 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.879 done this thing. You did not tell me and I have not heard of 18 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:59.799 it until today. So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, 19 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:05.269 and the two men made a covenant. Abraham set seven you lambs of 20 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:09.270 the flock apart, and Abimilex said to Abraham, what is the meaning of 21 00:02:09.310 --> 00:02:14.830 these seven you lambs that you have set apart? He said, these seven 22 00:02:14.949 --> 00:02:20.740 you lambs that you will lambs. You will take from my hand, that 23 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:24.780 this may be a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore, 24 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:30.289 that place was called Beersheba, because they're because they are. Both of them 25 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:36.689 swore and oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then a BIMLEC 26 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:39.009 and Phil Cole, the commander of his army, rose up and return to 27 00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:45.800 the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and Beersheba and called 28 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:51.120 there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, and Abraham sojourned 29 00:02:51.240 --> 00:03:04.110 many days in the land of the Philistines. HMM, so here in our 30 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:10.310 passage, we are reminded that Abraham is a sojourner. Still, though God 31 00:03:10.469 --> 00:03:16.460 has fulfilled this promised or the birth of Isaac, this promised Supernatural Sun, 32 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:23.819 there is still things that remain yet to be fulfilled. Abraham is not yet 33 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:28.969 received the land that he's sojourns in. We're reminded a couple times of that, 34 00:03:29.009 --> 00:03:32.330 at the end in verse thirty four and Abraham's sojourned many days in the 35 00:03:32.370 --> 00:03:37.409 land of the Philistines, and also when a Bi Malek speaks to him and 36 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:44.199 says that he wants him to deal well with him and the land where you 37 00:03:44.400 --> 00:03:50.479 have sojourned. He says to Abraham, this time of sojourney is much like 38 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:54.599 ours. The New Testament describes our our lives in this way. Lives in 39 00:03:54.639 --> 00:04:01.469 the new covenant are much like Abraham's. We find ourselves as sojourners, as 40 00:04:01.830 --> 00:04:10.460 pilgrims or resident aliens. We live in a place that does not we live 41 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:17.100 in a place in some ways as strangers, and what we find in these 42 00:04:17.259 --> 00:04:23.740 passages, and then this passage is well well, is some of the difficulties 43 00:04:23.819 --> 00:04:26.850 of that and some of the joys of that as well some of the ways 44 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:31.970 in which God takes care of us. Troubling taught. There are sometimes lives 45 00:04:32.050 --> 00:04:35.730 in our times, in our lives, that are difficult, that are troubling. 46 00:04:36.689 --> 00:04:41.759 We think of people like Shadrach, Meshach and Abendigo. We think of 47 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.199 Stephen or John, the baptist, people who lose their lives because of their 48 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:53.589 strangeness, By being in the world, though not of the world. But 49 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:57.110 there are other times, and it's good to remember this, times like these, 50 00:04:57.269 --> 00:05:02.949 when pilgrim life isn't terrible, that God is gracious, even in earthly 51 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:08.220 ways, for the shadracks and a Meshacks, meshacks and a bendigoes. We 52 00:05:08.339 --> 00:05:15.660 also have Joseph's Daniels and Abraham here. Ultimately, what God teaches us is 53 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:20.649 to not tie our lives to our circumstances in this world. They may be 54 00:05:20.850 --> 00:05:25.850 up, they may be down, but we have to remember above all God 55 00:05:26.089 --> 00:05:30.529 is sovereign. He is our everlasting God. So I want to think about 56 00:05:30.569 --> 00:05:33.769 this a little bit with you this evening. We see in this passage God's 57 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:41.680 graciousness, his promises being fulfilled and the enjoyment not only of those heavenly blessings 58 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:46.040 of fellowship with the Lord, but some earthly ones as well. Well. 59 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:49.550 The first thing to note, as I mentioned, is that Abraham is a 60 00:05:49.709 --> 00:05:55.110 pilgrim. He is a resident alien, and that means he has to do 61 00:05:55.350 --> 00:06:00.029 several things at once, much like we do. He has to serve and 62 00:06:00.230 --> 00:06:05.379 worship the Lord in a land that does not. He has to find ways 63 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:11.300 to work and be at peace among these people's as much as it lays with 64 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:15.019 him, and he also has to do this while waiting for the fulfillment of 65 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:20.810 the promises to come. Abraham lives in his land, so to speak, 66 00:06:21.290 --> 00:06:27.610 but he lives there as a stranger. He has to wait for what will 67 00:06:27.649 --> 00:06:32.639 be the coming judgment of God, foreshadowing the day of Jesus Return. God 68 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:39.560 will bring his judgment on this land, the nation's as, in similar way 69 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:44.160 to the final judgment, the nations that this the Abraham is now dwelling in, 70 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:48.389 will be perge, they will be cast out of the Kingdom of God, 71 00:06:48.750 --> 00:06:54.750 this earthly, Temporary Kingdom of God. But right now was not that 72 00:06:54.990 --> 00:07:00.819 time. Abraham had to wait and would eventually be until I'm Joshua came and 73 00:07:00.939 --> 00:07:09.100 took the people in the land. That eventually brought about those that judgment on 74 00:07:09.220 --> 00:07:13.100 those people's. Now, though, was a time of wandering. Now was 75 00:07:13.139 --> 00:07:15.689 a time of pilgrimage, which, as I say, meant for Abraham, 76 00:07:15.769 --> 00:07:19.529 much like us, he had to find a he had to find his way 77 00:07:19.649 --> 00:07:25.329 in this kind of pilgrim life to serve the Lord in a land that didn't 78 00:07:25.370 --> 00:07:30.800 always serve the Lord, find ways to have peace with his neighbors, to 79 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:35.839 wait for God to bring fulfillment of the promises. Well, God gives both 80 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:42.720 Abraham and US encouragement in these things by showing us a few different things in 81 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:48.029 Abraham's life. One of them is that got while we wait for the consummation 82 00:07:48.389 --> 00:07:54.149 of God's promises, the complete fulfillment of them, we see that God is 83 00:07:54.230 --> 00:07:59.379 at work. We see that in Abraham's life, Abraham is not only a 84 00:07:59.579 --> 00:08:03.420 father now he has become something of a powerful king. In a way. 85 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:09.339 Melick, at the end of a bimole's name, means a king. This 86 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:16.649 king it comes to Abraham, and not only him, but also with Phil 87 00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:20.810 Cole, the Commander of his army. These two men, I'm great in 88 00:08:20.930 --> 00:08:26.399 their own countries, come to Abraham and they seek a covenant. They want 89 00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:30.759 to make a covenant with him and, if you remember from Sunday school. 90 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:37.720 A covenant is a promise that establishes a relationship, a solemn oath that is 91 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:43.190 taken, and that's what a bimlic wants to do with Abraham. He sees 92 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:48.950 Abraham's greatness and he cannot deny it. He feels perhaps a sense of danger, 93 00:08:48.710 --> 00:08:52.029 and so he wants to make a covenant with Abraham. He wants Abraham 94 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:56.779 to make a promise. The word here in our bibles is to swear. 95 00:08:56.980 --> 00:09:03.419 He wants Abraham to swear to him by God that he will not deal falsely 96 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:05.259 with him. In other words, I want you to be at peace with 97 00:09:05.419 --> 00:09:09.779 me, he says to Abraham, and not only me, with what with 98 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:16.769 my posterity after me. A BIM ALEC is looking at Abraham's growing and increasing 99 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:20.690 and increasing and growing, and he says this is a problem for me and 100 00:09:20.850 --> 00:09:26.039 my children. If I don't make peace with this man, I'm going to 101 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:33.000 have trouble. And so he goes to Abraham and he seeks peace and Abraham 102 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:37.039 agrees. He says in Verse Twenty Four, I will swear. Interesting that 103 00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:45.389 a BIM ALEC recognizes that Abraham is is sort of a king without a kingdom 104 00:09:45.429 --> 00:09:48.110 in a way he's a sojourner in the land, and yet he's not. 105 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:54.299 He is not someone to be scoffed at. God, in other words, 106 00:09:54.340 --> 00:10:00.980 has blessed Abraham greatly, and Abimelech recognizes it. How do we know a 107 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:05.220 BIMILEC rexit recognizes it. Well, not only because of this covenant, but 108 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:09.570 because of his confession. In Verse Twenty Two. He says God is with 109 00:10:09.769 --> 00:10:13.250 you and all that you do. He can't deny it, he sees it. 110 00:10:13.850 --> 00:10:22.240 Abraham's life testifies to it. So he seeks protection and desire, not 111 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:28.879 only for himself and this descendants, but he also desires Abraham to deal kindly 112 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:35.549 with him, to deal kindly with him. The second thing we can note, 113 00:10:35.669 --> 00:10:41.789 and for encouragement to us in the pilgrim life, is that not only 114 00:10:41.830 --> 00:10:46.830 does God bless us here and now, not only does God give us a 115 00:10:46.070 --> 00:10:52.460 success and and growth according to his covenant promises, he also works in our 116 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:56.139 lives to bring out other people's praise, and we've seen that in Abraham. 117 00:10:56.299 --> 00:11:01.179 ABIMLEX words here God is with you and all that you do. This, 118 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:07.490 in turn, is we see another confession, and on Abraham's list lips at 119 00:11:07.490 --> 00:11:11.450 the end of this chapter when he says Abraham called on the name of the 120 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:18.210 Lord. Ultimately, this is what this kind of grace is supposed to bring. 121 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:22.200 Whenever God pours out as grace on US and or in the world, 122 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.000 we are to praise him, to recognize him for that. God's encouragement and 123 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:31.919 other words, is meant not for us to just sort of enjoy our riches, 124 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:37.669 but to enjoy him. That's ultimately what he's doing. I'm in our 125 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:43.350 lives. Abraham's life, therefore, is is not primarily sort of blessing centered, 126 00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:48.659 but God centered. That's what God desires, with him to be his 127 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:56.500 God and for Abraham and his family to be his people. The last thing 128 00:11:56.539 --> 00:12:01.259 I want to mention, in ways that we see God's at work here, 129 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:05.929 in God's encouragement here, is that we see God's blessings, even earthly blessings, 130 00:12:05.049 --> 00:12:11.649 as he produces a godliness in Abraham. Abraham here is being godly. 131 00:12:11.929 --> 00:12:16.000 He deals kindly with this man who comes to him and asks for kindness, 132 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:22.000 who asks in honesty and for peace. Abraham gives that to him. Abraham 133 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:26.559 deals a wisely. And when it comes to the well, we have a 134 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:31.470 conflict over the land, over this space, and they work through it, 135 00:12:31.309 --> 00:12:37.909 they find a way. Abraham even gives his seven lambs to Abimelech as a 136 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:43.299 way, as a witness, to settle this dispute over the well. This 137 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:50.659 wise actions and other acts of Godliness in Abraham's life are a good thing and 138 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:56.820 they benefit him. Proverb Sixteen seven says, when a man's ways please the 139 00:12:56.940 --> 00:13:03.929 Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. When 140 00:13:03.009 --> 00:13:07.570 a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at 141 00:13:07.690 --> 00:13:11.409 peace with him. So we see, as I mentioned at the beginning, 142 00:13:11.450 --> 00:13:18.039 Abraham's being like a wise Daniel right in the court of a pagan king, 143 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.279 trying to find a way to both be honoring and have integrity with his Lord 144 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:28.909 and yet also seek the the benefits of the nation and the calling in which 145 00:13:28.909 --> 00:13:33.669 he has been called. Difficult things. Same with Joseph. Right when Joseph 146 00:13:33.750 --> 00:13:39.470 became second in commanded Egypt, having to navigate his his life and in in 147 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:45.259 the Egyptian world and finding success in it, blessed by God, and yet 148 00:13:45.299 --> 00:13:50.820 ultimately knowing that his life was not dependent on that success, his place with 149 00:13:52.019 --> 00:13:58.169 God was not dependent on with that success. You remember that Joseph was at 150 00:13:58.250 --> 00:14:03.090 one time in a pit and in a jail. Abraham, likewise, will 151 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:07.490 find himself, and has found himself, in difficult places. So when we 152 00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:11.759 see God's blessing and Abraham's life or in our lives, how are we supposed 153 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.440 to take that? How are we supposed to apply that? Well, it's 154 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.559 the not to make us say that Abraham or Joseph or Daniel are better than 155 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:26.389 martyrs or people that suffer, like Stephen or John, the baptists. But 156 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:30.870 what it does show us is that God cares for us wherever we are. 157 00:14:31.710 --> 00:14:35.110 He encourage us us, he helps us. There are times of suffering, 158 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:39.700 yes, but there's also many, many times of blessing. As we look 159 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:41.940 at our lives, all right, we're coming up to Thanksgiving here, and 160 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:46.220 think of things that we could be thankful for, think of all the ways 161 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:52.580 in which God is producing in us the spiritual blessings and giving to us earthly 162 00:14:52.700 --> 00:14:58.330 ones as well. What do we say? We say God is with us, 163 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:03.970 Praise be to God. Well, how is God at work to day? 164 00:15:05.049 --> 00:15:09.639 Well, in many ways are the same, but also much greater ways. 165 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:15.720 To Day we see the in gathering of a people from all over the 166 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:20.840 world. God's being with his people is not just with one man and his 167 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:26.470 wife and his growing extended family, but all over the world and all kinds 168 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:31.190 of nations and places we see the worship of God established in very difficult places 169 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:37.860 where people suffer a great deal, and nevertheless we see God keeping his promises 170 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:43.580 to his sojourning people, watching them day after day after day, providing for 171 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:52.889 them day after day after day. The promises that Abraham trusted in have been 172 00:15:52.049 --> 00:15:58.370 fulfilled for us in Christ. When Christ came, he came and he took 173 00:15:58.610 --> 00:16:03.919 those promises that and he established them by his his own blood. God Not 174 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:12.559 only made promises but fulfilled them in Jesus and that covenant. That's a covenant 175 00:16:12.559 --> 00:16:18.039 we can bank on. The promises and relationships that we have in this world, 176 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.990 they'll be up and down, will be in and out, will have 177 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:26.350 success, will have failure, but with God it's only and always success. 178 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:33.059 Truly, he desires to give us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 179 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:41.820 to pour out on US eternal riches forever, to give us an and inheritance 180 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:48.690 as sons and daughters that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading and kept in heaven 181 00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:55.129 for us as Peter Says, our covenant God is not like the people of 182 00:16:55.289 --> 00:16:59.610 this world. He is, as Abraham says, the everlasting God. And 183 00:17:00.289 --> 00:17:04.599 so, as you see God's work in Abraham's life, as you see him 184 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:11.000 fulfilling his promises, there promises which are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. Let's turn 185 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:18.029 our eyes and our hearts to him and confess with Abraham, the name of 186 00:17:18.069 --> 00:17:23.710 the Lord, the Everlasting God, a covenant keeper. Let's pray