Abraham, the Covenant Maker

Well, let me invite you, this morning to turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 21. Genesis 21 for our time. Of study in the word, this morning. We're doing a series through the book of Genesis, and as we continue in our series to this book, we come this morning to Genesis chapter 21 and verse 22, and our goal this morning is to cover verses 22 through 34 and if you want to give a title to the message, it would be Abraham.

The covenant maker. Abraham, the covenant. Maker. We've seen Abraham as the recipient of covenant.

Up to this point of the narrative of Genesis, today we will see him passing on the blessings of that covenant and actually making a covenant with King Abimelech. but let me start off this way to help you to appreciate. The significance of what happens in our passage today. Donald Trump, our president, has been in the news a little bit this past week.

I think I saw a story about him somewhere on one of the TV channels, And since things are pretty crazy, right now, let me give you a crazy hypothetical scenario about Donald Trump and ask how you would handle this. Imagine that government agents acting in President Donald Trump's name came to your house and seized all of your vehicles. Your vehicles were paid for. One of them, you had even rebuilt yourself, but now that they have been taken from you, you're left without any means of providing transportation for yourself and for your family.

What would you do In that situation, and let's say hypothetically that you aren't even a citizen. Of the United States. You are a resident alien. Of the United States with nothing more than a green card that permits you to live here.

What would you do about the confiscation of your vehicles? What recourse would you even feel like you have that might even end up being workable? Then imagine that that happens to you, but then at some point later, God blesses you in some other way that is not connected at all to this situation of the confiscation of your vehicles. God does a great work in your life and he answers, he keeps a promise and he answers a prayer that you have been praying for decades and you're happy about that and everybody who knows you is happy about that as well.

You're so happy about it that You make a YouTube video about how God answered your prayer and to your amazement, your video goes viral and gets 45 million views. Then imagine that a few weeks go by and your doorbell rings. You answer the door and to your amazement, President Donald Trump is standing on your porch with his Secretary of Defense, James Mattis. And he says to you, Donald Trump says to you, I see that God is with you in all that you do.

And I am asking you to swear to me right here, right now, in the name of your God. That you will never deal falsely with me. And that you will always show kindness to me and to my children. And my grandchildren.

What would you say? If that happened to you, how would you respond? Would you immediately say, yes, I will make that promise? In response to his request for a promise of honesty and kindness, or would you wait until you got your cars back?

With the president standing right there, would you think, man, I think the Lord may have brought him to my doorstep so that I can bring up the car situation? Would you bring up the issue of the vehicles? That had gotten seized by the government, by government agents acting in Donald Trump's name. Whatever you might do.

You would probably be standing there thinking, this is the craziest thing that's ever happened to me in my life, right? And you would be right. And that's pretty close to what happens to Abraham. In our passage today.

A few weeks ago, we saw in Genesis chapter 21 verses 1 through 8, how God kept His promise and miraculously provided Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age. We see in Genesis 21 that that miracle brings about three results. First of all, it produces celebration. On the part of Abraham and Sarah, we see Sarah rejoicing and we see Abraham throwing a great feast, a party.

To celebrate Isaac's weaning when he was around the age of 3 years old. Secondly, this event of the birth of Isaac brings about the expulsion of Ishmael and Hagar, and we saw this described in verses 9 through 21. But thirdly, God's provision of a son, Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, also brings King Abimelech to Abraham's doorstep, making a proclamation to Abraham and asking for Abraham to make a covenant with him. And that's what our passage today is all about.

Given the timing of what is said in our passage today, and, what is actually said in our passage today, we can get a pretty good idea of what King Abimelech is thinking, at this point. Think with me for a couple of minutes. Back in chapter 20 we saw this a few weeks ago. Abimelech had an experience with Abraham when he took Sarah to be his wife.

Abimelech did not know at the time that Sarah was Abraham's wife, but he learned soon enough that she was because God told Abimelech in a dream that he had taken the wife of Abraham, and in that dream, God threatened to kill Abimelech if he did not return Sarah to Abraham. God also told Abimelech to have Abraham pray for him. And Abimelech did that, and Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his household, and as a result, all of them. We healed So just thinking about that by itself, Abimelech.

Who was the king of Garar. would have quickly learned a few things about Abraham in Genesis 20. He would have learned that Abraham's God is the true God who really exists. He would have learned that Abraham's God looks after Abraham and protects him even when Abraham messes up.

And Abimelech would have learned that Abraham's God answers. Abraham's prayers. Even on Abraham's bad days. On top of that, after now the events of Genesis 21, Abimelech now sees that God has provided Abraham and Sarah a child when Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 years old.

I'm pretty sure Abimelech has never witnessed anything as miraculous as that. And I'm pretty confident that Abimelech sees it as an omen, as it were, of things to come. He knows that this is the start of something huge and it's all making sense to him now as to why God would intervene and protect Sarah the way that he did in the previous chapter. On top of that, if it is true that King Abimelech attended the great feast in celebration of Isaac's weaning, which Jewish tradition holds that he did.

Then you can bet. That he would have heard some pretty potent promises. Attached to Isaac, this great feast would have featured statements. Of God's promises and words of destiny that would have been spoken over the little Isaac.

Included in those statements would be the promise that Isaac's descendants would be as numerous and as noble as the stars of heaven, and that God would give the land of promise to Isaac's descendants one day. A land of promise. That would include the land that Abimelech is ruling over right now. So imagine being Abimelech and realizing this, the God who threatened to kill you for taking a woman that belonged to Abraham.

is the same God who is promising to give Abraham's descendants a land that is right now in your possession. Abimelech seems like a noble man, foresight. He's happy for Abraham. It seems that They're on friendly terms, but he's also unsettled by what he sees and what he hears.

So he approaches Abraham in our passage today seeking to obtain some covenant promises from Abraham. Clearly, Abraham is the superior one in this exchange. This is not Abraham seeking a covenant with Abimelech. This is Abimelech seeking a covenant with Abraham.

And that's the beauty of this story. It shows that God's blessing upon Abraham is now coming to such full fruition. To such a degree that even a foreign king recognizes it. Abimelech looks into the future and he knows that a powerful nation will arise from Abraham, and he seeks to make a treaty with Abraham now.

And think about how encouraging this would be for Abraham. It's one thing. For Abraham to hear from God that a great nation will arise from him. It's another thing for a foreign king to approach Abraham and basically tell him that this is what he sees too.

The way we'll break down our study of this passage is we'll look at 5 developments in this account of Abimelech requesting and obtaining a covenant with Abraham, a sojourner in his land. And guys, if you give yourself to this passage, I promise it'll pay you back, OK? number one, the first development is that Abimelech confesses. That God is with Abraham.

Abimelech confesses that God is with Abraham. Look at what happens in verse 22. says now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Pikole, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that you do. Notice the time reference, says it came about at that time.

In other words, at the time of the events of the previous verses, meaning the time of Isaac's birth and weaning, the time of Ishmael's expulsion from Abraham's household. And the fact that Abimelechk brings his General, his head general, his commander with him shows that this meeting is a very big deal. And it's a show of tremendous respect for Abraham Again, imagine the President of the United States and his Secretary of Defense visiting you on your doorstep, telling you that they observe that God is with you in all that you do.

Imagine that That's what Abimelech is doing here.

And he says to Abraham, God is with you in all that you do. And we know Abimelech experienced that firsthand. Back in Genesis 2 when God intervened on Abraham's behalf to protect Sarah from Abimelech. But Abimelech also now sees that God has given to Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age.

And Abimelech is now even more persuaded that God is with Abraham in a truly epic and special way. And keep in mind, guys, this is not just a casual compliment. This is a recognition. By Abimelech of an advantage that Abraham has over Abimelech.

Abimelech is saying essentially, I see that God is with you and all that you do, Abraham, in a way that he is not with me or anybody else, which means, Abraham, that if you ever decided to come against me, I know that God would prosper you in that, and I would be in big trouble. That's what he's saying. And what he's saying here is actually not a good thing to say if you're wanting to gain an edge. At the negotiating table.

But Abimelech doesn't care about that. He's admitting up front that he knows that Abraham has the stronger hand and that's why he is approaching Abraham now. So Abimelech confesses to Abraham that he sees that God is with him and all that he does, then based on that admission, he does something else and this leads us to the next development in the story of Abimelech requesting and obtaining a covenant with Abraham, a sojourner in his land, and that is 2, Abimelech obtains an oath of integrity and kindness from Abraham.

Abimelech obtains an oath of integrity and kindness from Abraham.

Look at what he says in verse 23. He says, now, therefore, in other words, because God is with you and because I recognize that God is with you, swear to me here, by God, that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring. Or with my posterity. Abimelech gives every indication of being a long range thinker.

He looks into the future and sees his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and beyond, and he knows that Abraham's descendants are going to prosper and flourish and multiply in the centuries to come. So he says to Abraham, swear to me, swear to me here, swear to me by God. In other words, in the name of the God who is with you, that you, Abraham, will not deal falsely with me, or with my offspring, or with my posterity. Abimelech here is not coming to Abraham and asking Abraham to swear loyalty.

To Abimelech. He's simply asking Abraham to show integrity. Toward him. And it's hard.

To hear Abimelech. Asking this of Abraham and not at the same time think back. To the occasion in the previous chapter when Abraham dealt falsely with Abimelechk, telling him that Sarah was his sister and withholding from him the fact that Sarah was his wife. Abraham was wrong to lie to Abimelech in this way, and Abimelech rebuked him for it, and we saw that a few weeks ago.

But guys, this is 4 years later, and I don't think Abimelech is bringing this up because he doesn't trust Abraham. I think things are resolved between them. But I think he's bringing this up because he remembers how close he came to getting killed by God because of Abraham's deception. A plague came upon him from which he needed to be healed.

The wounds of all the women in his household were closed all because of Abraham dealing falsely with him. And Abimelech is realizing here that if Abraham ever wanted to be deceptive with him, In the future for the purpose of doing him harm. Then Abraham would in fact do great damage to Abimelech and to his kingdom. He's recognizing Abraham's power here.

And so he's asking Abraham to swear that he will never deal falsely with him on the road ahead. He's not just asking for integrity from Abraham, but also for kindness. Look at what he says, verse 23, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have Sojourned. Whatever Abimelech means by his use of the word kindness, which is the Hebrew word chased.

It is something that he feels that he himself has shown to Abraham. In a context like this, it means good faith. He's asking Abraham to swear to show integrity and good faith to Abimelech. On the road ahead.

The truth is we all know that Abimelech did show good faith and kindness to Abraham, in the previous chapter, he forgave Abraham and Sarah of their wrong against him. He gave them $2 million worth of silver that represented their full exoneration in the eyes of the law, so he showed them mercy. He also lavished on them gifts of sheep and oxen, and he invited Abraham to stay and dwell in his land. Wherever he wanted to.

And now here Abimelech is saying to Abraham, according to the kindness that I have shown to you, the good faith kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned. Well, it takes Abimelech 58 words in English to make his request. And it takes Abraham 3 words. To reply.

In fact, only two words in the Hebrew. Abraham's reply is in verse 24. Abraham said, I swear it. In other words, I swear that I will never deal falsely with you and I will always show you good faith, kindness.

On the road ahead, the likes of which you have shown to me. He's making a promise. That Abimelech had asked for him to make. Now this isn't immediately evident, but what makes Abraham's promise here so remarkable is that there is actually an unresolved issue between him and Abimelech.

Abraham is gonna bring it up in the next verse, but I love the fact that Abraham does not delay his promise of integrity and good faith until after this dispute gets settled. Here in verse 24, he is promising that he will treat Abimelech right no matter what, without any preconditions on that promise. And it's after swearing this integrity and good faith that Abraham brings up the unresolved issue between him and Abimelech. It turns out that Abraham actually has good reason for thinking that Abimelech.

has not been as kind to him as Abimelech seems to think he has been. So Abraham brings up this unresolved matter, and this leads us to the 3rd development. In the story of Abimelech seeking for and obtaining a covenant with Abraham, a sojourner in his land. And that is number 3, Abraham brings up a complaint about the well that he had lost to Abimelech Observe what happens in verse 25.

But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized. Back in Genesis 20, we see that Abimelech had given Abraham permission to dwell in his land wherever he liked. Abraham apparently did that and dug a well wherever he was dwelling and was getting much use out of that well. A well of water would be a prized possession in this parched region of the Middle East, so it would be a must for someone who wants to successfully live in a region.

Like this, especially if he had herds, which we know Abraham did. But evidently at some point after Abraham had dug the well and started using it, Abimelech's servants came and confiscated that well. In other words, government agents acting in the name of King Abimelech came. and seized.

The well from Abraham saying this is now government property belonging. To King Abimelech. Imagine how Abraham would have processed that. This would have been a huge offense.

To him and it would have contradicted the goodwill that he thought he had heard from Abimelech in the previous chapter. When he gave him permission to dwell in his land wherever he liked. As far as Abraham knew, these Men who took this well are acting on Abimelech's orders. We're gonna see in just a moment that Abimelech did not know anything about this.

But Abraham doesn't know that yet. And here Abimelech is coming to Abraham now and saying, promise me, Abraham, this is why I'm here. Promise me that you will not deal falsely with me and promise me that you will show good faith, kindness to me as I have shown to you. How would you respond?

To that, if you were Abraham. Amazingly, Abraham says, I promise. That I will show integrity and good faith kindness to you on the road ahead of Emalek. But then on the other side of making this promise of integrity and kindness, Abraham brings up the matter of the stolen well.

To Abimelech and says, your servants acting in your name. stole the well that I dug. And look at Abimelech's response, verse 26, and Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing. You did not tell me, nor did I hear of it until today.

There's every indication that Abimelech is speaking truth. Here, we should take him at his word and taking him at his word, we see that at least 3 things are true. Number 1, Abimelech knew nothing about the seizure of Abraham's well. Number 2, Abraham had not apparently said anything about it to Abimelech.

And number 3, this complaint by Abraham being brought up right now is the first that Abimelech has heard. Of this matter And his response, Abimelech's response in verse 26, makes it clear to us, the reader that Abraham had never brought up This complaint. He had never filed this complaint with Abimelech before this moment. Which means that he had lived with the offense.

Without complaint and evidently. was for the time being, trusting the Lord. In the matter And now here comes Abimelech. Just imagine Abraham trusting the Lord with this matter, praying about Lord, could you resolve this and give me wisdom on what to do.

And then here comes Abimelech with his commander, showing up at Abraham's doorstep, and perhaps when Abraham first saw them, His thought might have been, oh, they're here to press their claim on my well. But instead, what comes out of Abimelech's mouth is, Abraham, I see that God is with you in all that you do. And I'm here to ask you to show integrity and kindness to me and to my descendants in the years ahead. Imagine being Abraham and hearing that, Abraham's probably thinking, Lord, I can't believe this is happening.

I trust you with this matter, and here you bring Abimelech to my doorstep, posturing himself toward me in this way. I'm taking it, Lord, that you have tailor made this situation for me to bring up the matter of the well. And we'll see what happens. So Abraham brings up the well.

And Abimelechk's reply is swift and decisive. He knew nothing about it, and he practically scolds Abraham for not bringing up the matter sooner. His answer indicates that had he known about the matter sooner, he would have done something about it and resolved the matter in a way that would have been pleasing to Abraham. And I'm sure that upon hearing this, Abimelech is alarmed.

The last time he had something in Abraham that belonged to Abraham, he almost got killed by God. And now he's finding out that he unknowingly is in possession of Abraham's well. I'm sure his heart is pounding at this point. And so he says what he says to Abraham.

In verse 26. For his part, upon hearing this, Abraham would be relieved to realize that Abimelech was not involved in the seizure of his well, and with that cleared up, there's nothing to stand in the way. Of the two of them making a covenant together. And this leads us to the 4th development in the story of Abimelech seeking for and obtaining a covenant.

With Abraham, a sojourner in this land. And that is number 4, Abraham and Abimelech make a covenant with one another. They make a covenant with one another. Look at what happens in verse 27.

And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech. Write down the reference Genesis 20:14. In that passage in the previous chapter, Abimelech had given sheep and oxen to Abraham. And here Abraham is returning the gesture.

Showing Abimelech The same kindness that Abimelech had shown to him. Abraham isn't just promising to show kindness to Abimelech, he actually in the promising is showing. This kindness and returning this gesture of generosity. After presenting the animals to Abimelech, the text tells us.

This, it says, and the two of them made a covenant. Literally, the Hebrew reads, the two of them cut. A covenant And the language of cutting points us to the custom of this day in which often the making of a covenant involve taking animals and Killing those animals and cutting the animals in half, and then creating a pathway between the halves, the severed halves of the animals, and then the parties of the covenant would walk between. The animal have stating their promises to one another, and in doing this, what they were essentially saying was, may what has happened to these animals happen to me if I fail to keep my word.

Notice also that the text says the two of them cut a covenant, meaning both of them walk through the animal halves, promising to show integrity and good faith, kindness to one another on the road ahead. For his part, Abimelech would no doubt have included in his covenant the promise to return the well to Abraham. Well, so far, so good, but Abraham is thinking about this and, and he wants something a little more than just to get his well back. Look at what happens in verse 28.

Says then Abraham set 7 ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. This would have been 7 female lambs in addition to the sheep that were already given. And when Abimelech notices the seven ewe lambs that were off by themselves, observe what he does, verse 29, and Abimelech said to Abraham, what do these seven ewe lambs mean which you have set by themselves? If Abimelech has learned anything with Abraham, he's learned, don't take anything for granted.

If you got questions, ask your questions. And he does and observe Abraham's answer. Abraham said, you shall take these 7 ewe lambs from my hand, so that it may be a witness to me that I dug this well. You see, Abraham wants more than for Abimelech to just give the well to him.

He wants Abimelech to publicly register his testimony that Abraham actually dug the well and it was his in the first place. Sometimes even in our day, you might have a dispute with someone, maybe a sibling even, and it's like, wait a minute, that's mine, and then they're like, here, take it. And almost like they're being generous and giving it to you and you're, you want more than that. You want a recognition.

No, that was mine in the first place. And that's what Abraham wants. And he wants this testimony publicly registered because when Abimelech's off the scene, That testimony will be on the record and would protect Abraham from any future altercations. This is actually an ingenious gesture from Abraham.

In the first place, he's giving gifts to Abimelech that he doesn't have to give. So we see him here in a way paying for something that was his in the first place. At the same time, Abraham is getting Abimelech to publicly acknowledge that Abraham had dug the well. And this admission from Abimelech would serve as official evidence in the event of any future disputes.

Regarding the well So this is Abraham going above and beyond. Here, let me give you a gift for returning to me something that was mine in the first place. And getting Abimelech to register this testimony publicly that Abraham dug the well. We're not told this explicitly, but every commentator agrees that Abimelech took the ewe lambs as part of this covenant agreement with Abraham, making the covenant complete.

And this becomes clear from what Abraham does next. Look at verse 31. Therefore, he called that place Beersheba. Because there the two of them took.

An oath It's interesting at the beginning, Abimelech is asking, coming to Abraham, asking him to swear an oath, but it's clear that Abimelech is now also swearing an oath. This is a bilateral covenant between the two of them to show integrity and good faith kindness to one another, and no doubt. Abimelech in his oath is speaking under oath as saying that Abraham had dug. The well.

Does that make sense? We lose so much sometimes in our English translations, so let me retranslate. verse 34. for you.

In fact, I have it on the screen. We could read it this way. Therefore, he called that place. Like Beersheba literally means well of oath.

Because there the two of them took an oath. The Hebrew would read this way. He called that place well of Sheba. Because they're the two of them, Shebad.

Incidentally, the Hebrew word for oath. Which is Sheba, is the same Hebrew word for 7. Which is also Sheba. And this explains why Abraham had set aside 7 or Sheba ewe lambs.

For a part of the covenant. It might interest you to know that the Hebrew word Sheba shows up 9 times in this story. Sometimes it's translated as swear, and sometimes it's translated 7, and sometimes it is translated as oath, and sometimes it shows up inside the word bear Sheba. It's crazy actually when you look at this.

In fact, let me run through this quickly for you. Verse 23 Abimelech says to Abraham, Sheba to me, swear to me, Verse 24, Abraham says, I, Sheba, I swear, verse 28, as they make the covenant, Abraham sets Sheba, ewe lambs aside. Verse 29, Abimelech asked him, what are the Sheba, you lambs? Verse 30, Abraham then explains the meaning of the Sheba ewe lambs.

Verse 31, Abraham called that place the well of Sheba. Verse 31, because they're the two of them, Shebad. Verse 32, they made a covenant at the well of Sheba. Verse 33, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at the well of Sheba.

All in all, we see the word Sheba 9 times in this passage, and we see the word covenant. In this passage twice, clearly establishing The idea of oath and covenant as a major theme of this passage. And the beautiful thing we're told here in verse 31 is that Abraham is naming this place well of oath, Beersheba, in honor of this mutual oath between himself and Abimelech, which shows that Abraham took covenant seriously. He valued this covenant, he fully intended to honor it, and he fully expected Abimelech to honor it as well, and he even named the place after this transaction.

that had occurred between them. Look at what happens after the covenant. Proceedings are completed. Actually, I don't have this text on the screen.

But in verse 32, it says, so they made a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech and Faiko, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. So they got what they came for and they returned to the city of Garar. From which the place from which Abimelech ruled.

What is Abimelech or what does Abraham do? This leads us to the 5th and final development in the story of Abimelech seeking for and obtaining a covenant with Abraham, a sojourner in his land, and that is Abraham seals their covenant with worship. And trust. He seals their covenant with worship and trust.

Look at what the text says in verse 33, and Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. just real quickly, the tamarisk tree, resembles the cypress. Tree and this tree is common in this area to this very day. It can grow as high as 30 ft and provide a welcome shade.

From the hot sun and the soft branches of the tree are edible to flocks. It's interesting. I don't want to make too much of this, but it's interesting to note that in the Greek Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation. Of this verse, it reads, Abraham planted an Auroran.

And that word Auroran doesn't mean tree. It speaks of a plot of tilled land. That was about 100 cubic. 100 cubic square.

The Latin Vulgate translation says Abraham planted a nemus, which speaks of a grove of trees, not just one. Tree. Technically, the Hebrew could be translated as follows. Abraham planted tamarisk.

When someone today says, if someone said to you, I planted corn yesterday. You don't normally take that to mean they must have planted a corn, right? They planted corn, a field of corn. And it's probably best that we take It the same way here.

Abraham planted tamarisk. Which might have involved a whole grove. Of tamarisk trees, a grove that could have been as wide and as long as the length of half of a football field if the Septuagint translation is followed. The question is, why would Abraham plant a tamarisk tree or a grove.

Of tamarisk trees. Well, if you plant. A grove of trees, it tends to mean you're going to settle for a while, right? So there's that vibe there.

and it's also helpful for us to keep in mind as one Jewish commentator suggests that tree planting in Bible times is analogous to altar building. Which would mean that Abraham is basically building an open roofed sanctuary for worship. In Beersheba. And this would make perfect sense here because of what Abraham does next.

The text tells us that he planted tamarisk, and there he called on the name of the Lord, Jehovah, the everlasting God. This is Jehovah, the God who's been with Abraham all along. But this time Abraham calls Jehovah the everlasting God. And guys, this is the first time in scripture that we see this name.

For God And it reflects the fact that Abraham is going deeper in his experience. and understanding of God and calling upon God as the everlasting God. He's acknowledging that God is the God of eternity past, the God of the present and the God of eternity future. The God who lives forever, the God who gives life.

Those circumstances may fluctuate, God doesn't fluctuate. Though generations and kingdoms come and go, God always remains the same. He is the God who transcends the centuries and the millennia of human history. And notice the language here, we're told that Abraham is calling on or upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.

So it doesn't just say that he's praising God, although we know that he's praising God and thanking God here, but he's also calling upon the Lord, the everlasting God, which means that he's praying to God. And asking God for help, the way we do when we call upon God. At the very least, this means that Abraham has made promises to Abimelech on behalf of himself. And his descendants, and he is here calling upon God to help him to be true to his word.

We see here that Abraham was not simply a man who made promises. He planted a memorial. Of his promise so that he would never forget and he even names the place, the well of oath. As a point of accountability for himself, and then he prays and worships and calls upon God to help him to be true to the promise that he had made to Abimelech.

Abraham does one final thing. Look at verse 34, and Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days. This means that he is content for right now to live in the good of the provision that God has made for him. It also means evidently that Abraham trusts Abimelech.

And the good faith promises that Abimelech had made to him. If Abraham did not trust Abimelech, he would be getting out of there. But he trusts the promises that Abimelech has made and views those promises as being from the Lord, so he settles. And continues to dwell in this area for many days.

And that's the story. I love what the inclusion of this story at this point of the narrative tells us about God. Think about it, guys, in Genesis 21, God tells us how he miraculously provided a son to Abraham and Sarah in their very old age, and we're all impressed by that miracle, right? Like, wow, Lord, you're amazing.

But then in our passage today, God basically says, and let me tell you the story. Of how I settled a dispute. And helped Abraham to get his well back. Guys, God is a God of every detail of our lives.

He is a God who treasures the opportunity. To provide for us through the miraculous and through the mundane. In ways large and small. In ways spiritual and material.

The same God who does the great miracles in the epic moments of your life is the same God who delights to give you a glass of water to drink. And to give you that good deal that you found at the grocery store this past week. God relishes being involved in every detail of your life. And he relishes being the God who helped Abraham get this thing resolved with Abimelech and get his well back.

Also, as I mentioned a few minutes ago, the obvious theme of this story is the theme of covenant. which looms so large in these verses, we see in this passage that it is appropriate for God's people to agree together with their fellow men on things that are good and wholesome. We also learn here that when we make such covenants, we should honor them. And keep them Think about it this way, Abraham.

is a man who himself is a recipient of covenant and of covenant promises from God. God even formalized his covenant with Abraham by walking between animal halves back in Genesis 17. In addition to that, in Genesis 21, we see God fulfilling a promise that he had made to Abraham. And providing for Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age.

God has made covenant with Abraham, and God has been a keeper of that covenant with Abraham. And now, here is Abraham in this passage today, with his heart filled with the blessings of a covenant keeping God. And we see Abraham happily agreeing to enter into a covenant with Abimelech, promising integrity and good faith kindness to Abimelech. The same kindness that Abimelech had shown to him.

Now 400 years later, From this point, when the iniquity of the Canaanites is full, God is going to tell the Israelites, make no covenant. With the people of this land because at that point, it's the time to drive them out. But what Abraham does here in this passage, there's not a whisper of anything wrong with this. This is a good and beautiful thing that he does here.

It's perfectly appropriate and in so making these promises and honoring these promises, Abraham is being very much like his God. Reflecting the image. Of his covenant making and covenant keeping God, displaying that image to this foreign king. We learn here that making covenants and entering into contractual agreements with our fellow man over things that are good is a good thing.

In as much as it provides us an opportunity as Christians to display the image of our covenant making and covenant keeping God. And for this reason, I, I say to myself and I say to all of Us who are here today that making promises and keeping your promises. It is very becoming. For the people of God And you are never more like God than when you make promises and keep those promises, no matter how mundane.

Or insignificant. You might think those promises are. We live in a world filled with contractual obligations, do we not? And mutual agreements.

I'm involved in many covenant relationships in my life. I have a covenant relationship with my wife, Donna. A covenant relationship that is now about 29 years old. We've made promises to each other and our relationship now exists within the confines of that covenant that we have made with one another.

I also have a covenant relationship with the members of this church. All of us who are members of Cornerstone have signed a covenant agreement with one another wherein we have made promises to each other. My wife and I also have a covenant relationship with Costco. Where we've signed a contract that involves agreements that we have made with Costco that enables us to shop there and have an official Costco membership.

Card. Many of us have a covenant relationship with visa. And Mastercard and Discover card and American Express, wherein we have promised to them that we will pay them back for anything that we spend. On the cards that they have agreed to let us use.

My wife and I have a covenant relationship with Bank of America, who holds the mortgage on our home. We have covenanted to them that we will pay each month on schedule what we owe to them for the home that we are living in. And in exchange for our promises to Bank of America. Bank of America has made promises to us.

Wherever you work, if you have a job, you work there because at some point you sign some form of agreement in which you made promises to that company that employs you. If you're self-employed, you are always entering into contractual agreements with your customers and clients that usually involves mutual promises. If you're a student at a high school or university, you have signed documents in which you have promised to uphold and abide by the policies and the rules of that institution.

If you have student loans or car loans, you only have those loans because somewhere, at some point, you signed your signature.

On something promising to pay those loans according to the terms of the agreement. Our lives are filled with covenantal contractual agreements. And here's my point, no matter how mundane. Those contractual agreements are we reflect as Christians, the image of our covenant making and covenant keeping God.

When we keep the promises that we make. So be a promise keeper. Be true to the contractual obligations you've entered into. Don't keep your promises only when it's convenient for you.

In Psalm 15:4, the psalmist says, the righteous man, Shebas to his own hurt. That means that a righteous person makes promises and he keeps those promises even. When it hurts him to do so. That's the way a righteous person rolls in all of their dealings.

So be true to your word and realize that you're never more like your covenant keeping God than when you keep covenant. With others in all areas of your life. This is a wonderful passage for us to look at today. Today, At the conclusion of our service, we're gonna have approximately 28 people presented to you.

who have recently joined Cornerstone over the last few months and all of these individuals have signed a covenant in which they have committed themselves to serve here at Cornerstone using their gifts in service to others in the body and opening their lives up and letting others use their gifts and ministry to them. And these individuals will verbally reaffirm the spirit. Of that covenant today making this room a place of covenant. This morning, And to make everything even more biblical.

For the first time ever in Cornerstone's history. History will be made this morning. For the first time ever in our church's history, we will be welcoming into the membership today a woman whose name is Sheba. Who was not even supposed to be here today, but she changed her flight from where she was out of town to be here this morning.

And we really appreciate that. Finally, our story today, in our story today, we see Abimelech. Wanting to benefit From the integrity and the kindness of Abraham. So he comes to Abraham as the weaker of the two and seeks to obtain.

He sees Abraham's a covenant man, blessed by a covenant keeping God, and he's like, can you Can you be good to me? Can you promise good faith, kindness to me? He knows God is with Abraham and so Abraham is the one Abimelech comes to, not anybody else. And I'm reminded in the New Testament that a man named Nicodemus came to someone greater than Abraham, to Jesus, and he said to Jesus, no one can do the things that you do unless God is with him.

Nicodemus was drawn to Jesus because God was with Jesus in a special way that was obvious to him. And Nicodemus ended up becoming a believer in Jesus, and we have opportunity to join Nicodemus in believing in Jesus and obtaining from Jesus a covenant of truth and good faith kindness that will last forever. And remember guys, when Jesus made covenant with us, he didn't walk through animal halves of animals that had been slain. He didn't say, may what has happened to these animals happen to me if I fail to keep my word.

No, he went to the cross himself. And allowed himself to be cut and slaughtered in order to keep his promise to save us. And bring us into the blessings of covenant relationship with him forever. He had made a promise.

And Christ swore to his own hurt. And the same Jesus comes to us often at the Lord's table, holding the cup and saying, this is the new covenant in my blood. Which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. If you're here today and you've never come to Jesus seeking truth.

From him Truth and good faith kindness from Jesus. Then come to him this morning, call upon his name. Just as Abraham called upon the name of the Lord, God makes a covenant promise that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And that's a covenant promise that God would keep to you.

If you would call on him today. Let's bow our heads together. Lord, we thank you for your word, for your goodness to us. How your word is filled with instruction and encouragement and admonition for us on every page.

You have kept covenant with us, Lord. Help us to turn around toward our fellow man and toward each other and mirror your image as a covenant maker and covenant keeper. Mirroring that image to others. And I know, Lord, for myself that as I've studied this passage, I've, I've thought of at least two ways of things that I have said to somebody that I would do, and Lord, I've not done it.

And I pray that you would help me this week. To do Those things that I said I would do that I have not done. And I pray, Lord, you would show me if there's anything else. That I have said that I would do, that I have not done.

And helped me to act. And keep my promises. I pray that for me and I pray that for all of us, Lord. Help us to be like you.

We thank you, Lord, for This opportunity to give of our offerings to you, receive these funds and do much with Everything that is given in this offering for your glory, for the spread of this message of the saving grace that comes through Jesus Christ, the covenant keeper. Receive these gifts and receive us, Lord, as we surrender ourselves to you in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said.