Genesis chapter 21. It's a long chapter, there's a lot going on, so I'll go ahead and start reading in verse 1 of Genesis chapter 21. And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.
She also said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have born him a son in his old age. So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.
Therefore she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac. And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son. But God said to Abraham, Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the latter, because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed." So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water, and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, and the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept.
And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink. So God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. He dwelt in the wilderness of Perun, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass at the time that Abimelech in Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with you in all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity, but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt. And Abraham said, I will swear. Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized.
And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing. You did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today. So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven new lambs of the flock by themselves.
Then Abimelech asked Abraham, what is the meaning of these seven new lambs which you have set by themselves? And he said, you will take these seven new lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well. Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba.
So Abimelech arose with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
Introduction
Well, this chapter certainly has, as I said, a lot going on. The first section deals with the birth of Isaac, the second with the expulsion of or the banishment of Ishmael, and then finally this covenant with Abimelech in verses 22 to 34. So we see God's promises concerning a son to Abraham and Sarah come to fruition here specifically in verses 1 to 7. We see it maintained that Isaac would in fact be the son of promise.
Therefore Ishmael is expelled, Ishmael is sent away, and then Abraham makes this covenant with Abimelech. And I think that what is going on in this particular chapter is the fulfillment of God's promises. There was first a promise concerning seed, which we have with reference to Isaac, and there is a promise with reference to land, which we have with this well. that Abraham gains. It's a well that belongs specifically to him in the land of promise.
Now remember, God promised Abraham the entirety of Canaan. But at this particular juncture, they didn't have a right to take Canaan. And so Abraham, in many respects, is a stranger in a strange land. But by bits and pieces, God is realizing or fulfilling that promise to Abraham such that he is, in fact, receiving the land.
So seed in the first part and then land in the latter part shows the faithfulness of God in terms of his promises to Abraham made when Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans. He went to Haran and then ultimately entered into Canaan according to Genesis chapter 12. So
Birth of Isaac: Verses 1–7
let's look first of all at the birth of Isaac in verses 1 to 7.
Fulfillment of God's Promise
We note in the first place the fulfillment of God's promise, and note how this is emphasized in verses 1 and 2. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. So again, there's a general promise concerning descendants for Abraham in Genesis chapter 12.
There's a general promise concerning descendants for Abraham in Genesis chapter 13. There is a specific promise in Genesis 15 that there would be a seed born of Abraham and Sarah. And then the specific promise of Isaac as that son is given by God to Abraham in chapter 17 at verse 19, and then given to Sarah in chapter 18 at verses 10 to 12. So we see that God fulfilled the promise.
Now remember, this is about a 25-year period. When Abraham comes out of Haran, when he enters into the promised land, this is when God gives him the initial promise that he would have descendants. Well, 25 years has passed. He certainly has a descendant in Ishmael, but as God has reiterated over and over and over again, to Abraham it's not going to be Ishmael.
Rather, it's going to be a natural-born son from you and from Sarah. And so in this, we not only see the faithfulness of God Almighty, but we see the persevering faith of Abraham. It's tough to live in light of a promise for 25 years. We are an impatient people, and we want our answers right away.
Well, we need to learn with reference to Scripture that we need to be patient. Trusting what the Lord has said, He will in fact deliver in His good timing. Notice in verse 2, the reference again to Abraham's old age. This is the perennial problem that has faced this couple all along the way.
They're both too old for them to have a child. And so in verse 2, Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age. Calvin says, concerning Moses who wrote the narrative, he says, for he thus retains his readers as by laying his hand upon them that they may pause in the consideration of so great a miracle. Meanwhile, Moses commends the faithfulness of God as if he had said he never feeds men with empty promises.
Nor is He less true in granting what He has promised than He is liberal and willing in making the promise. So God doesn't disappoint. God does not frustrate His people. When God gives a promise, even if it takes 25 years or in some instances 430 years, the Lord God always is good on His promises.
Now,
Ordinary and Extraordinary Details
in terms of the birth of Isaac in verses 2 to 7, you have two different divisions. On the one hand, you have sort of the ordinary details, and then on the other hand, you have the extraordinary details. The first ordinary detail is the birth of a son. Verse 2, Abraham and Sarah give birth to a son.
Again, the reality that they're that old is still something we ought to marvel at. As well, he names the son, Isaac, in verse 3, according to what God told him in chapter 17, verse 19. Remember the name Isaac means laughter. Both Abraham and Sarah laughed when they were told by God that they were going to have this baby.
In Genesis 17, Abraham laughs. Genesis 18, Sarah laughs. Here later, we have Ishmael. Same verb, only it does have that larger range where he scoffs.
The verb is, he laughed, but it has that meaning of scoffing, or it was derisive when he saw what was going on at the weaning ceremony of Isaac. So the son is named, and then the son is circumcised. Notice in verse 4, then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Again, you see the religious obedience of Abraham to the command of God.
He doesn't play around. He does what God commanded. Named the son Isaac, circumcised the son on the eighth day, that in accordance with that covenant of circumcision in Genesis 17 at verse 12. Now, in terms of the extraordinary details, verses 5 to 7.
Notice the old age of Abraham and Sarah, verse 5. Now, Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. It's very obvious and very specific and very conspicuous that the author wants us to remember this. He wants us to understand the great difficulty involved in this and that this is, in fact, an extraordinary birth.
It's not the case that this was run of the mill. And then in verse 6, we see the reference to her laughter and the laughter of others. Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me. I take it as the... one's laughing, it will be in joy.
It will be the response of happiness at the reality that this woman, Sarah, has given birth to a son for Abraham. And then in verse 7, she also said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age. We do that sort of thing from time to time as well.
Who would have thought it would have ever turned out this way? It's truly amazing. It's an incredible thing. And that's precisely what Sarah is doing.
At the birth of this son, Isaac, she is musing on the natural order with reference to her age and with reference to Abraham's age. And now she is giving sock to a baby on her breast. And she says, who in the world would have ever thought that such a thing like this would have ever happened? And that is accurate.
She understands the miraculous power of the living and true God with reference to the birth of Isaac, the son of promise.
Expulsion of Ishmael: Verses 8–21
Now note the expulsion of Ishmael. This is a rough passage of Scripture. As we go back to chapter 16, we see the incident where Abraham goes into Hagar and they have Ishmael. It's at the bidding of Sarah.
Sarah then turns against Hagar, God comes to comfort Hagar, and God gives promises to Hagar concerning Ishmael. Well, we see those promises fulfilled in this particular chapter and amplified or explained as to what all is going to be involved in the life of this Ishmael. Though he's not the son of promise, God doesn't forget him. Though he is not the one from whom Messiah is going to come, He is nevertheless going to be a great man.
He is going to be the leader of other nations, and he is going to receive great benefit from the living and true God. In fact, the Lord is with Ishmael according to this particular chapter.
Sarah's Demand and Abraham's Distress
But notice with reference to the words of Sarah in verses 8 to 11. We have in the first instance the weaning of Isaac. So the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned, probably about the age of three. That's roughly the estimate from the commentators.
Others have pushed it to further on, you know, six or seven. Others have said around two, probably around the age of three. And some would say, why would they have a great feast when the child was weaned? Wouldn't you have a great feast when the child was born?
Well, we don't know that they didn't have a great feast when the child was born, but in a day and age where infant mortality rates were very high, the fact that a child makes it to the age of three is the cause of great celebration, especially when this child has come as a result of the living and true God. So we cannot begrudge Abraham from throwing this great feast, but we see that Ishmael does according to verse 9. It says, Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. He's never mentioned by name.
Ishmael is not mentioned by name in this section. Sarah refers to the bondwoman and her son. Sarah is distancing herself from those two, and Sarah wants them gone. That's what we'll see in just a moment, but it says that this young man, Ishmael, probably about the age of 16 or 17 at this particular time, he's scoffing. or he's laughing.
Now, the mocking of Isaac by Ishmael, the same word as I said is laughter, but here it's not joy at the birth of Isaac, but it is derisive, it is scoffing, it is more derision. Perhaps as the firstborn, he's looking down upon the secondborn. Perhaps as the firstborn, he's thinking that he alone is entitled to the inheritance that will come from Abraham. That is certainly Sarah's concern as we move through this particular section.
And whatever he does in terms of this derision, it irritates Sarah to the point where she then speaks to Abraham in a way that is quite forward and quite demanding. Now, if you look at the book of Galatians, in Galatians chapter 4, we won't have a lot of time to sort of unpack that, but at the end we'll at least read the section. In Galatians 4, 21 to 31, the Apostle Paul appeals to this passage. And the Apostle Paul appeals to this passage to show the differences between Old Covenant and New Covenant, to show the difference between the law and the promise, to show the difference between the flesh and the promise.
And here the Apostle says that this scoffing or this mocking or this derision was an act of persecution on the part of Ishmael toward Isaac. That's how Paul interprets what's happening and applies it to the situation going on with reference to these Judaizers coming to the church, parading the whole idea of law for salvation and parading the whole idea of flesh for salvation. Paul says they've missed the point by a long shot. Abraham had two sons.
One son was a son of promise, that was Isaac, and the other son was a son according to the flesh, that was Ishmael. So Paul deals with this particular section in Galatians 4, 21 to 31. He calls it an allegory, and it is there as a means by which he shows covenant theology. So as we read through this, we ought to think of Hagar and Sarah as being sort of not covenantal heads, but at least representatives in an allegorical fashion of God's covenantal dealings with his people.
Now note the words of Sarah in verse 10. Therefore she said to Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac. Now again, what does Peter tell us concerning Sarah? She called Abraham Lord.
She was submissive to her husband. As we read through these narratives, there's not one whiff of Sarah ever speaking like this to Abraham. Well, in this instance, she does. She says, cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, not with Isaac.
So her concern isn't here motivated by her own selfishness or by her own greed, but rather it is with reference to this son of promise, namely Isaac. Now how does Abraham respond to that? It's intriguing because if you look at verse 11, typically when the Bible indicates that somebody's unhappy, or when the Bible indicates that God is unhappy, again after the manner of men, it uses the language of displeased. This case, Abraham was very displeased in this.
This was a great blow to Abraham. Now remember, Abraham loved Ishmael. Abraham loved this boy, and he had been with this boy for the 16 or the 17 years that this boy had been alive. So in verse 11, the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son.
John Gill explains, he says, his chief concern was for his son. Doesn't mention anything about Hagar. His chief concern was for his son, but as we move through it, he is concerned for her as well. But his chief concern was for his son, who perhaps had a greater share in his natural affections than as yet Isaac had.
So Isaac's three and Ishmael is 16 or 17. He's known him longer. He's closer to him. I don't think that's outlandish.
He goes on to say, nor did he express so much reluctance when he was bid to offer Isaac up. When we get to chapter 22 and God tells Abraham to go off for Isaac, he isn't very displeased at that. He doesn't have a... I mean, I'm sure it's a psychological turmoil and a great deal of pressure and a great deal of stress, but he doesn't express that he's very displeased at this particular situation.
So back to Gil. So nor did he express so much reluctance when he was bid to offer him up as he did at this time, that, the offering up of Isaac, being at the command of God. This, at the instance of his wife, and which he supposed only proceeded from passion and resentment. So he's very displeased at this particular point because he thinks this is a jealous, a resentful, a perhaps bitter Sarah that is saying, cast out the bondwoman and her son. get him out of my sight.
Now that Isaac is here, I want no truck with those people whatsoever. And then Gil says, the Hebrew writers say that of all the evils that came upon Abraham, this was the hardest and most grievous in his sight. Now, whether that's the case or not, you can at least enter in to see It had to be tough for Father Abraham. He had great natural affection for his son Ishmael, and now his wife Sarah says, cast out the bondwoman and her son.
There's no way he's going to be an heir with my son, namely Isaac.
God's Endorsement of Sarah
Now note God's endorsement of Sarah's language in verses 12 and 13. But God said to Abraham, do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. It's very intriguing, the nouns that are used to describe Ishmael. Lad is the appropriate terminology you use for a youngish man, 16, 17, like that.
But then when we get to that passage, when Abraham sends him off and when he's with Hagar there in Beersheba and he has to take sort of refuge under that shrub and he's about to die, he's the boy. I think that the author is showing us the vulnerability of the boy in that particular instance. There's really, you know, great storytelling and artwork in terms of literary going on in this particular section. But here God says that Sarah's right.
Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the latter, because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed shall be called." See, it's according to the sovereignty of God. See, this is why I think at times people get pretty upset about God's sovereignty, because they don't like the implications. They say things like, well, that's not fair.
I mean, here you have Ishmael, and he was a good lad, and he had never done anything evil or wicked or horrible. We don't really know what he did, but Abraham loved him, and it was his son, and all that sort of thing. It just doesn't seem fair that now he's banished, now he's exiled, now he's expelled, and he's out. That's the sovereignty of God.
That is according to his prerogative, and his purposes, and his plans. With reference to Jacob and Esau, before the sons or twins were born, God had already made that distinction. This is what God's sovereignty is all about. Not unfairness, but the execution of His sovereign will according to His purpose for His glory and the good of His elect by and through Jesus Christ.
Isaac is the son of promise. In Isaac your seed shall be called. That's the emphasis. The Lord God Most High is preaching Jesus right now to Abraham.
He's preaching Jesus right now to those involved in this particular situation. The seed of Abraham is absolutely crucial and it isn't in Ishmael. Now having said that, notice what verse 13 says. Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.
So he doesn't just cut him off once and for all. Ishmael does go on to be a great man in his own right. Not an elect man, not a spiritual man, not a saved man in terms of God's redemptive plan through Jesus Christ, but nevertheless a great man.
Ishmael Sent Away
Now notice the expulsion of Ishmael in verses 14 to 21. Again, this is a tough section. As we march with Abraham here and as we march with Abraham in Genesis chapter 22, it hopefully puts our trials and our issues and our difficulties in some degree of perspective. I mean, are we called by God to exile a son that we love, one that we've had for 16 or 17 years, that we've grown quite fond of?
Are we called by God to take the son of our love, the one who came from our beloved wife? Are we ever called by God to take him up to Mount Moriah and to kill him? If you ever think you've got lots of problems in your life, it might not be a bad idea to read Genesis 21 and 22 and say, what did Father Abraham have to go through? What kinds of things did he have to do in terms of perseverance with reference to his Christianity?
It certainly cost Abraham a lot to be a disciple of the living and true God, and here we see that in verse 14. Notice what it says. So Abraham rose early in the morning. Compare that with verse 3 in chapter 22.
So Abraham rose early in the morning. On two instances, he has to rise early in the morning because he's got to go about some very difficult business with the people that he loves more than anything else in the world. So in verse 14, Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar and sent her away. Now the grammar is such that some have conveyed it or construed it this way. that he put the water, and he put the bread, and he put Ishmael on her shoulders.
I think the new King James represents it better. Now, for those who look perplexed, the grammar or the syntax can go that way. And some have thought that she was actually carrying Ishmael on her shoulders on this particular journey. But again, he's 16 or 17.
That just does not seem like the accurate sort of translation of this passage. But what is intriguing is the littleness of the provision that he provides for them. A loaf of bread and a skin of water. That's not a lot of vittles for the journey that they would need to make.
Why is it that Abraham only gives them so little? The skin of water was probably about 15 liters or three gallons. Gallons are better than liters. That's just an Americanism.
In terms of the why, it is a perplexing thing, isn't it? Here's your, you know, Hagar and here's your son Ishmael and they've got a journey to make and you give them, you know, 15 liters of water and you give them some bread. And, you know, off they go. Calvin said, truly, either God shut his eyes that what he would gladly have done might not come into his mind, or probably better, he says, or Abraham limited her provision in order that she might not go far from his house.
You got enough bread and water to get that far. That's OK. I can come see Ishmael when he's that far. I think there's some validity to that particular idea.
Wenham makes an interesting observation. If you look back at verse 14, notice the progression. He rises early in the morning. He takes the bread.
He takes the skin of water. And putting it on his shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar. Ishmael's last. He's the last thing he wants to part with.
He's the last thing he wants to get rid of. Here's the water. Here's the bread. Okay, now it's on your shoulder.
Okay, now I'll give you the boy. Wenham makes this observation. One may interpret the sparse provisioning as evoking Abraham's numbness at sending his son away rather than lack of concern or forethought. In other words, he's so numb and paralyzed by the actual activity of sending off his boy, he's not thinking in terms, okay, you're gonna be on the road for this many days, you're gonna need this much provision, you're gonna find a...
He doesn't think like that. It's interesting, like, you know, the book of Lamentations, the first four chapters are acrostic, and they all follow the Hebrew alphabet. They're all 22 verses long, except for one of them, chapter three, I think, is 66 verses. So you have, you know, A-A-A, B-B-B, C-C-C.
And then the last chapter, no acrostic, no artistry, no nothing. And some have suggested that's similar to what happens when persons go through grief or loss or trial or hardship. They try to keep it together. They try to do everything in a routine manner.
They try to maintain their structure. And then after all is said and done, they just lose it and fall apart. Well, maybe Abraham's losing it and falling apart in terms of the provision and the planning with reference to keeping them alive. He's numb at the prospect of having to send his son away.
So perhaps that's the way we ought to understand the sparseness in terms of the provision. Now, notice in verses 15 and 16. It doesn't take long. The water is used up, according to verse 15.
The water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot, for she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept." Brethren, that is heartbreaking material. That is very tough stuff.
Here she is at the end of her tether, the water's gone, she puts him in the shrub so that he can get the bit of shade that is available there. She goes a bow shot away so she doesn't have to see the grief of her own boy die.
God Hears and Provides
Now, praise God Almighty that God is God Almighty because He intervenes in verses 17 to 21. Notice, God heard the voice of the lad. We're told that she's crying. We're told that she's crying out.
Obviously, Ishmael is crying as well. The water will eventually provoke that or evoke that from you. So God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called the Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What ails you, Hagar?
Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Go back to chapter 16 for just a moment. Chapter 16. Hagar had learned this and Hagar is relearning this.
Chapter 16 at verse 13. Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, you are the God who sees. For she said, have I also here seen him who sees me? Therefore, the well was called Ber-lehi-roi.
Observe it is between Kedesh and Bereth. So you have this instance where she confesses the ability of God to see, the omniscience of God Most High, and now that omniscient God comes to her. Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Verse 18, Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.
So again, here God comes with a promise. He's already mentioned it to Abraham specifically, now he's mentioning it to Hagar, and he is telling her, I am going to make him a great nation. And then we have this blessed sort of fulfillment in verses 19 and following. Notice, God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
Some have taught that God opened up a well right there. No, it's probably the well was there, and he opened her eyes so that she was able to observe what was already there. Not that God couldn't have made a well, to be sure, but the text is pretty emphatic that He opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water and gave the lad a drink.
So God resolves their immediate issue, their immediate problem. And then verses 20 and 21 sort of telescope the life of Ishmael. In other words, this revisits what God had already spoken, at least in some degree, in chapter 16. And it tells us what the disposition of this Ishmael is going to be.
Not that he's never mentioned again in the Bible. He'll be mentioning it in chapter 25, 13 to 16, when it tells us the sons of Ishmael and then records for us the death of Ishmael. But notice in verse 20, God was with the lad. God was with the lad.
I mean, that is an incredible statement. He's not the son of promise. He's not the one through whom the Messiah is going to come. But nevertheless, God is with him.
God made a promise to Abraham, and he confirms it to Hagar, and then he fulfills it with reference to this man. And he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. And then notice in verse 21, he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. So it's sort of emphasizing that she shouldered the parental responsibilities.
It was most likely the father's job to find a wife for their son. And so the text is telling us that mom stepped in and did everything necessary for the maturation of this young man and to promote or produce a man that would be married, well-adjusted, as far as we know, and having children. That last statement concerning the fact that he took a wife paves the way for the reference in chapter 25 when we see that Ishmael had children. So it is intriguing.
She seeks a wife for her boy from her country, from Egypt specifically. So
Covenant with Abimelech: Verses 22–34
notice then, finally, the covenant with Abimelech. This is, again, when you first sort of read this chapter, you kind of wonder, is this just a tack-on? Is this just sort of an add-on? I mean, I know they're in Gerar.
This connects, obviously, with chapter 20. Look at verse 22. It says, And it came to pass at that time. That time is probably not the marriage of Ishmael.
That time is probably the birth of Isaac. That time when they are living in Gerar, they've already dealt with Abimelech to some degree according to chapter 20. Remember, they lie to Abimelech about their relationship. Abimelech gets, you know, irritated to some degree and nevertheless gives them gifts and promises them in terms of his land.
Whatever you see, you can have for yourself. Think about that. Go back to chapter 20 at verse 15. Chapter 20, verse 14, Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants and gave them to Abraham.
And he restored Sarah, his wife, to him. And Abimelech said, see, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you. So we get to chapter 21.
Isaac is born. Ishmael is dealt with. And then we get back to this situation that obtained between Abraham and Abimelech. Now you can understand why Abimelech comes to him and says, let's make a treaty together.
Let's make a covenant together. Because Abimelech had said to Abraham, whatever you see in my land, you're free to have. But Abimelech's no fool, because he sees how wherever Abraham goes, and whatever Abraham does, he prospers. So Abimelech's reading the writing on the wall.
If this keeps happening, then Abraham's going to end up the possessor of Canaan, and I'm going to be out of luck. So that's what's driving this desire for covenant in verses 22 and 23. Verse 22, it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham saying, God is with you in all that you do. You get the sort of motivation here.
We want to be on your side. We don't want to be at odds with you. We don't want to be contraries. We want to be partners with reference to this land that we dwell in.
Now, therefore, verse 23, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity, but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt. Robert Alter explains it this way. He says, now, as Abraham manifestly prospers, Abimelech proposes a treaty which will ensure that the Hebrew sojourner does not unduly encroach on him or his land. So there's, you know, that desire in Abimelech to facilitate things and make sure there's good relationship going on.
So Abraham says, I will swear in verse 24. Now Abraham brings up a particular complaint that he has with reference to Abimelech's men. And that's verse 25, excuse me. It says, Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized.
And Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing. You did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today. So Abimelech, whether he's to be believed or not, Abraham acknowledges, I will swear to this covenant. I will enter into this treaty with you.
I will make sure that I don't run you and your kids out of business. Now, ultimately, it's not going to be Abraham, but Abraham's descendants. So Abraham can't enter into this treaty or covenant with Abimelech in terms of Abimelech's posterity, his immediate posterity. When it comes to holy war, obviously Abraham's descendants are going to run these people right out of the land of Canaan.
But for right now, this was a treaty and a covenant that certainly Abraham could swear to, so he mentions this situation concerning the well. And of course Abimelech denies it, maybe he didn't know about it, and maybe it was because Abraham had never said it. And now Abraham does what is intrinsic to covenant keeping. With reference to this covenantal arrangement, most likely Abraham is the inferior and Abimelech is the superior.
And so Abraham offers or takes sheep, oxen, and gives them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. Remember in Genesis chapter 15, when God makes a covenant with Abraham, The explanation I gave there, I tried to give there, was that when two parties made a covenant, they would take these animals, they would cut them right down the middle, and they would put them on either side. And then the parties of the covenant would walk between those pieces with the understanding that if either party broke the covenant, then whatever happened to those animals may have happened to that covenant breaker. Likely that's what Abraham and Abimelech are doing in this particular instance.
They cut the animals, they walk through the animals, and technically that's the language with reference to covenant making. It's usually, the convention is, in the Hebrew Old Testament, to cut a covenant. You make them, sure. You ratify them, sure.
You confirm them at certain points. But the fundamental and probably most often used sort of convention is to say, cut a covenant. And it probably has reference to cutting those animals so you can march between them and take that self-maledictory oath upon yourself. Now, beyond that, notice what Abraham does in verse 28.
And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. Then Abimelech asked Abraham, what is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves? So this was over and above. This was not normal.
This was different. This was an add-on. And that's when Abraham responds in verse 30. You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.
So the lambs go one step beyond the basic treaty to secure the water for Abraham. Now, for those of us who can wander over to a tap and flip it up and get water, we probably don't value wells like we should. But if we were in this situation and we were given our choice of the land, that land is absolutely positively useless without water. And so Abraham understands that if I don't have water, I don't have land.
So above and beyond the common basic treaty and covenant to dwell peacefully among one another, Abraham ponies up these ewe lambs so that he will be assured of retaining this particular well. It is a piece of ownership in the land of Canaan. It's a down payment to what God has promised in terms of the full reception of the land, the nation of Canaan. Wenham again says he is giving extra animals because he wants more than a general treaty.
He wants a specific concession, namely the guaranteed use of the well that he had dug. For without the right to water, a promise to be allowed to live in the land is valueless. Hence Abraham's determination to secure the use of the well. This is the land promise coming to fruition.
We've got seed in Isaac, we've got land in Canaan. The Lord is faithful, brethren, and what may seem mundane and what may seem not earth-shattering, it's a well, but what it is is a proof positive that God's faithfulness is coming to play in his life. Now notice he names the place, so they call the place Beer Sheba, which literally means well of the oath or well of the seven. Beer means well and Sheba has either the meaning of oath or seven.
Fits beautifully with either one. It's the well of the oath that they made between each other, to one another, or the seven, the seven new lambs that were that add-on to secure the well rights for Abraham at this particular instance. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.
Now note what Abraham does. Verse 33, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. Now, there's a lot of ways to understand why he planted this particular tree. From the mundane, you want big trees, shady trees in this part of the world.
Again, for us who have air conditioning and, you know, an abundance of trees all around because it rains like it does, we just take this for granted. But if you were living in this climate, you would want trees, big leafy trees, big massive trees, so that you could have a siesta during the heat of the day. I mean, brethren, that's not just a thing in Mexico. It's too hot to work in some of these places. 15 minutes under a shade tree will rejuvenate you, enable you to work harder for the remaining workday.
So some suggest that it's that. Others see the religious nature of it. Remember later on in redemptive history, what are forbidden? groves of trees, not because we hate trees, but because they were utilized for religious worship. So what Abraham starts off doing ultimately becomes perverted by the children of Israel.
But at this particular time, it does seem to be connected to worship because Abraham plants this tamarisk tree in Beersheba and there calls on the name of the Lord. Notice the everlasting God. Beautiful way that Abraham calls on the Lord here as the everlasting God. Again, Wenham, I think, explains this well.
The use of this divine epithet, which is El Olam, suggests that God's long-term faithfulness to Abraham has been revealed through Abimelech's words and actions. It's a Bimelech that is confirming God's covenant with reference to Abraham. In his opening speech, a Bimelech, he had looked confidently into the future with his descendants and Abraham's living peaceably together. By granting Abraham rights to a well, a Bimelech had made it possible for Abraham to live there permanently and had acknowledged his legal right at least to water.
In other words, after so many delays, the promises of land and descendants at last seem on their way to fulfillment. So when you first read Genesis chapter 21, it's not just that this covenant with Abimelech is sort of tacked on because Oh yeah, we got to revisit Abimelech and he's living in the land of Gerar. No, it's the promises of God. They're yea and amen in our Lord Jesus Christ.
God specified you will receive seed and you will receive land. It makes it, you know, that much more glorious when they receive the seed at the beginning of the chapter and they start receiving the land at the end of the chapter. If ever you are thinking your problems are big, read Genesis 21 and 22. But as well, if ever you're doubting the covenant faithfulness of God, read Genesis 21 and 22.
This is obviously for the people of God today to encourage confident faith in the living and true God, in the everlasting God, as Abraham addresses him. It's a beautiful epithet for Abraham to utilize at this particular time, which highlights the faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God, who gave land and who gave seed, as he said he would.
Paul's Allegorical Use in Galatians 4
Now let's turn, finally, to Galatians chapter 4, at least to read the section, to see how the Apostle Paul deals with this. For those of you who've ever read anything by John Calvin, when he talks about allegory, he says it was a contrivance of Satan. Allegory was a contrivance of Satan that was employed by many exegetes in the history of the church. He's not talking about Paul's allegory here.
But Calvin certainly didn't have a lot of time for allegory. I've gotten a little bit more appreciative allegory as long as it is controlled by you know some textual sort of stipulation so perhaps I don't think I'd fall lockstep with Calvin but I certainly listened to his caution on that and we need to be careful there has to be textual controls when you get into allegory but with reference to Paul he's inspired by the Holy Spirit when he goes allegorical we can follow right along. Now notice in Galatians 4.21, tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondwoman, the other by a free woman.
But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the free woman through promise. which things are symbolic, for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar, for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear, break forth and shout, you who are not in labor. For the desolate has many more children than she who has a husband.
Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now." So Paul applies this to the situation affecting the churches in Galatia. He is saying that these Judaizers that have come to you, that are saying faith in Jesus is good, plus circumcision for eternal life, they're like Ishmael. They're persecutors.
They are sons of the flesh, and their whole desire is to make shipwreck of you. He says, according to the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what does the Scripture say? Cast out the bondwoman and her son.
Isn't that intriguing? What does the Scripture say? So when Sarah says what she is saying, that is by the inspiration and power of God Almighty. Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. We're connected to Isaac. We're connected to Abraham. We're connected to those men because it is from them that Jesus Christ came.
Look at Galatians 3.26. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. I think it's good for us to remind ourselves of Galatians 3 and 4 as we move through the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Because those men existed, yes, to populate Canaan at that particular time, yes, to have families, yes, to demonstrate true religion in the land, but primarily so that ultimately Messiah would come, ultimately Jesus would come, and it would be through him that we would have forgiveness of sins and life eternal. So Paul appeals to Genesis chapter 21 in Galatians 4, he uses it allegorically to show spiritual truth from that situation facing Abraham and Sarah back in the day. Well let's close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you that it is given by inspiration of God and that it is profitable to us. And I pray that you would encourage our hearts as we see the scope of the scripture as Jesus Christ our Lord, and help us to see the consent of the parts and how it all works together, and how the apostle appeals to such things and uses them in a context many ways so separate from what originally obtained with Abraham and Sarah, and yet not much different. We thank you for the gospel of our salvation. We thank you for the seed of Abraham. even our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fact that through Him we are sons and daughters of Abraham.
Go with us now, we pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen.