Genesis 21:22-34. 22At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24And Abraham said, “I will swear.” 25When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
The last time we saw Abraham and Abimelech together, in Genesis 20, Abraham was lying to Abimelech and almost getting him killed by God. So it’s no wonder that Abimelech comes to Abraham and says, therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.
Abimelech wants to live in peace with Abraham and share the land. Why? Because he can see that God is with Abraham in all that he does. Abimelech seems to understand that they best way to be protected by God is to connect himself to Abraham.
This should be true for all of us. When people see that we love and trust God and that God is with us, they should want to know God more by being around us. This is what the Bible calls being a witness. Because we have Jesus living in our hearts people should be able to say God is with you and all that you do.
Abraham definitely did way better this time with Abimelech then last time. The Bible says that Abraham has dug a well, but then Abimelech’s army seize it. They took Abraham’s well for themselves. When Abraham confronted King Abimelech and his army general, Phicol, they denied knowing anything about it. Abimelech is doing to Abraham what Abraham had done to him earlier. He’s deceiving Abraham the same way Abraham had deceived him.
What would you do if somebody took something that was yours? Abraham (or his servants) worked hard to dig that well, and then Abimelech’s army just took it. How rude! Do you think Abraham should fight Abimelech? Should he refuse to ever be friends with him? Should he spread mean gossip about him?
What does Abraham do? He makes a covenant with Abimelech. Abraham does for Abimelech what God did for him back in Genesis 15. Rather than being angry at him and trying to fight with him, Abraham promises to live in peace with Abimelech. Abraham offers peace to Abimelech, and Abimelech gives back to Abraham what is already his.
This is exactly what Jesus does for you. Like Abraham, Jesus offers to live in peace with you, even though you have sinned against him and taken what is his. When you try to live your life your own way you have taken from Jesus what is already his – yourself. So what does Jesus do? He invites us to live with him in peace. But we must give him what is already his – our lives. This is what the Christian life is: God and you living in peace together, but also God being in charge of you.
Abraham wanted to live in peace with Abimelech, but he also wanted his well back. He made the well. And God made you. And God wants what is his – you! When we trust in Jesus we are giving our lives back to God and choosing to be God’s friend and not his enemy.
And when God is your friend, when God is with you, then you can choose to be friends with everyone else. Even those who have taken your stuff. Because it’s not your stuff anyway, it’s all God’s stuff.
You: Is there anyone who has taken something from you or been mean to you that it is hard to get along with?
You with Jesus: How did Jesus dying on the cross for us allow us to live in peace with God?
Prayer: Father, I’m so glad I get to live in peace with you. I want you to be in control of my life too. Help me to live from my peace with you and be kind to everyone else too. Amen.
TLICfamily 