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Gen. 21:14
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning,
and took bread, and a bottle of water, and
gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her
shoulder, and the child, and sent her away:
and she departed, and wandered in the
wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water
was spent in the bottle, and she cast the
child under one of the shrubs. 16 And she
went, and sat her down over against him a
good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she
said, Let me not see the death of the child.
And she sat over against him, and lift up
her voice, and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and
the angel of God called to Hagar out of
heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee,
Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the
voice of the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift
up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for
I will make him a great nation. 19 And God
opened her eyes, and she saw a well of
water; and she went, and filled the bottle
with water, and gave the lad drink. 20 And
God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt
in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21
And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and
his mother took him a wife out of the land
of Egypt."
"And Abraham rose up early in the morning,
and took bread, and a bottle of water, and
gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her
shoulder, and the child, and sent her
away:" To live by faith is to be obedient
to God. Abraham, even when the
circumstances were such that he did not
understand the reason why, he still was
obedient to God. He did not procrastinate
in his obedience, but he rose up early in
the morning. This should be a lesson to us
as well. Once we know what God would have
us to do, we should not delay in the doing.
Even though it had grieved him to see
Ishmael depart, yet Abraham believed God
would keep his promise and take care of the
child and eventually make the child a
nation.
"And
she departed, and wandered in the wilderness
of Beersheba. 15 And the water was spent in
the bottle, and she cast the child under one
of the shrubs. 16 And she went, and sat her
down over against him a good way off, as it
were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see
the death of the child. And she sat over
against him, and lift up her voice, and
wept." Hagar's faith was not as strong as
Abraham's. She looked at the circumstances
and though surely that the child would die
and she did not want to see the death of her
child. Her sorrow and concern for the life
of the child was unfounded. She failed to
trust that God would take care of the child.
"And God heard the voice of the lad; and the
angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven,
and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar?
fear not; for God hath heard the voice of
the lad where he is. 18 Arise, lift up the
lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will
make him a great nation. 19 And God opened
her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and
she went, and filled the bottle with water,
and gave the lad drink." God was gracious
to Hagar and the child even when Hagar had
not trusted in the word of God. Sometimes
God is gracious unto us even though we have
not trusted in the word of God as we should
have. However, Hagar had gone through
anguish and sorrow that she need not have
suffered, if she had trusted in the Lord.
God opened Hagar's eyes. Sometimes the
answers to our problems are right before us,
yet we do not see them. God opened Hagar's
eyes so that she saw the well of water. The
well had been there all along, yet Hagar had
not seen it. When God opened her eyes then
she saw it. How often have we searched for
answers or sought for understanding and did
not see it until God opened our eyes, then
we found the answers or the understanding we
were searching for.
"And God was with the lad; and he grew, and
dwelt in the wilderness, and became an
archer. 21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of
Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of
the land of Egypt." Again, we see that God
is not only a maker of promises or
covenants, but he also keeps his promises
and covenants. It is a wonderful lesson to
know that God is with us in our lives just
as he was with Ishmael. God made provision
for Ishmael, both directly and indirectly.
Gen. 21:22-34 Abimelech and Abraham make a
Covenant
Gen. 21:22
"And it came to pass at that time, that
Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of
his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is
with thee in all that thou doest: 23 Now
therefore swear unto me here by God that
thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with
my son, nor with my son's son: but according
to the kindness that I have done unto thee,
thou shalt do unto me, and to the land
wherein thou hast sojourned. 24 And Abraham
said, I will swear. 25 And Abraham reproved
Abimelech because of a well of water, which
Abimelech's servants had violently taken
away. 26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who
hath done this thing: neither didst thou
tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to
day.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave
them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a
covenant. 28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs
of the flock by themselves. 29 And Abimelech
said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe
lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30
And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt
thou take of my hand, that they may be a
witness unto me, that I have digged this
well. 31 Wherefore he called that place
Beersheba; because there they sware both of
them. 32 Thus they made a covenant at
Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and
Phichol the chief captain of his host, and
they returned into the land of the
Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a grove
in Beersheba, and called there on the name
of the LORD, the everlasting God. 34 And
Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land
many days."
To the above passage we make the
following observations:
1. When God is with
someone, then others notice it. I have
known of people that it was very obvious
that God was leading and directing them and
blessing the labors he had given to them.
Abimelech noticed that God was with
Abraham. Abimelech had been previously
visited of God and desired the blessings of
God.
2. What Abimelech
desired from Abraham, he would have received
from Abraham whether the covenant had been
made or not. However, it appears that
Abimelech feared the greatness of Abraham
and the blessings that God was bestowing
upon him. Abimelech apparently sought for
security for himself, his family, and for
his descendants after him. On this basis
Abimelech sought to make a covenant with
Abraham.
3. Abimelech had
been kind to Abraham and his family and he
used this as a reason for Abraham to enter
into covenant with him. Obviously if he had
not been kind unto Abraham, then Abraham
would and should have been dubious about
entering into a covenant with Abimelech.
4. Both Abraham and
Abimelech swore to the covenant that they
made with one another. They swore by God to
the covenant. Heb. 6:16 "For men verily
swear by the greater: and an oath for
confirmation is to them an end of all
strife."
5. After, the oath
was taken, the servants of Abimelech
violently took away a well of water that
belonged to Abraham. Abraham complained to
Abimelech about this and Abimelech stated
that he did not know about it. His servants
had acted without his knowledge. This
prompted Abraham to make another covenant.
6. The second
covenant Abraham made with Abimelech had
witnesses: 27 And Abraham took sheep and
oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both
of them made a covenant. 28 And Abraham set
seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What
mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast
set by themselves? 30 And he said, For these
seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand,
that they may be a witness unto me, that I
have digged this well. This is similar to
the covenant that God made concerning his
elect family. Instead of seven ewe lambs,
the Lord set aside his churches as a witness
of the fact that he alone dug the well of
salvation for his people.
7. "Wherefore he
called that place Beersheba; because there
they sware both of them. 32 Thus they made a
covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose
up, and Phichol the chief captain of his
host, and they returned into the land of the
Philistines." Beersheba literally means
"well of the oath." The reactions of
Abimelech and Abraham was somewhat different
to the making of this oath. To Abimelech it
was a business arrangement. To Abraham, it
was the blessings of God in watching over
him. Abraham reacted thusly: "And Abraham
planted a grove in Beersheba, and called
there on the name of the LORD, the
everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in
the Philistines' land many days." Abraham
took the occasion to worship and praise God
for his blessings and watch care over him. |
