The Everlasting God

We saw in the previous chapter that Abraham had moved his household to Gerar. Abimelech, the king of that area, took Sarah into his household because he believed that Sarah was an unmarried woman. Why did he think that? Because Abraham and Sarah used the line that they had come up with in Ur; Sarah was Abraham’s sister. They chose to not mention that she was also his wife. And as the story went, God intervened, corrected Abraham and restored Sarah back to him.


Then we read of the birth of Isaac. Sarah rejoices over the miraculous birth and Abraham is once again obedient to God as he circumcises his son on the eighth day and gives him the name Isaac as God had told him.


A about 5 years pass and the time for Isaac to wean from Sarah came. Abraham threw a great party for the occasion which brought the mockery and scorn from Abraham’s firstborn, Ishmael. Sarah witnessing this tells Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away because Ishmael was not a part of the covenant. God confirms this and tells Abraham it is right for him to break cultural norms and send Ishmael away. Abraham didn’t have to worry though, because God promised to take care of him.


That brings us to our text today where we find Abimelech coming back into the scene. The previous stories I just mentioned are more well known but I feel that our text today is probably unfimilar to most people. When you think of Abraham, I’m guessing your mind doesn’t go immediately to this story of Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech.


Before we get into the story, I want to make a side note about Abimelech. This is not the only Abimelech recorded in the Bible. There are several Abimelech mentioned and so it is assumed that the name is either a common name, a royal name that is passed on to the different generations or it is a title like the name Pharaoh. We see a Abimelech here, with Isaac several chapters later, which is the same guy but he would probably be an old man. There is one in the time of the judges and there is one in David’s day.


In the text we have before us I want to point out three main ideas to you. First, we are going to see the obviousness of God’s blessing upon Abraham’s life. Second, we find Abraham entering into a covenant with Abimelech and an offering of earnest money for the rights to a well and we’ll finish up by see Abraham publicly worshipping God again and calls God the El Olam or the Everlasting God.

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