Genesis 085 – A Divine Down Payment

Transcript

Genesis 085 – A Divine Down Payment

By Dr Andy Woods – 07/17/2022

Genesis 21:22-34

Alright! Well, good morning everybody. Happy mid Houston July. Hope you’re enjoying this global freezing that we’re having here. Yes, let’s take our Bibles, if we could, open them to the book of Genesis chapter 21, verse 24 (Gen 21:24). Lord willing, we’re going to try to finish the chapter today. Of course by this time, I have no credibility when I say that but you got to have some goals in life. The title of our message this morning is “A Divine Down Payment.” A Divine Down Payment. We have been studying the life of Abraham as we’ve been moving verse by verse through the book of Genesis.

Genesis 12‒21 Abraham’s Early Journeys

1. 1. Unconditional promises (Gen 12:1-3)
   2. From Haran to Canaan (Gen 12:4-5)
   3. In Canaan (Gen 12:6-9)
   4. In Egypt (Gen 12:10-20)
   5. Abram and Lot Separate (Gen 13:1-13)
   6. Reaffirmation of Abram’s promises (Gen 13:14-18)
   7. Abram Rescues Lot (Gen 14:1-24)
   8. Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 15:1-21)
   9. Hagar & Ishmael (Gen 16:1-16)
   10. Circumcision  (Gen 17:1-27)
   11. Sodom  & Gomorrah (Gen 18‒19)
   12. Abraham & Abimelech (Gen 20)
   13. Isaac’s birth (Gen 21:1-7)
   14. Ishmael’s expulsion (Gen 21:8-21)
   15. Abraham & Abimelech’s covenant (Gen 21:22-34)
   16. Abraham sacrifices Isaac (Gen 22)
   17. Sarah’s death (Gen 23)

Abraham of course being such a big deal in the Bible and the reason he is so significant biblically is… But we’ve been studying the life of Abraham because it’s through Abraham that a special nation is going to start, called the nation of Israel and through the nation of Israel, God has purposed to bless the world, not the least of which is the coming of Jesus. You know, it’s kind of interesting that Christianity cannot explain its existence without Israel. If you don’t have Israel in the equation, you have no explanation for Christianity. Israel can explain its existence without Christianity. But Christianity knows no similar luxury. So the reason we’re going through the book of Genesis meticulously, as we have been, is it’s the foundation for everything that God is going to do in human history. It’s the foundations of the blessings that we now bask in, in the year 2022 and we now come to a part in the story with Abraham where Abraham enters into a covenant with Abimelech. Abimelech we’ve run into before in Genesis, 20. Abimelech was the individual that Abraham lied to. He lied and he said Sarah was just his sister. Abimelech took Sarah into his harem and God intervened, God spoke. It scared the daylights out of Abimelech to the point where he returned Sarah to Abraham untouched, unmolested, as we could say and Abimelech’s only real question to Abraham was how come you didn’t tell me the truth? So Abraham is a man who has been, shall we say, telling a few tall tales, fibs, half-truths and yet Abimelech still recognizes that God is blessing Abraham. Why is God blessing Abraham in spite of the fact that Abraham is going around and his obedience is not perfect? Well, it’s the same reason God blesses you, Amen? And God blesses me. He does not deal with us on the basis of merit, praise God for that, but He deals with us on the basis of what? Grace or unmerited favor and Abraham had received something from God that goes all the way back to Genesis, 15, it’s called the Abrahamic Covenant. A covenant coming from God to Abraham. There is no other nation on the face of the earth other than Israel that has received such a thing. Abraham received that covenant not because he earned it or deserved it, it’s because of the gracious hand of God and Abimelech is going to recognize this and consequently, he is going to want to enter into a covenant with Abraham. 5:30

Genesis 21:22-34 Abraham & Abimelech’s Covenant

1. 1. 1. Abimelech’s recognition (Gen 21:22)
      2. Abimelech’s request (Gen 21:23)
      3. Abraham’s response (Gen 21:24)
      4. Abraham’s complaint (Gen 21:25)
      5. Abimelech’s response (Gen 21:26)
      6. Covenant entered (Gen 21:27-32)
      7. Covenant’s results (Gen 21:33-34)

So as we look at Abimelech’s story, here’s the outline that we’re going to follow and you’ll notice there in verse 22 (Gen 21:22) Abimelech’s recognition. It says: Now it came about at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, God is with you… Abimelech, as we’ve tried to explain, is not what we would call a proper name; it’s more like a title of somebody, very similar to how you would use the word Pharaoh. Not a name but a title and we also run into the commander of Abimelech’s army, a man named Phicol and it’s interesting here that Abimelech pays Abraham a tremendous compliment. He says: …God is with you in all that you do… I can’t think of a greater compliment to be lavished upon a child of God by the world than that. That type of compliment you’ll see many times in scripture, coming to men and women that God uses strategically. In the Joseph story, which we hope to get to eventually, hopefully before the rapture, in Genesis, 39, verse 3 (Genesis 39:3) it says: Now his master saw that the LORD was with him… Joseph… and the LORD caused all that he did to prosper… Joseph’s master could look at Joseph and he could say you know there’s something very unique about you. Something very different and this served for Joseph’s promotion. The same kind of thing is said about Daniel. In Daniel, 6, and verse 3 (Dan 6:3), it says: Then Daniel began distinguishing himself from the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom… As I was looking at these verses, the question I was asking myself is could that be said of me? Could that be said of you? In the unsaved world people that don’t know Jesus, they look at you and they see something supernatural about you. I think that is what is meant when Jesus said in Matthew, 5, verse 13 (Matt 5:13), you are the salt of the earth and think for a minute, what salt does. Does not salt create thirst? In other words, our lives should be so guided by the Holy Spirit as God’s people, that even unsaved friends, family, workers, coworkers should be able to look at our lives and say, you know, there’s something supernatural about you, something different, your character is different. Now, when you’re under stress like the rest of us, you don’t react like the rest of us do, you don’t seem to laugh at the same jokes that we laugh at. Your character is completely and totally different, that makes me thirsty for wanting to know more about what you have and I don’t. See, so many times we train ourselves to give an answer of what to the unbeliever. Here’s what I know. When in actuality the right question and answer should be, who do I know? You don’t need to know what as much as you need to know who. You need to know Jesus because Jesus’ life in me makes me different, He makes me unique and you can have the same thing. So there is sort of an evangelistic purpose as we continue to walk with God. The unsaved world is taking note. You’ve heard that expression, you may be the only Bible someone ever reads. There are many people that will not read the Bible, they will not darken the door of the church, but God has given them a Bible through your life and your presence among them and are we drawing people to Jesus simply by walking with Him. 10:12

This recognition leads to a request, you see it there in verse 23 (Gen 21:23), it says: now therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, 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…

This probably took place as the Bible says in a place called Gerar, which would be basically to the south there of the nation of Israel and you remember that when Abimelech, back in chapter 20, had sent Abraham and Sarah unmolested on their way, he basically told Abraham, here’s my land, dwell wherever you want. You’ll see that in Genesis chapter 20, verse 15 (Gen 20:15), it says: Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please… And Abraham did that and consequently, as a result of God’s grace to Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant, Abraham had become sort of a nomadic power, to the point where it actually got Abimelech’s attention and it’s interesting that Abraham became powerful in this sense, even though he had lied his way into the situation. That shows you that the Abrahamic Covenant that he had received is what we would call unconditional; we’ve given there on the screen the arguments for its unconditional nature.

Evidence of Abrahamic Covenant’s Unconditional Nature

• ANE covenant ratification ceremony (Gen 15)
• Lack of stated conditions for Israel’s obedience (Gen 15)
• Covenant’s eternality (Gen 17:7, 13, 19; Ps. 90:2)
• Covenant’s immutability (Heb 6:13-18; Mal. 3:6)
• Trans-generational reaffirmation despite perpetual national disobedience (Jer 31:35-37)

It doesn’t rest on the performance of Abraham or its descendants for fulfillment; it rests totally upon the grace and the promises of God. Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 348

“The basis of the request was: but according to the kindness I have done unto you, you shall do unto me, and to the land wherein you have sojourned. What this shows is that Abraham had become a strong chieftain, a nomadic one, but a chieftain nonetheless, to be feared by the local city-kings of the city-states. They recognized that God was with Abraham, but Abraham had been deceptive once before. That was the paradox Abimelech faced: God was with Abraham, but Abraham was deceptive; it was this contradictory element that called for a binding treaty.”

Abimelech saw the unconditional hand of God on Abraham’s life and consequently, Abimelech himself wanted to enter into a covenant, if we can put it that way, with Abraham. So we see Abraham’s response there in verse 23 (Gen 21:23), Abimelech requests, deal with me fairly and what does Abraham say in verse 24 (Gen 21:24) by way of response? I swear it. Abraham made a promise, I’ll deal with you fairly… That in and of itself could have ended the discussion because Abraham, although he was problematic, was very sincere and what he was saying here. There is a New Testament teaching that Jesus gave in Matthew chapter 5, verses 33 through 37 (Matt 5:33-37) where he said: Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD. But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black…. Now, in my life I’ve done a good job taking black hair and turning it white and then it says: But let your statement be, Yes, yes or No, no; anything beyond these is of evil… In other words, as Christians our character should be so circumspect, it should be so upright, that when I make a promise I shouldn’t have to swear by something greater than myself to get people to believe that I’m actually telling the truth. A lot of people will say, I swear, I promise to do this, I swear on my mother’s grave and all of these kinds of things and the Bible is saying, that should be unnecessary, those additional descriptions. We should just be consistent in our word. We should be so consistent on our word that we do what we say we would, you know, that when it comes out of our mouth people believe it. I shouldn’t have to rely upon or depend upon something greater than myself to get people to believe that I’m actually telling the truth. 15:49

Ephesians, 4, verse 25 (Eph 4:25) of the Christian, it says: Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another… Abraham certainly was a man that’s growing here but I think he’s growing out of sort of a deceptive character into more of a forthright character, which is the trajectory God has us all on. I don’t think we become sinless but as we grow in Christ we should be sinning less, Amen? I look back at the last couple of years and I thank God that I’m not the man I used to be in the last couple of years. But I also look forward and I say, I’m not quite the man that I’m supposed to be. I’m growing in my relationship to Jesus and part of growth is being a truth teller. Speaking the truth in love. Not having our character so wishy-washy or deceptive that when words come out of our mouths people really don’t believe what we’re saying, causing us to have to swear by something greater than ourselves. Abraham says, I swear it but then Abraham himself raises a complaint against Abimelech.

Genesis 21:22-34 Abraham & Abimelech’s Covenant

1. Abimelech’s recognition (Gen 21:22)
2. Abimelech’s request (Gen 21:23)
3. Abraham’s response (Gen 21:24)
4. Abraham’s complaint (Gen 21:25)
5. Abimelech’s response (Gen 21:26)
6. Covenant entered (Gen 21:27-32)
7. Covenant’s results (Gen 21:33-34)

You see Abraham’s complaint described there in verse 25 of Genesis 21 (Gen 21:25): But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized… Apparently, the household of Abimelech had not acted rightly or fairly towards Abraham and it’s a description of some kind of incident, we’re not given a lot of information about it but when Abimelech told Abraham after he returned Sarah to Abraham, here’s my land that’s before you, settle where you want, apparently he dug a well of some kind and the household of Abimelech, not Abimelech himself, basically did not respect what Abraham had dug and built and took control of the well and so before entering into this contract or covenant with Abimelech, Abraham raises this issue and then as you go down to verse 26, you see Abimelech’s response to this. It says in verse 26 (Gen 21:26): 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… It’s sort of the reaction that we got from Abimelech back in chapter 20, where Abraham had sort of told a half lie, Sarah is my sister. Abimelech took Sarah into his harem. God deals directly with Abimelech and says, if you sexually molest her or violate her in any way, you’re as good as dead and Abimelech wants to be right with God and he returns Sarah and he rebukes Abraham and he says why didn’t you tell me? That she was not your sister, why didn’t you give me the full story that she was actually your wife. So Abimelech pleads innocence and he sort of does that here concerning this incident with the well. Abimelech said, concerning the well, I do not know who did this. In other words, I don’t know who took it from you and you, he kind of puts the blame back on Abraham, you didn’t tell me anything about this and in fact, this is the first news that I’ve heard of this and so this whole historical circumstance causes the two of them, Abimelech and Abraham, to enter into a covenant. You see that covenant described in verses 27 through 32. 20:00

Notice verse 27 (Gen 21:27), it says: Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant… Now, everywhere you see the word covenant in the Bible, you want to pay attention to that, if you’re an underliner, that’s something you should underline because that’s a big, big deal in the Bible. It’s a legally binding contract. The word for covenant is the Hebrew word “berith” and here this is a covenant of peace between Abraham and Abimelech. You see that back in verse 23 where Abimelech recognizes the hand of God in Abraham’s life and simply wants peace with him and it’s also a covenant of justice. I built a well in land that you gave me and it was taken away from me by your own servants, verse 25 and verse 30. So this is a covenant of peace between two men and a covenant of justice. This is what we would call a horizontal covenant between two individuals. That type of covenant arrangement is very, very different than all the covenants we read about thus far in the book of Genesis; those covenants are vertical, coming from God to man.

Noah received a covenant like that called the Noahic Covenant in Genesis, 9; Abraham himself received a covenant like that coming from God to Abraham in Genesis, 15. Those covenants are unconditional; they rest completely and totally upon God’s shoulders to fulfill what He said He was going to do. But this covenant is a bit different because it’s horizontal, not between God coming to men but between two individuals and normally this kind of covenant would be enough but Abraham in this arrangement actually goes a step further and he offers sheep and oxen to Abimelech as a testimony that he actually dug that well that Abimelech’s servants had taken and we continue reading about this covenant dropping down into verse 28 (Gen 21:28), it says: Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves… So just to show his sincerity on this concerning the fact that he really did dig this well, he takes by themselves seven ewe lambs. The number seven is interesting to me because that most likely is the number of completion. A lot of the things in the Bible revolve around different numbers. For example, when Jesus in His first miracle turned the water into wine at a wedding at Cana of Galilee, it says there in John, 6: Now there were six stone water pots set there for the Jewish custom of purification containing the 20 or 30 gallons each. Jesus operating around this number six, the world was created in six days and then He does a miracle which you could argue is in addition to six, to seven. So seven is probably selected here because it’s biblically the number of completion and Abimelech then asked the question, you see that there in verse 29 (Gen 21:29), it says: Abimelech said to Abraham, What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?… And verse 30 (Gen 21:30) is the answer, it says: He said, You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a witness to me, that I dug this well… I really dug this well. This well was given to me on the property that you said I could dwell on and it was taken from me against my will by your servants and it is true that you probably don’t know exactly how and why and if your servants did that, but just to show you that I’m not telling a tall tale this time around, I told you a tall tale back in chapter 20. I’m not telling you a tall tale here. I’m very, very sincere. I’m going to offer you or give to use these seven ewe lambs. 25:17

Notice the growth in Abraham. I mean, he’s moving away from just being sort of a half-truth teller to a person who wants to be a person of sincerity. He wants to be understood that way. You know, when I speak, it’s the truth and may the Lord help us grow in this area. We shouldn’t be people of deception. We shouldn’t be people that say one thing and mean another. We should be people that when we speak, you can tell that the person is speaking directly from their heart and when you go down to verse 31 (Gen 21:31), you see the geographical locale where this covenant was entered into, it says: Therefore he called that place Beersheba… Beersheba is interesting, it has a Hebrew meaning. Arnold Fruchtenbaum says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 349

“Verse 31 records the result: Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba. In Hebrew, the name comprises two words: Be’er Sheva, literally meaning ‘the well of the seven.’ The figure seven comes from the seven lambs. The reason given is: because there they swore both of them. Not only does the word sheva mean ‘seven,’ but it also comes from the root shava, which means ‘to swear,’ because they swore an oath. Therefore, it carries a double meaning: ‘the well of the seven,’ because of the seven ewe lambs and ‘the well of the swearing’ because there they swore an oath.”

So this name Beersheba, that’s where it comes from, these seven ewe lambs that were given and it comes from the swearing, the sincerity in other words, that one exhibits when they enter into a covenant with their fellow man. Where is Beersheba? It’s south of the nation of Israel.

The Bible, as you go through it, will use the expression from Dan to Beersheba. Dan is in the remote north of the nation, Sheba down south and so when someone says from Dan to Beersheba they’re basically talking about the totality of the nation of Israel. It’s like when someone says I believe the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. They’re not just saying, I believe Genesis and I believe Revelation, but I believe everything in between. That’s what that expression from Dan to Beersheba means. It’s used as sort of a euphemism from this point on to describe the totality of the nation of Israel and it is at this time that Abraham owns a token of everything God promised. Remember what God promised to Abraham all the way back in Genesis, 15?

He says, I’m going to give you a track of real estate, from the Nile to the Euphrates; from a modern day Egypt to modern day Iraq and of course, Abraham died not receiving that promise in totality. That promise awaits the future millennial kingdom, where God will make good on His word. But you’ll notice that what God does is He gives to Abraham a token, a very small portion of the totality of everything that He has promised. Back in Genesis, 20, verse 15 (Gen 20:15) Abimelech said to Abraham, dwell on my land and so Abraham does that and then he builds a well on the land and then the well is, against his will, taken away from him. Now Abimelech gives him the well back. So what is God doing here in these chapters? He’s starting to, not fulfill the promise in its entirety or in its totality, but He is giving him a token, a first fruits, if you will, of the promise that won’t be fulfilled until the kingdom age and of course, I’m here to tell you that God has done and given to you, as a Christian, the exact same thing. 30:17

Do you realize the amazing magnificent nature of the promises that you have in Jesus Christ? I mean, it’s unfathomable what we possess in promissory form. It says there in 1st Peter chapter 1, verses 4 and 5 (1 Pet 1:4-5): to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you… How do I know I’m going to get this inheritance? Verse 5 says you’re going to get it because you’re currently being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The human mind cannot even comprehend the level of promises that God has made to us. It’s an inheritance that can’t be stolen, can’t lose it to credit card fraud or identity theft. You can’t lose it to inflation, can’t lose it, see your wealth disintegrate because of pain at the pump or job layoffs. It says it very specifically that it’s an inheritance reserved in heaven for you, which is imperishable and currently you’re being protected by the power of God till you receive it. Is God actually going to execute what He said He was going to do? Well, the book of Philippians chapter 1, and verse 6 (Phil 1:6) says: He who began a good work in you will… What?… Complete it until the day of Christ Jesus… Your promises in God are so certain that God describes them as if they’ve already happened. You see this in the book of Romans chapter 8, verses 29 and 30 (Rom 8:29-30), it says: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified… Did you catch that? It’s describing the different phases of our salvation, things that God has executed for us in the past, all in the past tense, but then at the very end, verse 30, it describes what God is going to do for us yet future also in the past tense. In other words, God looks at you as if you’re already glorified and I can tell you from a human point of view, I’m looking at you folks right now, you don’t look all that glorified to me and I doubt I look all that glorified to you but as far as God is concerned, it’s a done deal. It’s already happened because God can’t lie and He is outside of time. So the question is, well, how do I really know I’m going to receive these promises? You know you’re going to receive them because of the character of God. But you also know you’re going to receive them because you’ve been given a token already. Just like Abraham with this well was given a small token of everything that he would possess one day, God has given you a token as His child and you say, well, what is that token, what is that first fruits? It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The book of Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14 describes what God has given you through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14 (Eph 1:13-14) says: In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. In other words, God says you can believe that your promises are true because of my character, but you can also believe your promises are true because I provided for you a down payment through the ministry of the Holy Spirit within you. What is a down payment? Well, a down payment essentially is guaranteeing to the seller that complete payment is coming, that’s what the Holy Spirit’s ministry in your life is doing right now. Every time the Holy Spirit convicts you, strengthens you, encourages you and He does that because He lives inside of us forever. Every time the world seems to get away with some kind of sin that you don’t seem to get away with because you have an inner conviction of the Spirit within you, you can say to yourself, yep, that’s my down payment. That’s my down payment, that’s my token that God has given me of greater things to come. In fact, the fact that you’re sitting in this building listening to the Bible being taught and understanding it, do we all comprehend the fact that that could not happen without the Holy Spirit? Even the fact that you have the ability to do this through a ministry that the Holy Spirit executes in our lives called illumination. You say, yeah, the fact that I get it, I understand it, I’m encouraged by it, I’m convicted by it. God says, that’s your down payment. Down payment means I’m going to execute the entire transaction and that’s what Abraham is receiving here. 36:57

You go back to Genesis chapter 21, and verse 31 (Gen 21:31), it says: Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath… It’s kind of interesting that Abraham has a token in the land of Israel, albeit to the south of the nation.

Ishmael’s descendants coming through Hagar, which we studied last week, you’ll notice that they left the land of Israel and settled in the wilderness of Paran and God is making it very clear through this that the land of Israel does not belong to the descendants of Ishmael. God loves the descendants of Ishmael, as we saw last week, but the land is not theirs; they have different promises. The land of Israel belongs to Abraham and his descendants and God through this transaction with Abraham is giving this man Abraham a token, a small token, but a token nonetheless of everything that he would possess. You know, you read these statements in here: Beersheba, Paran, Gerar. These are actual geographical places on planet earth. This is history that we’re reading about. This is not as I’ve said before, Jack and the Beanstalk, this is not VeggieTales, this is not the fairy tale of the month because a lot of people will dismiss the Bible as just being, you know, a nice book of fiction, that’s not the way the Bible reads and you know it does not read that because it keeps identifying specific names and specific places of geography. Verse 32 (Gen 21:32), it says: So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army… And then you run into a little bit of a problem though at the end of verse 32. It says: So they made a covenant… and then it says they… arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. Now we have a little problem.

If you look at that yellow section on the western part of the map, that’s the land of Philistia and the archaeologists tell us that the Philistines would not come into the land of Israel until about the twelfth century BC. What we’re reading about here took place around two thousand BC and so many people will look at this and they will say, you know what? The Bible has a mistake in it. The Philistines didn’t come into this area till the twelfth century BC and here we are in the year two thousand BC, eight hundred years before and it talks about the Philistines being in the land. In fact, if you go down to verse 34 (Gen 21:34) you’ll see the name Philistines repeated. It says: And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days… So when you’re watching A & E, the History Channel and Mysteries of the Bible, which many times are driven by shootings against the scripture. They’ll bring someone on from Harvard. They’ll never bring a conservative on to rebut what  the guy from Harvard is saying and they will say in the most eloquent way possible, you see the Bible is factually wrong, factually incorrect and because most churches aren’t equipping the saints to answer questions like this, the youth of today, your children and your grandchildren hear this and they say, what do you think Grandma and Grandpa? And you’re kind of caught flat footed cause you are not sitting under a pastor teacher that has a heart to equip you for matters like this and because the question and the objection goes unchallenged, the objection must be true cause I saw it on TV. I saw it on the internet. We start losing our youth to the world system and then we sit around scratching our heads wondering why that’s happening. Well, here’s why it’s happening, the youth think that they’re getting true history outside the four walls of the church. I mean, we’ve got to go to college and to university and we’ve got to go to the History Channel and modern secular thought to get the real history because the things that they’re talking about in church aren’t really historical facts and we wonder why our youth are leaving Christianity. Many times it’s an apologetics issue. I’m of the perspective that the statement concerning the Philistines could be proleptic. Meaning, it’s a statement about the future.

Arnold Fruchtenbaum takes that position and he says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – The Book of Genesis, 349

“Then came the departure: Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. Actually, there were no Philistines living in the area yet. Nevertheless, the title is given to these proleptically. It means that this is the area where later the Philistines indeed settled, and Gerar was part of the Philistine Plain. The Philistines arrived later, in the twelfth century b.c. These were their forerunners who now controlled the same territory the Philistines would control later on.”

Then came the departure: Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. Actually, there were no Philistines living in the area yet. Nevertheless, the title is given to these proleptically… In other words, it’s a prophecy about the future… It means that this is the area where later the Philistines indeed settled, and Gerar was part of the Philistine Plain. The Philistines arrived later, in the twelfth century b.c. These were their forerunners who now controlled the same territory the Philistines would control later on…

A lot of Bible commentators say this is proleptic statement, a future statement, a prophecy, if you will and a reputable scholar like Arnold Fruchtenbaum takes that position. They don’t bring that up on the History Channel. They don’t even give you the option, they just want you to believe the Bible is mistaken. Charles Ryrie says, I beg to differ, the Philippines were alive and well in two thousand BC. He writes this in his Ryrie study Bible:

Charles Ryrie – The Ryrie Study Bible, page 28

Genesis 21:32-33 (RSB:NASB1995U): Genesis 21:32-33. “It is alleged that the mention of the Philistines is an anachronism because they supposedly did not appear in Palestine until after 1190 b.c. However, there is evidence of expansion of Aegean trade during the period of Abraham, and the Philistines mentioned here likely were peaceful traders who settled on the SW coast of Palestine.”

It is alleged that the mention of the Philistines is an anachronism… Now, an anachronism means outside of time. You’ll recognize the word chronos, time in the word anachronism. In other words, people will tell you that this is a statement outside of time, it’s talking about Philistines in the land before the twelfth century. It’s an anachronism therefore the Bible is in error and if you can doubt the Bible at  one point, you’ll start to doubt it elsewhere. There’s a reason why attorneys when they cross examine a witness aren’t necessarily trying to discredit everything that that witness says. They’re just trying to find one point of contradiction. One point where the witnesses’ statement is not credible, because the attorney doing the cross examination knows very well that when the jury goes into the jury room to deliberate, that one lingering doubt is going to be in their minds and if that witness was wrong on point A, maybe he’s wrong in point B and point C and point D and you know, after all, if the Bible is wrong here on the Philistines being in the land in two thousand BC, maybe it’s wrong when Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but by me. See, these seem like little issues but they are actually big issues and that’s why you need to be in a church that is equipping you to think through these issues because when your children your grandchildren don’t have an answer and they’re thrown into doubt, they’re coming to you for the answer. They’re assuming that you’re equipped and knowledgeable where you can give a reason for the hope that lies within, 1st Peter, 3, verse 15 (1 Pet 3:15) with gentleness and respect and if you can’t do it, they’re going to think to themselves, well nobody within Christianity can do it either and maybe this Christian thing really isn’t a historical account, maybe it is a book of fiction. Charles Ryrie says: It is alleged that the mention of the Philistines is an anachronism because they supposedly did not appear in Palestine until after 1190 b.c. However, there is evidence… Evidence that they are not giving you in cable television… However, there is evidence of expansion of Aegean trade during the period of Abraham, and the Philistines mentioned here likely were peaceful traders who settled on the SW coast of what Charles Ryrie calls Palestine. So you have a couple of options with the Philistines rather than just saying the Bible is mistaken. You have the proleptic option, Arnold Fruchtenbaum or you have the existence of an early form of a Philistine group and society as early as two thousand BC, that’s the Charles Ryrie option. 47:30

Genesis 21:22-34 Abraham & Abimelech’s Covenant

1. Abimelech’s recognition (Gen 21:22)
2. Abimelech’s request (Gen 21:23)
3. Abraham’s response (Gen 21:24)
4. Abraham’s complaint (Gen 21:25)
5. Abimelech’s response (Gen 21:26)
6. Covenant entered (Gen 21:27-32)
7. Covenant’s results (Gen 21:33-34)

You’ll notice verses 33 and 34 (Gen 21:33-34) which describe the covenant’s results. Abimelech and Abraham enter into this horizontal covenant and what are the results of the whole thing?

1. Covenant’s Results – Genesis 21:33-34

 

1. Abraham plants (Gen 21:33a)
2. Abraham worships (Gen 21:33b)
3. Abraham sojourns (Gen 21:34)

Three results: Abraham plants, Abraham worships, Abraham sojourns in the land. His planting is described there in verse 33 (Gen 21:33): Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba… In other words, he’s recognizing that he’s not a nomad anymore. You don’t plant a tree if you’re a nomad just passing through. In other words, Abraham by way of faith is starting to grasp hold of the things God promised him. In other words, these tokens that Abraham is being given here are building his faith and I hope the tokens that God has given you, the down payment of the Holy Spirit, is building your faith. Every time the Holy Spirit is ministering some way, somehow in your life, your faith is growing and you’re saying to yourself, you know, if God made good on the down payment, He’s going to make good on everything because that’s the nature of a down payment. The down payment guarantees to the seller that the whole package is coming. That’s what God has given us. So Abraham is growing in his faith; he’s non nomadic probably for one of the first times in the book of Genesis that I recall. He stays for some time. Abimelech had recognized Abraham’s claim to the well. The down payment has been made. Has Abraham received everything? No, he has received a portion and Abraham responds in faith by planting a tree and what else does Abraham do? Verse 33 (Gen 21:33) he worships the Lord: Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD… This expression calling on the name of the Lord, this is not the first time we run into this in the book of Genesis. You can find it all the way back in Genesis chapter 4, and verse 26 (Gen 4:26) where the descendants of Seth were calling upon the name of the Lord. What is Abraham doing here? He’s worshiping and what is worship? Jesus said in John chapter 4, and verse 24 (John 4:24) that we should worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, that’s what worship is. In other words, you’re overwhelmed by truth. You’re overwhelmed by promises. You’re overwhelmed by the grace of God in your life and so what do you do when you’re overwhelmed? You worship the Lord. Yeah, but I can’t worship the Lord if that group over there doesn’t respect the singing style that I like. People that think that way, do not understand what worship is. That was my theological rebuttal. Worship is a response to truth. It has nothing to do with preferences. It has to do with a response of the heart to what God has shown you and when you begin to understand it, it doesn’t matter if they do it with an organ, do it with a piano, do it with drums, do it with a guitar or maybe they’re just lousy musicians and we just scrap the music and let’s just do it acapella. It doesn’t matter if it’s a hymn. It doesn’t matter if it’s a more contemporary version of a song as long as the words are biblically faithful. All of that is irrelevant in the subject of worship because people that get into this discussion and debate and schisms about this, if you ask them, well, what is worship? Most of them couldn’t even tell you. It’s a response to truth. I mean, musical style is not even mentioned here. Abraham is receiving truth, he is receiving a down payment from God. So he calls upon the Lord, he worships God and of all the people that should be worshiped focused in its right sense, it ought to be us, because we know personally the Creator of the world, Jesus Christ and we know personally the redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ. You come into the church of God to worship God and the mind should not be filled with one style versus another. Your mind should just be overwhelmed with the fact that Jesus created the world and redeemed the world and redeemed you. I just want to worship the Lord. I want to praise the Lord because worship is a response to truth. 53:09

How is Abraham responding to truth? You’ll notice there in verse 33 (Gen 21:33). Abraham planted a tree and there he called on the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord… I know I’m not a singer… is a strong tower. The righteous run into it, they are safe. Andy, you need to know where your gifts are where they’re not. But that’s Proverbs, 18, verse 10 (Prov 18:10): The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe… Peter said in Acts, 4, verse 12 (Acts 4:12): There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved… You notice that Abraham’s worship experience was not sort of the soft, non-theologically based response, he is worshiping God as He is, the name of the Lord. What is the result of this covenant? He’s planting because he’s believing these promises. He’s worshiping the name of the Lord and before I give you the third and last one, I need to draw your attention to the end of verse 33 (Gen 21:33): There he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God… Unlike creation, God is forever. Does God really deserve our worship? Yes, because we are finite and He’s always been. The name of God here as is used in Hebrew is El Olam. Psalm, 90, and verse 2 (Psa 90:2), it says: Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting… That’s Olam… to everlasting… That’s Olam twice… You are God… I mean, does God really deserve my worship? Does He really deserve my praise? Does He really deserve me calling upon him? Yes, because He is the Creator and we are the creation. Romans 16:26, Paul calls Him the eternal, that’s the Greek word aionios God. Charles Ryrie says:

Charles Ryrie – The Ryrie Study Bible, page 28

Genesis 21:33 (RSB:NASB1995U): Genesis 21:33. “the Everlasting God. Heb., El Olam, from an original form meaning ‘the God of Eternity.’”

And as we go through the book of Genesis, I hope you’re paying attention to the names of God because as you grow in your understanding of the names of God, you’ll understand the nature of God and the character of God. I mean, one name we ran into in the very first verses Elohim. It’s a name that speaks of His power. That’s a perfect name to use in the creation account because through His power the heavens and earth came into existence. You get to Genesis, 2 another name that used of Him is Yahweh, that’s relational. He wants to have a relationship with us, what a great name to use in Genesis, 2, because it’s talking about His relationship with Adam and the Eve in Eden. So He is all powerful, Elohim and He wants a relationship with us, Yahweh. Back in Genesis, 16, verse 13 (Gen 16:13), He’s called El Roi, which means you are the God who sees. He sees everything. In fact, He called Abraham and Sarah to account for their unbelief before they said anything, because He looked in their hearts. He is the God who sees and now, in addition to Elohim, Yahweh, El Roi, we can add a fourth one, El Olam, the everlasting God. Was there ever a time in which God was not? Nope, always been. Well, who created God then? Well, no one, He’s the uncaused cause and if He’s powerful and relational and sees and He is eternal, boy! That’s quite a revelation. How should I respond? Why don’t you start worshiping Him? Praising Him for who He is. Maybe we should get beyond the point of I’ll praise God when He does something for me. I get a raise at work, I get a new job, I get a good report from the doctor, well, praise the Lord, we say. Well, how about this one for size? God deserves the praise whether you get the new job or not. God deserves the praise whether you get the favorable review from the doctor or not, because He’s God and we’re not. What does Abraham do besides planting and worshiping?

1. Covenant’s Results – Genesis 21:33-34

 

1. Abraham plants (Gen 21:33a)
2. Abraham worships (Gen 21:33b)
3. Abraham sojourns (Gen 21:34)

He sojourns and you see that at the very, very end of chapter 21: And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days… There’s those pesky Philistines again, I tried to give you a defense as to why that’s in there… Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days… He is taking hold by way of faith of what God has given him. God must make good on everything, Abraham probably thought to himself, because He’s given me this down payment, this little well over here and everything that God is going to do for you, He’s going to execute and you know that’s true because His character can’t lie and He’s already given you a down payment, the ministry of the Holy Spirit and praise the Lord, I didn’t think this would happen, we made it through the end of the chapter. 59:57

Next week, Genesis, 22. Genesis, 22, what’s that about? Genesis, 22 is about Jesus, two thousand years before He showed up and if that chapter doesn’t convince you, when you look at all of the details, that this book comes from God, I don’t know what will because this is an amazing chapter revealing the sacrifice of Jesus, right down to the exact place, Mount Zion where it would happen, two thousand years before it transpired, which of course, leads us into the gospel. We don’t like to conclude our services without mentioning the gospel, how to know this God. Let me tell you something about eternity, eternity is long. It’s a long time. Now, you didn’t exist for eternity. You were created but the moment you were created is the moment you were designed for eternity and this life is just like a grain of sand against the backdrop of all of the sand of all of the beaches of all of the world and where you spend eternity is totally 100% conditioned and contingent upon what you do with Jesus, because Jesus, two thousand years ago stepped out of eternity into time and absorbed in His body, the wrath of a holy God, the Father in our place. In fact, His very final words on the cross were “It is 99% done”, He didn’t say that, “It is finished”. There’s nothing left for you to do to be made right with God other than to receive what He has done for you as a gift and if you won’t receive it as a gift, you can’t come. You say, well, are those your rules? No, they’re not. Those are God’s rules. How do you receive a gift from God? Romans 4:4-5 says, there’s only one way to receive the gift of God which is to believe, which means to trust, to rely upon. You come under the convicting ministry of the Spirit and the Spirit will convict you because He loves you too much to see you pass off into eternity without God, because eternity is a long time. So He will, until your dying day, convict you over and over again as an unsaved person of your need to trust Christ. That ministry is described in John, 16, verses 7 through 11 (John 16:7-11) and you come under that conviction and God won’t believe for you but He’ll convict you of your need to believe and His expectation of us is that we would respond in our heart of hearts through volition by trusting in the Savior and that is what makes someone a Christian. It is a one step process. You do not have to walk an aisle to receive this, join a church to receive this, fill out a card to receive this, give money to receive this, it’s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where the Lord convicts and you respond in your heart by trusting Him totally with your eternity and the safekeeping of your soul. It’s something you can do right now as I’m speaking. Anybody listening online can do it right now as I’m speaking. Anybody listening or watching after the fact via archive can do this and this is what we mean by the simplicity of the gospel. I’d invite you to receive Jesus right now where you are and if it’s something you need more explanation on I’m available after the service to talk. Shall we pray? Lord, we’re grateful for this historical account between Abraham and Abimelech and what it teaches us about Your nature and character. Help us to grow in these things this week, we pray. We ask these things in Jesus’ name and God ‘s people said, Amen.