Genesis chapter 21, and we're
going to read from verse 22. We're particularly thinking about
some of the young people here, but of course, we're all free
and at liberty to listen in. We're thinking about a man called
Abraham and a man called Abimelech. Genesis 21 verse 22, and it came
to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the chief captain
of his host, speak unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all
that thou doest. 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.' And Abraham said, I will swear. And Abraham reproved Abimelech
because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had violently
taken away. And Abimelech said, I wot not,
who hath done this thing? Neither didst thou tell me, neither
yet heard I of it, but today. And Abraham took sheep and oxen
and gave them unto Abimelech, and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ye lambs
of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham,
What mean these seven ye lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, for these seven
new lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness
unto me that I have digged this well. Wherefore he called that
place Beersheba, because there they swear both of them. Thus
they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech rose up and Phicol,
the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land
of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a grove in
Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting
God. And Abraham sojourned in the
Philistines' land many days. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. Abraham, you will perhaps remember
with me, has been living the life of a wanderer here in the
land of Canaan and it is also called the land of the Philistines
because that part of Canaan was at that time or subsequently
dwelt in by a people called the Philistines and whether Abimelech
was personally a Philistine or whether that name came a little
bit later Well, we're not quite sure, but it's likely that Abimelech
was of this people called the Philistines and certainly where
he dwelt was subsequently called the land of the Philistines.
And this is the first time that we encounter this phrase in the
scripture. Years later, in the experience
of the children of Israel, right up to the time of David, we find
that the people, the Philistines, were a troublesome people to
the children of Israel. So this is where Abraham was
living at this time. He and Sarah and Isaac with all
of their cattle and all of their flocks, they moved from place
to place in this land. This land that in its entirety
would one day belong to Abraham's posterity according to God's
promise. These land promises that God
had given to Abraham in the covenant that he had made with Abraham
and that we have thought about before. But for now, Abraham
was a pilgrim, a wanderer in this land that was claimed and
owned and possessed by others. Now Abraham makes a covenant
with this man Abimelech. We've heard and we've met Abimelech
before. He was the king that God spoke
to in the previous chapter and warned that Abraham was a prophet
and he was warned not to harm Abraham or his wife Sarah. And it does appear as if Abimelech
had respect for Abraham and was anxious to remain on good terms
with him. He saw God's hand upon Abraham
and he may even have known something of the covenant promise that
God had made with Abraham that someday all the land, including
his own land, would be given to Abraham's children. And for
that reason, perhaps, he endeavours to make this covenant with Abraham
both for himself and his children, and his children's children,
even to that next generation. And here we see Abraham agreeing
to this. Abraham wasn't doing anything
wrong here in making this agreement because he knew from God that
it wasn't for 400 years yet. And so it well encompassed the
son and grandson of Abimelech. It would be 400 years before
Abraham's children took possession of the land by the promise of
God And these events show us that Abraham wisely shared the
land with his neighbours at that time and managed its precious
resources because we discover that there was trouble between
the two people with respect to water rights and wells that had
been dug. And Abraham was wise in the way
in which he dealt with that with Abimelech, the king of the land. Abraham knew that he was heir
of God's promise, but he still acted cautiously with those around
about him. And there's a good lesson there
for us too. Because we, the people of God,
we who are the Lord's people, who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who are the Lord's church
and people, we are heirs of God's promise. And someday this world
and all it contains, freed from sin, will belong to us. But until that time, like Abraham,
we are to act wisely and gently and carefully with those around
us, committing our well-being into God's care and keeping. Isaac was still a child. And now we see Abraham planting
a grove, a grove of trees, or in the margin it just says a
tree, and calling upon the name of the Lord, the everlasting
God. And I just want to point out
two little things to you here with respect to what Abraham
has done here. Two things which I think are
very interesting. First, Abraham planted trees. Now, that might not seem a particularly
interesting thing, but I believe it is, because he also dug wells. Now, that is not something that
a wanderer or a nomad would usually do. Trees take time to grow,
yet even Now Abraham was taking care of the inheritance that
God had given him. He was planting trees in the
land, knowing that perhaps he wouldn't benefit from those trees,
but people in years to come would. This was now his land and he
was taking care of it for his people for years to come. digging wells, planting trees. Water and vegetation enrich a
land. And the Lord Jesus Christ, just
as this land was Abraham's inheritance and the inheritance of his children,
so the Lord Jesus Christ is our inheritance. And we should take care and nurture
and preserve the blessings that the Lord Jesus Christ has given
us of himself and of his goodness. The second thing which is interesting
here about Abraham, as well as planting these trees and digging
these wells, he remembered to worship God. Indeed he made it
a priority. Abraham had a new baby. He had
work to do, he had wells to dig, he had trees to plant, he had
sheep and cattle to take care of, he had a large household
to provide for, he had business to deal with amongst his neighbour.
What a busy man Abraham was. But he did not forget to worship
the Lord, the everlasting God. In this, he became an example
to Isaac. his son, and he has become an
example to all the children of faith. Worship is giving God
thanks for all his goodness, for grace and for mercy, for
forgiveness of sin, for new life in Jesus Christ. It is thanking
God for protection and for provision. like when we sit down to have
our meals and we say grace together for the food that God has provided
for us and for the means of that food. We take time to remember
God, who he is and what he has done for us. Let us always be
ready to give thanks to the Lord for his mercies and for the Lord
Jesus Christ who died to save his people from their sins. Amen.