Saved by the Well – Abraham
Saved by the Well – Abraham.
“At that time Abimelech and the commander of the Philistine army said to Abraham, ‘God is with you in all that you do. Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or 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.’ And Abraham said, “I will swear.'” (Genesis 21:22-24).
SAVED: The Hebrew word for save is “Yasha,” which means to be set free into the wide open; to be delivered in a time of desperate need; to be saved from destruction and certain death. “Salvation” literally means to become spacious, and refers to “the sense of deliverance from an existence that had become confined, compressed, or cramped.” (Eugene Peterson). When Jesus delivers us from our inner spiritual confinement, we are liberated into a wide open, broad, expansive place. The word for “wide open space” is the opposite of a straitjacket. Without Jesus, our soul will never be freed from our spiritual straitjacket. There are three passages in Psalms that describe this freedom deliverance beautifully:
- “From my distress, I called upon the Lord. He answered me and set me on a large place. After being in a tight spot, the Lord placed me into a broad space. Because I was hemmed in, I called on Lord Yahweh. He answered me and gave me room.” (Ps. 118:5);
- “Lord, you have not given me over into the hands of the Enemy; You have liberated me and set my feet in a wide expanse, a good and spacious land. You have given me the freedom to roam at large, where I can freely move. You have given me room to breathe.” (Ps. 31:8);
- “The Lord rescued me because He delighted in me. He brought me out to freedom into a wide-open space. My soul has been delivered because of God’s love for me, and my soul finally has some elbow room!” (Ps. 18:19).
THE WELL: There are four Hebrew words used in the Jewish Bible to describe the different kinds of ancient wells. There was the traditional well that was a deep hole dug in the ground to tap into an underground source of water. Another type of well was a fountain spring that had naturally broken through the earth’s surface on its own without man’s help. The wellspring is another version of well in Scripture in which fresh water flowed out of the ground in any number of ways to become available for cleansing, nourishment, refreshment, for survival itself. Life-giving wells of water have always been a powerful picture of our dependence upon God for spiritual survival. Just as Creator God has designed the human body to completely depend on water to live, our spiritual life totally relies on His presence in us to not just survive but to flourish. God is our spiritual well of fresh water, the only stable source of nourishment and purity. He is our fountain of life that gushes forth to replenish and cleanse us. God is our eternal wellspring of living water that will never run dry. Each of us is born spiritually dehydrated, and God alone is the constant, reliable water source to bring us back to life.
Abraham and Abimelech. Nobody ever accused Father Abraham of lacking in chutzpah. Here we find him attempting to settle down for the first time in what will become the Promised Land in Canaan. So naturally he dug a well, since everyone’s survival depended on a stable source of water. But that little corner piece of territory was apparently owned by a Philistine chieftain named Abimelech, who of course took exception to Abraham’s taking over the land without his permission. Digging a permanent well was pretty close to staking a claim of ownership of that area. On the other hand, Abimelech had recently been deceived by Abraham regarding a half-truth about Sarah, Abrahma’s beautiful wife who Abimelech had assumed into his royal harem (Genesis 20). The results were disastrous for the chieftain, because Yahweh sent a plague of infertility to Abimilech’s household as a result. Abimelech admittedly took Sarah unknowingly, without any knowledge that Sarah was married to Abraham. So now Abimelech wouldn’t trust Abraham as far as he could throw him. But Abimelech was well aware now of the power of Abraham’s God and didn’t want to be on Yahweh’s bad side again, so it made sense to have a gentleman’s agreement to be honest with each other in all their dealings. When Abraham soon complained to the king that a legitimate well dug by Abraham was seized by some Philistines, Abimelech rather graciously agreed to establish an official peace treaty that would grant Abraham the ownership of that well for the foreseeable future.
“Abraham said to Abimelech, ‘These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.’ Therefore that place was named Beersheba, because both of them swore an oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba.” (Gen. 21:30-31).
Beersheba. In honor of this covenant, Abraham named that land area Beersheba, which means “Well of the Oath.” One wonders if Abimelech knew that this rather mundane peace treaty would lead to permanent land rights for the Chosen People in Canaan. Beersheba became the southernmost boundary of the Promised Land, 270 miles from the northernmost boundary in Dan. This rather ho-hum agreement turned out to be monumental in God’s plan to establish His people in Canaan. Yes, this peace treaty gave official water rights to a 100-year-old pilgrim foreigner who knew a good foot in the door when he saw one. This is the first time we Bible readers have seen the Philistines, and they gave us a good first impression. Abimelech was generous to a fault, and because he blessed Abraham and his immediate descendants, God continued to bless those Philistines. Yahweh was good on his promise of blessing those who bless His people and cursing those who curse His people (Genesis 12:3 and Numbers 24:9). I would imagine that promise still holds true. How unfortunate that later on in Scripture the Philistines became sworn enemies with no peace treaty in sight. And sure enough, the Philistines removed themselves from those earlier divine blessings.
“And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba; and there he called on the name of the Lord, El-Olam, the Everlasting God.” (Gen. 21:33).
Why a Tamarisk Tree? Once again we see why Abraham was known as Mr. Hospitalty in the Jewish faith. Abraham was earnest in this scene about celebrating not only the recent birth of his miracle boy Isaac, but also the covenant of peace he established with the Philistines so he could settle his family right there in his boy’s birthplace. He was never recorded planting anything in particular, so why a tamarisk tree in Beersheba? He was well aware of how the tamarisk tree was known for flourishing in inhospitable climates, and that Beersheba was on the edge of a dry desert land containing mostly sand and rocks. He also knew that the tamarisk tree had evergreen leaves which would then provide year-round shade to his family for generations. Not only that, but the tamarisk was acknowledged as a natural AC unit…. their long, thin leaves were adept at collecting water vapor from the moisture in the nighttime air, and then those droplets during the day would evaporate and produce an unusual cooling effect on whomever was near the tree. So there was Father Abraham, being generous to his descendants and thinking of how he could bless them even after he was long gone.
Why Did Abraham Give the Name of El-Olam to Yahweh? El-Olam is a powerful and mysterious name of God meaning God Everlasting, or God Eternal. Our God is a God of timeless qualities, of eternal constancy of character and holiness. God has no birthday. He doesn’t have a beginning, and His existence will never have an ending. El-Olam is another compound name of God. El is simply the generic name for God, a shortened form of Elohim. Olam means eternity. But the ancient rabbis have brought up an interesting point about this Name. They pointed out that olam is connected to alam, which means hidden. So rabbinic tradition claims that El-Olam reveals a mysterious nature of God, that El-Olam is a secret name for God. It is certainly a mystery that something exists that had no beginning and will have no ending. It is surely a mystery that God exists in infinity, that He created time itself, He invented chronology, and is thus outside of time. We indeed worship a God who is outside our understanding, a God who was and is and is to come, a God of yesterday, today and forever. It is a comfort that we can trust in His everlasting wisdom and power. In calling the Lord the Everlasting God, Abraham is expressing his faith. A faith in his God, that in His everlasting power He would fulfill His stated purpose to develop a great nation through Abraham, a family that will stand the test of time. This first appearance of El-Olam turns out to be a powerful statement of trust and faith.
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is El-Olam, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom…” (Isaiah 40:28).
A Prayer to El-Olam (el-o’-lum):
We tremble in your presence, El-Olam, God Everlasting. For you have been our dwelling place in all generations. We are in awe of you, King Eternal. We worship you, Ancient of Days. For you inhabit eternity, and exist in boundless Reality. Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. You are our eternal refuge, Lord, and underneath are your everlasting arms. Great are you, God, and greatly to be praised. Your greatness is unsearchable. Your understanding no one can fathom. For with you a day is like a thousand years, and thousand years are like a day. We thank you for your Son, who is Alpha nd Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. We bow before you, El-Olam, for yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.