Chapter 13: Abraham’s Covenant with Abimelech

Q1 - Abraham grew up in a pagan culture and was seventy-five years old before God called him. What did he know of eternity? What do people today who are not Christians know of eternity?

A1 - This is obviously a thought questions since the Scriptures tell us very little about Abraham’s early life. Different cultures and religions held various beliefs about the afterlife, just as they do today. While some people deny there being any life beyond the grave and hold that this life is all you get, many others feel there has to be something more. The fact that Abraham responded to God’s call tells us he was certainly open to the idea of a higher power. Then, as he came to know God better, he likely gained more insight concerning eternal life.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us God has set eternity in the human heart. Many of us feel that yearning to find out more about our Creator, and we sense a connection to the eternal; others simply squelch that innate drive. Some in your group may have thoughts or insight on this topic they would like to share.

Q2 - Where else do the scriptures tell us that Abraham “called upon the name of the Lord?”

A2 - At times, Abraham talked directly with God, but when he “called upon the name of the Lord,” he must have formally worshipped him.

We know Abraham built several altars to worship God during his travels. The first one mentioned in Scriptures occurs after he arrived in Canaan in Genesis 12:7. This alter seems to have been in Shechem close to the terebinth tree of Moreh mentioned in Genesis 12:6. From there he moved to the mountain east of Bethel where he built another altar in Genesis 12:8. This time the Scriptures specifically state that he called on the name of the Lord there.

Due to a famine in Canaan, he went down to Egypt for awhile (Genesis 12:10) but eventually returned to where he had been earlier near Bethel. At the altar he had previously built there, he again called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 13:3–4). Possibly he was thanking the Lord for His and Sarai’s deliverance out of Egypt, but we don’t know how much time had passed since that incident.

After Abraham and Lot separated and God told him to walk through this land that He was giving to him, Abraham went to dwell by the terebinth trees of Mamre in Hebron (Genesis 13:14–18). He built another altar there to the Lord.

Upon leaving area around the trees of Mamre after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he traveled to the South and lived in Gerar. It was here that the events in Genesis 20 and 21 occurred. It was here that Abraham dug the well and made the treaty of Beersheba with Abimelech, whereupon he planted a tamarisk tree. This seems to be the first time recorded in Scriptures that he used the descriptor, “Eternal God,” when he called upon the name of the Lord.

The last altar that’s mentioned which Abraham built will be the one in Genesis 22:9, where God called upon him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham called the name of the place, “The Lord Will Provide,” because there God provided a ram for Abraham to offer rather than his son (Genesis 22:13–14).

Q3 - Why might Abraham have wanted to reside in Beersheba for so long?

A3 - The scriptures do not tell us why Abraham lived in Beersheba for so long, other than the fact that he had secured a steady source of water for his livestock and household. However, it’s likely that Hagar and Ishmael lived nearby. When Abraham sent them away, they departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba (Genesis 21:14). Later in Genesis 21:21, we are told Ishmael dwelled in the Wilderness of Paran and his mother found him a wife from Egypt. So they seemed to have lived a little further south of where Abraham resided for so long in Beersheba, but still not too far away.

It’s also likely there was some association between Abraham and his household and that of Ishmael, because when Abraham died, both Isaac and Ishmael laid him to rest. In Genesis 25:9, we are told Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham in the cave of Machpelah, which was in the field Abraham had bought years earlier for a place to bury Sarah (Genesis 24:19). The other six sons Abraham had by Keturah evidently did not help bury him. We are told in Genesis 25:5–6 that Abraham gave gifts to his sons by his concubines while he was still living and sent them off eastward, away from Isaac. So they must have been out of the picture, while Ishmael was near enough that he knew of his father’s death and helped with his burial. Whether Ishmael received a gift from Abraham or not is unknown, but when Abraham sent him away, he essentially disinherited him.