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Thank you again for joining me for the mysteries

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of God's Word . We will

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be examining the treaty with Abimalik

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that Abraham made . We'll

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be starting in Genesis 21

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, verse 22 . At

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that time , abimalik and Faiqal

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, the commander of his army , said

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to Abraham God is with you

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in all that you do Now

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. Therefore , swear to me here

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by God , that you will not

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deal falsely with me or with

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my descendants or with my posterity

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, but as I have dealt

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kindly with you , so you

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will deal with me and

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with the land where you have sojourned

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. And Abraham said

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I will swear . When

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Abraham reproved Abimalik about

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a well of water that Abimalik's servants

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had seized , abimalik said

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I do not know who has

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done this thing . You did not

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tell me and I have not heard

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of it until today . So

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Abraham took sheep and oxen

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and gave them to Abimalik , and the

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two men made a covenant . Abraham

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set seven yulams of the

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flock apart and Abimalik

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said to Abraham what is

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the meaning of these seven yulams

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that you've set apart , these seven

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yulams ? You will take from my hand

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that this may be a witness

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for me that I dug

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this . Well , as

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we dig into this text and look at this

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oath that Abraham is taking

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with Abimalik . Let's remind

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ourselves who Abimalik is . Abimalik

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is the king of Gerar , he's the king

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of the Philistines and

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his reign was for many years . Two

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weeks ago we learned he reigned during

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the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah . Here

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we see Abraham making a covenant

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with him and later in Genesis

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, when Isaac is full grown

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, we will see Abimalik still

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the king of Gerar . Fikol

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is the commander of Abimalik's

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army and he as well

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will remain the commander

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for many years , both during

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the lives of Abraham and Isaac

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. And as we

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saw in Genesis , chapter 20 , abimalik

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came to have a fear

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or respect for Abraham's

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God , and Abimalik has a

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respect for Abraham as a prophet

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of God , not

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because Abimalik follows the

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Lord God , but he has seen the power

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of Abraham's God and

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he is genuinely afraid

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. So

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Abimelech is saying swear to me here

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, by God , that you will not deal

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falsely with me . From

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the context of this discussion , abimelech

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doesn't trust the business dealings of

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Abraham , and this really falls

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into the larger relationship that

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Abimelech has had with Abraham

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, because about approximately

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six years prior , abraham

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had lied to Abimelech about

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his relationship with Sarah , and

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that's when the Lord God had come to Abimelech

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in a dream and threatened his very life

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for taking a married woman . Abimelech

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reminds Abraham how he has

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dealt kindly with him . He's asking

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Abraham to swear to

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deal kindly with him , to deal honestly

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with him , and Abraham says I

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swear . Abraham assures Abimelech

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that he's not going to deceive him in this

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matter . Now , when Abraham swears

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to Abimelech , he also reproves

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Abimelech about a well . That's

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been an issue . The

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Hebrew language implies that

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Abraham's been trying to talk with

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Abimelech several times over

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a well that he has dug

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, but Abimelech's servants had

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taken it over . It

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seemed that Abimelech was avoiding

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this conversation with Abraham . Having

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over a working well was not an uncommon

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thing in the desert , which

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is why we will see this very well revisited

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again with Isaac in Genesis

4:31

, chapter 26 . But

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we see that the two men agree and

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the two men make a covenant . In

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verse 27 we see Abraham took

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sheep and oxen and gave them

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to Abimelech . We

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also know that ancient customs included

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cutting animals in half

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and walking through Abraham , which is

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probably also something that was done

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at this time between Abraham and

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Abimelech . And then

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Abraham sets seven U-lams

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of the flock apart . The seven

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U-lams were a separate gift

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from the formal covenant

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of peace , and Abimelech

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asks Abraham what's the meaning

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of these seven U-lams that he

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set apart . Abraham

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tells him that those seven U-lams

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are to be a witness to everyone

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that Abraham dug the well

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. Abimelech

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, taking those seven U-lams publicly

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obligated him to acknowledge

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that Abraham had dug that

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well . Therefore

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, that place was called Birsheba

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because they're both of them sworn

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oath To

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. Couple of notes on Birsheba it's a town

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in the Negeb that still exists

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today . Birsheba is often

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mentioned in Scripture as the southernmost

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part of the Israelite kingdom . It's

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located about 45 miles southwest

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of Jerusalem . Birsheba

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drives its name from the word

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saba , which means to

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swear an oath . That phrase

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, to swear an oath , occurs three

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times in our text today

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. It is worth noting

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that the root word saba is similar

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to seven and some scholars

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believe Birsheba means the

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well of seven . However

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, we see in verse 31 that

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Scripture only gives reference to

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its name being called Birsheba because

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both of them sworn oath . So

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they made a covenant at Birsheba . Then

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Abimelech and Flaikal , the

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commander of his army , rose up and

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returned to the land of the Philistines

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. And again in

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verse 32 we see that Abimelech

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and Flaikal are Philistines

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and they're returning to the land of the Philistines

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. And Abraham planted a

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tamarisk tree in Birsheba

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and called there on

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the name of the Lord , the everlasting

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God , and Abraham

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sojourned many days in

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the land of the Philistines

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. Abraham planting

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a tamarisk tree is

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to commemorate how the Lord had worked

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to bring peace between himself

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and Abimelech . Abraham

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is establishing a permanent oasis

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where he has water and shade

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in the promised land . Birsheba

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would mark one of Abraham's worship

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sites where he called on the Lord

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, the everlasting God . Thank

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you for joining me this week . Join

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me next week for an in-depth look

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at the sacrifice of

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Isaac . God bless you

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this week .