Therefore he called that place Beer-sheba, because there they had sworn, both of them.
Abraham's dealings with king Abimelech end at a well, with an oath and a name. Why should a well and a spoken word be worth recording, and what does the name keep saying?
The name carries its own explanation. It points back to what the two men had just done at the well.
Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the other animals (v. 28) and explained this to Abimelech as being a witness that Abraham had dug the well (v. 30). By accepting them, Abimelech would publicly admit that this was true. Abraham then called the place "Beersheba" — "well of the oath" — because he and Abimelech both swore an oath to one another. It looks like a covenant of peace: neither man would trespass on the other's rights.
The name outlived both men.
This name means "well of the oath." It was given to the place where Abraham and Abimelech made a covenant not to harm each other, and confirmed it with an oath. Later it became the home of Abraham and of Isaac, who also dug a well there... Once the land was settled, it was known as the most southern point of the land Israel held, just as Dan was known as the most northern. So "from Dan to Beersheba" meant the whole territory, even in Solomon's day.
The name can also mean "well of the seven." One writer counts the lambs as the price that made the water Abraham's own.
So we come to "Beersheba," "the well of the oath," or "of the seven" — the number of lambs that secured to Abraham the well he had dug. In the same way, God's promise secures the well of water to the delivered believer, and that promise rests on the perfection of what Christ is for God. All the fullness of the Spirit belongs to him. Yet he still needs diligence, as a well implies. A well is not a free-flowing spring — that picture fits at other times — but a well he must keep open, so that he can reach these living waters.
The oath settles the dispute. Then Abraham calls God by a title he had never used before.
So a covenant was drawn up, and the well, Beersheba, became securely Abraham's. There for some years Abraham made his dwelling, and there he called on the Lord as the everlasting God. When God promised Isaac, He made Himself known as the Almighty. Now the promised heir is born and the promise fulfilled, so Abraham knows Him as the Everlasting as well as the Almighty... But to God as the Everlasting One, time is not of prime importance.
Abimelech once had grounds to rebuke Abraham. By the time of this oath, that has turned around.
In the closing scene of the chapter the man of the world admits that God is with the man of faith who walks apart from the world. There was a time when the man of faith slipped, acted in unbelief, and was rebuked by Abimelech... Now Abimelech has to admit, "God is with you in all that you do." Once he rebuked Abraham; now Abraham rebukes him.
The same writer turns the scene into a warning, and into a way of answering the world.
Still, the world may have to admit that God is with His people who walk apart from it. Even so, it will try to rob God's people of what refreshes them spiritually. It will try to stop our wells. Like Abraham, we may well resist the world and rebuke it. But, like Abraham, let us mix grace with our rebukes — the grace that wants to give the world something of our own blessing, pictured by the seven ewe lambs.
Isaac later gives the place the same name. One writer looks past both treaties to something firmer.
These two covenants (between Abraham and Abimelech and Isaac and Abimelech) were the occasion of the well receiving its name, but it is symbolical of the far greater covenant that God made with Abraham and confirmed to Isaac.
Abimelech is a Gentile — a king outside Abraham's family — and one writer reads his request forward, to a day still to come.
In short, the Gentile king wants the support and protection of Abraham... So it is clear that here we see the heir of the world brought in as a picture... In that day the Gentiles will seek the protection of the faithful; in that day the Lord will show Himself the God of ages, the One who guards and blesses the true Heir.
- Oath — the name means "well of the oath." Both men swore there, in a covenant of peace that neither would trespass on the other's rights.
- Seven — the seven ewe lambs were public proof that Abraham had dug the well, and the name can also be read "well of the seven."
- Secured — the well was made sure to Abraham, and God's promise makes the believer's well of water just as sure.
- Everlasting — at that same place Abraham first called God the everlasting God, who is never hurried by time.
- Greater oath — writers see this human oath as a small picture of God's own covenant, and of a day when the nations seek the protection of the faithful.
And they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. And Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the captain of his host, and returned into the land of the Philistines.
Genesis 21 ends with a treaty, not a battle. The Philistine king and his army commander go home, leaving Abraham with a disputed well, a sworn peace, and a question: why did the world's power come looking for him at all?
Abimelech had been watching Abraham for a long time, and what he saw brought him out to ask for terms:
He was a man of discernment. He saw that God was with Abraham in everything he did, even though Abraham's conduct in Gerar had not been right. When our first meeting with a man is bad, it takes discernment to see him later in a good light. Abimelech and his chief captain had clearly been watching Abraham very closely, and this was the conclusion they reached. Let this remind us that thoughtful people in the world watch those who profess to be God's people very closely. We may well hope that the conclusion they draw is as favourable as it was here.
Earlier this same king was the one giving the rebuke. Now the roles are reversed:
Now we see the Gentile king who once filled Abraham with guilty fear and was the cause of a shameful trap. He not only seeks the favour of the father of the faithful; he is himself reproved. The power of the world admitted that God was with Abraham, and it asks for a covenant between them.
The name of the place records the oath, and the lambs settled who had dug the well:
Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the other animals and explained to Abimelech that they were a witness that Abraham had dug the well. Abimelech's acceptance of them was therefore a public admission that this was true. Abraham then called the place "Beersheba" — "well of the oath," because both he and Abimelech gave their oath to one another. It was clearly a covenant of peace: neither would interfere with the other's rights. But it is a picture of the peace that will be set up in the millennium.
Admiration is not the whole story. One writer turns Abraham's wells into a warning:
The world may have to admit that God is with His people who walk apart from it. Even so, it will try to take away from God's people the things that refresh them spiritually. It will try to stop up our wells. Like Abraham, we may well resist what the world does and rebuke it. But like Abraham, let us mix into our rebukes the spirit of grace that wants to give the world something of our own blessing, pictured by the seven ewe lambs.
What once caused the quarrel now proves their peace:
In Genesis 21 we see the Father of Israel and the Gentiles together for a moment. Their fellowship was a sample of the holy, happy dealings of Israel and the nations in the coming days of the kingdom. The questions that once divided and troubled them are now all settled. The well of water that had caused the quarrel is now a witness to the oath, or covenant. Every pure and kindly affection marks this fellowship of Abraham and Abimelech, and they part as sworn friends.
Abimelech goes home. Abraham stays at the well, and he has a new name for God:
So they drew up a covenant, and the well, Beersheba, was secured to Abraham. In later days it became famous as the southern border of the land… When God gave the promise of Isaac, He made Himself known as the Almighty. Now that the promised heir is born and the promise kept, Abraham knows Him as the Everlasting as well as the Almighty. Abraham had to wait for the promise to be fulfilled. Man lives only a few years, so waiting is very trying to the flesh. But to God, the Everlasting One, time is not of first importance.
Notice the order of the two admissions:
We have seen that the world has to acknowledge that God is with him; now we see that Abraham is with God. He calls on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, and he lives as a pilgrim in the land.
- Watched — thoughtful people outside the faith study believers closely. Abimelech watched a long time and concluded that God was with Abraham, despite his earlier failure in Gerar.
- Reversed — the king who once rebuked Abraham now seeks his friendship and is rebuked himself. The world's power asks for a covenant.
- Secured — Beersheba means "well of the oath." The seven lambs were Abimelech's public admission that Abraham had dug the well.
- Gracious — the world will try to stop the wells that refresh God's people. Resist it and rebuke it, but mix in the grace that gives something away, as the ewe lambs did.
- Everlasting — Abimelech went home. Abraham stayed, called on the everlasting God, and lived as a pilgrim in the land — a sample of Israel and the nations at peace in the coming kingdom.