Genesis 21:22-34

²² At that time Abimelech through Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.

²³ Now therefore swear to me by God that you will not deal deceptively with me or with 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 travelled.”

²⁴ And Abraham said, “I do swear.”

²⁵ When Abraham later complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized,

²⁶ Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not learned about it until today.”

²⁷ So Abraham took some sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.

²⁸ Abraham set seven ewe lambs of his flock apart.

²⁹ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the purpose of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?”

³⁰ He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will obtain from my hand, that this gift may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”

³¹ Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath.

³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³ It was there in Beersheba that Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

³⁴ And Abraham traveled many days in the land of the Philistines. _________________________________________

Token

It was just a well. But this well belonged to Abraham. His people had dug it. It was theirs. Abraham was prepared to dispute ownership of the well, and willing to pay a witness price to Abimelech to verify that ownership. Why was this well so important to him? It was on land which the LORD had promised him and his descendants. The well served as a token of the full promise. Abraham was not ready to wage war to take the whole land. It was not the LORD’s timing for that. That would be the life’s project of one of Abraham’s descendants: Joshua. But Abraham was prepared to do what it took to secure the well. It served as a reminder of what is to come.

Fast-forward to Joshua’s time, and his people saw the well at Beersheba as a sort of bookmark in the land. It was like a flag, signifying something of them in this place. Because of the well at Beersheba, this was not foreign soil.

The LORD has given you a token of your future inheritance. The Holy Spirit inside you reminds you of that future. Because He is here with you, the promises of God are not foreign soil.

LORD, thank you for your Holy Spirit, and the promise that He represents.