The life of faith has some glorious mountains where we connect with God in our understanding and see His way clearly. We love these moments and they are often accompanied by emotional ecstasy. On the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter saw the glory of Jesus unveiled and heard the voice of God, he just wanted to build a shelter and stay forever. But God’s plan was not long term mountain top experiences and emotional ecstasies. His plan was the valley filled with burdened, demon-possessed people. Abraham has just experienced the presence of God. He spoke to the Lord face to face and interceded successfully with God on behalf of his nephew. But now, he has awakened to the valley of destruction. Smoke is rising from the direction of the Jordan Valley and he sees the furnace of God’s judgment. Suddenly, Abraham doesn’t feel so comfortable by the oaks of Mamre. So he packs up and heads away from the smoke of Sodom.
Genesis 20:1 says, “From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.” The Negev (Negeb) is the southern-most part of the land promised by God to Abraham. The town of Gerar was part of ancient Philistia and we are about to see the first meetings and the relationship established between the father of the Israelites and the ancient Philistine race. These two groups of people are going to eventually become bitter enemies, but how do they start off? Let’s take a look first at the origins of the Philistines.
The name “Philistia” literally translates “land of sojourners” and word is rendered “Palestine.” So we see immediately that the Philistines were immigrants to this land. They were not the original indigenous population. The land of the Philistines itself is a 40-mile plain along the Mediterranean coast that is ten miles wide at its northern end and twenty miles wide at its southern end. It has extremely rich soil, allowing prosperity for its inhabitants. This plain was very useful for war chariots, allowing the Philistines to develop a very successful military advantage. The plain was dotted with elevated sites which proved very useful and strategic for strongholds. Situated between Phoenicia and Syria to the north, and Egypt and Arabia to the south, Philistia easily became an important commercial center. So the Philistine people had every possible advantage from a worldly standpoint.
The Philistine people themselves originated from a group called Caphtor. Genesis 10:13-14 says, “Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Parthrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.” This verse ties the Philistines to Casluhim, the brother of Caphtor. Deuteronomy 2:23 says, “As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.” Gaza was one of the five major Philistine cities. So it seems apparent that the Philistines actually came from two brothers, Caslu and Caphtor, who were sons of Egypt. Finally, in Amos 9:7 the Lord says, “Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Syrians from Kir?” So we see that God Himself established the Philistine people in the land, and that they were not the original people, but they destroyed the people who lived there before them and took their land. This is interesting in light of the present attitude of the “Palestinian” people who resent the presence of Israel in “their” land. Many historians believe that the people of Caphtor had settled in Crete, a Mediterranean island, but later migrated to Egypt before moving on to Palestine.
Now that we have established the identity of the Philistine people, let’s look at Abraham’s first encounter with them. Genesis 20:2-3 says,
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife."
Abraham has once again defaulted from faith to fear. As before in Egypt, he does not build an altar at Gerar and he denies his true relationship with Sarah.
OBSERVATION: Jesus’ most frequent command in the gospel accounts is to not be afraid.
Fear is the total opposite of faith. So we see in the life of Abraham, who stands as a type of the life of faith, he struggles with fear. Why was Sarah so desirable? We’re talking about a 90-year-old woman. Why would Abimelech want to add her to the harem? The most likely reason is that Sarah is a woman of some wealth herself and she is obviously of noble birth. She may have been living in a tent for 25 years, but that hasn’t erased the unmistakable signs of a noble lady. Her “brother” is obviously wealthy and a noble man also, so an alliance through marriage with Sarah would add considerably to Abimelech’s wealth and prestige. In that day, being married was a necessity for life for most women, so he would have had no doubts that he was doing Sarah a great favor in marrying her.
Genesis 20:4-5 continues the story,
Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, "Lord will You kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this."
God has just told Abraham that in about a year Sarah will have his son and heir. Having Sarah in Abimelech’s harem is most definitely mucking up God’s plan, so God intervenes to set things straight. Notice in these verses that God does speak sometimes to unbelievers.
OBSERVATION: God is not careless or indifferent to man. He does not “flatten” the opposition indiscriminately. He has appeared to Abimelech to tell him of his error and the danger that he is in in order to give him a chance to set things straight himself.
Notice also in this passage that Abimelech says he has not come near Sarah. This strengthens the idea that he desired a material connection and alliance with Abraham through Sarah. Abimelech pleads his innocence in the matter and points out the deception of both Abraham and Sarah. Oswald Chambers said, “Abimelech does not stand for the sinful, but for the noble, upright and perfectly natural.” Abimelech is a morally upright man—he is just not a man of faith.
God responds to Abimelech’s defense in Genesis 20:6-7:
Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
In this dream-state conversation between God and Abimelech, God acknowledges Abimelech’s integrity. Adultery and wife-stealing was not in Abimelech’s mind. On the contrary, he thought he was doing a good thing for everybody involved.
We also see in these verses that God Himself directly intervened to prevent Abimelech from any physical relationship with Sarah. God is perfectly capable of keeping His plan on track despite the foibles of man. God also acknowledges that Abraham is a prophet. He is certainly not a perfect man, but God is not going to give up on Abraham and find somebody else.
OBSERVATION: We may not openly acknowledge God in all our ways as we ought, but He doesn’t give up on us. He sees what He will make of us in the end.
There is one final note of warning here: God is prepared to kill Abimelech and all his household in order to protect Sarah. God’s plan of ultimate redemption will not be denied.
Genesis 20:8 tells us how Abimelech responds to God’s warning. "So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid.” Can you imagine, sitting as a king and suddenly finding out that you have gotten yourself into a life-threatening predicament? You have messed up “royally!” Would you tell your servants, or try to cover it up? I think most of our politicians today would brazen it out and cover up the problem. Abimelech is not too proud to call all the servants and tell them what has happened. Fortunately, Abimelech and his servants are god-fearing and they react appropriately to God’s warning.
Genesis 20:9-13 says,
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done." And Abilmelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you did this thing?" Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, 'There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, 'This is the kindness you must do to me: at every place to which we come, say of me, "He is my brother.”’”
Abimelech calls for Abraham to come see him and confronts him with the truth. “You have caused me to sin” is the charge that Abimelech makes. Can there be any more serious accusation to make against a person of faith than to say that you have been a stumbling block by causing me to sin? Yet Abraham’s fear has caused him to do this very thing.
What did you see that made you do this? Abimelech knows there must have been something to cause this, and Abraham admits his fear. In his fear, he misjudged the people of Gerar. Keeping in mind that he has known the wickedness of Sodom and has left the sight of its ash heaps, it is easy to understand why he thought the people of Gerar were also wicked. But here he has made a misjudgment. He repeated a past mistake and defaulted from the mountain of faith to the valley of fear. Now, he must make an answer. Oswald Chambers also said, “When we realize that we have repeated a sin, the danger is to be down in the mud and refuse to get up.”
The story continues in verses 14-16:
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you." To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”
Abimelech’s true nobility is seen here where for the second time he attempts to form an alliance with Abraham. This time, the alliance is based on giving rather than taking. He first attempted an alliance by taking Sarah as his wife. This almost cost him his life. Now, he is making an alliance by giving livestock to Abraham and by extending hospitality to live among them wherever he chose, in contrast to Pharaoh who politely but firmly threw them out of Egypt.
Abimelech’s parting words to Sarah include a sarcastic reference to her “brother.” Although she acted under his instructions, it is sometimes necessary for a noble woman to do what she knows it right without regard to her husband’s wishes. His words to her, however, and the witness of the silver coins vindicate Sarah in the eyes of the world and the paternity of her son will not be questioned.
This first meeting between Abraham and Abimelech concludes as follows in verses 17-18:
“Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.”
Considering that God told Abraham before the destruction of Sodom that in about a year Sarah would have a son, we can imagine that the time Sarah was actually in Abimelech’s house was not very long at all. These verses indicate that when Sarah entered his house, both Abimelech and all his women began to be afflicted in such a way that no children could be born. Abimelech’s affliction was most likely the means that God used to keep him from coming near Sarah. It also seems likely that miscarriages and other reproductive problems would have become immediately noticeable among the women. With all the affliction going on, is it any wonder that Abimelech was so terrified when God appeared to him?
The Bible records one more encounter between Abraham and the Philistine king, Abimelech. Let’s look at Genesis 21:22. “At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, ‘God is with you in all that you do.’” Oswald Chambers said, “Abimelech stands as the type of civilization with its organizations and culture and good sense. Between the Church, which is an organism, and organization which is pagan, there must be arbitration. Much of our organization in the Church is pagan, and it is our salvation to see that it is.” We have seen that the Philistines were immigrants in the Promised Land. Although they did not bring the wickedness of the Canaanites, they did bring the worldliness of Egypt and the commercialism of the Mediterranean peoples with them, resulting in love of the world and of money. Like Esau, they were noble, natural, and full of good sense, but also like Esau, they felt no need of God.
OBSERVATION: These same “immigrants” of worldliness and commercialism wander into the lives of Christians and into the Church. How will we deal with things? Will we do what “seems right” and “makes good sense” or will we walk in faith?
Genesis 21:23-24 continues:
“Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely 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 sojourned." And Abraham said, "I will swear.”
Abimelech is proposing a perpetual peace treaty between the Philistine people and Abraham’s people.
QUESTION: Is this a wise treaty? Will there be peace between faith and worldliness for future generations? How can people of faith relate to worldly people?
To have peace between faith and worldliness, there must either be compromise or arbitration. Let’s see what happens.
Genesis 21:25-32 says,
When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today." So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?" He said, "These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well." Therefore the place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 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.
From the text, Abraham does apparently have a problem with the Philistines. He has apparently moved out of Gerar, but a well he has been using has been taken over by Philistines. Abimelech denies all knowledge of the matter, so he has not instigated or condoned it. Do they agree to compromise and share the well? No. There is no compromise, no intermingling of interests, but instead there is arbitration. Abraham settles his right to the well with seven ewe lambs and Abimelech accepts his terms. So we see the pattern set here for peace between faith and the world must never rest on compromise.
Covenants were normally established to signify a oneness of life between two parties. This covenant, however, appears to have been mostly a peace treaty. Abimelech made the covenant because he wanted the favor of God, not because he wanted a relationship with God.
The story concludes in verses 33-34:
"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines."
Planting a tree was a common part of covenant because normally the tree would live a long time as a reminder of the covenant. After successfully arbitrating with Abimelech, Abraham’s faith is apparently strengthened and he once again builds an altar and calls on the name of the LORD – El Olam, the Everlasting God. He is beginning to believe that God really will see him though—everlastingly.
So what became of the covenant between the Philistine people and the Children of Abraham? After the Israelites returned to the land from Egyptian captivity, these people became enemies and fought off and on for many centuries. The Philistines were finally wiped out, except for a small remnant, by Alexander the Great. Today, people who bear the name “Palestinians” are still fighting with the Children of Abraham.
Thanks for joining us. Our next study will cover the birth of the promised son!
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