SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS --- LESSON 16

FAMILY FRICTION

ABRAHAM SENDS HAGAR INTO THE WILDERNESS

From Genesis 21

Adonai remembered His promise to Sarah and gave her and Abraham a son, even though they were both too old to have a child naturally. It happened at the time YHVH had said it would. Abraham named his new son Isaac, which meant -- Laughter. When Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him as YHVH had Commanded. At this time, Abraham was a hundred years old. [YHVH has brought laughter to me,] said Sarah, [for whoever hears of this will laugh with me. Who would have thought that Abraham and I would have a child at this age? Yet here I am, nursing a child when I am old!] As time passed the child Isaac grew and was weaned. On the day he was weaned, Abraham gave a great feast. But Sarah noticed that Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, was mocking Isaac. [Drive Hagar and her son away from us!] Sarah demanded. [I will not have that woman’s child become an heir with my son Isaac.] This disturbed Abraham greatly, for Ishmael was his son. But Adonai said to Abraham, [Don’t be disturbed because of Hagar and Ishmael. Do what Sarah tells you, for My covenant is through Isaac, and through him your name will remain throughout history. But I will make a great nation through Ishmael also, for he is your descendant.] Early the next morning Abraham prepared some food and a skin filled with water for Hagar, put them on her shoulder and sent her away with Ishmael. But she had nowhere to go, and she wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. When the water was gone, Hagar placed Ishmael under a bush and sat down about a hundred yards away. [I do not want to watch him die,] Hagar cried out. Then she began to cry, wailing loudly. YHVH heard Ishmael’s cries and the Angel of YHVH called out to Hagar from heaven. [What is the trouble, Hagar,] the Angel said. [You must not be afraid, for YHVH has heard Ishmael’s cries as he lies there. Now go and pick up the boy and hold his hand, for I will make a great nation from him.] Then YHVH opened Hagar’s eyes so that she noticed a well of water. She filled the animal skin with water and gave Ishmael some to drink. YHVH was with Ishmael as he grew up in the wilderness of Paran with his mother. When the time came for Ishmael to marry, Hagar arranged for him to take a wife from Egypt. About that same time King Abimelech and his army commander, Phicol, visited Abraham. [YHVH is with you in everything you do,] he said. [Swear to me by YHVH that you will never deal falsely with me or my son or grandson, and that you will remain friendly to me and my country where you have come to live as a stranger, as I have been friendly to you.] [I swear it,] Abraham replied. But Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had taken by force. [I never knew this happened,] said Abimelech. [I don’t know who did it, and you did not tell me about it. Today is the first time I heard about it.] Then Abraham gave some sheep and oxen to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. But when he set aside seven ewe lambs by themselves, Abimelech asked, [What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you set aside from the others?] [These lambs are my gift to you, to witness to all here that I dug this well,] Abraham answered. Thus, Abraham named the place Beersheba, which meant [Well of the Covenant] for that was the place where he and Abimelech made their covenant. Then Abimelech and Phicol arose and returned home to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and called upon the Name of Adonai, the Everlasting YHVH. For a long time, Abraham remained there in the land of the Philistines.

COMMENTARY

THE DESERT

Years before the birth of Sarah’s miracle child, Isaac, she had given a young Egyptian servant woman to Abraham as a second wife. When a boy, Ishmael, was born, Sarah claimed him as her own. There was always jealousy between the two women. But after Isaac’s birth, the friction grew. [Throw out the slave woman and her child,] Sarah demanded. Abraham refused. But YHVH directed Abraham to do as Sarah asked. [I will make a great nation from Ishmael as well as from Isaac,] YHVH promised. So, with only a pot of water, Ishmael and his mother went into the wilderness. Today the Arab peoples trace their line back to this outcast boy. Sand and sea continually wrestle for control of Palestine. Cool winds blowing from the west bring life-giving rain from the Mediterranean Sea. From mid-October through the first half of May these moisture-laden breezes water the earth. But as the month of May gives way to June the winds shift and the temperature rises sharply. Dry hot winds begin to blow from the desert, sometimes bringing clouds of dust. The people of Bible lands have given a name to the scorching wind. They call it the Sirocco which means the easterner. But despite its name, this dreaded wind does not always come from across the Jordan. Palestine is bordered on two sides by the vast Arabian desert and the desert winds blow their hot breath from the south as well as the east. Like a grasping hand, the Sirocco reaches over the borders of Palestine, drawing the margins of the land into the desert’s domain. In some portions of Palestine, the desert has made serious inroads into the land. In the southern region of Israel, called the Negeb, the dry touch of the desert reaches into the territory of Judah. The Rift Valley and the Dead Sea basin are also dominated by the harsh desert climate. Although the desert winds would bring death to a farmer’s fields, the arid climate means home to the nomad. His herds feed on the tough vegetation that clings stubbornly to the low, rolling hills. Pitching his tent wherever he can find water, he follows his herds from place to place. The nomad’s existence is a constant battle against the harsh desert climate. In years of drought, he is the first to suffer from the lack of rain. During Bible times hungry nomadic desert tribes often raided Israel’s borders for food and water. With its vast stretches of uninhabited land, the desert was also a refuge for criminals. Bands of roving thieves attacked caravans travelling the ancient trade routes. The rocky region east of the Jordan was filled with caves that offered sheltered hiding places to the desert outlaws. The parched landscape of the desert was broken only by an occasional oasis. In a few areas underground springs supplied enough water to support tropical plant life. These green islands in a sea of sand made welcome rest stops for weary travellers. Although modern methods of irrigation have reclaimed portions of the desert, most of it has remained unchanged since Bible times. Just as in Abraham’s day, empty stretches of barren land reach as far as the eye can see.

Thought for Today: Tuesday December 06:

May you be in so tune with Ruach HaKodesh’s movement in your life that you are always in the right place at the right time. May your every step be ordered by Adonai. May you go where He wants you to go and say what He want you to say and pray what He wants you to pray. May you be a vessel that Yeshua fills up and pours out on a dry and thirsty land. May your own soul be replenished in the process.

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Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever.
Obadiah 1:10

He who lives by the sword, shall die by the sword. Edom betrayed Israel time and again for 1000 years even though God commanded Israel to respect their borders all that time. This prophecy was fulfilled in the centuries before Yeshua came, as Judah conquered and eventually scattered or absorbed the remaining people of Edom.

Do women own their husbands?

All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread have set a trap beneath you— you have no understanding.
Obadiah 1:7

All nations are ultimately tools of God's will. It's impossible to ally yourself against him because he owns all of your potential allies. He will reward your faithlessness toward him with faithlessness toward you from those you rely on most.

SERIES A --- YHVH’S PIONEERS --- LESSON 15

HUMAN FAILINGS

ABRAHAM DECEIVES ABIMELECH

From Genesis 20

Later Abraham left Mamre and moved southward again to the Negeb, settling between Kadesh and Shur. On a visit to Gerar, Abraham said that Sarah was his sister so Abimelech the king of Gerar sent for her. But YHVH appeared to Abimelech in a dream that night. [You are marked for death because you have taken that man’s wife,] YHVH told him. At this time Abimelech had not even come near Sarah. [Adonai will You destroy innocent people?] he asked. [Didn’t Abraham tell me that she was his sister? And didn’t she say that he was her brother? My heart and hands are clean in this matter.] [I know that you are innocent,] YHVH continued in the dream. [But it is I Who restrained you from touching her. Now give her back to her husband, for he is a prophet. He will pray for you and you will live. If you do not return her, you and your household are marked for death.] When Abimelech arose in the morning, he told his servants about the dream and they were very frightened. Abimelech called for Abraham to talk with him. [What have you done to us?] he demanded. [And what sin have I committed against you to cause you to bring this upon me and my kingdom? What you have done is very wrong! Why did you do it?] [I thought that you people did not fear YHVH and that you would kill me because of my wife,] Abraham answered. [She is my sister, for she is my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s. But she is also my wife. When YHVH caused me to travel far away from my father’s land, I asked her to show kindness to me by saying that I am her brother.] Then Abimelech gave Abraham sheep, oxen, and male and female servants and he returned Sarah his wife to him also. [You may settle anywhere you wish in my land,] said Abimelech. To Sarah he said, [I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It will compensate you for whatever trouble I have caused you and your family. You are clear now before all men.] Then Abraham prayed to YHVH and He healed Abimelech and his wife and the other women around them, so they could have children again. For Adonai had caused all of these women to be barren as long as Sarah remained in Abimelech’s household.

COMMENTARY

THE JOURNEYS OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC

It is a mistake to think of Bible heroes as different from men and women today. Even those with towering faith still had human failings. Abraham’s weakness was fear. Again, we see Abraham lie about his relationship with Sarah. Why? [I thought these people did not fear YHVH at all.] The people of the land might not know YHVH, but YHVH was there. And His power was unlimited. The journeys of Abraham and Isaac were not tourist trips for pleasure and sight-seeing, but migrations of a tribal leader with his people. Often these were ordered by YHVH. Abraham’s journeys, as recorded in the Bible, began at his hometown of Ur, then part of Sumer. At YHVH’s Command, he and his family went up through the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys to Haran. After some time at Haran, Abraham left for Canaan, where he stayed first at Shechem, in the Plain of Moreh. Bethel was Abraham’s next stop, and then [the south,] the Negeb. But a famine forced him to leave with Sarah and his family for Egypt. After a short stay in Egypt, they returned to Canaan, living first at Bethel, then at Mamre, then Gerar, and finally at Beersheba. Abraham made one other journey, far to the north to Hobah, near Damascus. There he and a select band of armed men defeated a raiding party led by four kings from the north, rescuing Lot. He returned past Salem, which is modern Jerusalem, and gave a tenth of the spoils to its king, who was also a priest. The travels of Abraham’s son Isaac were much more restrictive. As the solid line on the map shows, Isaac never left the general area of his birth. Gerar, Beersheba, and Beer-lahai-roi were the three principal places on his itinerary. When one realizes that journeys such as these meant the movement of herds and flocks, tents and children, often on foot, it is not surprising that people went so seldom.