Treaty

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

TREATY

Gen 21:22-34

22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you." 24 Abraham said, "I swear it." 25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized. 26 But Abimelech said, "I don't know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today." 27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?" 30 He replied, "Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well." 31 So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there. 32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

NIV

This recorded exchange between Abraham and Abimelech could not be in chronological order, as it seems to be the rest of the treaty formed because Abraham and Sarah said they were brothers and sisters, and Abimelech took Sarah as a wife. However, we still have a treaty being made, with an oath, but this is also about some dispute about a well. We find this matter resolved peacefully, which is our lesson for today. We would think that within the body of Christ, the church, there would never be any disputes that need to be resolved. However, our thinking is wrong because we have witnessed disputes that have turned ugly with not only unforgiveness occurring, but the gossip about the offense making this public knowledge made the matter worse. The acknowledgment of hatred was confessed as they professed their righteousness as a believer. We have seen all sorts of disputes arise, most of them ending up with someone simply leaving the church, rather than resolving the matter, resulting in everlasting hurt feelings, and unforgiveness. Unresolved disputes should not happen in the church; however, we are all flawed humans, and sometimes issues occur that need to be resolved. Sometimes, issues arise that are only a dispute within our minds, with never putting a voice to it. That is when we have these unkind thoughts about another believer, either spawned by jealousy, envy, pridefulness, or self-righteousness. There could be other reasons, but we cannot think of any at the time. This internal dispute needs to be put to rest, making a treaty within, going on, and living in peace and harmony within the body. We should be joyful for all believers, yet, if a fellow believer is acting inappropriately as an image bearer of God, should we not confront them with truth and grace in private to reveal their behavior? Just a question we need to ponder on if that is right or if we should just resolve it internally and go on loving them anyway. The fact is all believers should be living with a treaty with Jesus, then we would all be in harmony.