Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #35 of Genesis, chapter 21.  We are continuing to read Genesis 21:25-32:

And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day. And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them. Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

I will stop reading there.  In our last study, we were discussing the word “reproved” and how it is used in the Bible.  We looked at some verses.  For example, we went to Amos 5:10:

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.

We saw that the word “rebuketh” is a translation of the same Hebrew word that was translated as “reproved,” so they hate him that reproves in the gate.  We discussed how this has to do with the declaration of the Word of God.  The Scriptures bring reproof.  Remember what it says in 2Timothy 3:16:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

And “all scripture” means the entire Bible, so the Bible is profitable for all these things.

This is a side comment that has nothing to do with “reproof,” but we are told here that all Scripture is also profitable for doctrine.  So, as children of God, we read and study the Bible and as we learn things, we teach them.  Today we are teaching the Bible says we are in a spiritual judgment.  We are living on the earth in the Day of Judgment.  Of course, some people say, “Now do not talk to me.  Do not try to teach me.  We are not to have teachers any longer, but only the Bible.”  But, you see, that is a contradiction because what it means to teach from the Bible is to bring forth doctrine from the Bible, and the Bible says the Bible is “profitable for doctrine.”

But, again, that is another subject.  Here, we want to focus on the fact that 2Timothy 3:16 says that the Scriptures are profitable for “reproof.”  The Word of God reproves mankind.  In the passage we are reading in Genesis 21, we have already seen that Abimelech is a figure of Satan and Abraham is a figure of God the father, and Abraham reproved Abimelech.  In other words, God is reproving Satan.  In our last study, we went to Jude where it said that Michael the archangel (Christ) rebuked Satan when he was trying to dispute with Christ regarding the body of Moses.  So, Christ rebuked him.  That is the idea.  He was reproving Satan.

It says in John 3:18-20:

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Again, there is the idea of the light (which completely identifies with the Word), and Christ is that light.  The light reproves the deeds of mankind.  Man can see through the light of the Bible that we are sinners.  This is one of the reasons God gave us the Bible.  It was to show man that he is a sinner.  This is the reason God multiplied Laws, and the more Laws there were, the more man sinned against those Laws.  The more someone sees his sin, the more he realizes, “The Bible is true when it says that there is none righteous, and all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags.  All have sinned and come short of  the glory of God.”  The purpose of the Law was to show us our sin, and the “end of the Law” was Christ.  It was to bring us to Him and make us sorry for our sins to the point that we would cry out to God for mercy and salvation.  If we were one of God’s elect, then He would have saved us and showed us Christ, the end of the Law.

We also read in the Gospel of John where it says in John 16:7-11:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

The Holy Spirit would reprove the world of sin.  How did He do this?  It was through the Word of God, the Bible.  Remember the Bible is a “twoedged sword” that could cut to judgment or cut unto salvation.  When people would receive a Bible tract containing a true and faithful message from the Bible, it would be a “savour of life unto life” for those chosen by God to receive it; or, it would be a “savour of death unto death” for the non-elect and they would remain in sin.  Both groups would have been “reproved.”   It would apply to the elect children of God when they heard the Gospel, and it would apply to the non-elect, showing them their sin and guiltiness.  But only the elect would be directed to Christ as the only remedy for their sin-sick souls.

Again, it said that when the Comforter would come, He would reprove the world of sin and of judgment.  Verse 11 told us, “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”  Here, we see the reproof of judgment against the prince of this world, Satan.  Satan himself was being reproved, and it is also the case with Abimelech, a figure of Satan, in our verse in Genesis 21.

Let us also go to James 2, which uses the same Greek word, but it is translated as “convinced.”  It says in James 2:8-9:

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

This helped me to understand what it means to be “reproved,” because here God is translating the word a different way in the context of someone guilty of “respecting persons,” which transgresses the Law of God and, therefore, they are “convinced of the law as transgressors.”  The Law has convicted them of breaking the Law.  That is what it means to be reproved.  We can see this in Luke 3:19-20:

But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.

You see, John had proclaimed the Law of God to him.  The Bible is the Law of God, and it is a Law book, and Herod was reproved for taking his brother Philip’s wife.  The Bible tells us that what God has joined together, man is not to put asunder.  There is not to be divorce.  Divorce is adultery, so Herod was reproved of the sin of adultery and of all the other evils he had done.  The Bible does not reveal just one sin, but it reveals all our sins.  This is the reason the natural man finds it almost unbearable to be under the scrutiny of the Bible where the “search light” comes down upon him, not just outwardly but inwardly in the thoughts of his mind.  God searches the heart and mind, and He knows the thoughts of man.  So, this is the reproof that the Bible accomplishes.

Let us go back to Genesis 21 where Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water.  Again, the “well of water” points to salvation.  It is a different word, but I will read it again because it is the same idea.  It says in Isaiah 12:3:

Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

And it says in John 4:13:

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Again, it clearly points to salvation.  Water itself often represents the water of the Gospel.  When there are travelers in a dry and thirsty land, they would delight in the prospect of there being water in the well.  They would see a well off in the distance.  They were thirsty, and their lips were dry and parched.  They would pull up the bucket in the well and if there was water in it, what a blessing!  That is the picture God uses of salvation in the spiritual wasteland of this world where the cool Gospel water could quench the thirst for righteousness of the sinners that were God’s elect.  God drew them to the water where they would drink and experience salvation.  Then they would have the Holy Spirit and they would never thirst again for righteousness because they had the righteousness of Christ – He became their righteousness.  It was an everlasting internal spring of water that God placed within them.

The servants of Abimelech, a figure of Satan, came against Abraham’s well because Abraham identified with God and His kingdom and the “well of salvation.”  It was in the land of the Philistines, pointing to this world, and the world is hostile against its own best interest.  The unsaved people of the world oppose themselves. If you have ever heard the expression, “He’s his own worst enemy,” it applies to people that harm themselves with things like drinking or doing drugs, or other ways they live their lives.  They live their lives bringing injury and trouble to themselves.  That is how it is with the unsaved people of the world that despise the things of God, like the Jews in the wilderness “loathed that light bread,” the manna that pointed to Christ.  And the world hates the wisdom of God that points to Christ.  The world hates the light and they desire to run away from it and separate from the things of God as found in the Bible.  However, in doing so they had hoped to escape the “conviction” of the truth about themselves.  They prefer the lies of the unsaved people around them and the lies they tell themselves, all of which come from the devil.  They tell themselves that they are basically good people: “You are a nice guy.  You are a good guy.”  People tell each other these things, and people like to hear it and the sense of self-righteousness they get.  If they do a good work, they will tell you how much they give to charity or the charitable work they are involved in, or how kind and considerate they are with others.  People have various ways that they attempt to produce their own righteousness and show forth their own goodness.  But the Bible interferes with that.  The Bible will not allow that. 

Here is someone that feels pretty good about himself and a couple of friends tell him, “You know, you are such a good guy.  You are such a good person.  You did such a wonderful thing and the world needs more people like you.”  This person is just like anyone else and even though he may not be obviously self-focused, he still wants to feel lifted up to hear these things.  But when he comes to the Bible, he reads, “None are righteous, no not one.  There is none good.”  It even goes beyond that and paints the picture of man as dirty, rotten, filthy sinners that cannot do anything pleasing to God of himself.  God is displeased with man (in our unsaved condition).  As a matter of fact, He is angry with man and man is under his wrath and subject to destruction.  The Bible not only paints this accurate and unpleasant picture of man, but it brings all kinds of bad news, the worst news possible.  Man is under the wrath of God.  In the day of salvation, the Bible said we were subject to destruction if we died unsaved and we would be eternally destroyed.  Even though man likes to think he is basically a good person, there would be no “entering the pearly gates and floating around on a cloud in heaven,” which is the infantile idea the world has of Heaven.  So, the Bible has all this bad news: “What a downer!  It is depressing.  Let me go hang out with my friends and we can have a couple of beers and they can tell me some more nice things about myself.  I will say some nice things back to them.  It is ‘give-and-take,’ you know, and we can build one another up and we will all be happy.”  However, they are just running away from the truth.  They are running away from the facts regarding the true situation in their own hearts and minds.  God knows them better than they know themselves.  They do not really know themselves, but they just want to hang on to the deceitful and false image of themselves that they cherish.  But here is what God says about man running away from Him, in 2Timothy 2:24-26:

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Of course, this verse primarily applied to the day of salvation when people could still be translated from darkness to light, or when those that opposed themselves might receive the gift of repentance to acknowledge the truth (about themselves) and be recovered out of the snare of the devil and be set free from his captivity.  The sorrowful truth is that all those people that were not chosen by God continued to oppose themselves throughout the day of salvation.  They were their own worst enemies, and they ruined themselves.  They never sought God for their own good and their own benefit, but they experienced ruin.

Going back to Genesis 21, the well of water that represents salvation was violently taken by Abimelech’s servants or servants of Satan.  I pointed out in an earlier study the verse in 2Corinthians 11 where it speaks of false apostles, in 2Corinthians 11:13-15:

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

To “minister” has to do with serving or being a servant.  They are servants of Satan.  In our verse, the servants of Abimelech violently took away the well of water that Abraham had dug.  It is a picture of the emissaries of Satan as they came against the true Gospel at various times in history within God’s program of times and seasons.  We can look at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in 33 A.D., which was like God opening up “wells of water,” as churches were established, and Christ was in the midst of the congregations.  As churches were established in the nations, wells of water sprang up, but Satan sent forth his emissaries as he stirred up unsaved men that infiltrated the churches.  After a while these enemies of God would pervert and turn the faithful Gospel into a gospel of works, thereby ruining that “well of water.”  It was violently taken away, in a spiritual sense.

Lord willing, we will continue to look at this in our next Bible study.