In Beer-sheba close to the land of the Philistines - The well for Isaac was in Beer-sheba, close to the land of the Philistines (vv. 25-32). This well, unlike the well for Ishmael, is not near Egypt but at the border of the land of the Philistines and the good land of Canaan. Beer-sheba was in the land of the Philistines and later became the southernmost part of the Holy Land. When describing the geography of the Holy Land, the Bible even uses the phrase “from Dan to Beer-sheba” (1 Sam. 3:20), because the distance from Dan in the north to Beer-sheba in the south includes the whole land of Canaan. In the Bible the land of the Philistines has a peculiar significance. It is not a place which rejects God absolutely; it is a place which accepts God but handles the things of God according to human cleverness, not according to God’s economy. Consider as an illustration the way in which the Philistines handled the ark (1 Sam. 6:1-9). They did not reject it; they received it, but they handled it in a natural way according to their cleverness. Likewise, in Genesis 20 and 21 we see that Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, did not reject God but accepted Him in his own clever way. Abraham took God according to His economy; Abimelech took Him according to the way of human cleverness. This is the significance of the land of the Philistines.

At the cost of seven ewe lambs-Christ’s complete redemption - The well for Isaac was a redeemed well (vv. 28-30). This well, which Abraham had dug, was lost, having been violently taken away by Abimelech’s servants (v. 25). Then Abraham redeemed it at the cost of seven ewe lambs. In typology, these lambs signify the full redemption of Christ, indicating that the divine living water has been redeemed, bought back, by Christ’s full redemption. Today, while the whole human race is living by a source which is without redemption, we are living by a redeemed source. The living water which we are drinking today is not natural; it has been redeemed at the cost of Christ’s complete redemption.

By a covenant-the new covenant - The well for Isaac also needed a covenant (vv. 31-32). The covenant here is a seed of the new covenant. Our living water today is not only redeemed water but also covenanted water. Ishmael drank of wild water, water that was without redemption and covenant. But all the water which Isaac drank was redeemed water, the water of the covenant. Since we have begun to know Christ, the source of our living has also been the redeemed and covenanted water.

For planting - In Beer-sheba Abraham planted a tamarisk tree (v. 33, Heb.). A tamarisk, a type of willow tree, has very fine leaves, often grows near water, and gives the impression of the flowing of the riches of life. That Abraham planted a tamarisk after making the covenant for the well at Beer-sheba indicates that the water of which he drank was flowing in a rich way. The Lord Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will have rivers of living water flowing out of his innermost being.

The church life today is by the well in Beer-sheba. When you drink of this well and live by it, you will be like a tamarisk flowing with the riches of life. Whenever people come to you, they will never sense dryness but will be refreshed by the water of life. Beer-sheba, which means “the well of an oath,” is the place where the church should be. The church should be at the well of an oath with a covenant, and should also be full of tamarisk trees. We all need to be a flowing tamarisk. If you look at the branches of a tamarisk tree, they will remind you of the flowing of the riches of life. Praise the Lord that there are some real tamarisks in the local churches!

Here, at Beer-sheba, there is the planting, but with Ishmael in the wilderness there is wildness. Many Christian groups today are like a wilderness. They only make people wild. But the proper church life causes people to be planted. Have you been planted? Once you have been planted, you can no longer be wild.

In this section of the Word it is clearly revealed that there are two sources of living. One is the natural source in the wilderness of our soul, whereas the other is the redeemed source in the garden of our spirit. At Beer-sheba, Abraham was contending for the well which had been so violently taken away. Today we also need to fight for the divine well that we may have it for both the Christian life and the proper church life.
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