Dr. Richard L. Strauss
December 3, 1978
As we journey south from Hebron, the hills of Judea begin to drop sharply into relatively level plains and become drier and more arid as we go south. This is the area that's called the Negev. The southern area of the land is the Negev, and it's most famous, at least it was in Bible times, for its sand and its dust and its rocks and eroded soil and dry valleys which were called wadis. They're simply gullies that carry off the winter rains.
The word Negev originally meant "dry or parched," and it's usually translated in our King James version as "the south." That's where it is, right down here, this area to the west of the Dead Sea and that southern end of the Dead Sea. This is clearly a desert. If you were to visit Israel today, you'll see irrigation and fields blooming in the desert, blossoming like a rose. But in Bible times, it was clearly a desert. And as you travel south from Hebron, your parched throat would have told you that it was about time for a drink of water, when suddenly, there it would be, about 20 miles southwest of Hebron, a little oasis in the desert: the city of Beersheba.
The word beer in Hebrew means "well," and the word sheba is from a word meaning "seven." But it also means "to swear or to make an oath—a covenant." And so the word Beersheba can mean one of two things. It can mean either "the well of seven" or "the well of an oath." And actually, both those things become very significant as the story progresses in the Bible.
I guess Beersheba is most famous as the southern boundary of Israel. The phrase "from Dan to Beersheba" occurs about eight times in the Old Testament to outline the northern and southern extremities of the land. Technically, the border of the land of Israel extended all the way down here to Kadesh Barnea. But between Beersheba and Kadesh, there was practically nothing of significance whatsoever. And so the common term to explain the extremities of the land which occurs in the Bible is "from Dan to Beersheba."
Now, Beersheba was famous for something else besides being the southern border of the land. It seems as though this was a favorite spot for God to meet with people who needed Him. And almost every time we visit this spot in Scripture, God is making Himself known to somebody, revealing Himself in a very precious way, showing somebody something about Himself, making some precious promise to them, promising to bless their lives, supplying their needs. It's a spot where God meets with men and it's a place where people really get to know God.
Now it occurred to me that many Christians today need a Beersheba experience. They go through the forms of churchmanship, but they haven't really come to know God in an intimate way. Who He is, how He acts and what He's done, what He wants to accomplish through their lives. So maybe we could visit Beersheba today and ask God to do something very special for us and see what God has for us in this city where God met with men.
1. Hagar Meets God at the Well
The first mention of Beersheba in the Bible is in Genesis 21. Now, Abraham was living nearby in a city called Gerar, located around about here, south of Gaza in the land of Philistia. And it was there in Gerar that Sarah bore him his son Isaac. And the problem in chapter 21 of Genesis begins when Abraham is having a feast for Isaac on the day of his weaning. Abraham had a great party to celebrate that special day.
And on that day Sarah saw Hagar's son, Ishmael. Hagar was Abraham's concubine, Sarah's servant. And Hagar's son, Ishmael, was making fun of Isaac.
"And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing [or mocking.] Therefore she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.' And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son" (Genesis 21:9).
In a very surprising move, God told Abraham to do what Sarah told him to do, and to send Hagar and Ishmael away. So that's what Abraham does.
"So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba" (Genesis 21:14).
There's the first occurrence of Beersheba in the Bible. But notice what it says: "She wandered in the wilderness." That would imply that she lost her way. She and Ishmael were wandering around in a state of confusion and dejection and distress. After all, they got kicked out of their home. Ishmael had been separated from his father. And here they were wandering around in a strange area to them. And they end up somewhere near Beersheba out of water, physically and emotionally exhausted, and near to the point of death.
"And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs" (Genesis 21:15).
That doesn't mean she in a fit of anger or anything, just threw him down, but it means that she hastily laid him under this tree. She's overcome with grief and she knows that he's going to die, so she lays him down and goes off a distance, not wanting to watch her son die.
Now, Ishmael is about 15 years of age when this occurs. That's kind of hard to explain; you would think he would be stronger and capable of handling himself in this situation. I can't explain it, but it is the word of God. Somehow, in his particular state of health at that point and through the rigorous journey and the scorching sun and the lack of water, his life is in jeopardy, as is Hagar's in all probability. And he's near to the point of death.
So in desperate straits, Hagar lays him down under a shrub to die and goes off a distance from him. She's alone, she's been rejected, forsaken. She's physically spent. She's emotionally distraught. And she's about to lose the most precious thing in this world to her: her son. Her heart is torn. She must stay within sight of him. And yet she cannot bear to watch him die that slow, agonizing death.
So the Scripture tells us:
"Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, 'Let me not see the death of the boy.' So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept" (Genesis 21:16).
Did you ever feel that way? I mean, utterly and absolutely alone, like every earthly friend has forsaken you; physically and emotionally drained; maybe facing the loss of someone or something very precious to you. Well, you can be assured that God has not forgotten you nor forsaken you. Somebody has suggested, and it's been quoted innumerable times since, that man's extremity is God's opportunity.
And that's where God is: ready to meet Hagar at her moment of desperate need. She's at the end of herself. She has nowhere to turn, no place to find help. She's hopelessly lost and her son is ready to die. And it is that crucial moment at which God makes Himself known to Hagar in all of His love and grace and tender care and concern for her and her need.
"And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, 'What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.' Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink."(Genesis 21:17-19).
They were both revived, and God strengthened them and sustained them and fulfilled His promise. He made of Ishmael—as He said he would in verse 18—a great nation. God met Hagar at the well near Beersheba.
God had made Himself known to this Egyptian slave woman on a previous occasion. This time she fled from the home of her own will because Sarah was being harsh with her. Do you remember that? It was back in Genesis 16.
"Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur" (Genesis 16:7).
God met her there. And she recognized that the God of Abraham was the God who sees people in their need.
"Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, 'Have I also here seen Him who sees me?' Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi" (Genesis 16:13-14a).
"You Are the God Who Sees." That's a name of God. In the Hebrew text, it's El Roi, which means the God who sees. Hagar had met God as the God who sees and now God met with her again at Beersheba. And she finds out that He not only sees, but He hears and He provides. He can take care of every need she faces.
Now, I seriously doubt that God is going to speak audibly to you. I think God ministers to us through His angels in various ways. But God has spoken primarily, with finality, through His Word. And He longs to make Himself known to us in our hour of desperate need, just as he met with Hagar by that well in Beersheba.
We get to know God through His Word. This is where He reveals Himself to us. And He wants to meet us here at the Word, the well of His Word. Here we can drink the delightful, refreshing water of the Word and be strengthened as we get to know Him more intimately. Won't you turn to His Word and meet Him there? Let Him refresh your spirit and meet the needs of your life, and minister his spiritual blessing to you bountifully. It is as though He were reaching out to us today, saying, meet Me at that well: the well of God's Word.
2. Abraham Meets God at the Well
Now Hagar and Ishmael are gone. They've moved southwest through Kadesh on down into the wilderness of Paran. It says that in chapter 21 of Genesis:
"He [Ishmael] dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt" (Genesis 21:21).
Abraham migrates from Gerar. Guess where? Right over here to Beersheba, the very place where God had met with Hagar. Now, this is still on the fringe of the area of Philistia. And since it is, the king of Philistia comes to Beersheba from Gerar. (This king's title is "Abimelech." You'll find Abimelech throughout the Old Testament. It's not always the same man. It's a title, just like "Pharaoh" is a title for the king of Egypt.) Abimelech comes to Beersheba from Gerar. Along with him (Genesis 21:22) he has his chief captain, whose title seems to be Phicol. And his purpose is to make a covenant of peace with Abraham.
Abraham has become rich and powerful, and Abimelech wants Abraham to promise him that he's never going to give him any trouble. He's going to be as kind to Abimelech and his descendants as Abimelech has been to Abraham. He wants a covenant, that they're going to be friends. And Abraham's happy to do that.
"And Abraham said, 'I will swear'" (Genesis 21:24).
But there was one problem. Everything hadn't been quite as rosy as Abimelech is painting it. Some of his men had forcibly taken a well away from Abraham. And Abraham needed a well. No way to exist in this desert area without a well. And Abraham wasn't too happy about that and he tells Abimelech so.
"Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized. And Abimelech said, 'I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.'" (Genesis 21:25-26).
"Why didn't you tell me, Abraham? I didn't know anything about that. This is the first I've heard about it." But they seem to get their difference straightened out. So it's time for the covenant.
Now, covenants of this nature in Scripture were usually sealed by blood, namely by the blood of seven animals. And they seemed to be the animals of verse 27.
"So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant" (Genesis 21:27).
They were probably the animals that were slain. But then Abraham does something unusual. He gives to Abimelech seven additional animals, ewe lambs, as further confirmation that this was his well. See it in verse 30.
Now look at the verse that follows.
"Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there" (Genesis 21:31).
Beersheba, the well of the seven, referring to the seven animals, or the well of the oath, referring to the covenant they made there. For, the Scripture says, they swore both of them. Literally. That means they "besevent" themselves and it's kind of a play on words to tie the oath to the seven animals. So they're both there. Beersheba, the well of the oath or the well of the seven.
After that Abimelech and his sidekick went back to Gerar, to their home. Now, Abraham's rather happy about this whole thing. I mean, God has secured in his hand what he needs to exist in the desert. It's a well and it's his. God assures him of that ownership through this covenant with Abimelech.
So we read in verse 33 that Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba.
"Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God" (Genesis 21:33).
A tamarisk tree resembled a cypress. It was known for its lasting wood and its evergreen foliage. And it was a fitting symbol of the name by which God revealed Himself to Abraham on that occasion. Notice: "the Everlasting God.
Now that's another name for God in the Old Testament, El Olam. And it means "the eternal God, the everlasting One." And that tree, that tamarisk tree growing beside that well in Beersheba was a memorial to God's eternal faithfulness. He is a God who never changes. He always was, He always shall be. He's ever the same.
Now Abraham was growing old. He was over 100 years of age on this occasion. And a person that age becomes conscious of the uncertainties of the future, the uncertainties of life and the insecurities of life. I mean, Abraham had lived in tents all of his life. He moved from place to place with his flocks and his herds and his family. He had experienced his ups and downs. He had had good days in his relationship with God and he had some low points, too. And he wasn't sure what the future would hold. He wasn't even sure that Abimelech would keep his covenant, but that someday he might come with his armies and destroy Abraham. He didn't know.
But he knew one thing for sure and he was absolutely certain of it: The God who met him by that well in Beersheba is the everlasting God. He always was; He always shall be. He knows the end from the beginning. He controls every circumstance in our lives. And He'll never change. Abraham would be able to trust Him in the future just as he was able to trust Him in the past. He never fails. He's the eternal God.
And that has great application for us, folks. We'll be able to trust Him tomorrow just like we trusted Him in the past. He's met our needs. Hasn't He? Hasn't He been faithful? He'll continue to be faithful. We can trust Him.
And trusting the eternal God is the only thing that's going to bring stability when everything around us is in a state of flux, and uncertainty and insecurity faces us on every hand. But the only way we're going to be able to trust Him and find that strength and stability through the insecurity and uncertainty of life, is if we get to know Him. And the way we get to know Him is to meet Him in His Word, spend time in His Word, talk to Him daily, and let Him minister to our lives and reveal Himself to us through the Word. "Faith comes by hearing," Paul said to the Romans, "and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).
And there is no way our faith can be strengthened and we can rest in God in the difficult days of our lives, unless we are hiding God's Word in our hearts and meditating on it, and applying it to the situations of our lives day in and day out. We need to get to know God through His Word. And that Word will strengthen our faith.
Lots of people admit to having problems with faith. We all do. We all have days of doubt. How do we handle doubt? We handle it by getting more of God's Word into our hearts, memorizing it, meditating on it, letting God show us what He's like through the Word. Meet Him at the well, the well of His Word. Get to know Him as the everlasting God.
He's the God who hears our prayer and meets our need. He's the God who never changes.
3. Isaac Meets God at the Well
The next person God met with at Beersheba is Abraham's son, Isaac. And some of Isaac's experiences strangely parallel those of his father, Abraham. In Genesis 26, he moves to Gerar over here in the land of the Philistines. And when the men there inquire about his wife, he says the same thing that his father said on one occasion—"She's my sister"—to protect himself.
Sometimes our sins kind of get picked up by our kids and they do the same things we've done. It's a pretty good thing to remember.
Isaac also amassed great wealth while he was in Philistia.
"Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him" (Genesis 26:12-14).
The Philistines envied him so much so that Abimelech finally asked him to leave.
"And Abimelech said to Isaac, 'Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we' (Genesis 26:16).
And so he did. But just like his father, Abraham, Isaac had trouble with wells. He moved a short distance away from Gerard, toward Beersheba.
"Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, 'The water is ours.' So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him.(Genesis 26:19-20).
Esek means "contention or disputation."
"Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah" (Genesis 26:21).
Sitnah means "opposition or hatred."
"And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land" (Genesis 26:22).
Rehoboth means "room, enlargement, or broad places."
But although there was no striving for the well at Rehoboth, Isaac keeps moving east. And finally he gets all the way over to Beersheba.
"Then he went up from there to Beersheba" (Genesis 26:23).
Now, by this time in the story, we're not surprised to learn that God meets with Isaac at Beersheba.
"And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake,' So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well" (Genesis 26:24-25).
(Now they just began there, because we see the conclusion of this story a little later in the chapter.)
Now Isaac needed that revelation from God. We've seen Isaac on previous occasions. We know the kind of a person he was. He wasn't the man his father was. He probably even had some doubts about whether God was going to keep His promises to him that he made to his father Abraham. He's probably feeling a little inferior, maybe a little sorry for himself. I mean, he let those Philistines push him around. He was probably saying, "Why couldn't I stand up and be a man?" You know? His wife was probably telling him the same thing.
And God meets with him there in Beersheba and reassures him that God's going to bless his life, multiply his seed. This is the second such confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant that God makes to Isaac. And it's a reminder to Isaac that God is the covenant-keeping God. He's the promise-keeping God. He does what He says He's going to do. And if He said to Abraham, "I'm going to bless you and multiply your seed" then He's going to do that. And obviously He's going to do it through Isaac because Isaac is his descendant, his seed.
And it's interesting to me that Isaac's servants started to dig a well at that very spot where God reveals himself to Isaac as the covenant-keeping God. There's a well. Now most of us need to be reminded that God keeps His promises. We know that the Bible is filled with promises. But when we get feeling sorry for ourselves, get down, get to feeling inferior, like we can't do anything as well as others—maybe we don't measure up to a talented father or mother, or we just don't like ourselves for one reason or another—we forget that God's Word is filled with promises.
Not only promises, but facts. Facts like He made us just the way he wants us. According to Psalm 139, He constructed us just the way we need to be to do the job He wants us to do. So why should we be feeling sorry about it? We have the equipment we need to do the will of God for our lives. And He tells us that if we simply do His will, He's going to bless our lives and fill us with His joy. And what more in this life do we want? That's His promise.
You learn that, for instance, through the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), where God says to the faithful servant who takes what God gives him and uses it, however little it may be, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord." You want the joy of the Lord? Just believe Him. Just learn to trust Him. Just believe that He made you the way He wants you to be to accomplish His will and then do what He wants you to do and enjoy great satisfaction in Him.
But in order to do that, you're going to have to get to know Him. Know Him as the promise keeping God. And the only way to get to know Him is to meet Him at the well of His Word and spend time in that Word and let Him reveal Himself to us through the Word. "For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."
Now right after this experience of God meeting with him, Abimelech pays Isaac a visit at Beersheba just as he had visited his father, Abraham. And he has the same purpose: He wants to make a covenant of peace with Isaac. And Isaac's happy to make the agreement. And Abimelech, after the agreement is all signed, sealed and delivered, leaves. He's no sooner gone when Isaac's servants come back to report on the results of that well digging venture they began in verse 25.
"It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, 'We have found water.' So he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day" (Genesis 26:32-33).
Why did he call it Sheba? Well, there were two things there again. He probably sealed that covenant with Abimelech with seven animals. And there was that promise God made to him: "Isaac, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to be with you. Multiply your seed. I'm going to keep My promise to your father, Abraham, because I'm a covenant-keeping God." Isaac got to know him by the well at Beersheba.
Won't you spend some time by the well of His word and get to know Him as the promise-keeping God who has His hand on your life?
4. Jacob Meets God at the Well
Well, Isaac's son Jacob spent some of his early years in Beersheba. That was his early home. It was after his dad had moved there and settled down that Jacob stole his brother's birthright and blessing. That all happened right here at Beersheba.
And it was from Beersheba that he fled north to Haran to the land of his mother's relatives.
"Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran" (Genesis 28:10).
But when he got back 20 years later, as we learned last Sunday morning [BB-1.mp3], he found his father no longer living in Beersheba, but up here at Hebron. So Jacob himself settled down in Hebron and made that his new home.
It was in Hebron where most of the events of Jacob's life from that point on transpire. It was there that he lost his beloved son Joseph. It was there he spent those many years of misery and grief over Joseph not willing to accept that loss from God's hand. That's where he was when he learned that Joseph was still alive and was the prime minister of Egypt and wanted him to come down and spend his dying days with him there in Egypt.
And that was a tough decision for Jacob to make. He really didn't know what to do. He didn't know whether to go or not to go. I mean, God had promised his descendants the land of Canaan, not the land of Egypt. What would happen if they deserted Canaan and went down into Egypt? Would God still give them the land? Would they ever be able to possess it? He longed to see his son again. He wanted to be with Joseph, but he also wanted to do the will of God. And he didn't know what God's will was.
Finally he decided to go. We're all the way over in Genesis 45 now.
"Then Israel said,"—Israel is Jacob; he has two names—"Then Israel said, 'It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die'" (Genesis 45:28).
He decides to go, but I'm sure that the doubt still lingered in his mind. "Is this really the right thing? Is this what God wants me to do?"
You know, I'm not surprised that as Jacob moves south from Hebron toward Egypt, he stops at Beersheba. That doesn't surprise you at all, does it?
Knowing what we already know about Beersheba.
"So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac" (Genesis 46:1).
And I'm not surprised at what I read next in the Bible either.
"Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob!' And he said, 'Here I am."' So He said, 'I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes'" (Genesis 46:2-4).
In other words, you're going to die there, but I'm going to bring you back into this land. And now all the doubts are dispelled. All the confusion is gone. Somewhere near those wells in Beersheba, God revealed Himself to Jacob as the God who guides. And that's the kind of a God He is.
Some of you here today may be wondering about God's will. Maybe you feel like you're wandering around in a wilderness of confusion, not knowing which pathway to take and which turn to take and where to go and what to do. You don't know the will of God for your life. Maybe you're even getting frustrated about it.
Well, there's really no reason to get frustrated. If you honestly want to know God's will and you're honestly willing to do God's will, whatever it is, then He's not going to hide it from you. He is going to show you His will, because that's the kind of a God He is. He's the God who guides. And He made those promises over and over again throughout His entire Word.
He says, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye" (Psalm 32:8).
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
"The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail" (Isaiah 58:11).
He's the God who guides. You can trust Him. You can be certain that he will direct your life. You may not get the kind of clear signals you'd like to have exactly when you think they ought to be given, but you can trust Him. He's willing to guide you. You can count on Him. He's the God who guides.
Get to know Him through His Word, as a God who leads and directs and guides His children. It will help you get rid of that anxiety you've been experiencing over which way God wants you to go. You'll be able to just rest in Him and trust Him. As you get to know Him through the Word, your faith will grow and you'll find direction from above. Isaac met Him as the God who guides.
5. Elijah Meets God near the Well
There's one more prominent Biblical character who stopped at Beersheba. He was the prophet Elijah. And I'm all the way over into First Kings 19 now. This was right after his exciting victory on Mount Carmel over the prophets of Baal, probably the high point of his ministry. And Jezebel had just gotten word that her prophets were dead, and she was upset, believe me.
"And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, 'So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time'" (1 Kings 19:1-2).
"By tomorrow about this time, I'm going to get you, Elijah." That's what Jezebel said.
"And when he [Elijah] saw that, he arose and ran for his life and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left the servant there" (1 Kings 19:3).
Isn't it interesting that when Elijah is in big trouble, he heads for Beersheba, the place where God meets with men? Now, he didn't stay there. I mean, I have to be absolutely honest. This story would have been perfect, I think, you know, if God had met Elijah at Beersheba. But he didn't. He met him on down in the wilderness south of Beersheba.
But I find it interesting, as I was studying through the occurrences of the word Beersheba in the Bible, to find that when God met with Elijah, he at least stopped at Beersheba on his way. And this city became the gateway to the most dramatic encounter with God that Elijah had in his whole life. Fantastic!
Now he's out of Beersheba; he's on his way south. And there's no doubt that he's depressed. He has all the symptoms of serious depression.
"But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, 'It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!'" (1 Kings 19:4).
"There's nothing more to live for. Jezebel's out to get me. I've done my thing, you know. We've had one victory, Lord. Now let's just call it quits."
Emotional depression often follows emotional elation. Maybe you find that in your life. I do in mine. When we're on an emotional high, somehow we feel that everything's always going to be all right. Now we've got all those things whipped and we're never going to get down in the valley again. So we are unprepared for things that don't go our way. And because we're unprepared, we sometimes drop into the pits again.
That's one reason that religious experiences based primarily on emotions don't last very long, because they're usually not real. They have to have some more substance to them than just an emotional high. Oftentimes, after an emotional religious high, people drop right down into the pits.
Now notice how God deals with His depressed servant. First, He ministers to his physical needs, miraculously provides a cake and a cruse of water in verse 6. And that's important in depression, to make sure our physical being is right. And on the strength of that food, he wanders around the desert for 40 days until he comes to Mount Horeb, which is Mount Sinai, where God gave His law to Moses years before. It's way down south, even off of this map.
And there, God ministered to his emotional needs. He made him think and talk about his problem and get it out into the open. You see it down in verse 9, the end of the verse.
"And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, 'What are you doing here, Elijah?'" (1 Kings 19:9).
God said to Elijah, "What are you doing here, Elijah? What's your problem? Tell Me about it."
And finally, God ministers to his spiritual needs with a fantastic revelation of himself.
"Then He said, 'Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.' And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake" (1 Kings 19:11).
That was a hurricane. Broke rocks in pieces. And after the wind and earthquake, and the whole Mount Sinai began to tremble. But the Lord wasn't in the earthquake. After the earthquake, a fire (verse 12). A raging canyon fire. And we know what they're like in Southern California, don't we?
But the Lord wasn't in the fire. He wasn't in the hurricane, the earthquake, or the fire. They were all miraculous demonstrations of God's power. But they all had overtones of judgment. God's wrath against sin that had been the thrust of Elijah's ministry: God's judgment on sin. And it was necessary and it was important. But that wasn't what Elijah knew needed right now. He didn't need to hear about God's judgment.
He needed a reassurance of God's tenderness and gentleness and loving concern in his time of discouragement. And we find in verse 12, after the fire, a still, small voice. And in that still, small voice, that sound of gentle stillness, that gentle whisper, Elijah sensed the voice of God. So he covered his face with a cloak and went out to the entrance of that cave to meet His God.
He's the God of every circumstance. He ministers to us just where we are, when we need Him, and as we need Him. If we need a good jolt, then that's what He's going to do to us. If we need tender reassurance, that's the way He approaches us. Oh, when we're depressed, He may make us confront ourselves honestly. But even when He does that, He does it tenderly and lovingly. And He does it through His Word. If you want to get to know Him intimately and you want Him to minister to your life in whatever emotional or spiritual state you are today, you're going to have to meet Him in His Word. Stop by the well of God's Word.
6. Meet God at the Well
Now, I realize this final revelation didn't occur at Beersheba, but Beersheba did play a part in it. And what an illustrious history that town had. But you know, when so much of spiritual significance happens in a place, one place, the temptation is to begin to venerate that place rather than the Lord who reveals Himself there. And do you know that's exactly what the children of Israel did?
They established idol worship in Beersheba. By the days of the prophet Amos—and you can read about this in Amos 5 and Amos 8—they had established a religious shrine in Beersheba, and they made pilgrimages there for idolatrous worship. It's incredible.
But, you know, that happens to us, too. People may encounter God in a dramatic way at some Bible conference or through some church, maybe even here. And they begin to say things like, what a wonderful place! God is in this place! Friend, God is in every place. He is omnipresent. And He's ready to meet you anywhere, anytime, wherever you are. In your living room, your bedroom, your family room. Out on a hillside somewhere. God is ready to meet with you through His Word. That's wherever you can get alone with Him and open the Word and draw deeply from the well. He wants to reveal Himself to you. He's waiting to meet you at the well.
Trusting Jesus as Your Savior
Now, you have to know Him personally as your Savior from sin before you can ever get to know Him intimately and learn to trust Him through the circumstances of life. And if you've never met Him, we invite you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself is the wellspring of life, and believe that he died in your place and paid for your sin, and open your heart to Him.
Let's bow together in prayer. While our heads are bowed and eyes are closed, may I give you an opportunity to put your trust in the Lord Jesus? You're not sure you've ever done that. You're not sure you're saved. Wouldn't you like to make sure? Make sure your sins are forgiven and God has accepted you and you're on your way to heaven.
That assurance comes by faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Are you willing to acknowledge your sin and open your heart's door to the Savior right now? We invite you to do that.
Christian, are you willing to commit yourself to meet with God daily in his word so that you can get to know Him intimately and learn to trust Him implicitly?
We'd invite you to make whatever commitment God wants you to make today. If you're an unbeliever, why not acknowledge right now, that you know you've sinned, that you believe Christ died for your sin and then just put your trust in Him? If you're a Christian, make that commitment, will you? Make that covenant with God this morning: that you're ready and willing to meet Him at the well of His word and get to know Him.
Closing Prayer
Father, meet us here and now and give us the strength and grace we need to make our lives what You want them to be, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Continue to BB-3: Show Me (Nazareth)