Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Is This World Your Home? | Torah | Genesis 21:22-34

Episode Date: February 23, 2022

Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. You've probably heard it before: "this world is not your home." But is that what the Bible really teaches? Does this statement encourage apathy toward our current world? In today's episode, Jensen shares three things you can learn from Abraham in Genesis 21:22-34. Listen to find out how to follow God while still participating in the world around you. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Passages: Genesis 21:22-34 Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Right now, we're going through the first book of the Bible, Genesis. Most people would say it doesn't take long after getting to know me to realize that I'm a homebody. I'm not a total recluse. I go places, but I really thrive at home. My favorite sweatshirt proudly tells the world that I'm in Dorsi. I prefer the comfort of my own home. If you ever have to be a little bit of my own home, if you ever have have to cancel plans on me, don't feel bad because honestly, I'm probably just as excited to stay home with a book or a movie and a cozy blanket. I love my home. I love the feeling of being at home, comfortable and safe. I know that there are fellow home bodies out there listening, but I'm

sure some of you think I'm crazy. But overall, though, I think we all have a general desire for the idea of having a home, metaphorical or not. We have cultural phrases like home is where the heart is. We have movies about being home for Christmas. We lament the loss of a home, whether it's physical loss or the loss of the feeling of home, maybe from dysfunction or the loss of family members. In a lot of ways, whether you want to hunker down and spend your weekends in your home or not, we're all looking for a place we feel safe and secure, a place that feels familiar and comfortable, a home. Not a house, but a place we feel at home. And as a Christian, I've heard a lot about this world not being our home. Some people say not to get too comfortable here

because this world's going to pass away, be destroyed some day so we shouldn't get too comfortable. Some Christians put up walls and shut out the world because they have their eyes set on a heavenly home. They're determined to keep far away from the evil of this world and make sure that everyone knows that this place isn't their home. Now for what it's worth, I don't think those people are reading scripture correctly. But it can be hard, can it? The Bible talks about Christians being exiles in this world. It tells us to not be conformed to the patterns of the world around us. So should we hole up? Shut out the world, set our sights on a home in heaven and just make it through the next 80 years waiting for that home? I don't think so. For one, throughout scripture, we're reminded that

Jesus is coming back here to this world to redeem it. He's not going to start over or take all the Christians away to a place in the clouds. He's coming back here to redeem this world. So ultimately, as Christians, this world will be our home. But it's not quite home yet, is it? See, there's brokenness, darkness, pain, violence, rebellion going on all around us. It's hard to get that warm, fuzzy, home feeling, not a lot of safety or security. In a lot of ways, being a Christian in our world, standing up for truth, well, that actually makes us unpopular, unwelcome and uncomfortable in the world around us. See, we're going through Genesis right now, and today's passage is probably one you've skipped or forgotten if you've read it. I told my husband, who's grown up in the church's whole

life, that I was working on a podcast about the Treaty of Beersheba, and he said, What's that? It's not really a top 10 story in Genesis, but I think it can teach us a lot about how we, as Christians, are supposed to live in a world that is and isn't our home. Genesis 21, 22 to 34. At that time, Abimelech and Fychal, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, God is with you and all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal. falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned. And Abraham said, I will swear. When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized, Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing. You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until this day. So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a

covenant. Abraham set seven you lambs of the flock apart, and Abimelech said to Abraham, what is the meaning of these seven you lambs you have set apart? He said, these seven you lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore, that place was called Beersheba, because there, both of them swore an oath. So they made a covenant at Beersheba, then Abimelech and Fichol, the commander of his army, rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

Okay. So there's a lot going on here. But I want to highlight three things that I think we can learn from this account. First, we see that Abraham is taking part in the world around him. He hasn't closed himself off, but he does clearly live a different life. Abimelech comes to him to make a treaty. Abraham is a part of his community, a powerful member, and because of this, the king of the land wants to make sure they're on good terms. We know that in the way Abraham lives his life, he must live differently because Abimelech attributes his success to God

when he says, God is with you and all that you do. See, Abraham isn't like everyone else. He is involved, powerful, but he lives in such a way that the world around him can see that God, Yahweh, has part in his life. Abraham answers to a higher power, but he still participates in the world around him, engaging in political treaties and abiding by their power. Second, we see how Abraham lives differently by caring for and protecting what he's been given. First, when the well he's dug has been seized, Abraham brings the issue to Abimelech. He offers up seven ewes to attest that this land is his. He's faithful to protect what is his, and he's faithful to the treaty in the way that he handles this dispute. And once the issue was

settled and the covenant completed between the two men, Abraham plants a tree. Abraham knows that this land has been promised to his descendants and that ultimately God will provide this land to them. But he's still faithful to protect, care for, and cultivate the land that he has now. He plants a tree and worships the Lord as the everlasting God, noting that his God, Yahweh, is everlasting. He's outside of time. The God he worships can see beyond the life of Abraham and will continue to be faithful. Which brings us to the third thing that we learn in this passage.

Abraham is looking forward to a promise. He has this land. He cares for it. He plants a tree in it. He abides by the treaties of the king. and yet we read in the final verse that Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines. Catch it? He's still living in the land of the Philistines.

Abimelech is the king of this land and Abraham is not ultimately at home in the promised land even despite this treaty. As I read these verses, I couldn't help but feel the similarities that we face in our world today. How would your life change if you learned first? from and lived your days like Abraham does. Do you find yourself compromising your faithfulness, blending in with the people and world around you, or do you find yourself putting up boundaries, living so differently and being so aggressive about it that the world around you doesn't get or want a seat at your table? Do you find yourself obsessed with the things that you own,

holding tightly to the things you have materially or socially? Or do you find yourself swinging in the opposite direction, thinking that nothing in this world really matters, and treating the things that have been entrusted to you without respect or care? Is it hard for you to imagine or desire a world where Jesus is king because you're so comfortable living with a different king? Or do you find yourself not caring about the kings of this world, disregarding social needs and problems because one day Jesus is going to fix it all? See, I think we probably all. all tend towards one of these extremes because it's what's comfortable for us. It's hard, but I think this passage shows us that we need to be part of the communities around us. As Christians, we can't

stay comfortable in our own circles. We also need to have to live faithfully in the world. Maybe it means you need to reevaluate how you interact with the spaces you're in, your work, your school, your neighborhood? What if people got excited when they found out that a Christian was working for them, in their classes, or moving in next door, because we were known for being caring, engaging, and faithful? We aren't called to put all our stock in finding a home in this world that we forget to live faithfully. But we also can't shut the door on creating a home here, even if we know it isn't the promised renewed creation yet. This passage is, calling us to take part in the world around us, living markedly different lives,

caring for the world, our coworkers, our cities, our neighbors, and all that the Lord has blessed us with, even as we ultimately look forward to a day when this world is redeemed and Jesus is our everlasting king. May it be so in our lives today. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help encourage you in the middle of the work week and bring you deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.