COME AS A CHILD LESSON 115 LISTENING TO THE BURNING BUSH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law while living in Midian. 

One day Moses took the flock over to the far side of the wilderness, to a mountain named Horeb, the place scriptures call “The Mountain of God.”

While Moses was there on the mountain The Angel of The LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  The bush was clearly on fire; but it never burned up.  Moses moved closer, very curious as to why this strange bush never burned up.

As Moses stepped closer and closer; the LORD saw that Moses was approaching and he called out to him; “Moses!  Moses!”

As we have mentioned before, when God calls your name two times in a row, you better pay attention!  The only correct answer is the very one that came out of Moses mouth at the time:  “Here I am.” 

God told Moses not to come any closer.  He instructed him to take off his sandals, because the place where he was standing was holy ground.  Then God said:  “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Up until this point, Moses had only known Egypt and life in the palace, then his present life as a shepherd in Midian.  He did not know much about his original heritage at all, except that he had learned he was a Hebrew raised as an Egyptian.  After finding this out he had run away. 

Now God himself had come down to speak to him about his heritage! 

Moses could not escape his own reality.  

God is telling Moses that He is the God of his father and their fathers! It is pretty clear that God wasn’t referring to Pharaoh.   God gives Moses a brief history lesson by mentioning the family linage; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Not only had Moses run away from his problems in Egypt, he had also ran away from who he really was; an Israelite.  God was forcing Moses to face his heritage head-on.  There was no running away this time.

Moses was one of God's people.  Are you running away from being one of God's people too?  You can't run and you can't hide.  If you belong to God he will find you.  He will find you in a palace or in a tent.  He will find you in a garden or in a desert.  If you belong to God; He is not going to let you forget.  Just ask Moses!     

When Moses heard these words from God he hid his face because he was afraid.  He was afraid to look at God, and he was afraid to face who he really was. 

God continued to speak to Moses: “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.  I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey – the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.  And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.  So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

There is so much information to retain from that one little paragraph where God spoke to Moses! 

Can you imagine how it felt to see a bush that did not burn up, and then to hear the voice of God coming from it? 

What did it feel like to Moses to be standing on holy ground and to be hearing the voice of God speaking to him?

To me, the most striking words spoken by God were “So I have come down…”  God had come down to earth because he had heard the Israelites praying over and over again, begging for relief from their misery. 

Have you ever prayed this way?  

What if you were praying in one of THOSE moments and you physically KNEW when God came down to help you?  Not an angel, not a spirit; but GOD, HIMSELF (IN PERSON) gave up His time in heaven to look down on a nation of poor pitiful people who were praying during the time of their suffering. 

Well, it actually isn’t that rare!  It really isn’t that strange when you think about it for a long time.  God does this all the time.  We just don’t see the physical evidence of it; like Moses did here.  If we did; we would probably be like Moses and hide our faces in fear, afraid of what was about to happen next; afraid to SEE God in person. 

If you actually saw God with your own eyes, like was possible with Moses in this story, you would never again have any argument for the existence of God.  You would know without a doubt that God was real.  There would be no denying it; and that would mean you might have to listen, obey and follow His instructions.  No pressure at all....; I think Moses was in one of THOSE moments here. 

He had NO choice but to obey.  It was God speaking! 

Had God already looked down and noticed that Moses had great compassion on the Hebrews? 

People always marvel at how God chose Moses, but don’t you think God knew that Moses had a passion for these people and their suffering?  

Don’t you think God was looking over the fence when Moses went out from the comfort of Pharaoh’s palace to see how the people of his true heritage were getting along in Egypt?  

Do you think God took notice when Moses cared enough about their welfare to risk his own life to defend his fellow Israelite? 

God KNEW the heart of Moses.  God KNOWS the heart of all of his children.

I think God had been watching Moses from the moment of his birth, guiding that little basket through the bulrushes and placing him strategically in the places where he could fulfill his God-planned and God given destiny.  Now it was time for Moses to learn more of that destiny; straight from the horse’s mouth.  God didn’t send a messenger, He came in person. 

The next words God had to say to Moses were pretty plain:  

GO!!!

How many people had heard God say “go” before Moses?  Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and now we come to Moses.  Moses more than likely knew about those guys from the things that his birth mother had taught him when he was very young during the time she tended to him for Pharaoh’s daughter. 

Moses knew when God said “go” He wasn’t being casual.  He meant it. 

God was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.  He was asking Moses to go right back to the very things he had run away from.  Moses must have considered how dangerous that would be.  He gave God an answer that stalled for time.

“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

God didn’t answer Moses by telling him how equipped he was and how his whole life had been a preparation for this moment.  God simply said “I will be with you!”   How many times have those called by God had to learn that he doesn't call the equipped, but He equips the called?  Moses was no different than any other man in this respect.  God said He would go with Moses!

 That in itself should have been enough! Dayenu!  If God is for us, who can stand against us? 

God did give Moses some more information for assurance though.  He told Moses He would give him a sign that He had sent him.  God said “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”  

It is odd to some people that God speaks of himself in the third person here, but it is simply proof that The Angel of The LORD was once again a Christophany; or the appearance of Jesus in another form, before the Incarnation when He came as Savior of the world.  Jesus could speak of himself as God both then and now, because the Father and the Son are One.  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had seen this pre-incarnate form of Christ too.  Now Moses had seen Him. 

Jesus was saying to Moses, when you have done what God instructed, you will come here to this place again and worship on this mountain. 

So Moses finally begins to think in terms of what he must do.  He knew if he had questions, this was definitely the time to be asking them!  

So Moses said to God:  “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them “The God of your Fathers has sent me to you.”  What if they ask me; “What is His name?”  What shall I tell them?”

God’s answer was “I AM THAT I AM. 

This is what you are to say to the Israelites:  “I AM has sent me to you.” 

Then God added a second part to that statement.  He told Moses to say “The LORD, The God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – has sent me to you.  This is My name forever, the name you shall call Me from generation to generation.”

So God repeated it all to Moses again, probably so he would not forget all the details:  

“Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – appeared to me and said:  I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.  And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites – a land flowing with milk and honey.  The elders of Israel will listen to you.  Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us.  Let us take a three day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God.  But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.  So, I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.  After that, he will let you go.  And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty handed.  Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters.  And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

WRITER'S SAMPLES: THE SUKKAH STORY (PART ONE) ABRAHAM'S SUKKAH

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

            Long ago, even long before your great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents were born, Abraham built a sukkah.

            It was near a tamarisk tree and a well of fresh spring water. It was positioned in an area of Canaan near the road where the caravans of merchants and traders traveled back and forth to the large cities to sell their goods at the markets.

            Abraham would sit in the shade of his sukkah and welcome these guests to the land as they rode by.  He would invite them to come inside his sukkah and have a meal with him. He would tell them the stories of God. 

            Abraham believed there was only One God; the God of Heaven and Earth, Our Creator.  Abraham worshiped no other gods such as the pagans around him did.  He wanted everyone to know about The One True God, so he would welcome everyone and tell them God’s stories at his table in his sukkah.

            Sometimes, during the days of Awe, before he sat in his sukkah, Abraham would go down by the sea.  He would sit on the shore and look at the sand and the waves rushing in.  Abraham would find himself in complete awe of the things God had created.  They were indeed wonderful!  Abraham would give thanks to God as he sat by the sea shore.

            One day while Abraham was sitting near the ocean in awe, God make him a promise. God told Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the sands of the sea.  Abraham knew that the sands of the sea were so many that it would be impossible to count them!  Abraham thanked God for this promise, even though as of yet, he did not even have one son with his wife Sarah.  Abraham still believed the things that God promised and he looked forward to the blessings that were to come.

            Back at home near the road that the merchants traveled, Abraham sat in his sukkah again.  On many cool clear nights Abraham looked up through the covering of his sukkah’s roof to see the stars in the sky twinkling back at him.  They were so bright and so beautiful that Abraham just had to praise God for creating them!

            When Abraham worshiped God and praised Him as he sat in his sukkah, God made Abraham another wonderful promise.  God told Abraham that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky.  Abraham knew he could never count the number of stars in the sky, and that would be a great miracle! As of yet, Abraham and Sarah had no children.  They were old!  Still; Abraham had faith in God and he believed God’s promises and he looked forward to the blessings of the future.

            As the people traveled to and fro on the main trade route of the country, Abraham would invite these strangers into his sukkah.  Abraham would prepare feasts for his guests.  A feast is not just an ordinary meal, but a feast is a very festive meal with a purpose behind it.  Abraham’s purpose was to tell the stories of God to the people in the land.  Abraham and his wife Sarah were known for their gifts of welcome and hospitality to all the people of all the lands.

            You would be amazed at the guests that Abraham entertained under the roof of his sukkah!

Red, yellow, black or white, skin color did not matter to Father Abraham.  If you were rich or poor or in-between; you were invited to Abraham’s sukkah for a festive meal.  The only requirement was that you had ears.  Ears are for listening and Abraham liked to tell the stories of God to each of his guests.

            One day The Angel of The Lord (who was really Jesus in another form long before He came to earth as a man) and two other angels came to visit in the sukkah of Abraham.  They were passing through the land when Abraham spotted them in the distance.  He ran to them and invited them into his sukkah for a festive meal.

            The three were on a mission from God.  Part of their mission was to deliver a message to Abraham, but Abraham did not know this.  Abraham was so honored to have someone from The One True God that he worshiped sitting in his sukkah and gathering around his very table!  Abraham had Sarah to cook an elaborate and very special feast for them.  Abraham brought his very best offerings.  They shared a festive meal full of some serious talk but also some laughter.

            After the meal they shared a glass of wine together.  Sarah was waiting inside the tent where she and Abraham lived, tending to some of the things she would bring out for dessert, and she could hear their voices carrying on the wind as they spoke inside the sukkah.  Sarah heard The Angel of The Lord tell Abraham that a son would be born to them.  Sarah could not help but laugh out loud because she was very old and past the age of having children.

            So when Isaac, the son of Sarah and Abraham was born in their old age; it was a great miracle and Abraham and Sarah remembered the words that were told to Abraham as their special guests dined with them under the roof of their sukkah.  Sarah remembered her laughing and so they named him Isaac, which means “laughter.”

            Abraham had faith to believe the things that God promised and he looked forward to the blessings to come.  (The rest of this story series, (there are eight stories in this series, one for every day of The Feast of Tabernacles) is available, just send an e-mail to wordcastlepublications@gmail.com.  The Keeper of the Castle will be happy to help you.) 

STORY SAMPLES: EVERY TONGUE, TRIBE AND NATION

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The descendants of the three sons of Noah settled in the Plains of Shinar.  They decided to build a great tower.  They wanted a tower that would be a beacon they could see from miles and miles away.  If they got lost, they could look up and see the tower and walk towards it to find their way home again.  If they needed to tell someone how to find them they could say “just follow the tower and you will find me.”  It all started out so simple, so uncomplicated.  They all spoke the same language and they all understood each other and worked together to get the tower built. Everything was all together before everything began to fall apart.

They kept making the tower taller.  They were never satisfied that it was great enough.  At first they reasoned by thinking the taller the tower, the closer they would be to God.  Soon that thought was over and they began to concentrate on how great and awesome the tower was.  As the tower got taller and taller the people began to be prouder and prouder of their work.  They all thought the success of the building was due to their own individual participation.  They all began to think they had special unique abilities to have built a tower as special as this one. 

The tower kept getting closer and closer to God, but the people kept forgetting about God and remembering how talented they were for building the tower.  Each group thought their part of the building was the very best part.  They began to speak about their work in their own ways, each group speaking more and more different from the others as the tower kept growing taller and taller.  Soon their work was all about building the tower.  No one gave another thought to getting closer to God.  It was just about the tower now.  It was just about how wonderful the people building the tower were.  

One man, a descendant of Ham named Nimrod, thought he was the most special of all the builders.  He was strong and powerful and he thought he could do anything.   He proclaimed that he was the greatest leader on earth and had a large group of people following him as he named himself their king.  He wanted the tower to speak of him and spread his fame all across the land.  He wanted to be known for being the great tower builder.  He pondered how he would use the tower as a symbol to bring the world together under his leadership.  He loved the control that the thought of the tower gave to him. Others working on the tower seemed to have the same idea, only they wanted the tower to stand for their works. 

The tower soon became nothing about God at all, but only about the pride of mankind.

One day while the tower was being increased they heard a horrible sound.  It got louder and louder.  Soon the loud noise replaced all of their talking.  They had all begun to babble.  Their languages made no sense at all.  They no longer could understand each other.  Everyone was babbling.  There was great confusion.   

The one language of the people of the earth that helped them to work in unison and harmony became shattered and broken into many different pieces.  Each piece was beautiful, yet each piece was broken.  Nothing could come back together again.
   

The people lost the hope of getting closer to God with the tower.  They soon left their work and divided into small groups without ever finishing their tasks.  Soon the tower fell down from neglect and lack of care.  Instead of a beacon it became known as the Tower of Babel.  Instead of becoming a symbol of comfort and hope what was left of the tower soon became a symbol of despair and decay, confusion and chaos.  The once lovely tower turned into a pile of rubbish.  Eventually it all turned to dust and blew away.  Not one piece of the tower remained in place.

Thousands of years passed by and the tower was forgotten.  

A man called Jesus came to live on the earth. 

He did not try to be the greatest.

He was very humble and kind.  

He did not demand that people follow him, but many different types of people loved him and followed him anyway.  He did not claim to be a great leader, and he only considered himself a servant. 

One day he died on a cross.

As he was dying they heard him pray; “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

His followers were very sad until they realized he was alive again!

In just three days they learned that He had risen from the dead!

They were full of joy and they walked with him to a mountain called Olivet and they saw him go up in the sky into heaven where God was.  He went up higher than any tower that could ever be built by men.  He was so close to God and they realized He was a part of God.

Those who followed him were amazed.  They were glad and they thanked God for having sent Him.  God sent them a gift to comfort them because they missed Jesus so much.

One day these followers of Jesus went to Jerusalem because Jesus had asked them to do so before he went to heaven to be with God.  The city was busy celebrating a great day of thanksgiving.  People had come from many different countries for the celebration.  They all spoke many different languages.

     

Suddenly these disciples heard a loud sound, like a mighty rushing wind.  It was God’s gift; The Holy Spirit.  They became so full of power that they seemed to be on fire.  Their tongues burned in their mouths.  They went out on the streets that were filled with the people from many different nations.  

   

No one expected to understand the disciples since they spoke different languages, but they

looked upon them and knew that they had come very close to God and God had come very close to them in a whole new way than He ever had before.  God had given them the promised gift of The Holy Spirit.  Jesus had made it possible for them.

   

Suddenly it no longer mattered that they all spoke different languages.  They all understood one another.

Each person heard in their own language.  

Each one understood what the other was saying, though they never had before.

The disciples began to speak to the people in the streets about Jesus.  They spoke of how He had died for the sins of all; how He had been buried; and how He rose from the dead.  Everyone heard the story in their own language and they asked, “So what should we do?”

Peter stood up and told them they should repent of their sins and believe in Jesus and be baptized.  Many people believed the messages about Jesus and they received The Holy Spirit too. 

And that was how God united (through Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit) what sin had scattered and broken.  

It was at the miracle of Pentecost where all the beautiful broken languages that had kept people divided for so many years united and came back together again because of Jesus Christ the Messiah and God's Holy Spirit.

  

The broken picture of the people of every tribe, language and nation that fell apart at the Tower at Babel became a pure new painting of every tongue, tribe and nation united under God.

What started the prophetic Table of Nations in Genesis (the first bookend of time) will end in Revelation (the last bookend of time.)  

What sin has scattered from the beginning of time will one day unite in one glorious song to The Glory of God.  

In the end God will reverse all the effects of evil and turn it to good.

In Genesis we read of Adam and Eve, in Revelation we hear of Christ and his Bride.  Those of mankind who at first were cast out because of sin have been covered by the garment of Christ and in the end will be invited back in to participate in The Marriage Supper of The Lamb. 

In Genesis Satan came to deceive mankind.  In Revelation we learn that God will bind Satan and allow him to deceive mankind no more. 

In Genesis men were only given dominion over the earth.  In the Revelation it is revealed that man will reign with Christ over Heaven and earth and the whole universe forever.

God’s glory will once again return to the earth when Christ returns and walks through the East Gate of Jerusalem.  He will forever be with His people; those who have repented, believed and received the precious gift of The Holy Spirit.  

Who would have thought that all of this has been planned by God from The Foundation of The Earth for the 70 nations who descended from the three sons of Noah?  This is yet another of the surprises of the miracles that came from Pentecost!

Do you have a Tower of Babel in your life? 

The curse of it can be reversed and you can live under the blessings of God again.  Do not wait for a thousand years.  Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ.  He died for you.   Reach up and receive God’s Holy Spirit.  Your life will be forever changed.   Jesus died so you can experience the comfort and peace that passes all understanding.    

God has a gift for you. 

All you have to do is let go of your own plans and let God show you His. 

The Holy Spirit will be your guide.  

May the grace of Jesus Christ be with you always as you travel on and walk further and further into The Kingdom of Heaven.

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 114 - A REVIEW OF THOSE WHO WERE AT THE WELL AND UNDER THE TAMERISK TREE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

A few weeks ago we began studying what happened to Moses after he fled from Egypt.  

We spent last week’s lesson clearing up and discussing the details and facts of the day Moses killed the Egyptian Taskmaster.  We concluded that what some claimed to be a murder committed by Moses was simply an act of self-defense.  

Previously we covered the fact that Moses was no longer safe in Egypt and spoke of how he ran away to the desert land of Midian where he came to rest beside a well.  It was there that he met the seven daughters of a Midian priest who took him in and made him his son-in-law. 

I asked you then if the well seemed to be familiar.  We did study this particular well back when we were studying the book of Genesis.  I feel we need to go back and review the vivid details of that lesson again; before we move on with the rest of the story of Moses.  

To me the significance of the story of this particular well is extremely important to Christians living in the world today.  This one little well has so many untold lessons that they cannot even be counted.  We will hear more and more of it as we continue our studies, but for now; I wish to review what happened to Hagar and Ishmael at that well.  I want us to think about how God ties things together over and over again,  and how He lets simple things, like this old, old well, teach us of His faithfulness. 

Please bear with me in the repetition and the backtracking.  I think it will be well worth your while.  You will realize more from this story than the first time you heard it.  We will also repeat some of this particular story in more detail as we continue studying the life of Moses beyond this review.

Just close your eyes and visualize Moses, hot and tired from his journey.  He is walking up to the well, dipping cold water to cure his thirst and leaning back to rest under the tall and leafy shade of an old, old tamerisk tree.  Then let you mind continue going back even further; all the way back to the days of Abraham and Hagar.

Here is Lesson 57 of The Journey Through Genesis and the lesson called “The Bush and The Well:” 

Thursday, February 19, 2015

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 57 - THE BUSH AND THE WELL

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

Most of the story of Hagar and Ishmael has been told; but there is a little bit more that we should cover here before we make a turn and leave them for a while.  There is so much to tell and time limits how much we will be able to discuss.  How I wish that were not the case.  This is a very important topic.  Today I want to look closer at the little details that are often overlooked in the typical discussions of the story.  God is in the small things as well as the larger things and in this story, the small things make a huge difference in the large things.  

Let's try very hard to remember every little thing about these two (Abraham and Hagar) because they are a big part of the thread in the whole tapestry that God is weaving as He forms and shapes the nation of Israel and eventually all the nations of the world as we know it today.

God has been writing this story for years and years, slowly changing the hearts, fully telling the truth, finding and loving the lost and the hated forever.  Not just yesterday!  He is Eternal.  All of these nations and peoples that are so loved of God came originally from Abraham, Sarah and Hagar.  It is important to walk a while in each of their shoes and to see what God taught each of them.  We need to know who they really are so that we can realize who we really are. 

We have already discussed that Hagar was set free by Abraham.  She and Ishmael went to live near a well in the desert.  

One would think from reading the scriptures that was the last time Abraham saw of Hagar, but is that a realistic assumption?  Many think that Abraham kept up with Hagar and Ishmael and provided for their welfare.  Even though Sarah and Hagar were separated and maintained separate homes with their own sons, it seems that Abraham loved and cared and provided for both sons.

If you think about this long enough, you come to realize that the well which was only a few bow-lengths away from the place where Hagar lay Ishmael to die was possibly located very close to where Abraham and Sarah were living in Gerar.  It would not have been too far for Abraham to travel, or to receive news of the needs of Hagar and Ishmael.  

   

If you think about it all even longer you might come to suspect that this very well was probably the same well that we later hear about when Abraham and Abimeleck made an agreement to live peacefully with each other in the land for three  years.  This was a sort of treaty between them that happened long after Abraham and Sarah had left Abimeleck’s palace where amazingly (even after Abraham had deceived Abimeleck,) King Abimeleck had promised them use of the land to graze their cattle and promised them that they would be free to live on the land as they wished without harm.  

Years had passed since Abimeleck made this promise and he had been good to his word.  Abraham and Sarah had been allowed to dwell in the land even though they were foreigners.  When it came time to seal the deal with a treaty, Abimeleck reminded Abraham that he had kept his end of the promise.  Now it was Abraham's turn to make promises.

Many were amused when this treaty was formed.  They marveled that Abimeleck would even think of making an agreement with Abraham after the way Abraham had lied to him and deceived him into thinking that Sarah was his sister.    Yet; Abraham had prayed for Abimeleck and his household and the Philistine King had seen the results of those prayers.  It must have made quite an impression.  There had been much healing. 

Abimeleck knew also from a dream that God was blessing Abraham and that Abraham was a prophet of God.  Perhaps Abimeleck was afraid God would bless Abraham so much that he would lose all of his kingdom to him.   Was it not rumored that Abraham thought his descendants would inherit this land eventually?   This three year treaty probably seemed the best way to go.  They could live together in peace for a period of time, then Abraham and Sarah could journey on to somewhere else.  The King would no longer be threatened with these people taking over his territory.  In Abimeleck's eyes, it was just a temporary arrangement and one day in the future he would like to end the temporary arrangement without too much of a fight and on agreeable terms.

Abraham’s perspective of this treaty would have been quite different from that of Abimeleck, having been told by God that his descendants would eventually be given the land.  Abraham might have seen this treaty as the beginning of many more to come.  He wanted to live peacefully in the land and he wanted to have a good relationship with the king that now ruled the land.  

So the two men made the treaty, each of them looking at it from their own perspective; Abraham thinking this was God's first step in His plan for his descendants to acquire the land, and Abimeleck thinking he was preparing them for the date when they would make their eventual departure.  Each man entered the treaty seeing their own possible advantages.

However, to make the deal sweeter, there was a well that Abraham had dug, and he had noticed Abimeleck’s men were constantly fighting with his men over the water rights for this well.  Abraham pointed this out to Abimeleck and mentioned that he had set aside seven female lambs as a gift to Abimeleck in exchange for the well.  Abimeleck, knowing that the deal would never be sealed without this, accepted Abraham's terms.  What harm would it be for Abraham to own the well if he eventually had to leave?  Abimeleck's people would just take it over at that time.  Wells could be reclaimed easily enough.

When this treaty was finished and sealed, this particular well was considered to be the legal property of Abraham.  It was the first thing that he had actually bought and paid for and owned exclusively in the new land.  It was the most important move that Abraham could have made!  In this dry land, water rights meant survival.  This was a very important well.  It was the often overlooked first step in God fulfilling the covenant that promised the land to Abraham and his descendants.
  

Knowing that God had finally given him a piece of the property that had been promised for years and years, Abraham built an altar at this well and gave thanks to God.  He was full of joy and elated to see the promises coming to pass!  He thanked God for the well, and for the beginning of the fulfilling of the rest of the promise.  

Isaac’s birth had fulfilled a large part of this promise and a small piece of the rest of it was now beginning to come about too.  Abraham was determined that Isaac’s children and their children would live in this land that had been promised by God to Abraham.  Owning this one little bit of the land where the well was had given Abraham much hope for the future.

Abraham realized at this late point in his life when God first began to fulfill the rest of the covenant, that God had a different perspective on time than he did.  Abraham realized for the first time ever that God was eternal and everlasting.  The importance of this truth overwhelmed Abraham.  It sunk into his very soul and he thought a lot about the fact that God goes on forever and ever, infinite, without end.

He had known that God was powerful and righteous, but this was the first time that Abraham had pondered the fact that the God he faithfully served was forever and ever.  Here at this well Abraham called God El-Olam which meant Eternal God.  Abraham pondered the fact that an eternal God had given him a promise and that promise would belong to all of his descendants.  They would know and call on this name of this very same Eternal God all through history.  

Abraham  finally realized that every thing he had done and would ever do would affect the eternal blessings of God toward his descendants.  That is why Abraham planted a Tamerisk tree beside the well.  

Tamerisk trees grow slowly.  You do not plant them for your own shade.  You plant them to shade the people in the generations to come.  Abraham praised God that his descendants would come and sit under the shade of this Tamerisk tree near the well of Abraham where they would draw water to satisfy their thirsts in the years to come.  

It was a huge moment of faith for Abraham.  

It was a gigantic leap in his understanding of how big God really is and how eternal his blessings and promises are.  Abraham praised God here and offered up his thanks.  With the planting of the tamerisk tree he had planted down roots.  

Abraham continued to live a godly life with Sarah and Isaac in Gerar.  There he once again opened his doors to strangers and he always told them about El-Olam - The Everlasting God.  The House of Abraham was once again spreading the word about the One True God of Heaven and Earth.  You might even say that Abraham and Sarah were the very first evangelical Christians, because of their faith!  They were preaching the gospel before the gospel message was fulfilled because they believed in an Eternal and Everlasting God.   It must have been a wonderful time for Abraham and Sarah and Isaac.  These must have been the most precious years of their lives.

Abraham was so happy with the way things were going that he decided to give a huge celebration on the day that Isaac was weaned.  We have already discussed this story too, and we noted the way that Sarah persuaded Abraham to turn Hagar and Ishmael away so that only Isaac would inherit from Abraham.  

Abraham was quite perplexed but discussed this with God first, which also shows us the change and the maturity of Abraham in this place.  He heard God say to listen to Sarah so Abraham decided to do what he personally did not want to do.  He gave Hagar and Ishmael some bread and a flask of water and told them they were free; and that they must leave.  

Perhaps Sarah saw this as getting rid of Hagar and Ishmael, but perhaps Abraham only saw this as separating the two women and their sons.  He only gave them enough bread and water to wonder a short time.  Perhaps he even told Hagar which direction to take.  No one really knows what was happening in Abraham's heart on that day, but what we do know is they stumbled on the provision of a well just in time, just as their bread and water ran out.  It was a well that had been very significant in Abraham's life; a well where an altar had been places and thanks given to an Eternal God.  Perhaps no one knew how holy the ground around the well was; but God knew and God was there.  

We have also discussed that Hagar wandered in the desert until the water and the bread were gone and then she laid Ishmael down beneath a bush and went off a few bow lengths away from him so she did not have to see him die.  She began to cry.  Ishmael also began to cry.  The angel of the LORD heard Ishmael's cry and came to Hagar and Hagar's eyes were opened and she saw the well.

If you think about it, the well that Hagar saw which was close to a bush where she laid Ishmael to die (about two bow-lengths away) was probably the same well that Abraham and Abemileck had formed the treaty over.  It more than likely was the well bought with the seven female lambs.  

This well had been the beginning of Abraham's miracle from God, the first rights to the promised land.  It was also Hagar’s miracle from God.  Her eyes were opened in that very spot and she saw how to bring her nearly dead son back to life.  This was the well in Beersheba near Hebron on the Sinai peninsula, not too terribly far from Gerar.  Some people have different theories, but this is what I have come to believe about the well: 
  

The bush that Ishmael lay under was most likely a young tamarisk tree that had been planted a few years ago by his Father, Abraham.   When these trees are young they look more like bushes.   Hagar, being originally from the desert lands of Egypt would probably have known the special qualities of the tamarisk trees.  

These trees grow in soil with high concentrations of salt.  They have small leaves and small branches.  During the heat of the day these trees secrete salt.  The salt dries.  During the night the salt absorbs water from the air.  In the morning the water evaporates creating the effect of a natural air conditioner and the air beneath this tree is always cooler during the daylight.  God was still looking out for Ishmael.  He gave him air conditioning in the desert heat!

Perhaps Hagar, even though she was afraid her son might die, did not walk away for only that reason.  Perhaps she wanted him to have all the benefits of the air underneath this tree.  Perhaps her walking away was a noble sacrifice, giving him the cool air in the midst of the desert heat, and yet she would be close enough to hear him if needed.  

It is also said that the leaves of this tree, when they have been shed beneath the branches, make a soft warm bed in the desert during the night.  They tend to absorb the heat from the sand at night and keep one warm.  As hot as it is in the daytime, the desert is also very cold at night.  You can die from cold just as easily as you can die from heat.  Hagar was smart enough to use all of her survival skills to protect her son and to keep him alive.  Beneath the tamarisk tree was the very best place for Ishmael to be. God was still guiding Hagar, even as she was lost in the desert.  

This is a personal thought that I want to give future research to, but it is my own personal theory that Hagar and Ishmael, lost in the desert, were the first people to encounter the burning bush; even before Moses.  I believe it existed in the area of that tamerisk tree; or even that it WAS that tamerisk tree.  

If you study the areas where there were burning bush experiences, you will find that this well dug by Abraham and the bush were close in proximity to each other.  Moses later met Jethro's daughters as they were drawing water from a well.  There were seven daughters who drew, and seven female lambs were paid by Abraham to obtain this well for his descendants.   Moses saw the bush not too far from this well.
  

Getting back to our original story, we are told that God heard Ishmael’s cry and then spoke to Hagar.  Could it be that God heard Ishmael’s cry because Ishmael was laid down in a very holy place?  We are told in the scriptures that the place of the burning bush was holy.  

Let’s read how Moses described the burning bush in Exodus 3:1-5:

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God.  There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.  Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.”  When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses!  Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”   “Do not come any closer,” God said.  “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

It is quite possible that Ishmael was laid down right on the same holy ground and God heard his cry and his prayer for himself and his mother.  Then God called out from the bush to Hagar, much in the same way that He called out to Moses.  God called out to her by specifically naming her name.  God knew Hagar’s name and He told her not to fear, that he had heard the cries of the boy in the bush.  

Wow!  Does that not give you chills up and down your spine?  God KNEW Hagar by name and He told her not to fear.  I can just feel Hagar's countenance changing from very humble to confident and sure.  I can see the hope in her eyes increasing every second.   Just as God remembered Sarah in her time of being an outcast; He also remembered Hagar.   He had heard her son crying under the BUSH, probably the same bush where God many years later called out to Moses.  

The cry of Ishamael in God's ear probably sounded a lot like another little baby's cry from the basket in the river made from the bushes called bulrushes.  Long before God heard the cry of Moses, He heard the cry of Ishamael.   Long after God heard the cry of Ishamael and Moses, He heard the cry of Jesus from a manger in Bethlehem.  God heard each baby cry out, and this baby named Ishmael was crying out, probably near the same well where Abraham had worshiped God and thanked Him for being eternal and keeping all of his promises.  

This incident in the life of Hagar and Ishmael probably happened in the same place where from generation to generation future we will hear of miracle after miracle for Abraham’s descendants.  The stories are as uncountable as the stars from Heaven.

So;be sure to listen up whenever you hear mention of the bush or the tamarisk tree or the well.  It will be meaningful, and it usually involves God calling someone out; using their personal name and giving them personal instructions.  Ask Moses.  Ask Jacob.  Ask David.  Ask Mary.  Ask Abraham.  Ask Ishmael.  Ask Isaac.  Ask 21 Egyptian men who were recently beheaded for their belief in the cross from the modern times where we now live. 

These cast-out children of Abraham were all in some ways hidden under a bush on holy ground.  At one time they were all lost and afraid and they all cried out to God for help.  God had told them all not to be afraid.  Abraham, their leader, had made a covenant with God right in this very place.  Here in this same place, Hagar looks up and sees the well that will keep them from ever thirsting again.

Now the roots of the tamarisk tree have grown deeper and deeper and generations and generations have passed since the days of Abraham, but many, many of his descendants have remained faithful and loyal to God; no matter where they are, no matter their circumstances in life.  It is the story of the tamerisk tree being told over and over again.  It has been played out right before our eyes in present times too.  The tamerisk tree speaks of an Eternal God who always keeps His promises.  The tree is still alive and well and it is growing today.  God is still Eternal and Everlasting!

The witness of the children of Abraham of The Eternal God has grown slow and strong, putting down roots like the tamerisk tree, slow and steady, taking a long, long time, hardly noticed at first, overshadowed by the larger trees of the land who are not so flexible and not so strong.  

The tamarisk trees have now spread across the lands and the nations. People of God have found the truth of The God of Abraham and followed His Son, Jesus Christ.  This means so much to them that they would die before denying the message of the cross of Jesus Christ.  They do not seek this death for their own glory, it finds them and allows them to be a true witness; much unlike those men who falsely think that what they do that breaks every commandment of God will bring them honor and glory.   True People of God never seek their own honor.  They only give glory to God.  This is a test that is always accurate.   

These false self-proclaimed prophets of terrorism who also follow a false prophet seek their own glory and their own benefit.  Those who have been willing to die selflessly rather than deny the name and cause of The One True God are the true martyrs.  They are the true ones who will be rewarded by God.   They are with the souls of the martyrs under the altar!

 Even today, many more have lost their lives being a witness for this truth that they believe enough to die for.  They have kept an unwavering faith in this God of Abraham.  They know without a doubt that they have found the most valuable thing ever.   They have been burned, beheaded, tortured and killed, but their witness, like a slow growing tamerisk tree now spreads its branches and covers a land who seeks for truth.  The trees will talk and their voices will be heard throughout eternity.  They died for an Eternal God.

If no one else speaks for them; even the very rocks will cry out to tell their witness story; that the God of Abraham is The One True God.  Their blood cries out to God even now, just like the blood of the righteous Abel.  God will hear.  He will honor them.  The God of Abraham looks after his people who are tortured, exiled, lost and afraid.   He saw that other Egyptian named Hagar and He came to her rescue.   The same God who loved Hagar and knew her by name, reaches out to those like her living in the midst of every land today.  

The story from the tamerisk tree and the story spoken from the blood of the martyrs that call out to God is eternal because it is a story of The One Eternal God - El-Olam - The God of Abraham, and He never changes.  

So remember El-Olam, the One Eternal God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when you hear of a well, or a tree, or a bush.  Listen for the cry of God that calls out to individuals from every land from a very holy place.  He hears.  He sees.  He is eternal.  He wrote the story, and He will finish the story.  He knows the beginning from the end.  Follow Him.  He knows your name!  Every name of every true martyr is recorded in His book, The Book of Life.  The Lamb guards the book.  He is  The Lamb that bought the well of everlasting water from which no man drinking will ever thirst again.  The price has been paid.  The Father who paid the price through His son is constantly calling out names.

There is only one correct answer when you hear Him calling:  "Henini"  "Here I Am."  That was the answer given by Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Moses, Isaac, David and all of the disciples of Jesus Christ in the new testament.  That was the answer of all those who have been recently martyred.  "Here I am."    

Will that be your answer when He calls your name?  

We are living in times when you must decide.  You must know your answer.  God will show you.  He showed Abraham.  He showed Hagar.  He showed those who recently followed Him forsaking all else.  He always keeps His promises.