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Beersheba

             Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba. (Genesis 21:14) 

            So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there. (Genesis 21:31) 

            Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba. (Genesis 22:19) 

            About fourteen years passed after Hagar and her son returned to Abraham and Sarah. At some point, Ishmael, being a young teenager, picked on Isaac; Sarah was Sarah and took exception; and Abraham, being Abraham, gave Sarah her way. This time, God met Hagar at the Desert of Beersheba. There seem to be a lot of deserts in Genesis, and therefore, a lot of wells.

            I discovered that Beersheba means either Well of the Oath or Well of Seven. Its naming is mentioned 17 verses later. According to Genesis, Abraham named it Beersheba because he and Abimelech had made a treaty there. There’s some indication that he spent time there beyond that. And while Ishmael grew up south of Beersheba, it might have been a place where Hagar or Ishmael could meet with Abraham.

            If one continues checking references, it appears to become a major landmark. Several passages refer to “from Dan to Beersheba” with Beersheba as the southern border of Israel. There’s one more reference Beersheba that needs to be mentioned. And fourteen years Abraham banished Ishmael, Abraham took Isaac to a region called Moriah, which some believe to be around where Jerusalem is now. After leaving the mountain of the sacrifice, Abraham went to the town of Beersheba – to the area where Hagar and Ishmael went when they were “sacrificed” to appease Sarah.

            So as I think of developing my home into a “spring,” I wonder about the name, Beersheba. It was a place where a woman in need and her son could flee. We explored that idea yesterday. It was a place where treaties were signed and ratified. This is probably going off the rails a little, but is there a connection between treaties or oaths and refreshment as if from a spring? Is that part of what my gardens are to be – treaties between God and me, between the world and me, between my community and me, and even between me, myself, and I? If so, what oaths are involved? Something to think about. 

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