Today visit Beersheba, the southernmost city of the Israelite territories in Biblical times. It was here that Abraham made a pact with Abimelech, and that his son Isaac later built an altar.

The adventure begins with a visit to the Tel Beersheva
archaeological site located in the southern Negev region. This town was an important location to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham and Isaac.
Beersheba is a modern city of 185,000 and is 35 miles west of the south end of the Dead Sea, and 50 miles south of Jerusalem. It is considered the capital of the Negev area of Israel. In multiple passages in the Old Testament, Beersheba marked the southern border of Judah and was the southern limit of the cultivated land. It had many wells and was located probably below the modern city of today. The archaeological site and fortified remains east of the modern day city that can be seen today date from the time of Solomon.



Genesis 21:14-21
14: And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15: And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
16: And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
17: And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18: Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
19: And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.
20: And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21: And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

Genesis 21:29-34
29: And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
30: And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well.
31: Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them.
32: Thus they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
33: And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
34: And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.

Genesis 22:19 - after visiting Mt. Moriah with Isaac
19: So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

Genesis 26:18-33
18: And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19: And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20: And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
21: And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22: And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23: And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.
24: And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
25: And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
26: Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27: And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28: And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
29: That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.
30: And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31: And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32: And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
33: And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.

Genesis 28:10
10: And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.

Genesis 46:1-7
1: And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.
2: And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
3: And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
4: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.
5: And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6: And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him:
7: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.

Joshua 15:21-28
21: And the uttermost cities of the tribe of the children of Judah toward the coast of Edom southward were Kabzeel, and Eder, and Jagur,
22: And Kinah, and Dimonah, and Adadah,
23: And Kedesh, and Hazor, and Ithnan,
24: Ziph, and Telem, and Bealoth,
25: And Hazor, Hadattah, and Kerioth, and Hezron, which is Hazor,
26: Amam, and Shema, and Moladah,
27: And Hazar-gaddah, and Heshmon, and Beth-palet,
28: And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah,

Judges 20:1
1: Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, with the land of Gilead, unto the LORD in Mizpeh.

I Samuel 3:16-20
16: Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.
17: And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
18: And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
19: And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20: And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

I Samuel 8:1-3
1: And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.
2: Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.
3: And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

I Kings 19:1-8
1: And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2: Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
3: And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
4: But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
5: And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.
6: And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.
7: And the angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.
8: And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

II Kings 23:8
8: And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer-sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

I Chronicles 21:1-2
1: And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
2: And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.

II Chronicles 24:1
1: Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

II Chronicles 30:5
5: So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the LORD God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.

Nehemiah 11:27,30
18: All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred fourscore and four.
19: Moreover the porters, Akkub, Talmon, and their brethren that kept the gates, were an hundred seventy and two.
20: And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his inheritance.
21: But the Nethinims dwelt in Ophel: and Ziha and Gispa were over the Nethinims.
22: The overseer also of the Levites at Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, the singers were over the business of the house of God.
23: For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day.
24: And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabeel, of the children of Zerah the son of Judah, was at the king's hand in all matters concerning the people.
25: And for the villages, with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt at Kirjath-arba, and in the villages thereof, and at Dibon, and in the villages thereof, and at Jekabzeel, and in the villages thereof,
26: And at Jeshua, and at Moladah, and at Beth-phelet,
27: And at Hazar-shual, and at Beer-sheba, and in the villages thereof,
28: And at Ziklag, and at Mekonah, and in the villages thereof,
29: And at En-rimmon, and at Zareah, and at Jarmuth,
30: Zanoah, Adullam, and in their villages, at Lachish, and the fields thereof, at Azekah, and in the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Beer-sheba unto the valley of Hinnom.

Amos 5:4-5, 8:14
4: For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:
5: But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beer-sheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.

14: They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Beersheba - the covenants of God

At Beersheba, one visits the area where Abraham and his offspring lived. When thinking of Abraham, one cannot help but consider the covenants that God made with him. In the Garden of Eden man, having failed to keep God's law and commandment, became the slave to Satan, dead in trespasses and sins, and that, had he been left to himself, his condition would have been entirely hopeless. But God, in His infinite grace and love and mercy, and for His own glorious purpose, informed him of His great plan of salvation. God revealed this to man in the form of a covenant that He made for the benefit of man, specifically the Christian, a covenant of grace. Importantly, this covenant did not abolish the first covenant, the covenant of works, made with Adam. Those who enter eternity not as participants under the covenant of grace will be judged according to the perfect obedience required in the covenant of works.

A covenant is an agreement or pact entered into by two parties, generally of equal standing, and typically confirmed by some kind of solemn ceremony like an oath or religious service. In the Bible, besides God's covenants, you can find covenants between men like the one between David and Jonathan. In the King James Version, the word covenant is also translated as the word testament. The Latin word for covenant is testamentum so easy to see how this could have been. A testament typically defines the will of a dying person. The early Bible codifiers divided the Bible into Old and New Testaments to show that the Christian truly inherits everything by the death of Christ and decree of God. Furthermore the word testament places the priority on God in the covenant relationship with man which is absolutely the case. Thus, the idea of a covenant goes right to the root of God's relationship with man and the division of the Bible.

The covenant of grace that God made for the benefit of man is first delineated in Genesis 3:14,15 although in its most cryptic and rudimentary form (the term protoevangelic is sometimes used). God first promises that there will be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent. Man cannot be saved while he is a friend of the devil. God promises to give power and grace to fight the devil and the world as the "enmity" indicates. Finally, there is the promise of the triumph of God and His way. Christ would be bruised on the heel -- see other prophecy and Christ's direct fulfillment of this in John 13:18. It is the gospel in a nutshell but not fully known or revealed.

Genesis 3:14-15

14: And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jeremiah 31:33

33: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Jeremiah 32:38-41

38: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41: Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

Ezekial 34:23-5

23: And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24: And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25: And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Ezekial 36:25-28

25: Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27: And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28: And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekial 37:26-7

26: Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27: My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

II Corinthians 6:16-18

16: And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18: And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Hebrews 8:10

10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: