Hangin' with Abraham

I met up with my friends in Beersheba, and we hopped a bus to the village where we met with other student believers from around the country and had a great time fellowshipping, singing, praying, playing, and on my part at least, letting my imagination indulge. “Beersheba” comes from “Be’er” meaning well (the kind you get water from) and “Sheva” the number seven. When Abraham was living in this area, a king from the land of the Philistines took note that God kept blessing Abraham and he succeeded at anything he tried, so this guy Abimelech asked Abraham for a peace treaty, so he wouldn’t have this God-supported guy against him. Abraham responded by complaining that some of Abimelech’s men had taken over a well that Abraham had dug. Abimelech pleaded innocence and ignorance, and gave the well back. They set to making the treaty and Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs. When Abimelech asked him about the lambs Abraham said Abimelech would receive them as legal proof that Abraham had dug the well. So then he named the place essentially, “Well of the Seven” in honor of the seven ewe lamb treaty. It was very cool to sleep in the same desert, looking at the same stars, walking the same sand, and sleeping in probably similar tents as he did those thousands of years ago. My imagination had a great time with it.

Later Abraham's son Isaac was in the same area and there was another quarrel over land and wells (water is of course a precious commodity), and he also made an oath, or “shiba” with Abimelech, and so the name was reasserted: Beersheba. (Gen 21 and 26)

We stayed the two days and a night in Bedouin tents. Bedouin tribes are semi-nomadic so I assume their tents are portable, but they are also quite roomy and comfortable, too. They provided us with mattresses, and I was able to borrow a sleeping bag. (I had had it on my "to do" list to get one for quite some time, and then figured I would get one in Tel Aviv on the way...then in Jerusalem...then in Beersheba...and some how I'd made it all the way to the camp without one. Thankfully the organizers of the conference had several to lend.)

I slept very well, and said my goodbyes to the camels, who hid their sorrow at my departure very bravely; you'd hardly know they cared. And we all loaded a bus back to Beersheba where we parted ways.

We had a great time at the conference, and some of the other students told us about some things in Jerusalem we wanted to check out, so one of my friends and I decided to spend a couple days there before she head back to Haifa and I head back to Tel Aviv for my Fulbright in-country orientation.