Dr Paul Allen

Beersheba on the map of Israel (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) But . . . pass not to Beersheba .” ( Amos 5:5 ) Beersheba (well of the “sevens”) became a location of some importance in Israel ’s early history. Hagar (the Egyptian bondwoman who bore Ishmael ) was rescued by God at Beersheba ( Genesis 21:14-19 ). Abraham improved the well at Beersheba and settled there, built a grove and “called there on the name of the Lord , the everlasting God” ( Genesis21:33 ). It was at Beersheba that Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac ( Genesis 22:1-4 ). Beersheba figured prominently in the life of Israel. Isaac made a covenant with the Philistines there, repaired the well, and lived at Beersheba for many years ( Genesis 26:17-33 ). Historically, Beersheba is best known for the political oaths ceremoniously confirmed there with the secular nations around Israel. At Beersheba, truth later became equated with tradition. Substituting the wisdom and traditions of man ( Mark 7:3-13 ) or the world’

Image via Wikipedia   “Take the helmet of salvation ” (Eph. 6:17). Your helmet of salvation protects you from discouragement and despair. We’ve seen how Satan attacks believers with his two-edged sword of doubt and discouragement. But he doesn’t stop there. He tries to take you beyond discouragement and on to despair by robbing you of hope. Unless you’re careful, his attacks will be successful when you’re battle-weary. The prophet Elijah is an illustration of that truth. The highlight of his ministry came atop Mount Carmel , where he slew 450 prophets of Baal ( 1 Kings 18:40). And yet immediately after that great victory, he fled for his life because Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him (1 Kings 19:1–3). He ran from Mount Carmel into the wilderness of Beersheba , where he “sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers’” (v. 4). He went on to moan, “I ha