Abraham’s Response – An Altar Unto The LORD

   January 2, 2020
ABRAHAM’S RESPONSE

In verse 1 we read: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram.”

We know from other Scriptures that God had called Abram when he lived in Ur of the Chaldees:

“The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell” (Acts 7:2–4).

Abraham obeyed God by leaving his home, his business, and the high civilization of Ur, “not knowing whither he went.”

Yet it was not complete obedience because we read that he took with him some of his family. He took with him his father, Terah, and God had told Abraham not to take him.

Why was it that God wanted to get him out of the land and away from his relatives?

We learn the answer in the Book of Joshua.

“. . . Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor; and they served other gods” (Josh. 24:2).

They served other gods—Abraham was an idolator.

The world was pretty far gone at that time. God had to move like this if He was going to save humanity.

The other alternative for Him was to blot them all out and start over again.

Genesis 12:4-9 KJV

[4] So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

[5] And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

[6] And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

[7] And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

[8] And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

[9] And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

Genesis 12:4

So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

  • Apparently without hesitation, Abram sets out for Canaan (Genesis 12:5).
  • This trip is the start of a nomadic existence, with Abram moving his family members, servants, and livestock stock from place to place while receiving no specific indication from God that the land through which he travels will belong to him in his own lifetime.
  • The author of Hebrews refers to Abraham (Abram’s later name) as a model of faithfulness because he departed without knowing where he was going and lived as an alien in a land not his own (Hebrews 11:8–10).

Genesis 12:5

And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

  • Abram took Sarai, his wife, and that was all right, of course.
  • “And Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran.”
  • The time Abram had spent in Haran was a period of just marking time and of delaying the blessing of God.
  • God never appeared to him again until he had moved into the land of Palestine, until he had separated at least from his closer relatives and brought only Lot with him.
  • “And into the land of Canaan they came”—now verse 6:

Genesis 12:6

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

  • Here is the record of the fact that the Canaanites were the descendants of Ham’s son Canaan. I want to add something very important right at this point.
  • A great many people think that Abram left a terrible place in Ur of the Chaldees and came to a land of corn and wine, a land of milk and honey, where everything was lovely.
  • They think that Abram really bettered his lot by coming to this land. Don’t you believe it.
  • That is not what the Bible says. And through archaeology we know that Ur of the Chaldees had a very high civilization during this time.
  • In fact, Abram and Sarai might well have had a bathtub in their home! Ur was a great and prosperous city.
  • Abram left all of that and came into the land of Canaan, “and the Canaanite was then in the land.”
  • The Canaanite was not civilized; he was a barbarian and a heathen, if there ever was one. Abram’s purpose in coming to Canaan was certainly not to better his lot.
  • He came in obedience to God’s command.
  • Now he has obeyed, and notice what happens—

Genesis 12:7

And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

  • Abram builds an altar unto the Lord when He appears to him this second time. While he was in Haran, the place of delay, God had not appeared to him.
  • You see, one of the reasons that you and I are not always blessed in the reading of the Bible is because the Bible condemns—we are not living up to the light which God has already given to us.
  • If we would obey God, then more blessing would come.
  • We see in Abram’s experience that God did not appear again to him until after he had moved out and had begun to obey God on the light that he had.
  • Now God appears to him again. Then Abram builds an altar, and we will see that he is a real altar-builder.

Genesis 12:8

And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

  • Abram does two things when he gets into the land.
  • He pitches his tent—that is like buying a home in a new subdivision and moving in.
  • He “pitched his tent”—that’s where he lived. Then “he builded an altar.”
  • That was his testimony to God, and everywhere Abram went, he left a testimony to God.
  • My friend, what kind of a testimony do you have?
  • To have a testimony, you don’t need to leave tracts in front of your house and you don’t have to have a “Jesus Saves” bumper sticker on your car (then drive like a maniac down the freeway, as some folks do).
  • That is no testimony at all.
  • May I say to you that Abram quietly worshiped God, and the Canaanites soon learned that he was a man who worshiped the Lord God.

Genesis 12:9

And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

  • South is the right direction to go for warmer weather; so this man is moving south. He has itchy feet. He’s a nomad.
  • Now we come to the blot in his life, actually the second one.

I hope that you have really enjoyed this post,

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