Abram responded by building an altar to demonstrate that
he believed and trusted in God’s promise that he would receive the land. In
building the altar, the altar would serve as a symbol that he trusted and
believed that one day his descendants would dwell in the land. Today, we will
see that Abram was not done traveling, as we see in Genesis 12:8:
Then he proceeded from there to the mountain
on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on
the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of
the LORD. Abram journeyed on, continuing
toward the Negev.
After building the altar at Shechem, Abram followed God
to a mountainous area that was between the Canaanite cities of Bethel and Ai. Moses
tells us that it is here that Abram pitched his tent. In other words, Abram and
those with Abram set up camp and stayed here for a significant period of time.
Instead of staying in the cities of Shechem, Bethel, or Ai, Abram camped on the
outskirts as an outsider.
And as Abram remained in this area, we see Abram respond
to the Lord’s activity in his life by building a second altar. This altar,
however, was not simply to serve as a symbol. Instead, this altar was built and
used by Abram to call upon the name of the Lord. Now this phrase literally
means that Abram proclaimed and worshipped the Lord. Abram offered sacrifices
of worship to God and made much of God.
Now the Bible does not tell us exactly how long Abram
remained in this area. What we do see, however, in verse 9, is that after a
significant period of time, Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.
Now a natural question that arises here is “why is Abram continuing to travel.
I mean, God had already promised him this land, so why is Abram moving
on?” To understand why Abram is still
traveling, we first need to understand where the Negev is located. The Negev
refers to the southern desert area between Jerusalem and Egypt.
You see, the reason that Abram is still traveling is
because God is still showing him all the land that was promised to his
descendants. Starting from the north and traveling south, the Lord led Abram on
a journey to take a tour of the Promised Land. And each leg of that journey
required Abram to trust and obey the Lord as he was led into the unknown.
And it is here, in this story, that we see God reveal to
us a timeless truth when it comes to God’s promises. And that timeless truth is
that God’s promises require a response of trusting obedience. Just as it was
for Abram; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; experiencing
God and the promises of God require a response. And that response involves is a
response of trust and of obedience.
Just as it was for Abram, God has provided us clear
direction when it comes to how we experience and live in relationship with Him.
And God’s direction has been the same throughout history: follow Me to the
place where I will show you. You see, the Lord never reveals our life story by
telling us how the story of our lives is going to end. Instead, the Lord, day
by day, says “follow Me today. Follow Me and My word today and trust Me that I
am leading you the right way to the right place”. God call to us, just as it
was to Abram, is to obey Him and trust Him with the results of that obedience.
So whether you are a follower
of Jesus or you are not sure that you buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing,
here is the question for us to consider. How are you responding to God’s call
to follow Him to the place He will show you? And who are you going to trust?
Are you going to trust God? Are
you going to obey God and trust God with the results of that obedience? Are you
going to leave your past and what you have known in the past behind to follow
God? Or are you going to stay far from God, focused on the familiar, the
comfortable?
Because God’s promises require
a response of trusting obedience.
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