AND THERE HE BUILT AN ALTAR

Here is a classic message by my son John. He relates the secret of Abraham's success in life. And it will be ours as well if we do as he did.

Life may not be easy for you right now. However, if you will keep cultivating your relationship with Jesus, you will find blessings in the end. At one point, Lot seemingly was more blessed than his uncle Abram. But in the long run, we found out who was indeed blessed of the Lord.

May you be encouraged and strengthened by this word from the Lord. - Connie

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And There He Built An Altar

by

John Giordano


In Genesis 11:26, the Bible gives the first mention of Abram. By Genesis 12:1-6, Abram is portrayed as an obedient servant of God who has left his immediate family, extended family, and country to go into the land of Canaan (as God had directed him to do). Then, in Genesis 12:7, God begins to pull back the curtain - if you will - on the life of Abram and show one of the secrets to his success.

Genesis 12:7 states: "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."

Then verse eight records this of Abram: "And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel 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."

This is where we begin to find Abram's relationship with God deepening. First, he builds an altar to the God who spoke to him. Then he moves, builds another altar at his new residence, and calls on the name of the Lord.

You see, Abram (who later was called by God "Abraham" - or father of many nations) was not the father of faith by accident. He did not wake up one morning to find that God had dropped so much faith into his spirit that now he could believe for the impossible. In other words, he did not get faith by osmosis. He wasn't some favorite child of God that God decided one day to drop incredible favor upon.

Instead, he was an ordinary man who knew the importance of the altar in his life. He understood that God's favor and blessings are reserved for those who seek Him and worship Him regularly.

Now in verses 10-20 of Genesis 12, we find that Abram is a flawed man. His relationship with God is still in the basic stages. Therefore, when a famine comes to the land God told him to live in, he panics. He runs to Egypt. Then he again acts out of fear and lies about his wife Sarai's identity - calling her his sister. To make matters worse, he collects manservants and maidservants in Egypt. This was probably when he became the master of Hagar - the Egyptian maid - who later caused Abram some trouble to say the least (Genesis 12:16, Genesis 16). So it is safe to say that Abram really messed up and grieved God by his actions in Egypt.

Genesis 13:3-4 tells us the course of action Abram took after his disaster of a trip to Egypt: "And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD."

Christian, have you, like Abram, gotten out of the will of God? Have you sinned and displeased the all-powerful, all-knowing, Sovereign of the universe? Have you fallen out of fellowship with Him by neglecting the study of His Word and prayer?

Then I encourage you to do as Abram did. Don't run further from God. Don't condemn yourself and say that God will never forgive you or use you again. Instead, come back to the altar. Come back to the place of your relationship with God. Go back to doing what you were doing before you got off the beaten path of God's will. Humbly repent and call on Jesus. He will forgive and cleanse you from all sin. But you must get back to the place of sacrifice. You must get back to the place of habitual worship. You must get back to the altar.

Now after Abram's renewal of his commitment to God at the altar, a strange thing happens. Lot, Abram's nephew (who has traveled with Abram) gets too big in his own agricultural endeavors to stay with Abram (who is already blessed with a very large agricultural business of his own). So the two men hold a business meeting and decide that they can no longer stay together since this would be a conflict of interest.

So Abram, being the man of God that he is, gives his nephew the first choice of the land. Lot looks at the land, and decides on a beautiful stretch of prime real-estate just to the east. This area was so green and lush that it was like the garden of Eden. It was a place where Lot could settle down with his family and build his business. There would be no more nomadic life for Lot. No more moving around to look for food for his flocks and herds.

So Lot decides to move to the plains of Sodom, and with that, the business meeting is closed and he moves away (Genesis 13:5-13).

Now, to the casual observer, Abram really got the raw end of this deal. Lot got to settle down in a lush plain, while Abram had to travel the rough dry land looking for pastures for his cattle to graze in.

But did Abram become bitter? Did he hate God and his nephew from this time forward? Did he slack up on his fellowship and worship of God?

Well, let's see what the last verse of Genesis 13 says : "Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD" (Genesis 13:18).

You see, Abram knew the importance of cultivating a relationship with God - through the good times and the bad. So when things didn't look so good for him, he didn't fall away from God or stop paying his tithes. He didn't get mad and quit praying. He didn't say - "I've tried that relationship with God stuff and that doesn't work." Instead, Abram just kept seeking God, because he knew God had great things in store for him.

By Genesis 14, Lot had gotten himself captured by an enemy army and needed his uncle Abram to come rescue him (Genesis 14:1-16). By Genesis 19, Lot had gotten himself into an even bigger jam. He was evicted out of the city he lived in by two angels - and told to run for his life before God destroyed it with fire. Lot and his family escaped the city of Sodom with their lives. But, in the process, Lot's wife died. The last we read of Lot's life (besides a brief mentions of his name scattered through Scripture as historical references to him) he had moved into a cave where his daughters had gotten him drunk and committed incest with him (Genesis 19).

So we see that things did not turn out so well for Lot in the long run, as they did for Abram. Lot chose to do what looked good at the time; Abram chose to commune with God, hear His voice, and obey His will.

Throughout Genesis, we see the result of Abram's building altars to fellowship with his Maker. Abram's name was changed to Abraham - the father of many nations and the father of faith. Abraham's descendents were and are blessed of God beyond all other nations.

Christian, have you been to the altar lately? I'm not talking about going to church once a week. I mean do you cultivate your relationship with God daily? Do you have a family altar where you and your spouse and your children gather to fellowship with God?

Maybe you've sinned lately - get back to the altar. Maybe you're mad at God because others appear blessed and you are struggling to make ends meet. Keep coming to the altar. Fellowship with God through Bible reading and prayer. Give faithfully to the Lord's work as a sacrifice to Him. Then watch how God blesses you and your family.

Is it time to build an altar in your life? Why not begin today?

May God Bless His Word,
Connie

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