Thursday, Feb. 21

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Thursday

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.  - Genesis 12:4-9

This is more than just a record of what happened to Abram when he first entered the land. It is also a very accurate picture of the conditions of the Christian life.  The first thing we are told is that Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh.  

These names are very revealing.  Shechem means “shoulder.” and to the Hebrew, the shoulder is a symbol of strength.  We think of the shoulder of a mountain in the same way.  The name Moreh means “instruction,” and when we combine these two words, we get our first glimpse of what it is like in the land.  

It is only as we are taught and instructed in the Word of God that we find strength to live.

The second picture we have here is that life in the land is to be a life of constant conflict. These Canaanites were the pagan tribes that afflicted Israel all through their history.  They are an accurate picture for us of those manifestations of evil we live with and continually wrestle against.  They are named for us in the New Testament in many places: lust, envy, jealousy, impatience, intemperance, irritability, and touchiness. They are our enemies—these manifestations of self that make our existence a life of continual conflict.

Third, it is also a life of continual cleansing, for we next read, “So he built an altar there to the Lord.” We think of an altar as a symbol of worship, which it is, but that is not the essence of its meaning. An altar is first a place of cleansing, which provides the basis for worship. The reason for a daily altar is the urgent need for cleansing in the pilgrim life. All pilgrims need the cleansing of blood, the cross of Christ, to which they can come and judge themselves throughout their lives. Therefore, a life of the Spirit's fullness must be continually cleansed by the cross of Christ.

Finally we see that the life of following God is a life of continual choice.  Abram pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai.  Bethel means “the house of God”;  Ai means “ruin.” This is just where we must live the Christian life, always looking either to the things of God or to the ruin of the world.  We can choose to go to Bethel or to Ai, to Christ or self— it can never be both.

Even Abraham’s tent is an important symbol to us.  He was not a permanent resident.  He lived in a tent because he was a pilgrim in the land.  

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  - Hebrews 11:8-10

All through the New Testament, the Christian pilgrim is told  to walk in the Spirit. Walk, walk, keep walking, don’t stop!   You have not ended your walk when you have learned a lesson from God. Tomorrow there is another step to be taken, and another the day after that, and another the day following.  

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.   - Philippians 1:6

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  - Philippians 3:14

Father, use these lessons from Abram's life to lead me out, that I may rise up to go into the land of the fullness of blessing in Christ - Amen.

Jeff Frazier