1.
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
2.
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
3.
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;
4.
Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5.
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
6.
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
7.
And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
8.
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
9.
Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
10.
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
11.
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
12.
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
13.
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
14.
And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
15.
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
16.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
17.
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
18.
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.
TENT AND ALTAR
‘Abram removed his tent.… and built there an altar.’
Genesis 13:18
Here is Abraham’s life given us in these two words—his tent and his altar. Everything in that wondrous life of his, from the day that he left his fatherland, is connected with these two things. He was a stranger, and a worshipper. As a stranger, without a certain dwelling-place, he needed the tent; as a worshipper, he needed the altar.
I. These two still make up the life of a believing man.—With less than these we cannot rightly pass through our three-score years and ten; more than these we do not need. Of these two the altar is the more needful. We may perhaps do without the former; we may be homeless men, like Him who had not where to lay His head. But we cannot do without the latter.
II. Daily intercourse with Jehovah we must have; and we cannot have that without the altar.—Only there can God meet with us. Only there can we meet with God. At the altar is reconciliation, and forgiveness, and peace; for the blood is there—the blood of the everlasting covenant. On that sacrificial blood we stand; round that altar we gather for worship and for fellowship. Standing there, we see the fire of heaven coming down, and the fire of the altar going up. But they touch not us. We are safe. The fire consumes the Substitute, and reaches not the sinner. All is well with those who have accepted the altar as their place of worship. Theirs is ‘peace with God.’
Help us, O Thou whom we own as Lord, to walk here in the footsteps of Thy saints of old! Help us to live the believing life of peace, and communion, and service, pitching our tents beside Thy altar, and living our pilgrim life beneath the shadow of Thy cross! Lead us safely on, and give us pilgrim hearts for our pilgrim life!
Illustration
‘Mamre was a refuge for faith. Abram and the patriarchs were emigrants; they left for the honour of God. The East is full of traditions concerning Abram and his hatred to idolatry, and how he forsook the worship of the fire and the sun. He had come from the neighbourhood where the Babel society was founded,—faith, not in God, but in the vanity of bricks it had all ended in confusion; but the sacred memories of Mamre, where Abram reared an altar to the Lord, these linger and send out their influence still. A high faithfulness ruled the life of Mamre, the life of domestic piety,—the first story given us of the life of faith, where Abram raised an altar and called upon the name of the Lord.’