Quote from Forum Archives on May 21, 2002, 7:38 pm

Posted by: balderman <balderman@...>

 

GENESIS 13:1-4

INTRO: Abraham, upon leaving Ur of the Chaldees by the command of God,

and after the death of Terah in Haran, departed for the land of

Canaan. When they arrived in the land of Canaan, the first thing

Abraham did was to erect an altar to the Lord. Genesis 12:7 says,

"And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will

I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto LORD, who

appeared unto him." And there builded he an altar. This altar was a

token of gratitude. As soon as God appeared to him he raised an altar:

to what end? That he might call upon the name of the Lord. We see,

therefore, that he was intent upon giving of thanks; and that an altar

was built by him in memory of kindness received (Calvin’s

Commentaries: Genesis). Verse 8 tells us that Abraham journeyed on

And built a second altar. Genesis 12:8 tells us, "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

moves on, going westward, and pitches his tent with Bethel to the west

of him and Ai to the east. Ai means "ruins." The man of faith realizes

that what he has left behind is of no real value, just as Paul writes in

counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I count all things loss for the

excellency of Philippians 3:7-8: "But what things were gain to me,

these I have the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have

suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may

gain Christ." Paul had before greatly prided himself on his outstanding

advantages and accomplishments, but when the glory of the Lord

Jesus burst on his vision, those things became totally worthless to

him.

Therefore, Abram had his back toward Ai and his face toward Bethel,

which means "the house of God." He had left his father's house, to find

infinitely greater value in God's house. The most important feature of

the house of God is that God dwells there, yet God's house involves all

of God's interests. Here Abram builds his second altar, which we may

well designate as the altar of decision. All true decision for God is

based upon the value of the person of Christ (the altar itself) and His

great work of atonement, His sacrifice (L. M. Grant Commentary on

Genesis). The altar to Abraham was the most important place in all

the world. Without the altar, Bethel and Canaan, with all their glory,

would have meant nothing.

We commonly think of an altar as a wooden or stone structure. We

used to call them "The mourner’s bench." While I do not object to

the "structure" we know. The real meaning of the altar goes much

deeper than that. It means a place where one has an encounter with

God. It is, as some say, being in touch with God. Whenever one meets

God; that is his or her altar: Moses met God on the backside of the

desert. Exodus 3:1-2 says, "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his

father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside

of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the

angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst

of a bushL and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and

the bush was not consumed." Jacob met God in the valley of Jabbock

(Genesis 32:23-30). All of us need a place where we can meet with

God! I want you to consider "The Place of the Altar" this morning.

Where is your altar? Where do you meet with God? Note with me:

(1) WE NEED SOME ALTARS TODAY

GENESIS 13:3-4—"And he went on his journeys from the south

even unto Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been

at the beginning, between Beth-el 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."

A. THE REMOVAL FROM THE ALTAR. It was when Abraham left the

altar that we see that his problems began. Genesis 12:10 says, "And

there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to

sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land." His first mistake

was to go down into Egypt. Egypt in the Scripture is a type of the world.

Egypt is not where Abraham was to be. He was to be in Canaan. But

when our faith fails and we walk by sight rather than by faith, we

seldom stay in our Canaans (1). In Egypt there was no altar, no

calling upon God and we see the results of it. Abraham was fearful,

selfish, deceitful, and injurious. All because he had forsaken the altar.

B. THE RETURNING TO THE ALTAR. Genesis 13:1a tells us, "And

Abram went up out of Egypt…" Going to Canaan from Egypt is always

"up" geographically, but here it is also "up" spiritually. The "up" here

symbolizes the direction of Abraham’s spirituality as a result of his

coming "out" of Egypt. Canaan for Abraham represents God’s place,

God’s precepts, and God’s plans. Egypt represents the world with all

its vices. The evidence that Abraham was going "up" spiritually instead

of down as he did in Egypt is in the fact that when Abraham got back

to Canaan, he got back to the altar and called upon the name of the

Lord (2). Genesis 13:3-4 tells us, "And he went on his journeys from

the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the

beginning, between Beth-el and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he

made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord."

Abraham returned to the worship, back to the altar. Back to God.

Friend, there are some altars we need to return to:

1. We need to return to the family altar. A little saying goes, "The old family altar would alter many family problems." Families need

to pray together. Families need to worship God in Church together.

G. Aiken Taylor said, "In a Christian family, God’s name is taken

frequently in reverence at the family altar. God’s Book is a familiar

text to all. God’s day is respected, both at Church and at home.

Such a home is the hope of the world, the pattern of the Church

itself and a foretaste of heaven" (3). Jonathan Edwards said, "Every

Christian family ought to be, as it were, a little church, consecrated

to Christ, and wholly influenced and governed by His rules. And

family education and order are some of the chief means of grace. If

these fail, all other means are like to prove ineffectual" (4). It is

surely true that "the family that prays together stays together."

2. We need to return to the Church altar. There is a coldness and indifference creeping over our Churches today and sapping the life

out of us. We desperately need a fresh and new encounter with

God. The great missionary, James Hudson Taylor said, "God’s work

done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply" (5). The reason for

floundering of many Churches today is that they have forsaken the

altar. As you read through the book of Acts, you will see that one of

the things that made the early Church so great was that they were a

praying church. They relied on God and His power to accomplish

their mission.

ILLUS: Far away from the Bible's example are most people when

they pray! Prayer with earnestness and urgency is genuine

"prayer" in God's account. Alas, the greatest number of

people are not conscious at all of the duty of prayer. And as

for those who are, it is to be feared that many of them are

very great strangers to sincere, sensible, and affectionate-

emotional-pouring out of their hearts or souls to God. Too

many content themselves with a little lip-service and bodily

exercise, mumbling over a few imaginary prayers. When the

emotions are involved in such urgency that the soul will

waste itself rather than go without the good desired, there is

communion and solace with Christ. And hence it is that the

saints have spent their strength, and lost their lives, rather

than go without the blessings God intended for them. -John

Bunyan in Pilgrim's Prayer Book, edited by Louis Gifford

Parkhurst, Jr. Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 13.

ILLUS: Back in 1828, in Orange County, New York, a certain

church experienced a revival. In three months, fifty people

were saved and baptized. The whole community was

shaken. Homes were put back together, lives were changed

and churches were filled to overflow crowds. It all started

when two members of a certain church agreed to meet each

day, after work, and pray until God did something.

Are we meeting with God or just meeting? Our churches need to get

back to the altar. We need a fresh encounter with God!

ILLUS: As the church today gets more and more hip--more and more

need-oriented, responding to the buttons that people push in

their pews--I find myself longing for more of a historical faith.

I find myself not wanting to have everything explained to me

in simple terms. I'm not even sure I want all my needs met

as much as I want to meet God, and sometimes I wonder if

he's really interested in the noise of our contemporary

clamoring. Like my dog who can't seem to get anywhere

because he keeps having to stop and scratch his fleas, I

wonder if we are so busy scratching where everybody itches

that we aren't taking anybody anywhere significant. -- John

Fischer in "Longing for Something Old" (Covenant

Companion, Oct. 1992). Christianity Today, Vol. 37, no. 5.

3. We need to return to and restore the altar in our nation. Psalm

33:12 say, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the

people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." America has

surely drifted from its spiritual moorings. We have deified self and

dethroned God in the process. Someone has noted, "We live in a

‘fast food’ culture. We are overfed and undernourished on almost

every level of existence: physical, emotional, intellectual, and

spiritual." (6) Carl F. H. Henry said, "In the United States,

separation of church and state has become the framework for

militating against reflections of the Christian world-view in the

public schoolroom, for sanctioning abortion on demand, and for

increasingly tolerating religion only as an inner private concern that

is without public importance." (7) The only hope America has is to

return to and restore the altar. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my

people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and

pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I

hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

ILLUS: Any revitalization of faith in this country will have to start

with prayer, in which we gain a sense of the living presence

of God. -- George H. Gallup, Jr. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 4.

4. We need to return to the altar in our schools. There is a big

debate that has been raging about the propriety of prayer in schools

but what has been the result of prayer being removed from our

schools. Test scores have plummeted, teenage pregnancy has

skyrocketed, and tragedies in our schools are happening as never

before. We must return to the altar in our schools.

5. We need to return to the altar in everyday life. You and I, individually, may not be able to get others to establish their altars,

but we can have our own personal relationship with God. We can

have an encounter with God and meet with Him daily. We must

come to a point where we no longer worry about what others think

or say or do, and realize that we are responsible to God for our-

selves. We must make a conscious decision to spend time with

God. We must lead our family in prayer, praise and the worship of

God. As Joshua 24:15b tells us, "As for me and my house, we will

serve the LORD."

We must return to the altar in our homes, our churches, our nation, our schools, and our everyday lives. For it is at the altar that we meet with God and are revived, renewed, and readied to serve the Lord in this world.

(2) WHEN WE LEAVE THE ALTAR WE GET INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE

GENESIS 12:9-20

*Abraham got in serious trouble when he went down to Egypt and

forsook the altar. There was no altar in Egypt. What troubles do we

encounter when we leave the altar? Notice when we leave the altar:

A. THE PAIN WE ENDURE. I am not speaking of physical pain, althoughthat might surely be there also, but I am talking about spiritual and

emotional pain. When we sin we affect ourselves, but we also effect

others. Look at some of the spiritual pain Abraham faced because he

left the place of the altar:

1. Fearfulness. Genesis 12:11-12 says, "And it came to pass, when

he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his

wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

Therefore it shall come to pass when the Egyptians see thee, that

they shall say, This is his wife: and they shall kill me, but they will

save thee alive." Abraham suffered the pain of fear. A lack of faith

always leads to fear. Walking in faith gives us the assurance of

God’s protection. Walking in the flesh allows fear to take over.

2. Selfishness. Genesis 12:13 tells us, "Say I pray thee, thou art my

sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall

live because of thee." By the words he spoke, we see that Abraham

was thinking only of himself. He was afraid the Egyptians would

take Sarah away from him and then kill him. He does nothing to

protect Sarah, his wife, from the low moral conduct of others. He is

so selfish that he imperils the purity of others that he might survive

and enjoy life. How very low Abraham stooped because of his

failure of faith (8).

3. Deceitfulness. Abraham’s plan was, as v13 tells us, "Say I pray

thee, thou art me sister…" The plan was for Sarah to lie. At this

time in his life he fears the Egyptians more than he fears God.

Whether Abraham lied or did not lie in his speech makes no

difference as to whether or not he was guilty of deceitfulness, for

Abraham definitely intended to deceive. If what you are doing

requires deceit, you are doing the wrong thing. Walking on the path

of faith does not require dishonesty (9).

4. Injuriousness. Genesis 12:14-15, 17 says, "And it came to pass,

that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the

woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her,

and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into

Pharaoh’s house…And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house

with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife." The problem

with sin is that none of us sin in a corner. Our sins always affect

others. Abraham’s sin affected Sarah bringing her suffering but

also it brought suffering to the Pharaoh and a host of others in his

realm. When God called Abraham, God told him that He would

make him a blessing. But here Abraham is definitely a curse.

Why? Because He left the place of the altar.

B. THE PROBLEMS WE ENCOUNTER. When we leave the altar we aresure to face problems. Look at some Biblical examples of men who

left the place of the altar and the problems they faced:

1. Abraham lost his boldness and started compromising and

lying. Here is a man that the first thing he did when he left his

country and arrived in Canaan was to erect an altar to the Lord.

He did not care what the heathen thought, but was bold in his

faith at that time and let everyone knew where he stood. But when

he left the altar and began journeying toward the south, then his

courage melted away and he begin to compromise and to sin.

2. Lot lost his testimony when he left the place of the altar.

Genesis 19:14 says, "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in

law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this

place: for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that

mocked unto his sons in law." In you recall, Abraham and Lot, his

nephew, left Ur of the Chaldees together. It is evident that

Abraham, leader of this entourage, lead all in the worship of God at

the altar. But when Abraham and Lot separated, Lot ending up in

Sodom, we see no altar there. No communion with God.

3. David lost his joy when he got away from the altar. David sinned greatly with Bathsheba. And as the guilt and shame of his

sin washed over him, he said in Psalm 51:12, "Restore unto me the

joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with they free spirit."

4. Samson lost his power when he got away from the altar.

Samson was a Nazarite from birth. His life had been consecrated

to the service of God. But when he forsook his vow and left the

place of the altar, then he lost his power for God. Judges 16:20-

21 tells us, "And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.

And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other

times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was

departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his

eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of

brass; and he did grind in the prison house."

When we leave the place of the altar, we endure pain and we encounter problems…

(3) WE CAN RETURN TO THE ALTAR

GENESIS 13:1, 3-4—"And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his

wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el,

unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning,

between Beth-el 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."

*I believe Abraham did two things when he returned to the altar:

A. HE CONFESSED THAT HE HAD SINNED. 1 John 1:9 tells us, "If we

confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to

cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I am glad our God is a forgiving

God. I am glad He knows our weakness and understands our frailties

and that He is always willing and ready to forgive and restore us when

we sin against Him. Abraham confessed his sin and repented. How do

we know? Because God would not have used him in such a mighty way

if he had not.

ILLUS: Repentance is not a popular word these days, but I believe that

any of us recognize it when it strikes us in the gut. Repentance

is coming to our senses, seeing, suddenly, what we've done that

we might not have done, or recognizing ... that the problem is

not in what we do but in what we become. -- Kathleen Norris in

The Cloister Walk. Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 12.

Notice the rebuke that Pharaoh gave Abraham. Genesis 12:18-19—

"And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done

unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidst

thou, She is my sister? So I might have taken her to me to wife: now

therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way." This rebuke was

humbling to Abraham. It brought him to his senses and lead him to

repentance. So he made his way back to Bethel, the place of the altar.

Bethel was the place where Abram had begun his journey in the

promised land and had built an altar for worship (Genesis 13:3-4). All

this points to Abram’s repenting and turning back to God. In fact,

Scripture clearly says that "Abram called on the name of the Lord." And

when repentant believers call on the Lord—sincerely call—the Lord

restores them, even to a more glorious position of blessing and service

than before (Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible, Genesis II).

B. He consecrated himself anew to the will of God. After confession comes consecration. In fact, every day should be a new day of con-

secration unto God. But especially when we sin, we leave the altar and

walk in the flesh instead of walking by faith then we need to consecrate

ourselves afresh and anew to the will of God for our lives. How do we

know that Abraham consecrated himself afresh and anew to God’s will

for his life? Because we see the blessings of God on his life and we also

read that "..he was called the Friend of God" (James 2:23b).

CLOSING: Friend, we need the altar. We get in trouble when we leave the

altar. But we can return to the altar. What altar do you need to

return to? We need to return to the family altar, the church altar,

the school altar, the altar in everyday life. We need to have a new

encounter with God every day. It begins at the altar.

NOTES: 1. John G. Butler. Abraham—The Father of the Jews. pp. 41-42.

1. Butler. pp. 54-55.

3. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotation-Contemporary &

Classical. p. 29.

1. Wells. p. 29.
2. Wells. p. 42.
3. Wells. p. 214.
4. Wells. p. 212.

8. Butler. p. 47.

9. Butler. p. 48.