“And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.” vs. 9.
Let us remember that the times of refreshing for Abram were the result of keeping near to God. As noted earlier, the distance between his first and second altar was very short—an important principle for all who would walk in the confidence and enjoyment of God’s power and grace.
Now the Word of God, ever faithful in presenting the story of these men and women of old, brings us to an unhappy period in Abram’s life. He was still exploring the land of promise as he journeyed toward the south, but we do not read of another altar as he went in that direction. Could it be that his spiritual senses had become dulled? Yes, even Abram, the man of faith, had to learn the penalty of neglect of communion. At Bethel he had been near “the house of God,” but the farther south he traveled the nearer he got to Egypt —type of the world. As each step drew him nearer that border of worldliness, the more he needed daily dependence on God, but this need was sadly neglected.
The spiritual dullness and sorrow that overtook Abram and his wife at this time is often witnessed in the lives of some of God’s children today. Drawing close to the world is most dangerous, and communion with God should be a daily experience so that we might walk with Him and have His guidance as to what our next steps should be. At Bethel Satan could not successfully attack that heart and mind enjoying communion with the Lord. But the spiritual enjoyment of yesterday will not suffice for today, and as Abram drew nearer and nearer to Egypt, the more the enemy’s influence was manifest. In the same way the Christian will find his steps toward the world attended by Satan’s attacks and his own coldness of heart.
“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.” vs. 10. The more Abram neglected his altars, the more he became overtaken with circumstances until he was finally caught in a grievous famine. This too is a picture of a child of God who, forgetting his dependence on God, and through neglect of spiritual things becomes careless and self-willed, finally experiences a spiritual famine. Oh, these treacherous hearts of ours! How they, by nature, respond to the allurements of a world that is foreign to God’s ways. When Christ, the Bread of Life, is neglected, the famine is very real indeed. In the delusion of this sad state of soul the enemy proposes that the famine will be relieved in the world. There, in type, Abram went, to his ultimate sorrow.
Surely a return to Bethel would have been the wise course for him when he encountered the famine. God would not have allowed him to perish for hunger in the very land which He had promised him. But Abram was no longer in communion with the One who had thus far sustained him, and he went down into Egypt “to sojourn there.” Sad and unexpected lessons were before him, as we shall see.
ML 02/21/1965