“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.” verse 8. Bethel was later to be known as the “house of God,” but it is not so identified here. However, it proved indeed to be such to this patriarch.
The place where he pitched his tent was only a short distance from Sichem where he had erected his first altar, and near to Bethel. Here he built his second altar. It was as though he concluded: “So much blessing resulted from the first that I don’t want to go very far without another.” In the first instance the LORD appeared unto him—truly a remarkable experience to this man of faith. We may be confident that the presence of the Lord had been with him ever since leaving the land of Ur, where He first appeared as “the God of glory.” But here in a strange land, on the occasion of his first altar, he enjoys a closer manifestation of God than ever before. This was no doubt connected with his heart’s response in the erection of the altar, with an offering presented to God.
When coming before the second altar we read, he “called upon the name of the LORD.” This is the first time we learn of Abram in communion with the Lord. This was true spiritual progress — not peculiar to Abram alone, but to every child of God who lives in the atmosphere of the “altar,” that is, the place of worship, of nearness to Him who has provided His Son, the “Lamb without blemish and without spot,” to meet the sinner’s need. When Abram thus called upon the name of the Lord, it was in the boldness of the altar with its sacrificial offering which spoke to God, in figure, of His own beloved Son who ever intercedes on behalf of those who, out of a true heart, call upon Him.
Do we not wonder what expressions were voiced as he thus found a new relationship with the One who had called him to this land? We cannot be sure just what was communicated at that altar, but there was certainly a renewing of heart and mind as to the calling of God. Walking in the enjoyment of that communion, his step must have been lighter and his eye clearer than before. And, dear reader, have you proved the good to your own soul of calling upon the name of the Lord? What a place of encouragement and refreshing it is for the child of God to open his heart and express every need and burden of the way to Him, and there at the altar (so to speak) bring the sacrifice of praise to Him who says to His redeemed one, “Sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” Song of Solomon 2:1414O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. (Song of Solomon 2:14).
Yet it is feared there are many who “offer prayers” but who have never owned the name of the Lord as personal Saviour. Such prayers will not be acceptable to Him, no matter how ably they may be expressed or how pious they may sound.
The invitation to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:1616Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)), is a privilege extended to every child of God.
ML 02/14/1965