As a shell holds a kernel, so a command, a promise. Having obeyed the first summons, the Lord appeared to Abram the second time, bringing new light for growth and encouragement.
"And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 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, and called upon the name of the LORD" (Gen. 12:7,87And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. 8And 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. (Genesis 12:7‑8)).
Abram built an altar unto the Lord Who appeared unto him; thus he became a worshipper.
Abram's call carried with it no command to till the earth or govern the nations. He was a pilgrim with a heavenly call. He moved to a mountain where he pitched his tent between Bethel on the west and Hai on the east. Bethel means "house of God," Hai, "heaps and ruins." This was a constant reminder of what grace had wrought for him: deliverance from a scene of judgment, on to the house of God, a city that has foundations whose Builder and Maker is God. He looked for this city and, its Maker Who was soon to be known as his Friend.
Abram exchanged the royal city of Ur, with its present gain, for a pilgrim life with its tent and altar so that he might gain a permanent city.
The symptoms of a pilgrim life are surrender, self-denial, loneliness, simplicity in all phases of life, and independence from man, accompanied by an apprehension of God's counsels, purposes, revelations, and promises.
What golden hours were spent at the altar, in a communion with God completely unknown in Ur of the Chaldees! What simplicity, rest of heart and spirit, intense devotion, and deepest fellowship were now his portion!
Abram learned to be the friend of God, known only in obedience, and for a time he may have been the only one on the earth with this privilege. Is it a wonder that he bears the name of "The Father of Faith"? Conscious citizenship in heaven made him a stranger here.
"And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. 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...
And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou past 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. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had" (Gen. 12:9,10,17-209And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. 10And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. (Genesis 12:9‑10)
17And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. 18And 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? 19Why 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. 20And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. (Genesis 12:17‑20)).
Israel took a circuitous route on their journey to Canaan. So God may allow us to take a wayward path so that our apprehension of His grace may keep pace with our growing self-knowledge, for we learn to know God in the measure that we discover ourselves and our need.
Such a route took Abram to Egypt's civilization because of famine in the land of Canaan. For the moment the conditions in Egypt were easier for the flesh than in Canaan, but God had never called him into Egypt. There was no altar in Egypt, no promises, no spiritual fruit for God, no fellowship when walking in disobedience.
When faith is weak we mix with the herd. Only the Lord Jesus could say, "I am altogether what I say unto you." What a Savior!
Responsibility for sustenance of a family, servants, and cattle was no small matter when famine prevailed, but if the God of glory called, would He not be able to provide? Who allowed the famine? David tells us that God is able.
There never was a day when men were so insistent upon security as today, but do we dare trust such a broken reed as Egypt, a type of the world independent of God? She might boast of her river as her own, her Sphinx, pyramids, dynasty, and mummies in a word, the glory of the world. The natural heart is empty, moved by tradition with only the past to occupy it.
How could I take myself out of the hand of Him Who has called me and place my trust in the world and man?
Those who cling to material things never know the promises of God.
Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn, not yet having learned the lesson of complete dependence upon God. With worldly riches surrounding him, he was as a bird out of her nest. Personal friendship with God which he had cherished at Bethel and Hai was missing, and he became restless with a wretched sense of wrong.
This world is a changing stage of disappointment and death, yet man will never be awakened unless a God-given revelation is offered and pressed home by the Holy Spirit. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and a city with foundations will be left.
If reasonings supplant Scripture, even the best of men, the most spiritual, will be untruthful under stress.
When Abram was in Canaan he was a man of God, but in Egypt he behaved as a man of the world. He denied his wife, and, stricken with fear, he lied to Pharaoh.
Abram's spirit knew the difference between civilization and the quiet presence of God in Canaan in separation from mere nature and the earth, but it took the rebuke of Pharaoh to bring him to his senses in order to command his own soul. Hence he returned to Bethel and Hai, to the place of his beginning in the land, to the altar and its golden hours. Grief had closed his heart; but with the consciousness of what God was to him, godly repentance soon opened it to joy again.
The believer begins his path with sorrow and death to the flesh, as God reveals to the heart what is inside, but he ends his path with resurrection-life in heaven. The unbeliever begins his life with pleasure, which is only for a season, and he ends it in the second death in separation from God in conscious regret forever.
Abram's season of sorrow to repentance in the presence of God ended with the enrichments of joy which grace brings to the heart and mind. Growth, fellowship, promises, counsels, and, indeed, new revelations were his part anew.
How precious this restoration of soul is -restoration to God to Whom we were first brought. Sorrow alone cannot accomplish it, for that would not bring me into the presence of God, but sorrow according to God works repentance in our hearts, and it is the goodness of God that leads to it. Only God can effect restoration of soul.
Yet it remains that Abram could not escape the harm and bitterness for others and for himself, later, resulting from his expedition into Egypt.
Abram later regretted having taken an Egyptian maidservant; further, he led his nephew Lot into the world, a source of deep grief, as the subsequent history proves.
Since he was a pilgrim, wealth itself did not directly affect him. What use had he for silver but to buy a field for a hundred shekels in which to bury his dead? It was there that Sarah was later buried.
With Lot it was different one glimpse of the land of Egypt caused him to fall. When his servants quarreled with Abram's servants over the matter of sufficient area to graze their cattle, he responded to Abram's urgent admonition, "Let there be no strife... separate thyself from me." Make your own choice. Abram forfeited first place and well he might, because it was all his by promise.
It is significant that the Spirit of God adds, "And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land." What a sad commentary -for them to witness a quarrel between those who took such a high position as Abram and Lot!
"And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other" (Gen. 13:10,1110And 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. 11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. (Genesis 13:10‑11)).
Lot looked down from the mountain heights into the pleasant plains of Sodom and the surrounding country, and his natural heart was moved by what he saw. A heart filled with lust for gain, without an inquiry from God, led him to pitch his tent toward Sodom. The enchanted valley, because of wickedness of the lowest character, was soon to sound out its own death knell.
This reckless action on the part of Lot, we observe, is as one who would cast himself down from the pinnacle of the temple from the lofty plateau where the heavenly man dwelt for the angels to catch. Still, God will preserve His own, though wayward.
There was no understanding with Lot. He knew not what he was about and had no discernment as to the end of his course. Where would he find strength for a walk different from that of any worldly man led about by his lusts? There seemed to be no thought of his family or their future, only well-watered plains.
The subtle wiles of the devil could easily entrap one who neglected the altar. Take heed, my soul, or you, too, may fall.
Had not Lot followed Abram without apparent exercise of soul, but only as an echo of his uncle, spiritually? Where do we read of an altar, promises, revelations, and the like?
Fallen human nature provides the soil for spiritual barrenness.
Lot was for the moment in the enjoyment of the pleasures of this life outwardly, but he had not the knowledge of what lay ahead for the world in which he had become so firmly entrenched. Gone was his tent; he dwelt in a house. He did not know that his feathered nest was due for quick destruction and that he would lose all of his life's efforts and their fruits. Whoever is linked to the world must suffer its adversities.
As for Abram, there was no strife or retaliation. The happy hours at his altar had so impressed upon his soul the excellence of the promises of God that any thought of covetousness was removed. There must be full separation from his kindred who did not value the call of God.
Thus Abram was free, being entirely separated. It was difficult to part from Lot, but God had said, "kindred," so Abram obeyed. In the heavenly city to which he was going, natural relationships will be a thing of the past. What will you have, then, if not Christ? A believer is a child of God and loved, even if walking in the world.
The issues of the kingdom of God were paramount for Abram; Lot must leave. To be alone walking with God is better than to compromise principles!