Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

TRAIL OF ALTARS, Part 2

This entry was posted on 10-13-2009 and is filed under ALTARS.

"...And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' And there he built an altar to the LORD,who had appeared to him" (Genesis 12:6,7 NKJV).

God had not appeared to Abram when he was in Ur of the Chaldeas (present-day Iraq). He had spoken to him, but had not appeared to him. But now he has left his country, as God had asked him to do, and is on his way to the Promised Land in obedience to God. Two things leap off the page to me. One: the Bible notes that the Canaanites were then in the land. They were a very wicked people. When you live in the midst of wickedness, you need God and you need an altar. God showed up and Abram responded in an appropriate manner. Eventually the land of Canaan would be come the land of Israel - after the Canaanites were defeated and driven out. There is a spiritual lesson there for us.

Second, God appeared to Abram. This is mentioned two times in verse 7, so God must want us to take notice of this fact. I do not know that He appeared to Abram in Ur and I do not know just how He appeared to Abram when he arrived in Canaan at "the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem" (v. 6 NIV). I only know that God came to him and assured him of the promise He had made to him back in Ur: "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Gen. 12:3 NIV). This had to start somewhere and God chose the land of Canaan to begin His great work through Abram. And the first thing the man from Ur does is to build an altar to the One who had appeared to him. We need a place where we can meet with God, thank God for His blessings, and ask Him for the favors we need. The world around us is so wicked and cares nothing for things spiritual. Our Rock in the wilderness is Christ (see 1 Cor. 10:4). Build your life and your home upon Him. He is the Precious Stone, the Chief Cornerstone. Christ is our altar that brings us to God for no man comes to the Father except through Him.

Prayer: Holy Father, we come to You through Your Son Jesus Christ today, beseeching the blessings and favors we need this day to survive in a wilderness of wickedness. Drive out the Canaanites in our hearts and cause us to want to do the same to please You.