ABRAM BUILDS AN ALTAR AT MAMRE
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
GENESIS 13 8-18
Key Verse
“Then Abram moved his tent and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord”.
Genesis 13:18
INTRODUCTION
The Bible tells us that Abram was called by God to leave his home in the prosperous and well developed city of Ur in Mesopotamia and go to place where he would be told to live. God told Abram he and his descendants would inherit this land for God had made a covenant with Abram. It was very unusual for Abram to agree to leave his home and his father’s house where he would have security and protection. Bur Abram believed God and he knew God would take care of him and provide for him. Abram’s faith in God was amazing, it was extremely strong.
All Christians are told they should have the faith of Abram and follow his example, trusting in God to direct all the decisions we have to make in life.
This might look like a very demanding thing to ask of any person, but it is wise advice from the Book of James which says, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you”.
When Abram obeyed God and went into the land of Canaan with his family and his nephew named Lot and his family, wherever Abram stopped to erect his tent in which he and the family lived, he build an altar and offered sacrifices to God. These sacrifices were made to have God forgive all his family of their sins. It was also a place where Abram would pray to God and hear what God was saying to him. Abram built many altars. He always lived in a tent and not in a permanent house for he knew that his permanent home was not on earth but he was a citizen of heaven where his home was.
He did not want to hold tightly on the things of this world so his focus was on his tent and the altar he made to God.
At this time after the death of Jesus on the Cross to bear our sins as our Saviour, we do not have to build altars and offer physical sacrifices. As children of God our Saviour Jesus Christ has taken care of our sins. The Bible tells us we should offer our bodies as living sacrifices, and so what we do as spiritual sacrifices that would be pleasing to God.
When Abram and Lot were in Canaan their flocks and possessions became so large that the keepers of the flocks owned by Abram started quarrelling with the keepers of the flocks owned by Lot. There was not enough land room for both herds. Abram, though he was older than Lot and had seniority and would be the one to choose where the flocks went, graciously asked Lot to choose where he preferred to live with his large flocks. Abram did not want brethren to fight among themselves over such a matter. So, Abram gave up his rights to avoid conflict. He was kind to Lot and he was generous.
But Lot made a bad choice of where he wanted to live. He did not think like Abram and so he looked at the fertile plain of Jordan and felt he would make a lot of money there. He was affected by materialism, the excessively love of money. But the problem was that the men among whom Lot would go to live were wicked and always sinned against God. God had to destroy the people in this city called Sodom and Gomorrah and angels had to rescue Lot from death. Lot had not learned to trust God and get His guidance in making decisions for himself, his wife, his children and all his family.
When Lot separated from Abram God told Abram not to be worried. He should look at all the land in different directions and go about in it, for God would give him all that land. So, Abram still lived in his tent, built altars to offer sacrifices to God for saving him and giving him great blessings and he always kept worshipping God and trusting in Him. Finally he went to Mamre a place near Hebron, and there Abram made his headquarters. He lived in his tent there and built an altar to God there, proclaiming to everyone everywhere that his God was the true God Almighty.