Abraham
Two things that characterized the life of Abraham were that he pitched tents and he built altars all through his sojourn on this earth. Tents are temporary places of dwelling, whereas altars in the context of Abraham literally meant the presence, providence and protection of God. The book of Genesis mentions the altars Abraham built in five occasions. We know that Abraham, a man living in the highest comforts of a highly civilized city, named Ur was called by God to be a nomad for his cause. It should have been a difficult choice to obey God that way. At Shechem which means “shoulder,” Abraham built his first altar, symbolically meaning that he left the burdens of his nomadic life on God’s shoulders (Genesis 12:7). At Bethel he built the next two. The first one was when he received the greatest of all promises, which was about a land and succeeding generations at a time when he had none of the two (12:8). Abraham built the next altar after returning from Egypt where he lied to Pharaoh for his own life. He thanks God for his faithfulness in spite of his wrong at the altar at Bethel (13:4). He built the fourth altar at Hebron after separation from Lot to whom he voluntarily gave a better choice of land (13:18). Hebron means alliance, partnership, symbolically Abraham meant preferring partnership with God than with people. The fifth one was at Moriah (chapter 22) where he unquestioningly obeyed God in sacrificing his precious son Isaac, the promised heir for whom he waited for years. Abraham’s life characterizes a closer walk with God in all of life’s circumstances.
Lot
Lot, nephew of Abraham and a co-sojourner with him had his own family, servants, cattle and properties. But we do not find a mention of him building an altar anywhere while following his uncle. But there are mentions of him pitching tents (13:12). While Abraham followed God worshipping the Lord by regularly building altars, Lot followed Abraham and probably stood at the altar his uncle built. In doing so he borrowed his uncle’s faith. We do not see Lot worshipping God directly. The result: Abraham walked by faith, Lot walked by his sight. While the former was a generous person, the latter was selfish and greedy. His highest concern for earthly life is seen in the choice of Sodom, the fertile place akin to Eden and Egypt. Abraham looked forward to heaven, a city built by God (Hebrews 11:10), while Lot looked at Sodom, the city built by people, which perished to flames. Abraham got his heir Isaac through a righteous life. Lot bore his heirs through an unexpected and unrighteous conduct with his own daughters. In not seeking God for himself, he lost his wife, daughters and his treasured property at Sodom.
Borrowing faith from others leads to despair and ruin. We cannot borrow faith from our parents, spouses, children, pastor or any other spiritual giant. God looks for faith from every individual. He seeks a person who longs for God’s presence for himself/herself and their families. Though Lot is portrayed as a righteous man, as one who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men in Sodom (2 Peter 2:6-8), we need to look at the losses he encountered in his life. One good news however is that a heir of Lot, Ruth became the great grandmother of Jesus, God incarnate. This talks about a faithful God who loves us however faithless we prove to be! However we need to learn from Lot who though credited as righteous, lost precious people and things in life. Following God is to seek Him for myself, but not by borrowing anyone else’s faith. For all those who stand on their own faith, how often do we build our own altars? It is time to embrace our faith!
Note: I loved this message preached by my husband Suresh at Christalaya Koramangala and so published it here with his permission :)
interesting, thanks for sharing...
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I had never realized that Lot built not altars at all.
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