The Altar, The Presence
Abraham was a man who understood the importance of an altar. An altar can be defined as a place where God interacts with man. It was a place that carried the presence of God. Abraham understood that if he was going to walk in the promise of God, he needed the backing of an altar(s), for the altar was akin to the presence of God.
The LORD appeared to Abram and said, ” To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7 (NIV)
From there he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
Genesis 12:8 (NIV)
So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
Genesis 13:18 (NIV)
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood…Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis 22:9, 13 ( NIV)
Abraham passed on this principle to his son Isaac:
Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
Genesis 26:25 (NIV)
We know that Isaac, just like his father, walked in great wealth (Genesis 26:13).
Later on, we see the LORD instructing Abraham’s descendants to build an altar, (in the form of the ark of the covenant) so that He could dwell with them (Exodus 25:8). The Scriptures reveal that this ark of the covenant was a tool of success, blessing and victory that the Israelites enjoyed over their enemies (see Judges 20: 27-36, 1 Samuel 5:1-12 and 2 Samuel 6:12).
Abraham and his descendants had great understanding of what it meant to forever have the presence of God in their lives. Because of this, they were always assured of victory in every circumstance.
Your Turn
Thank God that as children of the new covenant, we no longer have to offer sacrifices on an altar or carry around the ark of the covenant, so as to be sure of the presence of God. Instead, we now carry the very presence of the LORD Almighty in us!
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16(NIV)
…For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV)
Because you carry the very presence of God within you, you too are guaranteed of success and victory in the areas the LORD directs you.
What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us who can be against us?
Romans 8:31( NIV)
My challenge to you is to go forth in the victory that is yours as a carrier of the very presence of God. He who prospered Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, will do the same for you!
For God does not show favourtism.
Romans 2:11( NIV)