“And the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’
And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”
Genesis 12:7 NLT
The Lord had previously told Abram to leave his native country and “…go to the land I will show you.” (12:1) Furthermore, the Lord declared He would make Abram into a great nation, bless him, make him famous.
More than fifteen years and 2,000 miles later, Abram finally arrived in this promised land, only to be told that this land was going to be given to his descendants! At that point, Abram could have argued, “What? You told me I would be a great nation, that You would bless ME. You said I would be famous! And now, after all these years, You inform me this land is not even mine?”
On the contrary, we read, “Abram built an altar and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.” It seems Abram did not cherish himself, but rather cherished relationship with the Lord who had pursued him. Because of faith in this God he was learning to trust, Abram built an altar. Furthermore, that faith helped Abram realize that his greatest blessing was in being part of God’s more crucial plan for future generations.
Faith kept Abraham building altars the rest of his life. And today we know, it was faith that ultimately did make him famous!
