Read with Me
Genesis 5b-9 (HCSB)
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh. Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.
Listen with Me
When Abram entered the land of Canaan, he did not settle in one of the many cities that dotted the landscape. From the beginning of the inhabitation of the land after Babel, the people began to build shelters grouped together, farming and hunting in the area that surrounded each group. They lived life in close community and interbred, each group growing and developing an identity and culture.
As other groups moved through and into the area, fighting over the most desirable land ensued, with some populations being eliminated or enslaved by those who were stronger. Walls were built around some of the larger groups of houses into which the people in the city or nearby could flee and take up a defense.
But instead of simply joining with one of the groups already in the land collectively called Canaanites by Moses, Abram took up the life of a nomad. He moved his flocks and herds deeper and deeper into the land, living in his tents wherever water and pasture could be found, and trading for necessities with the people of the land.
But at each place where his family group stopped, Abram built an altar and made a sacrifice to the God who had called him into this good land. This was motivated by God’s initial appearance to Abram at Shechem where he had initially set up his tents and was getting his bearings in this new land. In that appearance, God reiterated his promise to give the whole land to him and to his descendants.
Pray with Me
Father, Abram didn’t have to settle in one place because You had promised him and his descendants the whole land to possess and to live in. So, it makes sense that when he first arrived in the land, he would explore it, finding the best places in it, as well as those that were more challenging and difficult to survive in. Abram understood that he himself would not be deeded the land, but that he would drive a few stakes in the ground that would later be claimed by his children and grandchildren all the way into the future. His “wandering through the land” was actually an indicator of his faith in Your promise. Even at that early stage of his spiritual development, he knew enough of You to trust Your word. Help me, Lord, to not only believe all the promises You have made to me, but also to allow that faith to move me to positive action. Amen.