New Joys For Obedience

THE Lord comes now to strengthen Abram. He renews His covenant, He encourages His servant. God knows there are severe tests ahead. He knows how weak His children are; so He comes to strengthen His servant and give him a season of rest before applying the next test in the adventure of faith. We read about the Lord’s coming to Abram in the wonderful following verse:

And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he 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.

Perfect communion, blessing and rest in obedience now follow. Abram was facing Bethel, with his back toward Hai. “Bethel” means house of God; “Hai” means defeat. Hai was the city where later Joshua and his armies were defeated because of the disobedience of Achan. So Abram dwells with his face toward Bethel, the house of God, and his back toward Hai, the place of defeat. He communes with God, sacrificing and praying and fellowshipping.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Studies in the Life of Abraham by M. R. De Haan (1891-1964)
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.