Sunday School Lesson 1: Abram Builds an Altar, Genesis 13:8-18, September 1, 2024
Key Text: Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord (Genesis 13:18).
God’s call to Abraham (a 75 year old) to move from Ur and its pagan culture to a land God would show him marks a major point in God’s plan to redeem fallen humanity (Gen. 12:1-3) through Christ Jesus. Abraham’s journey would remove him from his old life and separate him to service for the Lord, a journey of faith into the unknown. His entourage included 318 trained servants and over 1,000 people, in addition to numerous animals. We know that Abram and Sarah were childless when Lot (Abram’s nephew) and his household went with them to the land of Canaan. Perhaps the nephew might become his uncle’s heir. The 300 mile trek took the “clan” from Ur (a region of the Caldees; now the Arabian Peninsula), to Haran, and finally to a city in the land of Canaan named Shechem (where wicked people, Canaanites and Perizzites occupied the land).
The substances of both Abraham and Lot were great v 6 and there appears to have been envy between the herdsmen. To prevent disputes among them, and as patriarch of the family, Abraham permitted Lot to choose which part of the land he wanted. So, Lot chose the well-watered plain of Jordan and his greed to live where there was good vegetation exposed him to the wickedness of Sodom v 12. With Lot gone, God reaffirmed His promise to give the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants v 14. So, Abraham pitches his tent and he builds an altar “in the plan of Mamre, which is in Hebron, aware that God will appear with instructions to, “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee” v 17-18. AMEN!
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