Living on a Prayer: The Altar of Shechem

We are launching our new series, “Livin on a Prayer, a Family Series.” We are going to learn about a prominent biblical family and how their life journey can help us live a fully devoted life for God and one another.

 

I know some of you remember Archie Bunker and his family: They were a dysfunctional example of folks trying to use cherished historical viewpoints to address modern society and the hilarious and wacky choices humans commonly make.

 

Abraham is more than a patriarch for Jewish people; he is a powerful example of faith in God. Life is complicated. It often produces more questions than answers. The word of God is going to help us answer some of the biggest questions in our relationships.

 

This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.) But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children. 

 

One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran.

‬‬

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” 

 

So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. 

 

Then 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 11:27-12:7 (NLT)

 

God told Abraham the who and the why but He did not tell him the when and the how! I’m sure as Abraham set out to find a land God was going to show him…he wondered and reasoned.

 

Why now? I’m 75 years old already! Now, I’m going to become a great nation? Aren’t those things established by those younger and stronger? How is God going to do this? Magic?

 

This was not a normal occurrence! The people of Abraham’s time (polytheists) had a great many gods they worshiped and obeyed. None of them had spoken to their worshippers (because they were fake). God speaks to Abraham to leave all that he knew to step into the unknown for all the right reasons.

 

Have you ever experienced obedience fatigue? When you are asked to do things over and over and over and over…to the point where you begin to question, “Why do it at all?”

 

It was a quiet Saturday morning when little 5-year-old Max watched his dad take out the trash. As Dad tied up the garbage bag, Max asked, “Dad, why do we have to empty the garbage?”

 

Dad smiled and said, “Because the trash can is full, buddy.”

 

Max, unsatisfied with the answer, asked, “But why does it get full?”

 

“Well,” Dad replied, “because we throw things away, like food wrappers and papers we don’t need.”

 

“Why do we throw things away?” Max fired back.

 

“Because if we didn’t, the house would be a big mess,” Dad explained, starting to see where this was going.

 

“Why would it be a mess?” Max asked with his trademark curiosity.

 

“Because garbage would be everywhere, and we’d have no space to move around,” Dad answered, trying to keep it simple.

 

“Why would garbage be everywhere?” Max said, eyes wide.

 

“Well… because it would pile up and get in our way,” Dad said, feeling the patience test begin.

 

“Why does it pile up?” Max continued.

 

Dad, trying to stay calm, said, “Because we keep using things and then need to throw them out.”

 

“Why do we use things?” Max asked.

 

At this point, Dad stopped, thought for a moment, and with a playful smirk said, “Because we don’t live in a cave and eat berries off trees!”

 

Max paused, then asked, “But why don’t we live in a cave?”

 

Dad sighed, tied up the garbage bag, and said, “Because we have created civilizations that have risen above the….you know what? Forget it, we’ll talk about that after we take the trash out… okay, caveman?”

 

Max giggled and ran off to play, leaving Dad wondering if the endless “whys” were his new weekend activity. Kids have a way of turning even the most mundane tasks, like emptying the garbage, into a deep philosophical investigation!

 

For a child, the question is often to find an answer that will satisfy their desire to rebel. Those questions will always lead you down a path of frustration and dissatisfaction. The best time for questions is while you are walking out the directive given by authority. 

 

What is the last thing you sensed the Lord wanted you to do? Did you obey? When I begin to do what He has commanded, I begin to understand more and hear His voice clearer. Disobedience is a powerful earplug!

 

In each of Abraham’s family’s major encounters with God, there are character traits and revelations of God to be celebrated. At each moment, Abram/Abraham also builds an altar to God. 

 

Today, let’s study the building of the altar at Shechem:

 

1. To get to Shechem, Abraham began his journey at 75 years of age.

 

(It’s never too late to begin leading your family in the things of God!)

 

• When God calls us, He equips us. 

-What has God called you to do?

 

• Nothing else in all creation seeks escape like humans.

-No excuses…we can do all things through Christ!

 

• He had something to lose/something to offer

-The more we surrender to God, the more we give Him to manage.

 

1. To get to Shechem, Abraham had to clear the throne of his life for Yahweh:

 

(All other gods must go. There is only one God…right?)

 

• Polytheist no more, Abram had one Lord!

-Can God trust you to obey Him…if He takes away THAT thing?

 

• What society deemed important was no longer a core value

-Do you value what God values?

 

• Abraham put God first in his life

-God first is the beginning of our Kingdom of God priorities. (we don’t visit there…we LIVE there…abundantly)

• To get to Shechem, Abraham had to devote himself to God’s promises.

(God’s promises are worth every step of our journey!)

 

• He left the known for the unknown

-We worship a God that we cannot see!

 

• He left the family of his father

-Some people will not take the journey with us…for now…

 

• He left the land that was fertile and productive

-He trusted God with his wealth…and his survival!

 

1. I’ll tithe/become generous when I have enough
2. The church can’t handle my tithe/generosity
3. I don’t believe God cares about my prosperity or lack thereof (faith)

 

*I said all this because it’s Abraham who begins the generosity lifestyle of tithing!

 

What have we built our lives upon? Spirit and in truth: love with all my mind, body, and strength!