Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Abraham knew the importance of family but his father kept diluting the position of the family by seeking the protection of the Patronus of a City State and with that protection and advantage incurring all the subjection and disadvantages.
"If we want better people to make a better world, then we will have to begin where people are made --- in the family."1
If Abraham would separate and live as God intended, God promised to bless Abraham and make him a blessing to others.
Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
But more than a blessing, Abraham would be a dividing mark in the history and nature of man's relationship with God Almighty. He would become a blessing and a curse depending upon our interconnection with the God of Abraham, what He taught and the precepts upon which He builds His Kingdom on earth.
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
So many of the religious faiths of humankind claim or proclaim by their history, origins or the origins of their beliefs that one man, Abraham, is the originator of their chosen faith, yet do they know him? Do men walk in the path ways of Abraham? Hindu, Buddhist, Moslem, Jew and even Christian can trace their beginnings to his influence, words or deeds of this one man.
Have men lost sight of the message of Abraham the prophet?
Have they forgot the ways of the God of Abraham?
Have they lost their way in the labyrinth of lies constructed by the adversaries of God the Father?
Luke 19:9-10 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
The Altar
John 8:39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Where do we find the character of Abraham's potency? How do we become a part of God's blessing for him and his seed?
God asked Abraham to do something unique and seemingly out of character with Jesus Christ.
Genesis 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
Why did God want Abraham to build an altar and for what purpose? Does God delight in the blood of beasts?
Isaiah 1:11 To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Jesus expounded upon the idea of the blood of beasts being a delight to God when he complimented the scribe for his understanding of the nature of the kingdom of God on earth.
Mark 12:33-34 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love [his] neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him [any question].
If God does not delight in the bloody sacrifice of animals then why did he want Abraham to build an altar? What was the purpose of building that altar? What function did it fulfill?
Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.
If the Bible is always taken literal then we should go out every morning and cast bread on ponds and rivers and oceans. The metaphoric meaning is often clear yet sometimes is lost in the confusion of impractical historian. Casting your bread upon the waters has little to do with bread and nothing to do with waters. And burnt offerings unto the LORD is not really about burning up dead carcasses so that God will be happy with the sweet smell..
When Abram left his Father's house he took with him many people who likely believed things very much the way that Abram had begun to see things. Abram was not a poor goat herder but a wealthy and respected man with a substantial following.
Genesis 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
As Abram traveled he spread his ideology, his beliefs and teachings as a man spreads a tent and built his "altars" amongst the people wherever he went when the people would listen and abide in the ways of God.
Genesis 12:8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, [having] Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Were these altars a substitute for those services supplied by the controlling and often oppressive City States?
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1 Braud's 2nd Enc. by J.M Braud.