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In this chapter we will consider the significance and expression of living by faith. We first need to know the meaning of living by faith and the purpose of living by faith. The significance of living by faith is to live a life of the altar. Abraham’s altar signified that he lived by faith before God.
According to Genesis 12, when Abraham arrived at the land of Canaan and came to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh, God appeared to him. This appearing marked the beginning of Abraham’s living by faith. After God appeared to him, Abraham built an altar (vv. 5-7). Verse 7 says that he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him. This altar came out of God’s appearing; it came into being because Abraham met God. Everyone who has met God builds an altar. A person who meets God cannot be without an altar. Those who meet God build an altar. An altar testifies that we offer all that we are and all that we have to God, that we are living for God, and that all we are and have are for God.
In God’s appearing, Abraham gained further knowledge concerning God. While he was in Ur, God appeared to him the first time, and he went out from Ur (Acts 7:2; Gen. 11:31). God appeared to him again after he arrived in Canaan, and Abraham immediately built an altar (12:7). This means that he was declaring, “Henceforth, all that I am and all that I have are for God and have been offered to God.” Abraham’s altar was a declaration, just as the tower of Babel was a declaration. The tower of Babel declared that the people did not want God, but Abraham’s altar declared that he wanted God and was for God. The declaration of the altar is opposed to the declaration of the tower. The tower of Babel was the people making a name for themselves (11:4), exalting themselves. They were declaring that man is all powerful, that man is everything, and that man can depend on himself. Someone once said to me, “Where is God? I am God. I believe in myself. If I don’t make money, will God feed me? I make money and feed myself. I am God.” When he spoke in this way, I was deeply concerned for him, because what he said was the declaration of the tower of Babel.
In contrast, when Abraham came forth from Babel, he was a called one who had met God. As such, he bowed his head and said to God, “I cannot live without You or apart from You. If I am separated from You, I cannot live. My life is wholly for You. All that I have and all that I am are Yours. I have built an altar to offer everything to You.” Hence, Abraham built an altar and called upon the name of Jehovah (12:8). This is the opposite of exalting man’s name. The tower of Babel declared that man is everything, but Abraham’s altar declared that God is everything. By building an altar, Abraham declared that he depended on God and that he was for God. Without God, Abraham could not exist. Without God, Abraham had no life and no living. His life, tendencies, and actions depended on God. He belonged to God and was for God. Abraham offered all that he was and all that he had to God. This is the significance of the altar.
We must all consider whether we have an altar. I can testify that I have an altar. When I was saved, I met God, and I told Him, “Everything I have is for You. My life is for You.” This is the altar. After experiencing God’s appearing, every called one will have a consecration. Inwardly he will feel, “All that is mine is Yours. All that I have is for You. I give You everything.” Some believers make such a declaration loudly, as if their altar is large. Others may speak softly, as if their altar is small. Whether a person speaks loudly or softly, he has consecrated himself.
Every called one will eventually have the feeling that he has touched God. This feeling may be weak, or it may be strong. A person who touches God will say, “All that is mine is Yours. I want to be for You and to give everything that I have to You.” Some will readily and willingly give what they are and have, but others will give halfheartedly. Some will build an altar the day that they are saved, but others will spend a few days to consider. Although our situations may vary, in principle, those who have God’s appearing will build an altar.
The altar means that our life is for God and that we live for God. This is the significance of living by faith. The people at Babel put God aside, abandoned God. They did not want God, and they created a godless life for themselves. But Abraham was separated from all these people. He was a man who could not be without God. Abraham had to be for God because he had met God. The issue of his meeting God was an altar.
An altar means that consecration has begun. Formerly, we were the master, but now God is the Master. Formerly, we lived for ourselves, but now we live for God. Formerly, we did not want God, but now we want Him. Formerly, we could live without God, because we were in Babel, but now we can no longer live without God, because we are in Canaan. Before we were called, we did not want God, because we were everything. But now that we have been called and are in Canaan, we must have God, we depend on God, and we must be for God. This was why Abraham built an altar in Canaan and called on the name of Jehovah. Abraham was saying, “All that I am depends on You and is for You. I place all that I have on this altar and give it to You. Once it is placed on the altar, it is Yours, not mine.” Therefore, a life by faith is a life of the altar. This is a life for God.
The issue of experiencing God’s appearing is always consecration. When we meet God, we spontaneously say, “Lord, everything that is mine is for You. I let You live in every situation.” We often give messages on consecration. However, our messages cannot produce consecration. Consecration is not produced from our speaking. Consecration is brought forth after a person has met God. We can give people a mental understanding of consecration and teach them the significance of consecration. But no amount of listening to messages can cause a person to consecrate himself. A genuine and meaningful consecration is brought forth only after a person experiences God’s appearing. Only “the sight of peerless worth” (Hymns, #437, stanza 3) can cause us to offer ourselves to the Lord.
We need to ask the Lord to appear to His children. Where there is God’s appearing, people consecrate themselves. No one can withstand God’s appearing. Even the most self-conceited, arrogant, and fearless person will consecrate himself when he experiences God’s appearing. No one can resist God’s appearing. No matter how stubborn and wicked a person may be, when he meets God, he will immediately prostrate himself before God, saying, “My Lord, my God, everything I have is for You.” Meeting God brings forth the altar. The life of the altar is the significance of living by faith.
People who live by faith do not merely talk about faith; they have an expression, which is the tent. There is first the altar and then there is the tent (Gen. 12:7-8). At Babel there was first the city, and then there was the tower. The God-rejecting people first produced a godless life and then made a godless declaration. However, after Abraham had God’s appearing, he first built an altar, which declared his willingness to offer everything to God, and then he pitched a tent as an expression.
The tent indicates that man does not have a permanent country on earth but is a stranger and a sojourner. A tent does not have a permanent place on the earth. It is pitched in one place today and moved to another place the next day. This tells people that we do not belong to the world, that we are strangers and sojourners, and that everything related to us is in the future, not today. We are eagerly waiting for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Builder is God (Heb. 11:8-10). All that we hope for is there, not here on earth. All that we have now is temporary, for our sojourning, and for God, not for ourselves. This is the life of the tent.
The life of the tent is different from the life of the city. The life of the city indicates that people have taken root in the world, have put everything on the earth, do not rely on God, and are not for God. The life of the tent declares that we want God, are for God, and depend on God. It also declares that our living is for God, that our living is not on earth but in heaven, and that what we hope for is in God. The life of the tent and the life of the city are diametrically opposed to each other.
Did God appear to a man in a tent or to a man in a city? In Genesis 18 God and two angels came to Abraham’s tent to befriend him. Verses 1 and 2 say, “Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and there were three men standing opposite him. And when he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them.” The Bible is marvelous. Concerning God’s appearing to Abraham, Genesis 18 says that Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent. In chapter 19 God wanted to rescue Lot, but He did not go to Lot; instead, He sent the two angels. When the two angels came to Sodom, “Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom” (v. 1). One person was sitting at the entrance of a tent, but the other person was sitting at the gate of a city. God will not appear to or fellowship with a person who is living in a city. Abraham was in a tent; hence, God went and appeared to him. Therefore, God’s presence is not in the city but in the tent.
We should ask ourselves whether we have the life of the tent as the issue of our consecration to God. The issue of meeting God and consecrating ourselves at the altar must be a life of the tent. Furthermore, any subsequent altars must be maintained by the tent. First, there is the altar, and then there is the tent. Afterward, the tent is moved, and the altar is also moved. Whenever someone lives the life of the tent on the earth, he will also build an altar to live for God. Whenever someone goes down to Egypt or to Sodom, he no longer has the altar. In the beginning the altar brings forth the tent; that is, consecration issues in a sojourning life. Then the sojourning life maintains the life of consecration at the altar. Whenever a called and consecrated person loses the nature of being a sojourner by living in a great city instead of in a tent, his altar disappears. Someone who loses the tent also loses the altar. Without living a sojourner’s life, we cannot live a consecrated life. Our consecrated life depends on our sojourning life.
Furthermore, Abraham built an altar in at least three places. The first place was after he went out from Haran and arrived at the oak of Moreh at Shechem in the land of Canaan (12:5-7). Shechem means “shoulder” and “strength.” At this stage a called one has strength. Moreh means “teaching” and “knowledge,” indicating that knowledge and teaching come out of strength. When a person is willing to follow the Lord and answer the Lord’s calling, he is strengthened, empowered, which issues in spiritual knowledge. Therefore, the first altar is proof that we have some spiritual power and knowledge.
However, there was no tent at the oak of Moreh at Shechem. It was not until Abraham arrived at the place between Bethel and Ai that he pitched a tent (v. 8). At Bethel there was not first the altar and then the tent, but it was first the tent and then the altar. At Bethel Abraham had progressed. Bethel means “house of God.” At Bethel Abraham touched the dwelling place of God; that is, he touched the presence of God. In a deeper sense, the house of God is the church of God. In other words, the house of God is where we have God’s presence. When someone arrives at Bethel, he has not only strength and knowledge but also God’s presence. At Bethel Abraham’s dwelling place was the place of God’s presence. Abraham arrived at Bethel and at Ai. Ai means “a heap of ruins.” Abraham saw that the worldly affairs and worldly things were ruins. According to his feeling, on one side was Bethel and on the other side was Ai. God’s dwelling place was on one side, and the world was on the other side. He was facing God’s dwelling place, and his back was toward the world, toward the heap of ruins. This is where the tent was brought forth.
These matters are not doctrine. If we are truly following God, we will definitely experience them. When we first begin to follow God, we arrive at Haran (v. 4). When we go further, we enter Canaan (v. 5). When we go still further, we are at Shechem (v. 6). At Shechem we have spiritual strength and knowledge, and we have consecration at the altar, but we do not yet sense that the world is in ruins. When we go further, we come to Bethel, God’s house, and we have His presence. When we are at God’s house, the world as a heap of ruins is on the opposite side. It is here that we look to God and are with God and also see that the world is in ruins and that we are sojourners on this earth. What we hope for is not on this earth. Hence, we pitch a sojourner’s tent, and based on this tent, we build an altar again.
When we go on from Bethel, we arrive at the third step, which is the oaks of Mamre in Hebron (13:18). Hebron means “fellowship.” Here we not only have God’s presence, His dwelling place; we also have the fellowship of God. Mamre means “strong,” “rich,” “fertile.” The issue of fellowship with God is to be fertile and strong. This is referred to in Romans 8:6: “The mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” At Hebron it is still the tent first and then the altar. We first have the life of sojourning and then the life of consecration.
I hope that we would bring these words before the Lord and muse over them to be enlightened as to whether we are following the Lord in this way. I believe that this is the way every called one should take.
