Life of Abraham Series: Abraham’s Restoration, Part V

September 2024

“And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.”

—Genesis 13:1-4

In last month’s article, we dealt with Abraham’s failure, which was his sojourn in Egypt that put the plan of God for the coming Redeemer in jeopardy as Satan attempted to pollute the bloodline by Sarah being taken into the concubine of Pharaoh.

Now we look at Abraham’s restoration. The story of the Bible is the story of restoration and reconciliation—God restoring man, reconciling man back to Himself.

When Abraham left Canaan, he left the altar that God had placed in Canaan. To leave the altar was to leave the only place that God could restore man. There was no altar in Egypt, and as the altar represented the cross, Abraham, by leaving Canaan, was actually forsaking the cross.

When Abraham left Canaan, fellowship with God was broken. When you leave the cross, you leave the path of true faith; and when you leave the path of true faith, your power of choice is greatly weakened, thus giving Satan great latitude of temptation and influence.

Abraham tried to handle the famine that was in the land through his own actions (“I will go to Egypt”). He then stepped out of the will of God, which is what all sin is— stepping out of God’s will. In the Christian life, there will be famines; the test is whether we stay in God’s will or seek to solve the problem through our own desires and plans.

The altar was in Canaan not in Egypt, and the solution for Abraham in time of famine was the altar, i.e., the cross of Christ. Every one of us has to make the decision in times of famine—the altar or Egypt.

The first step for Abraham’s restoration was to leave Egypt and come back to Canaan, to come back to the altar. We have to cast aside our decisions, our efforts, and go God’s way—the cross. 

Repentance is the spiritual act of turning around and going back to the beginning—the altar. The text says, “Abram went up out of Egypt....unto the place of the altar.” The Lord has only one place for forgiveness of sin, and it is Calvary. It was there that the debt of sin was paid, and it is there that our faith must be anchored. True faith goes back to where the journey began—Calvary.

The text then says, “Abram called on the name of the Lord.” Let me give you the notes from The Expositor’s Study Bible regarding this: “He went back to the mountaintop where his tent had been at the beginning, and there, doubtless with tears and shame, he called by sacrifice on the name of the Lord. His backslidings were forgiven, his soul was restored, and he resumes his true life as a pilgrim and a worshipper with his tent and his altar; neither of which he had in Egypt. Until the believer comes back to the cross, of which the altar is a type, true restoration cannot be found.”

The end result was victory and the blessing of God as fellowship was restored.

Let us take the example of Abraham to heart—in failure, the only way restoration can be had is through the cross of Christ.

In the next issue of The Evangelist, we will continue the journey of Abraham as we deal with Abraham’s interaction with Melchizedek, king of Salem.