There it is, the great Oak of Mamre (circa 1980). OK, let's be honest, it was probably a whole lot greater a few thousand years ago when it appeared in this story of how Abraham found out his wife Sarah was going to bear a child. However since Abraham's photo album is long since lost to the sands of time we really don't have any good pictures of the tree in it's heyday. When it was alive (it died about twenty years ago) scientists estimate that it was in excess of five thousand years old. Traditional folklore says that the tree was the oldest living thing on earth and that it may have gone back to pre-fall Eden.
Fun (?) Fact: According to legend the tree would die at the birth of the Antichrist...and it died in 1996. So, if you can believe the legends the Antichrist isn't yet old enough to drink. Watch out for any 20 year old folks you meet....Or not. It's just a legend.
In this ancient place, with the tree that has its roots that go back to the dawn of time, Abram (he was not Abraham yet) gets news that his wife will give him a child despite both of them being in their seventies. Abram did not just camp out here because it was a scenic place to pitch a tent. The Oak of Mamre was a sacred location where one could reflect on the foundation of the world and the handiwork of God. Abram was not just hanging around. He was waiting. He was waiting for something to happen. He was waiting on God. He had chosen this location to pitch his tents, after God had sent him to live in this part of the world, because this seemed like the sort of place a person should be in to wait on the Lord. This is where he dug his well. This is where he built his altar. The well was there to satisfy the body, the altar was there to satisfy the soul, the Oak was there to remind Abram of the God who made both possible.
In this place God appeared to Abram and made something amazing happen.
Where did you dig your well? By that I mean where have you centered the thing that nourishes your body? In the ancient world having a well was more than a convenience it was the very source of day to day life. Once you had gone to the trouble and back breaking work of digging a well it became the anchor... the home base of your life. It gave water that made life possible. We all do something to make living possible. For some of us we work outside the home, others in the home, some farm or ranch, others code programs on computers, the list is nearly endless. No one can really get by in life by doing nothing, we all have to pick something to do. How do we pick what it is we do and where it is we do it? Do we pick things that really nurture us or do we grab whatever we have to grab to make life happen? Once we are settled by our well that have dug are we satisfied by it, and if we aren't why don't we move away from it to somewhere more fitting? It is a fearful thing to do to abandon your well and go elsewhere to dig a new one. Abram did exactly that when he followed God's command to pull up stakes and move the whole family across the ancient world.
Genesis 12: 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Where did you build your altar? By that I mean where did you center the thing that nourishes your soul? We all have things that nourish the soul. Worship is the single most life giving thing we can do for our innermost self and worshiping with a community of believers in a place where we belong is essential, but we also have to build our altars to worship God within our hearts. Where we center our soul's well being can be very important Abram recognized that much of the land he lived in was both godless and evil so he made sure that he kept himself well away from the broken altars of the wicked culture he lived in. He built his altar far from the corruption of the cities of Canaanites, both physically and metaphorically. Most importantly he did so in obedience to God.
Genesis 13: 14 The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”
18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord.
Where is your oak tree? By that I mean what is it in this world that makes you feel connected to God? Abram found comfort in the ancient Terebinth (Or Oak Tree) or Mamre. Its ancient and inspiring nature made him think of God and reflect on God's goodness. He chose to orient his life in such a way that this was prominent in his day to day view. Do we orient our lives to face in such a way that we see God's presence each day guiding and loving us?
Abram did not set his life up haphazardly. He did not pitch his tent just anywhere, he did not dig his well just anywhere, he did not build his altar in a random location. He did it all so that his life might best be oriented toward seeing and obeying God. Even more importantly he did it all in obedience to God. How is your camp set up?
If we read the story of Abram and see how quickly and easily he perceived the presence of God with his three mysterious visitors and how eagerly he reacted to their presence we may be tempted to think that he was either lucky or somehow spiritually more gifted than most of us. The truth is Abram had done a lifetime of prep work. All his life was centered around being aware of and immersed in God. If we dig our well where we take our livelihood in obedience to God;; if we build our altar where we worship God and keep the broken altars of this world far from our hearts; if we orient our day to day life in such a way that we see the grace of God...then when God's blessings come to our doorstep we will be ready, aware, and able to receive them.
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