BUILD, CALL, PITCH, DIG

Sometimes in the word of God there is a verse that seems like a hidden gem. I remember when the Prayer of Jabez verse was brought to popularity in a book by Bruce Wilkinson in 2006. (Link below if you haven’t read it). That verse is found in 1 Chronicles, right in the middle of a genealogical list of names and, when brought to light, it changed the prayer life of millions of people. 

My verse today is like that. A gem of a verse in the middle of the story of Isaac. Would I like to influence millions of people with it? Heck yeah! Here is the verse:

And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. (Genesis 26:24-25).

This verse has four action words for us. At face value, it’s a short little story of Isaac’s response to an encounter he has with God. But when broken down, it’s the recipe for life.

BUILD AN ALTAR

Isaac is a grown man in this scripture and walking in the blessing of his father, Abraham. He has moved around like his dad did, has lied about his wife like his dad did, and heard and obeyed God like his dad did. But up until now, Isaac hadn't seen an altar since he was laying on one as a lad, looking up and watching his father swing a knife high over his head at him. 

Why an altar now? I cannot say why now. There must have been something in this moment that impacted him differently. My interpretation is this: This is the moment where Isaac transitions from knowing the God of Abraham to knowing the God of Isaac.

This is encouraging to me! It shows how God goes after our children. He will patiently and persistently interact with them in hopes of having a personal relationship with them too. The fact is, we can know about God all our lives. But that doesn’t mean we know Him. And here Isaac shows us that we need to build an altar. Don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to do anything to earn God’s love or salvation. That is a free gift by faith: “Believe 0n the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31). But let us also not diminish the reasoning behind this free gift. Jesus gave His life for us, not so He can be a benevolent donor of a life we live alone. He did this for us to be able to draw near to Him and know Him, relationally. And the place we do that is on the altar of sacrifice where the blood of Jesus flows. 

Isaac helped his father carry the wood to build the altar on his first trip there. He was a picture for us then, the foreshadow of the sacrifice of Jesus and the provision of the ram in the bush. And I believe he is again a picture for us here in this verse, meant to show us what our response to salvation needs be. We are to build an altar. The medium, not stones or wood but our successes and failures, our wants and needs, our hurts and pains, our plans and dreams, all that we are. Lay down your burdens. Cast your crowns. An altar is a place of worship. An altar is a place of covenant where we say, “I do.”

Isaac built an altar.

CALL ON THE LORD

He is Lord. He is many things. The most concise and encompassing name He has was given to Moses when He said,  “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14). But there is something about calling Him Lord that is necessary. At creation we were made as God’s children, in His image and yet, given a free will. That means that we get to pick who we listen to and obey. Adam and Eve chose the snake and by their own free will, disobeyed God. Don’t be too mad at them. You would have too. How do I know? Have you ever sinned? Case closed. 

After Isaac built his altar, he makes his choice known. Isaac called on the name of the Lord. In Romans 10:9 it says that “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” People can say a lot of things about Jesus. He is a great teacher. He is a great leader. He is a savior. But is He your Lord? Is He your master? Is He the one who “is supreme in authority, has the power of deciding, the possessor, owner, the one who has control?” (The definition of the word Lord -‘kurios’ in that verse). 

Christianity is for sure a “come as you are” establishment. But it isn’t supposed to be a “stay that way” one. We were bought with a price and our lives are no longer our own. Thankfully this utterance of ‘LORD’ is a love response that happens at the altar, out of our own free will. I promise you that if you are willing to build your altar, you will meet Christ there and you will want to call on the name of the Lord with all your heart.

Isaac called on the name of the Lord.

PITCH A TENT

How do I know that you will want to make Jesus your Lord? Because Isaac’s next move was to pitch a tent. Peter was the same way. See Jesus transfigured into the Son of God before your eyes and you will want to throw up a tent and never leave too! 

John 14:23 says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” Once again, Isaac is making that picture here for us. He has responded to the love of Jesus at the altar and commits to Him as Lord. The Father is so pleased by this! It’s why He sent His Son in the first place, remember? When we get to that place of surrender, God is like, “Let’s get this relationship started!” Amazing isn’t it? God Himself wants you to be His home. You can eat with Him, talk with Him, laugh with Him, cry with Him. We are invited to live and move and have our being in Him. 

“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20). This is intimacy folks. God is looking for laid down lovers in response to His great love for us. I believe more than ever that this is the Intimacy Era for the church. It’s time to make worship and lordship and communion what we are known for and about. Not to the exclusion of mercy and grace, oh no…what I am speaking of is the crescendo to those beautiful truths. We are not dating Jesus or friends with benefits. We are His Bride, chosen by our Father for the Lamb.

Isaac pitched a tent.

DIG A WELL

Next, Isaac’s servants dug a well for him. I don’t have servants. I think I can make a correlation to the Holy Spirit here though. He is not only the Living Water in our well, but the one who does the digging. Jesus only had to say, “Receive the Holy Spirit” to the disciples and the drilling began. (John 20:22).

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and we cannot know Jesus without Him:

For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:11-12).

Isaac gives us the final action here and it was the final action of Jesus on earth before He ascended into Heaven. His message to His disciples was clear. I have to go away because I have to send the Helper to you. He will help you and teach you all things. (John 14:26 paraphrased). He is called “the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4) and “the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:29). We can know about God like we know about the King of England. But we cannot know Him without His Holy Spirit. Why would we tell people of the salvation available through Jesus without telling them about the Helper promised by God? 

Issacs’s servants dug a well.

Maybe you’ve heard people say, “I’ve tried God and He doesn’t work for me.” Perhaps it is because they haven’t built an altar yet, where His blood is meted with an offered life. Perhaps it is because they weren’t able to bring themselves to the place of letting go of control and making Him their Lord. Maybe they didn’t pitch a tent and open the door so that He could come in and abide. Maybe they thought their life was too messy for Him to come in, not knowing that the Holy Spirit has all the power and wisdom they could ever need to live their best life, as His. 

Friends! Let’s tell people of the treasure we have found! Let’s tell them of love of God poured out for them on the cross. Let’s be living sacrifices, obedient lovers, His Bride, His home. Let’s live filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and overflow His life to all we meet!

Click here for Amazon link to : Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson 2006