AT THE PLACE OF FELLOWSHIP - Later, Abraham removed his tent to Hebron, which means fellowship (13:18). His tent firstly was a testimony for God to the world and then it became the center where he had fellowship with God. This is strongly proved by what occurred in chapter eighteen when God came to stay with him in the tent at Mamre in Hebron. By Abraham’s pitching a tent God had a place on earth where He could communicate and fellowship with man. His tent brought God from heaven to earth. All of us, God’s called ones, should pitch a tent. On the one hand, such a tent is a testimony of God to the world; on the other hand, it is a place of fellowship with God to bring God from heaven to earth.

Do not think that this matter of a tent is a small thing. Later, when Abraham’s descendants were called out of Egypt and entered into the wilderness, God commanded them to build a tent and in front of the tent He commanded them to build an altar (Exo. 26:1; 27:1). There, in Exodus, we see an altar with a tent, a tabernacle. That tabernacle was God’s house on earth. Abraham’s tent was also God’s house on earth. In Genesis 18 we can see that God came and stayed with Abraham in his tent. At that time, Abraham was a priest offering sacrifices to God. His building an altar and offering sacrifices to God proved that he functioned as a priest. God’s intention is that all of His called ones should be priests. We are priests. We do not need others to offer sacrifices for us. We must do it ourselves. When Abraham was feasting with God in his tent, he was the high priest, and the inner part of his tent was the Holy of Holies. God was there. By this we can see that Abraham’s tent was a prefigure of the tabernacle built by Abraham’s descendants in the wilderness as the dwelling place for God and for the priests. Here in Genesis we see a priest named Abraham who lived with God in his tent. At the side of this tent there was an altar.

SOJOURNING BY FAITH AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY - Do not forget that Abraham’s history is yours. Do you not have a tent where you always have the Lord’s presence? The worldly people do not have such a tent. They only have a great city. The only thing that the worldly people can see is their great city. They say, “Look at my corporation. Look at my education, my attainment. Look at how many things I have.” But we can say to the worldly people, “You have everything, but there is one thing that you don’t have-God’s presence. You do not have the tent-you have the city of Babel. All that you have is a part of the great Babylon.” Whether we are high-class people or low-class people does not mean very much. All that matters is that wherever we are we have a tent with God’s presence. When we have a tent with God’s presence, we have the deep sensation within that nothing here on earth is lasting. Everything is temporary. We are looking to eternity. The banks, the corporations, the attainments-all are temporal and mean nothing. We have nothing constant on this earth. I just like to have a tent with God’s presence. I like to live in such a situation. We may say to the worldly people, “Dr. So-and-so, I don’t have as much as you have, but I have the one thing that you don’t have-God’s presence. I don’t have to wait for eternity to have God’s presence. I have His presence right now in my tent. My surroundings are a tent, a miniature of the New Jerusalem. This may not be worthwhile in your eyes, but in God’s eyes it means a great deal.” This is what it means to pitch a tent.

Whenever we answer God’s calling and God reappears to us and we build an altar for God, telling Him that everything we are and have is for Him, we shall immediately erect a tent. Spontaneously, people will see that this is an expression, a declaration, that we do not belong to this world. By pitching a tent we declare that we belong to another country. We do not belong to this country; we are looking for a better one. We do not like this country, this earth, this world. We expect to come into another country. We are sojourning by faith as in a strange country (Heb. 11:9).

WAITING WITH EXPECTATION FOR A CITY WITH FOUNDATIONS - Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham “waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Maker is God.” This city which has foundations is undoubtedly the New Jerusalem, which has solid foundations laid and built by God (Rev. 21:14, 19-20). While Abraham was living in a tent without any foundations, he was looking and waiting for a city with foundations. But I do not believe that Abraham knew that he was waiting for the New Jerusalem. Even many Christians do not know that what they are waiting for is the New Jerusalem. But we have to be clear that we are living in the tent of the church life today, waiting for its ultimate consummation, which will be the New Jerusalem-the city of God with foundations.
Home | First | Prev | Next