A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

the initiative in getting out of their “Egypt.” God had to plague Pharaoh who then expelled
Abram from the land.
ABRAM AND THE LORD
(Gen. 13:1-4)
The absence of a tent or altar in Egypt suggests the absence of a close communion with
God in Egypt. In order to restore that fellowship he had formerly with God, Abram had to return
himself to that place of fellowship. Just as years later the Lord urged the church at Ephesus,
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works” (Rev. 2:5) so
that they would once again return to their first love, so Abram had to return to the place where he
departed from God before he could renew again the intimacy in fellowship he once had with the
Lord. That which disrupts the communication between the Christian and God must be dealt with
before the communication can be restored. Normally the Lord does not call the backslider to a
general repentance, but rather to repent of the particular sin that initiated the backsliding. The
following chart illustrates how Abram had to retrace his steps back to the place of communion
after his lapse of faith and journey to Egypt.
Just as “Abram went down to Egypt” (Gen. 12:10), now “Abram went up from Egypt”
(13:1). The words down and up refer to more than a geographic direction. They imply his
spiritual direction. When he left Egypt, he took with him not his “sister” (12:11-13), but his wife
(13:1). The route taken on both occasions was the same route through the Negev in southern
Palestine, only the direction was different. When he had approached the Negev from the north,
Abram’s problems were interpreted in light of a kaved famine (12:10). Now, coming from the
south, it was Abram who was very kaved in his wealth (13:2). He continued on his journey,
repeatedly breaking up his camp and moving on until he arrived at the place he had begun his
journey from God (vv. 3-4; cf. 12:8-9). “And there Abram called on the name of the Lord”
(13:4).
At this point in his commentary on Genesis, Matthew Henry observes, “All God’s people
are praying people. You may as soon find a living man without breath as a living Christian
without prayer.” In light of this, it is significant to note the absence of prayer in the life of Abram
during his lapse of faith. Prayer is an expression of faith in the life of the believer, “for he who