Another Move, God? Hope for Military WivesSýnishorn

Tent Dwellers

God knew I tended to cling to things of this world, so every year or two, God orchestrated my husband’s orders to cause us to move not just a small tent full of things but an entire household of belongings and pick up and move our lives and our relationships. God wanted me to adhere only to him.

At Babel, God confused the people’s language to keep them from building a permanent foundation that would cause them to rely more upon themselves and less upon God. God beckoned Abraham shortly after the Tower of Babel incident. This placement is essential to understanding God’s purposes for the military family. The Babel people were seeking independence and sufficiency apart from God. The next Biblical story after Babel is the account of Sarah and Abraham. With them, we see God causing the new family of God to travel and constantly be on the move, living in tents. The Father does this because he knows man will forget his need for God.

Abraham is unique because God called him to leave his land and his people in a pagan culture to follow and worship him alone. The idea of a Yahweh worshiper was totally foreign to their culture. Then, God called him to be a tent-dweller for the rest of his life.

Abraham followed God and left everything behind. I know it has probably been hard for you to leave your family and head off to the unknown land where the military was sending you. It was even more challenging for Sarah. Everything in the ancient family structure was centered around the father and financially tied to his trade and legacy. Abraham and Sarah’s identity would have been wrapped up in the identity of Terah, Abraham’s father. Leaving one’s family would have resulted in a response as profound as when the prodigal son left his father in Luke 15.

So, Abraham and Sarah left behind their paycheck, their pagan god(s), their inheritance, their family, and even their decision-making model. They laid it all on the line to follow God.

When Abraham arrived in the promised land after a journey of over 400 miles, Yahweh appeared to Abraham and reminded him that he would grant him the land (Gen 12:7). In the Tower of Babel incident, the people had built a tower to glorify themselves. In verse 7, instead of building a tower to himself, Abraham built an altar to the Lord. Think about that: Abraham, who would continue to live in tents for the rest of his life, built something permanent for God. Abraham seems to acknowledge that God’s promises and name are the only things that can be permanent. Abraham and Sarah had to be mobile themselves to see their need for and dependence upon God. God wanted them—and you and me—to keep moving and following his voice.