And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Abram has obeyed God's call and now stands in the land God promised — but he settles nothing, buys nothing and claims nothing, and other people already live there. That gap between the promise and what he found is what the commentators explore.
Passing Through, Not Possessing
The verse says Abram passed through the land. He moved across it and took hold of none of it. One writer says this was the right response to what God had promised.
He came to stay for a while, not to settle. He moves from place to place, and in every place it is only a tent he pitches. The God of glory had told him that He would show him the land. His descendants would have it forever, but he himself would only see it. And so we find him looking it over, but not settling on any of it. For this was the right answer to such a promise... The Canaanite was then in the land and held the soil. Abraham did not argue with him over a single foot of it. He looked it over. He owned it only as faith and hope own a thing. He looked for no inheritance of his own there and then.
Shechem and the Oak of Moreh
The two place names in the verse have meanings. Writers read them together as one lesson about how a person learns from God.
We hear of the first stop at Sichem (Shechem), at the oak of Moreh. The first of these words means "shoulder," the second "instructor." It is when we bend our shoulder to carry a load that we are taught. Whoever is willing to do God's will, will know the teaching. Whoever wants to learn from Christ must take His yoke.
The same pairing is applied directly to the reader's own reluctance:
Shoulder speaks of bearing responsibility. This is a first step of real value for the child of God. Too many of us would rather avoid responsibility. But if we accept the place of bearing a responsible witness for the Lord Jesus, we will be well taught, as Moreh — "teacher" — implies.
The Canaanite in God's Land
The closing clause is not a throwaway geographical note. Commentators treat it as the first hardship Abram met after obeying. They also point to who he meets there.
The presence of the Canaanite in God's land was bound to be a trial to Abraham. It would be a demand on his faith and hope, an exercise of heart, a test of patience... But there, too, he finds the Lord... The connection between the two statements is beautiful and touching. The Canaanites were in the land at that time. So that Abraham's eye would not rest on the Canaanite, who then held the land, the Lord appears to him as the One who was going to give that land to him and to his descendants forever. So Abraham's attention was on the Lord, not on the Canaanite.
Another writer takes the name itself as a warning against a familiar excuse:
Canaanite means "trader." That reminds us there are people who claim to be Christians but only use it to make money. This is a real trial of faith for those who want to walk with God. But despite the Canaanites, Abram would take up proper responsibility and learn from God. Let us also not use the Canaanites as an excuse for failing to obey the word of God fully.
The Words "At That Time"
The verse says the Canaanites were in the land at that time. Some argue those words were written long after Abram, when the Canaanites were gone. One writer answers that argument.
There is no ground for saying that these words, or Genesis 13:7, mean the Canaanites and Perizzites were gone from the land by the time the writer lived. They show that the first, if not the second, were in the land when Abram entered it... We can easily understand that this was a trial to Abram. But he did not have to wait for the days of Moses, or of Joshua, to know that these invaders and all the others were doomed...
Altar and Tent Among Enemies
In a land held by someone else, two things marked Abram's life.
They are in the place of strangers, that is clear ("at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land"). They have nothing in possession, "not even a foot's length"; everything rests on their valuing the promises. They have just two things, the altar and the tent. Journeying about, and worshipping God, they are strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
The boldness of that arrangement is worth pausing over:
Abram was not called to drive out the Canaanite. Yet we find his altar to the Lord, and his tent too, on the very ground of those wicked nations. He was a worshipper and a stranger in the very place where the Canaanite was doing well. The smoke of an accepted sacrifice rose from his altar right in front of the enemy. It is a wonderful sight.
Summary
- Arrive — Abram reaches the promised land but only passes through it. He looks it over and owns none of it, because the promise was that his descendants would inherit it.
- Shoulder — Shechem means "shoulder," Moreh means "instructor." We learn from God when we bend our shoulder to carry responsibility.
- Trial — the Canaanite in the land tested Abram's faith, hope and patience. The answer was not argument, but the Lord appearing to him.
- Focus — God's promise turned Abram's eye away from the land's present owner and onto the One who would give it. Hostile surroundings were never an excuse to stop obeying.
- Altar — Abram owned not a foot of ground. He had two things only: the altar and the tent. He was a worshipper and a stranger, offering sacrifice in full view of the enemy.