Worshipping (v. 33). You could follow Abraham’s journey by looking for the wells he dug and the altars he built (Gen. 12:7-8; 13:4, 18). He was not ashamed to build his altar in the presence of his neighbors and offer his worship to the Lord. A new name for God is introduced here: El Olam, “the Everlasting God.” Abraham already knew El Elyon (“God Most High”–14:19, 22 nasb) and El Shaddai (“God Almighty, the All-Sufficient One”–17:1 nasb), but now he had a new name to use in his worship. It is important as we go through life that we learn more and more about God so we can worship Him better.

What an encouragement to know “the Everlasting God”! Wells would disappear, trees would be cut down, ewe lambs would grow up and die, altars would crumble, and treaties would perish, but the Everlasting God would remain. This Everlasting God had made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants (17:7, 13, 19), and He had given them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession (v. 8; 48:4). As Abraham faced the coming years, he knew that God would not change and that “underneath [were] the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27).