REBUILD
THE ALTAR
What is an ‘altar’? It is usually
a raised structure or place on which sacrifices are offered or incense is
burned in worship. (Merriam-webster)
The Hebrew word for ‘altar’ is ‘mizbeah’
meaning ‘to slaughter’.
The altar is a place where
something is offered to God. It is a place
of worship.
The first mention of someone
building an altar in the Bible is found in Genesis 8…
Noah, his family, and the animals
had spent a wearisome year inside the Ark where all they could see day after day
if they were able to look out was endless miles of water.
No dry land was could be seen until
the waters finally began to abate. The Ark touched land at last, but it sounds
like they may have still spent another 2 months inside the Ark as they waited
for the ground to dry out after being saturated with flood waters for so long.
(Gen 8:13-14)
By this time, everyone and the
animals were most likely all anxious to exit the Ark and be able to move around
freely as before. The first thing the Bible records Noah doing after
he, his family, and the animals exited the Ark was to build an altar to the
LORD. (Gen 8:20)
Generations passed and Abram was
born. Abram was a friend of God for he
walked and talked with God often. God
told Abram to leave his homeplace, leave his relatives, and leave his father’s
house and go wherever God leads him.
Although he was 75 years old and childless,
God promised that his descendants would become a great nation and that his name
would become great. God promised Abram
that he would be a blessing, and that through him all the families of the earth
would be blessed.
Abram obeyed God and began to
wander wherever God led. He came to the land of Canaan unto the plain of
Moreh. The LORD again appeared to Abram
and promised to give him and his descendants the land where he was standing.
Abram had a lot of faith and
trust in God because God was giving him a promise concerning his children and
grandchildren which he did not have at that time. It’s one thing to believe a promise concerning
children and grandchildren when you’re young or even middle age. But Abraham believed God although he was 75
years young and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (James 2:23)
The first thing Abram did
after God promised to give him the land and future generations was to build
and altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. (Gen
12:7)
Abram then moved from that place of
Promise to a mountain on the east of Bethel, pitched his tent and there he
built an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. (Gen 12:8)
THE PLACE OF THE ALTAR
When God told Abram to leave his
kindred, he did not fully obey. He brought
his nephew lot with him. A severe famine
came upon the land where they were currently dwelling so Abram, Sarai, and Lot went
down to Egypt.
Egypt is a typology of the world –
Abram nearly got himself and his poor wife Sarai in trouble while there, but
the LORD had mercy and protected them. Pharoah asked them to leave so they
left Egypt (the world) and returned to the place of the altar, which he
had made there at the first: (he returned to his early altar) and
there Abram called on the name of the Lord. (Gen 13:1-4)
Everywhere Abram moved, he built
and altar…
He moved to the plain of Mamre
and built there an altar unto the Lord. (Gen 13:18)
Abram was now 99 years old when
God again confirmed His promise to give Abram and Sarai a son. At 99 years old,
God changed his name to Abraham promising that he would be a father of many
nations. God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah, for she also would be blessed
and become the mother of many nations even though she was now 90. (Gen 17)
Abraham could not have had such
great faith to believe and trust that what God said He will surely do,
regardless of how impossible it may appear to man’s eyes and reasoning, if
he had not had a daily walk with God.
Isaac was born to Abraham when he
was 100 and Sarah was 91 – who would have thought that would be possible? But
God! Isaac grew (it is believed by this time he was in his late 20’s or mid to
upper 30’s) when God again came to test Abraham’s faith as He commanded Abraham
to offer Isaac (God calls him his only son) as a burnt offering.
It was a very hard task that God
was asking Abraham to perform, yet Abraham stood upon the Promise of God that
what He had promised, He would fulfill.
He had worked the impossible before. He would do it again!
So, Abraham was willing to offer
Isaac as a sacrifice upon an altar – believing God had promised and would
fulfill. He had to walk by faith at that
moment, not by what man can see or comprehend. (Gen 22:9) Because Abraham and
Isaac were both obedient to God’s command (Isaac didn’t fight it), God spared
Isaac. Abraham called that place Jehovahjireh
(meaning: the LORD will see/the LORD will provide).
Isaac learned from his father,
Abraham, to build an altar to the LORD. (Gen 26:25)
Jacob learned from his father,
Isaac, to build an altar to the LORD and called it Elelohe-Israel (meaning: the
mighty God of Israel). (Gen 33:20)
God told Jacob to return to
Bethel (the place of his grandfather’s early altar) and there he was to build
an altar unto God as well. (Gen 35) He called it Elbethel (meaning: the God of
Bethel). (vs 7)
Jacob couldn’t go off his Daddy’s,
his Mommy’s, or his Granddaddy’s altars (walk with God) – He had to have one
for himself. It’s the same for us – we have
to get a walk with God for ourselves.
Moses built an altar and called
it Jehovahnissi (meaning: the LORD is my banner). (Ex 17:15) Moses learned to walk with God from his
mother, but he still had to get a walk
with God for himself. Sometimes it
takes a wilderness experience to get us to where God can use us in the capacity
He desires to.
Later, God gave Moses
instructions concerning building an altar of earth to sacrifice burnt offerings
upon. (Ex 20:22-26)
Joshua built an altar (Josh 8:30)
and later built a GREAT altar (Josh 22:10).
Gideon built an altar called
Jehovahshalom (meaning: the LORD is Peace) – Jud 6:24.
Samuel, the Prophet, built an
altar to the Lord in Ramah, the place where he dwelt and judged Israel – 1 Samuel
7:17.
The children of Reuben and the
children of Gad built an altar which they called Ed as a witness between them
that the LORD is God. (Josh 22:34)
Sometimes you need to build an
altar to remind yourself that the Lord is God! There is nothing He cannot do!
When calamity happens to us or
around us, the place we need to run is to the Altar. Sometimes it’s our prayers and our worship
that can change situations for others, not just ourself…
David purchased a threshingfloor
from a man named Araunah, a Jebusite, to build an altar to the LORD and offer
sacrifice in an effort of worship to the LORD so that He would stop the plague
that was killing many in Israel. In
response, the LORD was intreated and stopped the plague. (2 Sam 24:18-25)
An angel appeared to Samson’s mother
and father (who were childless) before he was conceived to deliver the promise
that they would soon have a son. They
were unaware that it was an angel. They thought they were possibly talking to a
prophet/a man of God as the angel gave them special instructions concerning
what the mother and the child were allowed to consume, not consume, or do.
After the angel finished giving the
instructions Manoah offered a sacrifice to God upon a rock which he used as an
altar. As the flame went up toward heaven from off
the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended up in the flame off the altar. This is
when Manoah finally realized the message was delivered by the angel of the LORD.
(Jud 13:20-21)
Sometimes it takes an altar and a
sacrifice before God opens our eyes to see the supernatural.
SOME ALTARS ARE BUILT FOR WRONG REASONS….
Balaam was hired by the king of
Moab to curse Israel. He instructed
Balak, the king, to build 7 altars and offer sacrifices upon them to see if God
would come meet and talk with him.
God did meet him and instructed
him that he was not to curse anyone that He has not cursed. Nor was he to defy God’s
people whom He had not defied. (Num23) He did not have to offer a sacrifice to know
that God would not curse the nation of Israel whom He had promised to bless.
THERE ARE SOME ALTARS THAT NEED
TO BE DESTROYED…
Many do not realize they have
altars built in their heart that are worshipping the wrong things such as:
Work – they won’t
miss work yet they will easily miss Church.
Often this goes hand and hand with money.
Money – seeking and chasing after riches. Or perhaps not trying to get rich, but
working more and attending Church less so they can get money to pay bills or
buy a nicer car or bigger house rather than seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God
and His righteousness. God promised if
we do, the rest will be provided.
Fame – trying to become popular and well known; striving to obtain ‘stardom’
God is not a priority – other things are. Prayer and Bible reading are slacking
and maybe even shelved because they’re too busy with other things that they ‘have
to get done!’ or maybe just want to do. Whatever a person makes a priority
above God, above spending time with Him, will keep that person out of heaven.
These are altars built where
worship is made to other things whether they realize it or not.
God warned to have no other gods
before Him – that is anything that is made a priority or deemed more important
than time spent with Him.
We all need to be careful and watch
that we are not making relationships more important than time spent with God.
We need to be careful that we do not spend more time fellowshipping with each
other than we spend fellowshipping with God.
He is a jealous God.
And there are altars of
distraction that need to be destroyed.
Ex 34:12 – 17, Dt 7:5, 12:3, Judges
2:2, 6:25-28
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU BUILD NEAR
YOUR ALTAR…
God warned in Dt 16:21-22
not to place anything that might be worshipped near to the altar. This is anything that might distract or draw
you away from your time spent in prayer and Bible reading. NOTHING should be placed
on top of our Bibles – it is God’s Holy Word and should be reverenced.
THE ALTARS OF THE TABERNACLE….
God gave Moses specific
instructions for building the Tabernacle and the articles that were to be
placed within and without. Where each article of furniture was to be placed was
important in how the priests and Levites were to minister before the Lord.
There was only one of each piece
of furniture EXCEPT there were TWO ALTARS.
The first thing that everyone
would see as they entered the outer court was the BRAZEN ALTAR (also known as
the Altar of Burnt Offering - Ex 39:39, 40:6). The Brazen Altar was the largest piece of
furniture. It is where the sacrifices
were offered to make atonement for the people’s sins.
The Brazen Altar is symbolic as a
place of repentance. We need to have an
altar built (a place of repentance) that we go to every day: repenting of every
wrong thought, every wrong word spoken, every wrong feeling, every wrong
action, rebellion, hate, unforgiveness, fear, worry, anxiety, and so on.
THE FIRE ON THE ALTAR WAS TO BE
FOREVER BURNING AND NEVER GO OUT! (Lev 6:13)
Next was the Laver of Water where
the ministers washed. The Ministers were
to wash and be clean inside and out before they could come near any of the
altars to minister. (Ex 30:20)
Inside the Holy Place, just
before the Holiest of Holies was the GOLDEN ALTAR (also known as the Altar of
Incense - Ex 39:38, 40:5) which represented the prayers of God’s people. It was a place of intercession. The incense/the prayers would come up before
God as a sweet smell.
It is the coals from the Brazen Altar
(Sacrifice & Repentance) that ignites the Fire on the Altar of Incense
(Prayers and intercession). (Lev 16:11-13)
BUT THEN THE ENEMY…
The enemy invaded the land of
Israel. They attacked and tore down the
walls of protection. They invaded and
destroyed the altar (place of repentance and sacrifice) and the Temple (Place
of worship). They destroyed or stole the things within: the Altar of Incense
(Prayers/Intercession); the Table of Shewbread (representing Bible Reading/our
DAILY Bread); the Golden Candlestick (representing the Light of God’s presence
and the oil of the Holy Ghost).
The fire that was to be forever
burning went out. The light from the
candlestick went out. The fire on the altar of incense went out. The bread was no longer available to feed
body or soul.
Sometimes, things happen in our
lives which cause the fires that were once burning brightly to dim and barely flicker.
Maybe even go out.
Sometimes it feels like an onslaught
from the enemy and other times, he’ll attack in subtle ways sending busyness
and distractions to make sure the altar that once upon a time was visited frequently
and loving care was given to maintain may now feel like it’s in disrepair.
Maybe even destroyed. The fire is barely
flickering. Perhaps it feels like it has
gone out.
The enemy of our soul will attack
and distract any way he can to try to keep us from praying, distract us from
visiting the altars and offering up our sacrifices of praise or humbling our knees
in repentance.
The enemy of our soul will make
sure things keep us from visiting the Table of Shewbread and feasting from the
Bread of Life (Bible reading).
Remember your early altars.
Is the fire blazing brightly on
them? Daily?
Are you daily offering up prayers
of repentance as well as prayers of praise, worship, and intercession?
Are you daily feasting from God’s
Word?
Are you daily praying in the Holy
Ghost and letting His light shine brightly through you?
If not, it’s time to rebuild and
repair our altars.
It’s time to stoke and stir up
the fire of the Holy Ghost within us. Get it blazing and burning brightly.
It’s time to rebuild and repair
the Temple of the Holy Ghost and make it a place of worship and prayer once
again. We are the Temple
of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 6:19).
Are we a place that God is
pleased to dwell or is there too much clutter and sin in our lives to make Him
feel comfortable and welcome?
Just as they rose up long ago to
rebuild the altar of the God of Israel after the enemy had destroyed them, God is
calling us to rebuild the Altars in our lives and NEVER let the fire go out. (Ezra
3:2)
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