WHAT'S ON YOUR ALTAR? PART 1

Church in Berlin, pic by Bodo Kubrak

    Christians and non-Christians are very familiar with the account of Abraham and the burning bush. The story has been told with different lessons garnered from it. Today I want to look at the altar. Often we overlook the structure and focus on the people involved. A number of religions have altars and because of this I think it is worthy of a little more thought. 

The Bible speaks of altars set up by the Jews in God's honour and it speaks of altars for other deities. In the field of research, the altars or bamah set up by other people groups have proven the Bible as a historical record. The altar is situated in or near a place of worship (1 Kings 12:31) and represent the deity it was built for. The size, height or location seems to have little meaning today.

Christians generally feel that altars are only relevant to the church setting but this is far from the truth. We have both the physical altar and the spiritual altar. The altar in the church is to be maintained with the holiness of the those using the altar. The Christian altar is located in a space that it kept holy unto Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. 

Prior to the building of the temple by King Solomon, there were high places or shrines used e.g., at Bethel.  It was used for the worship of Yahweh (1 Samuel 9:16-24). But when used to worship other gods it was referred to as not good in the Bible. After the temple of Jerusalem was built, it was no longer acceptable to use these shrines and altars. 

Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places. 1 Kings 3:2-3

Kings were judged based on how they treated the altar. 

Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 1 Kings 3:4-5

Solomon received immense favour from God. He even got what He did not request. For Christians today the altar is not just a physical structure. The altar itself is no longer in the open and can be small. Sacrificing animals is not required because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. Romans 8:3

As Christians, we have the assuredness of Christ Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice on the altar before God. He is perfect and acceptable to The Father. God provided the sacrificial lamb for Abraham just as He did with Jesus who does the will of The Father.

I pray Jesus is on your altar and that you live each day thanking God for giving the sacrificial lamb and accepting Him for your sins. I am eternally grateful myself.

 Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be. Guide me in these times so I can be used by you to help others in Jesus name I pray. Thank you Father.

 

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NO MORE EXCUSES

    

    People have gotten very good at excuses. Excuses to not care or excuses to not do anything. Making money takes some effort and there are those who will excuse their way out of this as well. A very popular excuse is 'I didn't know'. In the Old Testament time this was also used. After Jacob got up from the dream known as 'Jacob's Ladder', this is what he said.

Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Genesis 28:10-11

In this New Testament time, knowledge has increased. Knowledge has become portable and accessible. There are sectors of industries that have developed as knowledge based. But it is not just that knowledge has increased, it is that walking with God is now by grace and not law. It is simplified although it is not necessarily easier. To follow the law is difficult as there are over 600 laws.

Although it was not easy to live by the laws, there were those who were able to build a relationship with God during the Old Testament times and are still teaching us. David wrote the book of Psalms which is packed with revelation. To this day we cannot yet unravel some of its mysteries. Knowledge about God is so important that God gave us the gift of The Holy Spirit to teach us.  

The rock or stone that Jacob slept on is symbolic of Jesus the cornerstone. Jacob did not know Him. But we do. The most influential person in the world is Jesus. The most written about topic is Jesus. We cannot use the excuse, 'we didn't know' of Him. Knowing about Jesus is a matter of salvation. 

Through our belief and life in Christ we are saved. We are saved by the blood of Jesus and by our testimony. 

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Revelations 12:11

If we are not saved then we will perish. This is eternal life in hell.  

But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. My people perish for a lack of knowledge. Job 36:12

 

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Hosea 4:6

 This might sound harsh but let us look at the other side of it to test it.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

It is not God who blinds the minds of the unsaved. It is the devil who does that. He has the right to do this because the unsaved deny Christ. It is cause and effect. Because people deny Christ they open themselves to be blinded. God's mercy is that we as His children can pray for them to be saved and He can reveal Christ to them. The choice is the people's to be saved from eternal damnation or to have everlasting life in Christ. 

I pray that all blind folds on your eyes are removed. I pray Jesus is revealed to you more and more in Jesus name. 

You can pray this prayer if you want to give your heart and life to Jesus.

 Dear Heavenly Father,

I ask you to forgive my sins in knowledge or ignorance. Please forgive me. I accept Jesus as my Saviour. I ask that Jesus comes into my life as I live to be a witness for Him. Please change my life and make me into the person you want me to be. Guide me in these times so I can be used by you to help others in Jesus name I pray. Thank you Father.

 

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