Altars of Yahweh.
Exo 20:25: And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
The idea of building altars to Elohim has its beginnings in ancient times. People used to build altars on the spur of the moment. They were made with the material that was at hand. Abraham built altars and sacrificed to Elohim all along the way from Haran to Canaan. Jethro made an offering to Elohim when he visited Moses in the Israelite’s camp. This idea of offering sacrifices continued, so Yahweh instructed Moses how these altars should be. They should be made of earth, signifying their temporary nature. The altar was not important, what was offered up and the heart of the person who offered it was important. If at all one insisted on a stone altar, then the stones should be as they were found. No implement should be used to make the stone ‘presentable’. Yahweh has created everything on this earth, and He saw that it was ‘good’ (Gen 1:31…And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.) Man can never hope to improve what Yahweh has already made. If dressed stones were used, then man’s sinful hands have polluted it and they would not be suitable for a holy purpose. If the stones were dressed or had figures carved on them, it would give rise to idol worship, people would give more importance to the sculptor rather than Elohim.
Under the New Covenant, altars made by man’s hands are obsolete; our hearts are the altars of the Lord. How can we use this altar? By using it to communicate with Elohim.
An altar of confession: Jer.17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts and imaginations (Mk.7:21). When we realize that our hearts are wicked, then we wish to repent or have a change of heart. We then confess our sins to Elohim. When we do that, we see ourselves as Elohim sees us. We see ourselves in the light of Yahweh’s commandments and we realize that we are sinners. We realize that we need forgiveness of our sins which only Messiah can give us. So at this altar of confession we come to have a new relationship with Elohim.
An altar of prayer: Prayer is the most powerful weapon Yahweh has given us to fight against the plans of the devil. It is through prayer that we have forgiveness of our sins. Prayer changes things. Paul tells us in I Tim.2:8,’I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.’
Imagine the power that is released when men everywhere pray! We should pray for our salvation, for the salvation of those who have never heard the Gospel. We should especially pray for our children because it is the duty of parents. We should also pray for our neighbors, our colleagues and all our loved ones. We should also pray for those who are spreading the Gospel.
An altar of sacrifice: In the OT times, sacrifices were necessary for the remission of sins. The Old Covenant was a system of offerings and sacrifices through which a man may make peace with Elohim. There were different sacrifices for different purposes, and this was decided not by man but by Yahweh himself. We have such a sacrificial Lamb in Yahshua Messiah. When John the Baptist saw Yahshua, he said,’ Behold, the Lamb of Elohim which taketh away the sins of the world.’ Yahweh himself had decided the sacrifice for man’s sins. Today, under the New Covenant, animal sacrifices are not required. We do not have to offer our sons to some pagan god or idol as some people did.(Jer.32:35). What we can sacrifice is out time, money and our talents. We should set apart some time to meditate on the word of Yahweh and prayer. We can use out finances to spread the Gospel. We can use out talents (which we received from Him) in his service and give him the honour and glory.
Rom 12:1,”I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
An altar of praise: Man was created to praise Elohim. There is nothing that we can give to Elohim for what he has done in our lives, everything that we see around us is created by him. The only thing we can offer him is our praise and thankfulness. Heb 13:15,”By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” We do not praise Elohim enough! When our prayers are answered, we thank him a lot but after sometime we forget. We are commanded to praise him. Psa 150:6,”Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.” We should praise him for the wonderful things he has done in our lives. We should praise him for the very breath of life that he has breathed into us. We should praise him for the salvation that he has given to us freely!
On Mount Carmel, Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which was broken down, before he offered sacrifice to Elohim (I Kings.18:30). King Asa renewed the altar of the Lord (2Chr.15:8).
Elohim has given us four beautiful altars. Have we neglected them? Have we become so complacent that we are not giving Yahweh the honour and glory due to Him? Come, let us build the altars of the Lord once again and worship Him in spirit and in truth!.
