ALTAR
means a place where sacrifices are offered.
In Old Testament times people built altars to sacrifice animals. These altars can be seen in every place of sacrifice. In Canaanite lands they were built of stone. People of those days used to build them according to their needs. They used to build altars and praise God for the good things God had done in their lives. They used to build altars and pray to God for forgiveness of sins. In the New Testament it is not written that people built an altar, but in Hebrews 13:10 the writer of Hebrews tells us that we have an altar. This is similar to what Jesus Christ sacrificed for us. Jesus was sacrificed for us outside the city for the atonement of our sins, just as Gavi was sacrificed outside the city. Similarly in Matthew 6:23 it is written about the method of offering the offering on the altar. This is how the altar is referred to in the New Testament in some contexts. But in the Old Testament it is written that 20 people built altars. Let us know about some of the people who built the altars during this time and why they built them. According to Revelation 16:7, “I will hear what the altar says,” let us know what the altar tells us by meditating on this word.
1. Altar of thanksgiving built by Noah:
Then Noah built an altar to Jehovah, took some of the sacred cattle and some of the sacred birds and offered burnt offerings on that altar (Genesis 8:20). He who received was (Gen. 6:8; 7:1). Accordingly, God brought Noah’s family and everything he had created into the ark two by two and destroyed everything else in forty days. Noah was seen by God as a special person among all those people. God created us uniquely, regardless of our likeness. We are to live as God’s special people. (1 Peter 2:9) He created the lines on our palms to be unrelated to each other. There are about 775 crore people in this world. But one hand is different from another hand. That is the specialty of God. Let’s get to the point. The reason Noah built the altar was to give thanks to God. Even though everyone and everything around him perished, God preserved Noah and his family in the palm of his hand. While there are tsunamis, earthquakes, droughts, wars and terrible things happening around us, we should realize that we are alive till now, it is the grace of God and we are grateful to God. Noah’s altar speaks to us that we should always offer sacrifices of thanksgiving to God.
2. Prayer altar built by Abraham:
“He built an altar to the Lord and prayed in the name of the Lord” (Genesis 12:8). When God called Abraham and told him to go to the land that I would show him, he did not know where to go. (Gen. 12:2, Heb. 11:8). Although he did not know where he was going, he built an altar and prayed to the God he knew. Even though the circumstances before us are unknown to us, if we pray to the God we know, everything will be revealed to us. God the Holy Spirit is our helper. His word is a light to our path and a lamp to our feet. (Psalm 119:105). Abraham by faithHe went ahead. Abraham built an altar and prayed, so he was able to face all the hardships, temptations and obstacles he faced. He proved that everything is possible through prayer. (Luke 6:12-13) 12 In those days he went to the hill to pray and spent the night praying to God. 13. In the morning he called his disciples and made twelve of them and named them apostles. Even Lord Jesus Christ used to pray before every work. He used to pray all night. He was in ministry all day. The incense went up. Grace has come down to help. That is why Abraham was called God’s friend. Anointed as the Father of believers. Today he stands as a guide for many. This prayer altar speaks to us that we should keep washing altars of prayer in our lives.
3. Altar built by Gideon:
Altar to reveal God: “There Gideon built an altar in the name of the Lord and named it the Peacemaker of the Lord.” (Judges 6:24) We read that Gideon tore down the outdoor altar built by his father and built an altar to Jehovah. The altar that Gideon built was peacemaking and revealed to God. According to Matthew 5:24, if we have enmity with others, we should reconcile with them and offer our offering. We should have peace between God and ourselves, and peace between others and us. And the altar that Gideon built reveals the greatness of God. On those days, there was a lot of worship of Goddess Bayalu. People are in ignorance not knowing the true God. At such a time God set Gideon free from their ignorant worship. Today many people are unable to know the true one God and worship many gods with superstitions, patriarchal practices, It should be recognized that He has specially arranged us to deliver such people while remaining in ignorance. It was as if God did not see those times of ignorance, but now He is commanding people to repent (Acts 17:30). Let this altar built by Gideon be of peace and of the true God. It speaks to us to inform others.
4. The Subsidiary Altar Built by Samuel:
“And he returned to his house, being from Ramah, and there he also administered justice. And he was there an altar to Jehovahtied (1 Sam 7:17). Because the Israelites defeated the Philistines, they took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shenuk and named it Ebenezer, saying that Jehovah has helped us so far. Ebenezer means rock of help. God will never leave us, never forsake us. When Abraham went to a place he did not know, God helped him and made him successful in everything. When the people of Israel were traveling in the wilderness, God took care of every little thing in terms of food, water, clothes and shoes. As God has helped us, we should also help others as much as possible. To do good and not do it is sin (James 4:17). Even if we do not commit any sin, if we have the ability to help others and do not help, then we are sinners. Therefore, not the money that God has blessed us with, We have to think about how we are using those talents that are not talents or whatever. This altar built by Samuel speaks to us that we should help others and exalt God’s name. –
Beloved, we can know that God has a purpose in building altars through this meditation. We need to recognize that God has a purpose for us even when God builds our lives. God is pleased with our life only when we fulfill that purpose. At this time we should remember that Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sins. Let us continue to praise God for the forgiveness of sins that the Holy Spirit has granted us all through Jesus’ sacrifice.