“Glory to the Precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

Psalms 119: 135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant and teach me Your statutes.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Hallelujah

Altar and the Offering

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the portion of the Bible that we meditated upon in the past days, we read and meditated regarding how the resurrected Christ is arising and coming in the midst of the Israelites (our soul) by the pattern of Mount Sinai. Also, today we are meditating about how we must make an altar and how that altar must be filled with God’s statues.

When we read the portion of the Old Testament the altar is being made with mud or stone. But in the New Testament that altar is Christ (our heart).  God is preaching to us that just like that we must change like Christ.

Exodus 20: 22 – 24 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 

You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. 

An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep, and your oxen. In every place where I record My name, I will come to you, and I will bless you.

From this we come to know that gold and silver is an abomination to God. Therefore, God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

My dear people, to show as a pattern that we only are that altar we see that God is telling the Israelites in this manner. That is why, our Lord Jesus Christ came in the image of man to this world. He is only the altar. If we will unite with him, we are (our heart) the altar.

Also, God is telling regarding the making of an altar with stone.

Exodus 20: 25, 26  And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 

Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.’

My dear people, it is written that if you want to make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone. Stone signifies Christ, He is the stone that was kept in Zion. God is showing us as a pattern that he is only the altar. This is because in the Old Testament through the altar he is showing us as a pattern that none of his bones will be broken. That is why it is written that you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Also, along with the stone that is kept in Zion we are also being built as a temple of stone.

That is why our Lord Jesus Christ is saying in Matthew 23: 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Our Lord Jesus Christ will be an altar in our lives. Then our heart is an altar. Altar means the place where sacrifice is offered to God. Therefore, from our soul only through Christ we are offering glory to God. That is why he is telling that whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God

From this my dear people, the most important thing for all of us is that we must make our way straight and our heart must be changed as an altar that gives glory to God. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ is asking Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore, my dear people firstly our heart should be changed into a new heart (Christ the altar) and in that we must submit ourselves completely as an offering.

Not only that, if we just submit ourselves by our mouth there is no use. But many people do not make an altar for God but will give offering. How will God accept the offering that comes without an altar? It will be empty and will be of no use. We see that God is calling them hypocrites. That is in –

Matthew 23: 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

My dear people, only if there is an altar, we can offer our offering. Therefore, firstly both the altar and the offering are particularly important only. Therefore, first the altar must be made holy only after that God will make the offering holy. Only what has been made holy God will accept. The truthful and the altar and offering which pleases God only God will bless.

Also, saying that you shall not go up by steps to My altar, because nakedness should not be exposed on it. All God’s statues are important laws to us. God is showing us how we should serve God through the Old Testament by showing the priests as a pattern. But now Christ has resurrected, and he is the priest and the Most high priest. Because he is in us, he is the kings and priests.

Exodus 28: 42, 43 And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 

They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.

My dear people, eternal statue means the statue for generation to generation. We must not leave these carelessly. Those who do not wear under garments are an abomination. It is written that they incur iniquity. All of us are the servants of God. Surely, we must follow such righteous judgements. God is watching us. Shall we all submit to these words? Let us pray.

May the Lord bless you all abundantly.

- To be continued