Your Altar...

Ezra 3:1-6 When the seventh month came and the Israelites had settled in their towns, the people assembled as one man in Jerusalem.  Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.  Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices.  Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles with the required number of burnt offerings prescribed for each day.  After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings, the New Moon sacrifices and the sacrifices for all the appointed sacred feasts of the LORD, as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD.  On the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, though the foundation of the LORD's temple had not yet been laid.

There are priorities in life.  God has order to the things that He wants us to do.

I’ve seen in this church….

Altars are built because

1) God has spoken

Gen 22:9 Abraham built an altar on the mountain God told him to go and sacrifice Isaac

Gen 26 Isaac built an altar after God came and spoke to him after he redug some of Abraham’s wells

Exodus 34 Moses was instructed to break down altars erected to other gods

Exodus 37 The Israelites built the temple altar

Judges 6 Gideon builds altar after he sees confirmation that an angel just instructed him to strike down the Midianites.  That same night God told him to sacrifice again using the altar his father erected to Baal and use the Asherah pole beside it as the wood for the sacrifice.

2) As a testimony or thanksgiving

Gen 12:7 Abram built an altar after he arrived at the land God promised him after God instructed him to go

Gen 13:4 revisited the altar in Bethel

Gen 13:18 he built another altar in Hebron, in the land promised him

Gen 33 Jacob built an altar after being restored to his brother Esau

Exodus 17:15 Moses built an altar after God delivered Israel from the Amalekites with Moses’ hands raised at Rephidim

Exodus 20 God instructed Moses to build an altar after He spoke the 10 commandments to him

Exodus 24 God instructs Moses and others to come up the mountain and He would give to Moses the laws He just spoke on stone tablets, and before Moses left, he built and altar and sacrificed

Exodus 27 they re given instructions on how to build the altar for the temple

1 Samuel 7 Samuel judged Israel and built an altar at his home in Ramah

Revelation 6:9 tells of the souls under the altar….at the foot of the altar….at the feet of Jesus, who gave their blood for the tesimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation8:3-4 tells of the angel on the altar come to burn incence, along with the prayers of the saints, which went up before God from the angel’s hand

Revelation 16:7 the Altar responds and says Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgements.

Judges 21 people of Israel at Mizpah built an altar

1 Samuel 14 King Saul built his first altar after defeating the Philistines

3) To keep up with status quo (which has no spiritual benefit)

Exodus32 Aaron built and alter to the golden cow he built while Moses was on the mountain for 40 days

Hosea 8:11 tells of altars once built for sacrifice now used for sin and rejected

2 Kings 16 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest to build an altar as he saw in Damascus, but was not a man who followed after God.  He offered sacrifices on the altar Uriah built.

4) To seek forgiveness for sin(s)

Gen 35 Jacob ridded his company of foreign gods and returns to Bethel where God met him when he fled from Esau at God’s command

Isaiah 6 Isaiah saw God seated on the throne in Heaven, and a seraphs took tongs and a coal from the altar of the Lord, touched Isaiah’s lips, and declared his guilt taken away and sin atoned for

2 Samuel 24 King David built and altar after he had counted the fighting men against the will o f God, to stop the plague that God sent against Israel for David’s sin to stop it

5) To show God’s power

1 Kings 18 Elijah built an altar before the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to sacrifice to the real God

Matthew 5 says if you are at the altar with your gift and realize a brother has something agaisnt you, go and make it right, and come back and offer your gift