The Altar

Story of David, Solomon, Bathsheba, Adonijah-

Laying his hands on the horns of the altar.

מִזְבֵּחַ The word is mezbeah

Greek is, θυσιαστήριον

Altar builders:

Noah- Gen. 8:20 “And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.” 1st mention

Abram- Gen. 12:7 “And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.”

13:4

13:18

22:9

Isaac- Genesis 26:25: “And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.”

Jacob- Genesis 35:3: “And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”

Moses- Exodus 17:15: “And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:”

24:4

Gideon- Judges 6:24: “Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.”

Samuel- I Samuel 7:17 “And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the Lord.”

David- II Samuel 24:25: “And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.”

Elijah- I Kings 18:32: “And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.”

FROM SOLOMON FORWARD, THE OLD TESTAMENT ONLY SPEAKS ABOUT THE ALTAR IN THE TEMPLE— LOCAL ALTAR BUILDING SEEMS TO HAVE LOST ITS PRESTIGE or was USED TO ERECT PAGAN SYMBOLS OF SACRIFICE

Jeroboams false altar- I Kings 12:32-33: “And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.”

I Kings 16:32: “And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.”

THIS WAS PROHIBITED BY JEHOVAH:

Judges 2:2 (KJV 1900)

And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

This morning, I’m trying to hone in on what an altar is and what its purpose is in the New Testament heart.

THERE ARE EASY THINGS FOR US TO IDENTIFY IN OUR CHURCHES TODAY:

purpose of piano-

platform

pulpit

nursery

parking lot

pews

altar?

ILL. Don’t play in the altar!

GOTQUESTIONS: An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. It was usually a raised platform with a flat surface. There are over four hundred references to altars in the Bible.

THE ALTAR PHYSICAL: In the broadest sense, an altar is merely a designated place where a person consecrates himself to someone or something. Many church buildings have “altars” for prayer, communion, weddings, and other sacred purposes. Some Christians create their own “altars” for personal worship as visible reminders of Romans 12:1, which says to “present yourself as a living sacrifice.” THE ALTAR SPIRITUAL: Every human heart has an invisible altar where the war between the flesh and the spirit rages. When we surrender areas of our lives to the control of the Holy Spirit, we are in effect laying that area on the altar before God. GAL 5:17

IF, THEN, WE KNOW what an altar is, maybe if we study this idea out we can discover the reason that ADONIJAH ran to hold on to the horns of the altar.

Whitfield- 1830’s

Finney

Billy Graham

Atonement/Salvation- PARDON

YOU HAVE A SACRIFICIAL SYSTEM IN PLACE:

Exodus 29:12: “And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.”

Leviticus 4:7: “And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

Leviticus 4:18: “And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.”

Leviticus 4:25: “And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.”

Leviticus 4:30: “And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.”

Leviticus 4:34: “And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:”

Even as Moses consecrated the Tabernacle services, he did so with blood. Where? The horns of the altar. (Lev. 8:15, 9:9)

So, for 1,500 years, the Jews would take a lamb to the Tabernacle/Temple and they would tie that lamb to the four horns of the altar. If I may, they would extend his arms and his legs, and upon that altar make a sacrifice to atone for their sins.

Psalm 118:26-28: “Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: Bind the sacrifice with cords, Even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt thee.”

All of this system looked forward to the day that the Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven— was announced by John as being the Lamb— and was outstretched on the Altar of Calvary for our sins!

Oh sinner, run to Jesus!

Psalm 18:2: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”

Luke 1:68-69: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; For he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David;”

Horn of an animal is his defense- that horn is that to which we owe our protection and defense in danger— it is in Jesus!

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end to all my sin

Because the blessed Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the just is satisifed

To look on Him and pardon me!

Jesus is the horn of our salvation!

Romans 8:38-39: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Thus, the horn speaks of salvation.

Power

The word being used here is qeren. The horn. It is where we get our word “crown.” Qeren can refer to an animal horn, a musical instrument, or a ray of light.

pride- Psalm 75:5: “Lift not up your horn on high: Speak not with a stiff neck.”

power and strength- Psalm 89:17: “For thou art the glory of their strength: And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.”

strength and might- Psalm 148:14: “He also exalteth the horn of his people, The praise of all his saints; Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.”

strength removed- Jeremiah 48:25: “The horn of Moab is cut off, And his arm is broken, saith the Lord.”

POWER AND PRESTIGE-

Daniel 7:7-8: “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.”

Daniel 7:11: “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.”

Daniel 7:20: “And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.”

Daniel 7:21: “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;”

Habakkuk 3:3-5: “God came from Teman, And the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, And the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the light; He had horns coming out of his hand: And there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, And burning coals went forth at his feet.”

Revelation 5:5-6: “And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” PROJECTION AND POWER!

There is a system of horns which will rise up…in prophetic history there will be kingdoms— movements— machinations against our Great God— but He will win. He has all power!

Why run to the altar? BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE POWER OF GOD IS!

Mercy

Exodus 21:14: “But if a man come presumptuously [premeditatedly] upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.”

We all think we know a little about mercy. Mercy is what those dirty-rotten sinners across the street need to know something about.

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT’S ON THE TOMBSTONE OF AL CAPONE? YOU KNOW, that sleezy mobster who shot people dead…and slept with women…and bribed and menaced American life for many years. Anyone want to guess what’s on his tombstone?

MY JESUS MERCY

It was Thomas Watson, the great Puritan writer, who said,

God is more willing to pardon than to punish. Mercy does more multiply in Him than sin in us. Mercy is His nature.

In a series of sermons for the Lenten season, pastor and author John H. Baumgaertner shares one of the greatest moments that can ever happen to a pastor, though, in truth it is available to all who have experienced the joy that comes from receiving God’s grace:

Every Christian minister from time to time is visited in the privacy of his study by some person who is completely crushed by a guilt that the despairing individual believes to be beyond forgiveness. And it is precisely then that a pastor is most grateful for the privilege of being what he is by the grace of God. A messenger of the divine mercy, a spokesman for the suffering Son of God. For he can say something like this “Let’s forget about you for the moment and talk about Jesus.

It’s because He came that I’m here, and I know it’s because of Him that you came to me. And you’re right. He has something He wants to say to you through me. He is saying to you, i came to make it possible for you and for anyone to find forgiveness in the love of the Father. That’s why He sent Me. He wanted Me to take the burden of your guilt on Myself.

He wanted Me to share your whole life that you might share Mine. I’ve done that. I’ve lived for you, and I’ve died for you. And I’ve been raised from the dead, and I’m living now to tell you that My Father loves you that much. And I/ We ask of you is the willingness to believe that, to accept it. We want you to know the joy of a penitent heart that has found forgiveness. We want you to live the changed and the radiant life of one who knows what it means to be born anew.

GOOD NEWS ABOUT MERCY-

Leviticus 6:13: “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” THE FIRE IS ALWAYS BURNING— the altar is always opened.

Spurgeon: The laying hold upon the literal horns of an altar, which can be handled, availed not Joab. There are many-oh, how many still!-that are hoping to be saved, because they lay hold, as they think, upon the horns of the sacraments. Men of unhallowed life, nevertheless, come to the sacramental table, looking for a blessing. Do they not know that they pollute it? Do they not know that they are committing a high sin, and a great misdemeanour against God, by coming amongst his people, where they have no right to be?

It must be done by faith.

WHY SHOULD WE RESPOND?

GOD HIMSELF CALLED PEOPLE TO RESPOND

THE AIM OF PREACHING IS TO GET PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO GOD

ILL. Keith Kiser

Matthew 10:32: “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”