Throughout the book of Exodus, God ordains altars for the purpose of sacrifice, adoration, and worship, for example, the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt into wilderness for the purpose of worshiping God (8:27), Moses building the altar after the victory over the Amalekites (17:15), or Moses sacrificing burnt offerings on an altar for the covenant ceremony (24:4-5) (Doeman, 513). Rudolf Brandle, Vol. 970-973. almost every world religion has altar. Tell me that does not conjure up some interesting images in your head. “What is Prophetic significance of the four horns of the altar?” Hoshana Rabbah Blog, Hoshana Rabbah, February 2016. Bibliography Alexander, Ralph H. “Ezekiel.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. 1. Ed. Bible Definition and How to Rebuke Others. An altar, in the broadest sense of the term, is a designed place where someone consecrates themselves to someone or something. Some people will say that you do not need an altar, that all the magick and spiritualism is in your head and that the materials are there to place yourself in the mindset. When Dave isn’t busy with ministry, he loves spending time with his wife, Sarah, reading the latest from Christian publishers, the Reformers, and the Puritans, playing golf, watching movies, sports, and spending time with his family. By His Word and presence, He guarantees and completes our salvation. More gold, more rare woods were used along with making them bigger and more elevated above the people….and closer to the heavens. What is the purpose of an altar if you are not going to be sacrificing animals and what not on it? So the etymology of the word altar would also lead you to Latin, the mother of all romance languages… but we dont have time for that. Kinda goes away from the common idea of a modern altar….. or does it? With that said, the prayers themselves did not have intrinsic sweetness because they were neither greater or lesser than other prayers. “Archeological Views: Alternate Alters,” Biblical Archaeological Review 41.6, BAS Library, 2015. Wells, Bruce. Westminster John Knox Press, 1997. Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. “Exodus.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Some of the most common places to find altars these days would be in every established public religion. Fretheim, Terence E. Interpretation: Exodus. You do not need an altar, but I would strongly suggest to make one. An altar means that we realize that we are here on earth for God. Pagan altars, or places to sacrifice to pagan gods, were also constructed leading to the misconception that the sacrifices to the pagan gods and the true God were of the same value. Even so, the animal sacrifices offered on the Day of Atonement could not affect the cleansing of the conscience, for there were times when the meat could not be enjoyed even though it did not benefit those who ate it (Hebrews 13:9). You would bring your sacrifice to the altar and most of the time kill it right there. The Scripture often likens incense to the prayers of the people of God (Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8). Before the sacrifice of the Messiah on the heavenly altar, God commanded for Israel to build earthly altars to the specific instructions laid out in scripture. All Rights Reserved. This area of the Temple was outfitted with poles that could be transported like the table (Exodus 40:4-5). One of those commands included the construction of the four-horned altars of bronze and gold, where sacrifices would be offered to God as a means of cleansing the sins of the people. 257-258. The word altar is first used in Genesis 8:20 when Noah built an altar after leaving the Ark. The smoke from the incense symbolized what was offered up to the Lord just as our prayers go up to the Lord. You can go all year long and say prayers, work on rituals, perform your masses and what not, but it might end up feeling empty. Check out our shop located in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City to find the perfect Holy Land souvenir or Christian gift for your loved ones who seek a special and meaningful gift from Jerusalem. Four-Horned Altars Four-horned altars, as described in Exodus, were to be made of one natural material with a square, flat top and pointed “horns” at each of the corners. Brueggemann, Walter. I realized today that an altar is one of the single most important pieces to any spiritual practice, it is the epicenter of uniting heaven and earth. Ed. On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would offer sacrifices for the sins of people. The significance of this altar helped future generations remember the Lord. Yet, even these places of worship were not always respected. So we put everything on the altar. He received his MAR and M.Div. Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2005. Paul had to deal with this problem in Galatia with Judaizers, who wanted to impose circumcision on Gentile converts. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. The idea of an altar is present in Genesis 4:3-4, where Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to the Lord, which was done most likely on some type of altar. During the Christians rise to fame, the altar changed… the universal change was that they took more pride in how they were constructed and how they were presented. Elijah’s restoration of the altar is critical because of the paganism of his day. The physical altar allows for you to be entranced in the aspect of ritual and removes your mind set from daily tasks and obstacles. Christianity, Judaism Hinduism…. by David A. Huston The purpose of this article is to encourage believers to persevere through difficult and painful situations. Such an explanation makes sense when we consider what happens on the altar of incense and how fine spices were mixed together and left to smolder on the altar day and night (Exodus 30:7-8; 34-38). Additionally, Elijah symbolized the unity of God’s people in the construction of altars (1 Kings 18:31-32). Frank E. Gaebelein, Vol. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. When we feed at the altar of Christ, we are supplied with the grace and strength that we need to persevere in the race of faith. An altar also represents a place of consecration to the Lord. When i first started looking to create my altar, i wanted something that defined me and had not the slightest clue on how to construct an altar. An altar means that our life is for God, that God is our life, and that the meaning of our life is God. For the rest of us a little help creating the environment is needed. This is true very true, in the end you do not need anything but your mind to create a ceremony or ritual. The altar was to have four horn-like projections with one at each corner and to be large enough to hold bulls, sheep, and goats to be used for sacrifices. ©2020 Zak's Jerusalem Gifts. By being outside the veil, the High Priest would see the smoke penetrate the curtain of the Holy of Holies though he couldn’t pass the curtain (Exodus 30:6). King, Philip J., and Lawrence E. Stager. Churches have altars for prayer, communion, weddings, and other purposes. Some Christians use their “altars” for personal worship as a reminder of Romans 12:1. Online, 1 December 2018. You can follow him on Twitter at @davejjenkins, find him on Facebook at Dave Jenkins SOG, Instagram, read more of his writing at Servants of Grace, or sign to receive his newsletter. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Ed. Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. Life in Biblical Israel. I. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2002. Stephen D. Renn. The creation of altars has been an important part of Día de los Muertos, a festival whose origins are deeply rooted in Aztec beliefs and tied to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, also known as … 543-550. An altar represents a genuine desire of the person to give themselves wholly to the Lord because of His work in them to memorialize that work.During the time of Israel’s rebellion and idolatry, altars began to fall into disrepair. The atoning power of the altar, by God’s command, was shown through the sprinkling of blood on each horn with the rest of the blood poured out at the base (Kaiser, 462). Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”. Your email address will not be published. This is an example of what an ancient altar would have looked like, this one has an altar for the sacrifice and a place where the sacrifice would have been burned so the smoke would take it to the heavens. The altar was a raised platform with a flat surface. During this time, people lived close to animals, and the smells of living close to them could not be escaped. Since the word Altar is pretty much used in the same context through out the middle east since the dawn of spiritualism we find no direct change in the word from society to society. The Significance of Altars in the Old Testament. John H. Walton, Vol. The altar of incense was the place purified by the sprinkling of blood, so the people’s prayers might be accepted through sacrifices. The centrality of the sacrifices done at the altar in worship focuses on the communication and connection between God and His people, as they offer sacrifices in the place of their sins under the Mosaic Covenant. Before the time of Moses, when the Lord gave the Law to Moses, men made altars out of available materials. Worship that is pleasing to the Lord is centered on the preached Word of God that points people to Jesus. “The Book of Exodus.” The New Interpreter’s Bible. The four-horned altar of gold is confirmed to be placed in, or near the Holy of Holies, a place where only the priests were to practice this ritual on behalf of the people, making it a very exclusive and specialized act of worship within the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:1-4). If you can do it successfully in your mind, you are one of the few that have mastered the art. Its really strange I know! We will move on to the purpose of early altars. All this shows us that the Lord rejects worship and those prayers that do not approach Him in faith in Christ. At the heart of every physical aspect of religion and spirituality is to bring about a change in the mind frame to allow for a more clear and better understanding of the ritual. Frank E. Gaebelein, Vol. 2. This Hebrew word is derived from the root of “zbh” which means “to slaughter, or sacrifice”, indicating that this is a place where animals are to be slaughtered (King, 339) as an act of worship, devotion, and reliance on God (Renn, 29). For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. The Significance of Altars in the Old Testament Earthen Altars & Four-Horned Altars The Bible contains detailed instructions on the construction of the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the proper worship of God in that place. When Solomon built the altar, it was made of pure gold (1 Kings 7:48).An altar, in the broadest sense of the term, is a designed place where someone consecrates themselves to someone or something. through Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. Early altars are nothing like you think of the ones today, they were used for sacrifice and burning of the sacrifice. As Christians, we are to zealously protect the purity of worship and prayer and offer pleasing worship only according to the Word as He commands. the only thing that matters is that I built it and put upon the altar things of meaning to me. Seems like we can find a common bond for peace after all!! The only reason the altar may be describes as inside the Holy of Holies was because the smoke of the sacrifice made on the altar may have been the cleansing ritual for the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement as the high priest walked in to make atonement for the sins of the people that year. Brill’s New Pauly. Modern altars rarely have anything to do with blood sacrifices, these days altars a used in similar ceremonial fashion….less blood. The Christan’s addition to the altar was simply they did not sacrifice on it, it was a place to commune with God. An altar means that we do not keep anything for ourselves. The word altar can take on a variety of meanings, but the type of altar here is translated in the original Hebrew text as, “mizbeah”.