Burning Altars by Folaranmi Wande

 

The children of Israel had just Egypt for the promised land after 430 years in sheer and cruel slavery. Although the period for their thralldom should have been 400 years according to the prophecy given to Abraham who was the premier biblical ancestor of Israel. God already established a covenant with Abraham to give his descendants the land flowing with milk and honey after the 400 years of slavery. However, it took an additional 30 years to see the fulfilment of this prophecy. God was ready to deliver this powerful nation, nevertheless, He could not proceed with their deliverance until He found a man called Moses. God would do little or nothing on earth unless  Moses had his first Supernatural encounter with God on Mount Sinai while tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. This divine encounter ushered in the deliverance of the descendant of Jacob who settled in Goshen the land of Egypt. Moses was from the tribe of Levi and was regarded as the humblest man on earth during his time. He had a brother named Aaron who worked with Moses to bring the children of Israel from Egypt. He was Moses's spokesman. Moses would give orders and Aaron would, in turn, carry out the instructions. The partnership between this family tie was instrumental to the liberation of the Israelites.  God plunged into action to show Pharaoh his Sovereignty as He brought His own chosen nation with a powerful arm. The salvation of the Israelites was after God displayed his awesome acts through the ten plagues of Egypt. The plagues include: water turning into blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hails, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children of humans and animals. After the death of the firstborn children, Pharaoh the king of Egypt in haste ordered the Israelites to leave Egypt to serve the Lord.  

God was about to start a new order with the people of Israel. However, God did not want this new order to be instituted to be in Egypt which was a land of slavery. Moses kept reiterating to Pharaoh the cogent reason why they had to leave Egypt which was so that they could leave to serve the living God in the promised land. The new order God intend to establish was so to the end that Israel could love, serve and revere Him.  This new order was essentially characterized by the Law, the Aaronic priesthood, and Angels. The children of Israel would be ushered into a new age where they would learn about the God of their ancestors. Every other nation aside Israel ruled with a system of government referred to as Monarchy government. A system of governance where a king presides over territory. God wanted a nation He could call his very own and whose system of leadership originates from Him. He choose Moses to be His representative as He led the descendants of Israel to the promised land.  

God gave the ten commandments to his people through Moses. The law was the constitution that guided the relationship between God and the people. In addition, this constitution dictates how the people should live and relate with each other. This generation saw the great manifestations of God’s power first-hand as Moses led walked them through a dry ground in the middle of the red sea to the wilderness. God also gave them laws categorized as moral, civil and ceremonial laws. Altogether there are 613 commandments in the Torah which is collectively referred to as mosaic law (Israel, 2009).  
Moses was called up to mount Sinai, where God showed him the heavenly tabernacle, the holiest place, the holy place and the Outer Court. God instructed Moses to build the heavenly structures just as he has been shown through the assistance of certain men whom God had endowed with wisdom. The tribe of Levi were specially chosen by God to handle every service relating to the tabernacle. Aaron and his sons were set apart to be priests unto God. They were to be the mediator between God’s chosen people and the almighty God. The people were to bring their sin offering, peace offering and burnt offering to the priest who will offer them to God on the altar.  

The altar was a platform where sacrifices were offered to God by the priest on behalf of the people. The altar is always associated with a priest and pleasing sacrifices. A burning altar is not just a monument for religious duties. A burning altar is an altar with a priest offering sacrifices. God commanded in Leviticus 6:12 was a type of the incessant duty of prayer for Christians today.  

The Old Testament practice of burning wood on the altar every morning by a priest is now outdated. God's word affirms that “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” (Hebrews 8:7 King James Version)

A better covenant has been instituted by Christ’s blood on the cross of Calvary. We now have a high priest who is the Lord Jesus and we who have believed in Him are referred to as a Holy Nation and a royal priesthood. Priesthood is important to altars and offering acceptable sacrifices. Christians today still offer sacrifices. However, our sacrifices include the fruit of our lips, the sacrifice of praise and also, we are encouraged to present our bodies as living sacrifices.  

A burning altar for a believer in Christ would be better understood in the context of intercession. Jesus Christ who is our high priest is recorded in holy writ to perform “this sacrifice of intercession” The scriptures declare this in Hebrews 7: 25 and Romans 8:34.    

As Christ continuously make intercessions for us in the same manner as priests, we should follow the trail of our high priest. We are to always make intercessions for lost souls, our loved ones and our nation.