The Altar of Burnt Offering (Exodus 27:1-8)

The Altar of Burnt Offering

 

Exodus 27:1-8

 

Today’s text is God’s word on the altar of burnt offering among the elements of the tabernacle that God commanded Moses to build. The parts of the tabernacle planned by God himself are recorded in Exodus 31:7-11. “……  the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent— the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand— and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you.” The altar of burnt offering was placed in the outer courtyard of the tabernacle, and it was the first equipment that one would see as soon as he entered the courtyard.

 

 

The tabernacle had two altars. One was the altar of burnt offering and the other was the altar of incense. An altar is a table on which offerings or sacrifices dedicated to God are placed. The altar of burnt offering was to burn sacrifices as designated by God, and the altar of incense was to burn incense prepared as commanded by God. As to the altar of burnt offering, God said to Moses, “It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.” It was to be made of acacia wood, three cubits high, five cubits long, and five cubits wide. Each of the four corners was to have a horn that was of one piece with the altar, and the entire altar was to be overlaid with bronze. In addition, a grating, which was a bronze network, was to be made with a bronze wing at each of the four corners so that it was halfway up the altar. And all the utensils were to be made including pots to remove the ashes, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and firepans. Lastly, poles of acacia wood overlaid with bronze were to be made to be inserted into the rings on the altar so that they would be on two sides of the altar when it was carried.

 

God commanded every detail on people, things, and methods needed to build and operate the tabernacle. And God warned in various ways so that no earthly or worldly thing might be mixed in making and running the tabernacle. One of them was “fire.” God sent the fire to be used in the altar of burnt offering from himself. Leviticus 9:24 says, “Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.” In Leviticus 6:12-13, God commanded Moses, “The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” According to Leviticus 10:1-2, moreover, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command, so fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. In the Bible, fire symbolizes God himself or God’s holiness. Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” As long as people sin, God’s jealousy will never stop, and he will always be among us as a consuming fire. The basic meaning of sacrifice is facing God who is a consuming fire. Burning the sacrifice, I see and mourn over my sin in God’s jealousy, expose the sins before the fire of God, and let the sins burnt and cleansed by God so that I may be dressed with God’s holiness. God’s fire burns the sacrifice, but it is actually burning me. Sacrifice that we offer to God is not giving something good to God out of “my passion.” It is rather receiving “the fire of God,” burning my sins, quieting my passion, and having the fire of God in me as the light of my soul.

 

The most basic guideline on how people were to offer sacrifices on the altar of burnt offering can be found in Leviticus Chapter 1. If any of the Israelites brings an animal as an offering to the Lord, the priests were to arrange the pieces of the animal including its head, fat, inner parts, and legs on the burning wood on the altar, and burn all of them on the altar. The inner parts symbolize one’s mind, the head his thought, the legs his way of life, and fat his fruit of life. Considering these meanings, burnt offering to God is not merely offering an animal to God. It is more exposing my heart, my thought, my way of life, and my fruit of life before God and getting them sanctified by the fire of God. Thus, it is an extremely spiritual ritual. In Psalm 51:16-17, David sings, “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” What we should have for a better sacrifice acceptable to God is “a broken and contrite heart.” Throughout the history, however, people made a bigger altar for a better sacrifice. The dimensions of the altar of burnt offering that God showed to Moses were 5 cubits wide and long and 3 cubits high (5 x 5 x 3). Compared to this, the altar installed in Solomon’s Temple was 20 x 20 x 10 (2Chronicles 4:1). In terms of cubic volume, it was 50 times larger than that in Moses’ tabernacle. Then, Ahaz, the king of Judah, made even a bigger altar. He saw an altar in Damascus, which was for a foreign god, and made the same for the Temple in Jerusalem. He removed the original bronze altar to a side, and put the new one on the site. And he commanded the priests to offer all the burnt offerings and grain offerings “on the large new altar” (2Kings 16:10-16). There is no mention in the Bible on the altar of burnt offering in Herod’s Temple, but according to the record of historian Josephus, “Before this temple stood the altar, fifteen cubits high, and equal both in length and breadth; each of which dimensions was fifty cubits (50 x 50 x 15)” (The Jewish War 5.5.6). The altar built by Herod the Great, a gentile king, was as large as the outer courtyard of Moses’ tabernacle. Although the size of the altars grew over time, however, the Israelites’ faith in God declined through many ups and downs, and their hearts were removed far from God. It was because their sacrifices to God were degraded into nothing but earthly rituals. Their only concern was how big altar was used and how many animals were burnt. They might want to overwhelm God with the size of the altar and the number of sacrificial animals. They didn’t care about their own heart, thought, way of life, and fruit of life. God smelled only the smell of burning animals.

 

The tabernacle that God commanded Moses to build was God’s dwelling among the Israelites (Exodus 25:8). It was a place where God would meet his people Israel and have fellowship with them. The altar of burnt offering is the first equipment that one would see as soon as he entered the courtyard. This means that one should get redemption of his sins and make peace with God before proceeding to God. Without this, he cannot get closer to God. In fact, God is present everywhere, and he is always with us. Thus, if one is extremely sensitive spiritually, he has to be conscious of God’s presence whether inside or outside the tabernacle, and because of this, he feels agony and pain. He cannot help but seeking God’s help. His prayer is not for getting away from God’s presence and living in peace. What he seeks is that God may examine his heart, reveal his thought, see if there is anything wicked, and lead him in the way everlasting. In Psalm 139:1-4, David sings, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” David sees that all of his internal organs, all the thoughts in his head, and all of his deeds, sitting or rising, are exposed before God. In verses 7-12, he keeps singing, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” For David, the whole world is the tabernacle, is God’s dwelling, and is under God’s bright light. Instead of fearing and running away from God, David brings himself before God, seeks God’s forgiving and leading, and looks up to God boldly and carefully. And he praises God, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand - when I awake, I am still with you” (Psalm 139:17-18). David is not bound by the thought of his sins, but he turns his eyes to see the beautiful thoughts of God, and rejoices with them. David always faces God. He puts himself on the altar of burnt offering, and waits for God’s precious thoughts coming down like fire. Whether his body is burned or his heart is tested, he prays that God’s thoughts may come true in him. He loves God and he loves God’s will. So, even though he may have to go through the pains of burning and dying, he wants to be with God. This is the true meaning of sacrifice. Sacrifice is a battle to invade God. The true purpose of sacrifice is living with God and walking with God.

 

In Romans 12:1-2, St. Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Sacrifice is not “offering my treasure to God.” Sacrifice is rather renewing my mind and receiving God’s will into myself. Paul says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” The world has its pattern. We also followed the pattern before believing in Jesus the Lord. And now we follow the pattern of Jesus. In the eyes of people in the world, the believers who follow the pattern of Jesus look like a sacrificial lamb walking toward death. So, they smell the “smell of death” in believers’ life. But this smell is the “aroma of Christ” to God (2Corinthians 2:14-16). God planned all the designs of the tabernacle including the altar of burnt offerings and sacrifices, and Moses followed the divine designs exactly without an error. Jesus is also the Lamb of God and the High Priest designated by God. Hebrews 9 says that Jesus came as the High Priest (9:11), offered himself unblemished to God through the eternal Spirit (9:14), and entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption (9:12). In terms of offering the body as a living sacrifice, Jesus is the perfect pattern of God that we should follow. We follow Jesus out of our desire to see God, live with him, and walk with him. Paul says, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (1Thessalonians 5:19). This fire reforms our mind into Jesus’ mind. In this fire, we are always on the altar of burnt offering. Although we are dying, we have hope of holiness, resurrection, and being with God forever. Our offering is not offering but receiving God’s grace. Our sacrifice is not sacrifice but receiving God’s life. At the altar of burnt offering, everything is changed. Earth turns into heaven, sin turns into righteousness, wailing turns into rejoicing, and condemnation turns into blessing. It is because over the altar is God waiting for us, and Jesus holds our hands in every step toward God, and the Holy Spirit gives us the passion of God in our heart. Although we are wicked, we have nowhere to go but God. May the Lord receive us in Jesus so that we are reformed and we are with you in peace forever!