Low Altars

DEVOTION

EXODUS

LOW ALTARS

Ex 20:22-26

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites this: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold. 24 "'Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.'

NIV

There is certainly a lesson in the design or lack of design of their altar they should make while wandering in the wilderness. The ancients, including the Egyptians, which the children of Israel build for them, had great altars, high and lifted up for worship to their gods. Although the Pyramids were also tombs they may well have been used to worship their gods. The idea was the higher the altar, the closer to heaven it was.  But God tells them not to make a high altar, so no steps should be used to place a sacrifice upon it, or to worship him. Two reasons seem appropriate. They would not have the time to hewn stones to build an altar which needed to be broke down and reconstructed whenever they moved on. They also were not going to be able to carve any image on the earth altar, which was the custom of the altars of the heathen. Images of their gods were carved into the hewn stones used to build their high and lifted up altars with steps up to them. But what is this going up on steps that exposes their nakedness? Several issues come to mind. First the gods of the heathens never came down to the people and spoke with them, so they had to build altars to get closer to their gods. God here on the mountain proves to his people that he comes down from heaven to meet with his people and to speak directly to them. True it is with a great and powerful display of thunder, lighting and shaking of the earth, along with a great thick cloud to cover his glory, but nevertheless he came down to his people. They will not need a high and lifted altar to worship him on. Second this may well be the ultimate lesson for us today. This high and lifted altars of the heathen could represent our hearts. When we lift our own hearts high in an effort to reach God, it truly exposes just how naked we are. That nakedness is the lack of the Spirit within us.

Isa 57:15

15 For this is what the high and lofty One says — he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

NIV

As we come to God in his high and lofty place, we come with a contrite heart, a humble heart knowing how majestic and holy he is, and who we are. We need not lift our heart up, lifting up our own service, feeling how good we are, are righteous we are, how wonderful we are being able to check off our list of don’ts and our lists of do’s. We should not lift our hearts up with how great we can pray, using high and lifted up words to impress the hearers of our attempt to reach the throne of God. No, we are to humble ourselves before our God.

James 4:10

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

NIV

He will lift us up! Here it is, no high altars, no high heart, but rather a heart of earth, for we were formed from the earth and it was God who breathed the breath of life in us. If our heart in made of earth we cannot carve any image on it, but we can only sacrifice upon it, sacrifice ourselves to God. When we lift ourselves up in any way, we are in essence carving images upon our heart. Images of self would be the best description of what we carve. Whenever we lift our heart, is it naked, exposed for what it is? God sees our heart, as man only sees our outside, our deeds, our supposed righteousness, our acts of deeds and service, our godliness, which is but a cover up for who we really are, sinners saved by grace, sinners coming to God, with a humble, contrite heart, bowing low before him. Then God will lift us up. Let’s keep our altar low.