What is the significance of the altar

Such an altar was built to commemorate an encounter with the Lord and to signify the event between the Lord and man at that time. Examples of this include the following:. All these men built altars and worshiped the Lord at them. 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.

It was here, on this rebuilt altar, that the Lord rained down fire and put the Baal worshipers to shame 1 Kings The Lord sometimes commanded altars to be built after He had amazingly delivered someone Exodus ; Deuteronomy The significance of this altar helped future generations remember the Lord. Since atonement is the work of God, the Law specified that an altar made of stones must be made with natural uncut stones, as Exodus says.

Within the instructions given by the Lord at the tabernacle, He gave further instruction for the type of altar the courtyard should contain Exodus On this altar, the people of God made sacrifices that the Lord God accepted as an atonement for sin. 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. When Solomon built the altar, it was made of pure gold 1 Kings An altar, in the broadest sense of the term, is a designed place where someone consecrates themselves to someone or something.

Churches have altars for prayer, communion, weddings, and other purposes. Take it. Lord, do what You want. I offer everything to You. Later we wake up and begin to realize what it involves. In the early days of my ministry I was burdened to help people to consecrate themselves. Although I gave a lot of teaching about consecration, I did not see much result. My teaching did not work very well. Eventually, I learned that you cannot help people to consecrate themselves by teaching them.

If we can help people to meet the Lord and come into His presence, that will be sufficient. We do not need to tell them to consecrate themselves to God or to offer everything to the Lord on the altar. Once God appears to people, nothing can stop them from consecrating themselves.

From now on everything is for You. Have you not laid everything you are and have upon the altar for God and His purpose? Living Stream Ministry publishes the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, providing the authoritative and definitive collections of treasures from these two servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee focus on the enjoyment of the divine life, which all the believers possess, and on the building up of the church, the goal of God's work with man in this age. All rights reserved. But the sacrifice of Christ is one that all may partake of in a sense.

The sacrifice of animals is now no longer required. This was the ultimate Day of Atonement. But there is another way of looking at the picture of the altar, and to share this with you, I want to first of all refer to an article that may seem far removed from this topic, but there is a statement by the journalist I want to apply to this study of Hebrews Paul Star Tribune.

It stood feet in the air, it is also noted as being the landing site used by Steven Spoielberg in his movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and was the United States first National Monument in It was also the site of some local controversy, because it is considered a sacred site by the native Indian tribes in the area, and they were opposed to people who were rock climbing up its steep cliff face.

It presented a great challenge for the avid mountain-climber, and the reporter was no exception. The follwing is an excerpt:. The level of crack climbing required to get to the top of Mateo Tipila is far beyond my abilities. I sat on a rock and watched the sun climb.

Long morning shadows cast by hills and buttes gradually shrank into the brightness of the day. I understand something of both perspectives in the dispute. I like to climb, and I believe that certain places have significance beyond what we can know, places where the divine is very close to the surface. There are plenty of places to climb and not enough to look up to. Altars in the Bible, with the exception perhaps of the altar in the tabernacle and later the altar in the temple, were very simple, basic things.

Metal altars are not particularly common because base metals are prone to corrosion and precious metals are prohibitively expensive. The size, height and shape of the altar has not changed much over time. Most altars are the size of a modest table and are roughly the same height as a residential dining table.

This allows the users to stand while administering the Eucharist and places the sacred elements within easy reach without prohibiting communication between the priest and the individual receiving Communion. The altar is one of the most sacred components of the church, though it is often one of the most overlooked.

For examples of beautiful modern altars or to order a new altar for your church, visit Matthew F. We carry a large selection of church altars and other church furniture at competitive prices. Matthew F. Sheehan has been serving the religious community since and would love the opportunity to help you find the right altar for your needs. Thank you for visiting Matthew F Sheehan Company. We are the oldest religious store in the country, established in Menu Search My Account Compare.

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