Building An Altar Of Worship- Lesson 5 Moses and Aaron Built An Altar

Exodus 17: 9 And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand." 10 So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

God commands Israel to fight with Amalek.  According to God’s command Moses went to the top of the hill and held the rod of God in his hand.  As long as he held the rod of God out Israel prevailed; when he let down his hand Amalek prevailed.  There is something special about doing it God’s way.

Exodus 17:12 But Moses' hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." 15 And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner;

Moses hands became heavy; God sent him help.  Again divine order coming into play.  He sat on a rock and Aaron and Hur helped hold up his hands.  That day there was a great victory in Israel and Moses built an Altar.  The Lord Is My Banner.

Exodus 32:1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." 2 And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD."

Moses is on the mountain receiving the law and Israel built an altar to a false god.

Exodus 32:6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 "They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' " 9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! 10 "Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation." 11 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

They build the false altar and rose and played.  God tells Moses your people have corrupted themselves.  God intent was to destroy the people for their wickedness.  Moses pleads with God!

Deuteronomy 9:10 "Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 "And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 "Then the LORD said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.' 13 "Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. 14 'Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.'

Here in Deuteronomy the recounting of the same story.  God said he would make a people from Moses alone!

Deuteronomy 9:15 "So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 "And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God--had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the LORD had commanded you. 17 "Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. 18 "And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

Moses falls before God as their intercessor.

Deuteronomy 9:19 "For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry with you, to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me at that time also. 20 "And the LORD was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 "Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.

Moses prays for the people and prayed for Aaron because God was ready to destroy him and them.  Moses destroys the altar and the golden calf!  God listens to Moses cry and does not destroy them all.

Leviticus 9:6 Then Moses said, "This is the thing which the LORD commanded you to do, and the glory of the LORD will appear to you." 7 And Moses said to Aaron, "Go to the altar, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the LORD commanded." 8 Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. 9 Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar. 10 But the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 11 The flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.

God brings the law for an altar to be built; God brought divine order for the altar.

Leviticus 9:12 And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron's sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar. 13 Then they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar. 14 And he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar. 15 Then he brought the people's offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one. 16 And he brought the burnt offering and offered it according to the prescribed manner.

Now Aaron is offering burnt sacrifices according to God’s prescribed order.  We must come to God’s prescribed order and there is not another way to come to the altar.

Leviticus 9:17 Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning. 18 He also killed the bull and the ram as sacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron's sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar, 19 and the fat from the bull and the ram--the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver; 20 and they put the fat on the breasts. Then he burned the fat on the altar; 21 but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved as a wave offering before the LORD, as Moses had commanded. 22 Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, 24 and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

When Israel offered the offering God’s way there was great blessing.  The of the Lord appeared to all the people and the people shouted and fell on their faces.  There was an altar and offering which God could and would receive.

Leviticus 10:1-3 NKJV - 1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3 And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: 'By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.' " So Aaron held his peace.

Two of Aaron sons Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire at the altar and God devoured them as they were out of divine order.

John 14:6 NKJV - 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

All of the altars and sacrifices pointed to a more perfect way into the presence of God.  God has divine order and it is found through Jesus Christ alone.  He is The Lamb of God and there is no other.

John 1:29 NKJV - 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

There is one sacrifice that can make men holy and any other offering ascribe to is profane fire!

Hebrews 13:9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Come to the altar that has been prepared for you; refuse the profane altars of self-righteousness.  Moses built an Altar bringing blessing.  Aaron built a profane altar and it brought death for many.  Then Aaron heeded God and learned to build an altar God’s way.  God’s way is the only way that works.

Jesus is the faithful God

God is good all the time!

Building An Altar Of Worship- Lesson 4 Jacob Built An Altar

Genesis 28:1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. 3 "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples; 4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham." 5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Jacob has just received his father’s blessing, although, through deceit.  Years early he bought the birthright from his twin brother for a bowl of lentil soup, who was born just moments before him.  The scripture says He had his brother Esau heal in his hand when they were born.  His name Jacob means one who supplants or deceiver.   Now because of fear of Esau, his mother has him sent away to her native land to find a wife.  His father commands him to go get a wife from his mother’s people; and  Jacob obeyed.

Genesis 28:10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder [was] set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I [am] the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Jacob had lived with his father and grandfather in Beersheba.  The place of oath and blessing; a place where often his father and grandfather received words and instruction from God.  Now at the command of his father he is off on his life journey.  The first night alone and God has a word for him via his dream.

Genesis 28:15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" 18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

God reveals Himself to Jacob as a blessing and covenant keeping God.  Jacob consecrated the ground upon which he encountered God by anointing it with oil.  This none other than the house of God.

Genesis 28:19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. 22 "And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."

Jacob names the place Bethel; amazingly his father and grandfather had encountered God in the same place.  Jacob make a promise to God.

Genesis 31:3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you." 4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, 5 and said to them, "I see your father's countenance, that it [is] not [favorable] toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. 6 "And you know that with all my might I have served your father. 7 "Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me. 8 "If he said thus: 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: 'The streaked shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore streaked.

We have now skipped 20 years of history and how Jacob received 2 wives, 11 children, much livestock.  God speaks and tells him to return to the land of his father's.

Genesis 31:9 "So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given [them] to me. 10 "And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks [were] streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. 11 "Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'Here I am.' 12 "And He said, 'Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks [are] streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. 13 'I [am] the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar [and] where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.' "

Jacob’s tells his wives and children about the faithfulness of the God he serves; and tells them the word he received from God.  “I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.”

Genesis 32:9 Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you': 10 "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me [and] the mother with the children. 12 "For You said, 'I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.' "

Now Jacob is going back to face the fear that drove him away, the fear of Esau.  Jacob humbles himself before God and calls upon His name.

Genesis 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" 27 So He said to him, "What [is] your name?" He said, "Jacob." 28 And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell [me] Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why [is] it [that] you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

Another God encounter, brings a name change!

Genesis 33:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which [is] in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money. 20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

Now we find Israel making another declare that God was his God!  God is the God of the newly created man.  He is the God of the living not the dead.

Genesis 35:1 Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother." 2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who [were] with him, "Put away the foreign gods that [are] among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments. 3 "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."

Jacob hears the voice of God again.  God did not change his mind!  He commands Jacob go up to Bethel and dwell there. 

Genesis 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which [were] in their hands, and the earrings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which [was] by Shechem. 5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that [were] all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 So Jacob came to Luz (that [is], Bethel), which [is] in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who [were] with him. 7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

Jacob put away the foreign gods and false idol from his family and then he builds an altar.  God is God of the house of God.  What a revelation.

Genesis 35:9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him. 10 And God said to him, "Your name [is] Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. 11 Also God said to him: "I [am] God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. 12 "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land." 13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him. 14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. 15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.

Now God appears to Jacob and reminds him of his name change and commands him to not be called Jacob but be called Israel.  Israel reaffirms Bethel is the meeting place with God.  When you walk with who you are in Christ you can see God is the Almighty God.  When you walk from the identity that God gives you your destiny can be fulfilled.  The altar is often the place God speaks his words of affirmation, so we can live in the strength of the covenant we have been birthed in.

Jesus is the faithful God

God is good all the time!

Building An Altar Of Worship- Lesson 3 Isaac Built An Altar

Genesis 26:1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. 2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."

Abraham was Isaac’s father; Isaac was the promised son that Abraham had waited twenty-five years for.  Now Abraham had died; would Isaac be a builder of altars like his father before him?  God speaks to Isaac and reminds him of the covenant God planned on keeping with him.  Verse 5 is so interesting, “because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My change, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.  What commandments, what statutes, and what laws.  The law had not yet been given, how did Abraham know so much about the expectation and laws of God.  Abraham was a man who kept building altars of worship.  Whenever Abraham worshipped he would hear a word from God.  Abraham lived chasing relationship with God.

Genesis 26:6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. 7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, "She [is] my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "[She is] my wife," [because he thought], "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she [is] beautiful to behold." 8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Quite obviously she [is] your wife; so how could you say, 'She [is] my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.' " 10 And Abimelech said, "What [is] this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us." 11 So Abimelech charged all [his] people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death." 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.

Isaac made the same mistakes that his father did.  He called his wife his sister to ensure his own safety.  Yet like his father, God blessed him even in the middle of his own stupidity.   Isaac was not blessed because he possessed perfect performance before God.  Isaac was blessed because he was a man of covenant with the one true God.  Then Isaac sowed in the land that year and received a hundredfold; the Lord indeed blessed him.  Yet it was obedience that lead to his blessing.  When God told him not to go down to Egypt he obeyed.  Imagine a hundredfold blessing; He is the same God today.  Although Isaac did not have perfect performance his heart was still chasing after God.

Genesis 26:13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; 14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. 15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we." 17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.

Isaac blessings got so big his enemies became fearful of him.  It was because Isaac was a man of covenant and blessing were following him.  His enemies begin to stop up the wells of blessing because they envied him.  You start walking from the covenant of blessing the enemy will not want to hang out with you anymore.  They sent Isaac away from their land.

Genesis 26:19 Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water [is] ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that [one] also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

Everywhere that Isaac went he would dig a well and find water.  Blessing would spring up and the enemies around would say, that not your blessing.  He moved on and built another well; the enemy again quarreled with him and said Isaac not your well.  So Isaac dug yet another well and no quarrel broke out.  This indeed was Isaac encouraging himself in the Lord; “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

Genesis 26:23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I [am] the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I [am] with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake." 25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well. 26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

After he encouraged himself in the covenant of promise he moved to Beersheba.  This was familiar ground to Isaac.  This place of oath was where Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac and it is where Abraham returned and lived when God had made Himself known as Jehovah Jireh (God provides).  When Isaac gets there God appears to him that same night.  The word of oath is reconfirmed.  Verse 25 Isaac built an altar and called on the name of the LORD.   Yes, Isaac had followed with some of the errors of his father; yet he too learned to build an altar of worship and call on the name of the Lord.  Isaac builds his seventh well.

Then the enemy who had chased him away comes to him.  Funny how God can change things around after you have built the altar of worship and spend time in relationship with him.  Isaac asked “Why have you come to me?”  Can you say breakthrough!

Genesis 26:28 But they said, "We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. So we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, 29 'that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You [are] now the blessed of the LORD.' " 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water." 33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore, the name of the city [is] Beersheba to this day.

Isaac came back to Beersheba and begin to worship.  The enemy begin to recognize the blessing of God on Isaac.  In fact, Isaac’s enemies wanted to make peace with him.  They made a feast and made an agreement of peace with one another. 

Genesis 21:31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.

Abraham had made peace with his enemies at Beersheba after he had built an altar.  Isaac too found God working on his behalf after building an altar of worship.  God calls his children of the new covenant to worship at the altar.  What blessing will be revealed and experience as we learn to worship at our altar?

Hebrews 13:10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.

Can you hear the Father calling us to our altar of worship?

Jesus is the faithful God

God is good all the time!

Building an Altar of Worship- Lesson 2 Abraham Built Altars

Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram [was] seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

On the strength of a word of blessing from God, Abram moved.  No holy scriptures to depend upon, it was a word from God and it was enough; Abram obeyed God. Abel heard a word from God and obeyed, Noah heard a word from God and obeyed, can you see the great pattern of hearing the word believing the word and moving into action?

Genesis 12:6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites [were] then in the land. 7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent [with] Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

Abram built an altar in Shechem when God appeared to him and affirmed His word.  Then Abram moves to Bethel (The house of God).  Again, Abram built an altar.  Abram had a lifestyle of building altars when he heard from God.  The saints of God will do well to build an altar of worship whenever they hear God speak.  We often gather together in the house of worship but leave without making connection at the altar of worship.  Can we learn of the patriarch of faith?  His story is written for our benefit.

Genesis 15:7 Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." 8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?" 9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

The altar of worship is a great place to lose the doubts and fears that arise by the circumstances of life.  Abram had questions and God commanded him to build an altar.  Sometimes we must guard the sacrifice that is on the altar.  For us it is always The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  The vultures may want to pick at your sacrifice and cause you to put your faith in your own doings but let the object of your faith every remain in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  Run the vultures off the altar of your worship to your God.

Genesis 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." 17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—

Abram built the altar and God spoke a word of covenant.  When righteous men built altars of worship to God, God made covenant or reaffirmed and brought clarity to the covenant.  God gave a prophetic utterance as to what would happen to a nation not yet created in very specific terms.  God Himself came and passed between the pieces of the sacrifice and consumed the sacrifice with smoking oven and a burning torch from heaven.

Genesis 22:1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only [son] Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

Abraham's life was filled with hearing from God and obeying.  Yet there came an hour of testing!  Testing time is the most important time to build an altar.  Abraham prepared to go and worship!

Genesis 22:4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you." 6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid [it] on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where [is] the lamb for a burnt offering?" 8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.

Abraham spoke faith filled words at the time of testing “the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you”!  How many times have we shut down the blessing of God because of what we put in our mouth in the hour of testing resisting the promise of God in our life?  Isaac asked Abraham where is the burnt offering?  Abraham’s words remained faith filled.  “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering”

Genesis 22:9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." 12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only [son], from Me."

The promised son was not withheld from God.  Abraham built an altar and put all on the altar!  Is your all on the altar?  Abraham passed the test and the best of God’s became Abraham’s.  God spared not His Son… I jump ahead.

Genesis 22:13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind [him was] a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said [to] this day, "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided." 15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only [son]—

At the altar a fresh revelation of God came!  Jehovah Yireh; the Lord Will Provide!  What a revelation God has provided for Himself a sacrifice.  God swore an oath by all that God was and is!

Genesis 22:17 "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which [is] on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Abraham heard the word of blessing and he went in dwelt at Beersheba.  Beersheba means a well of oath; Abraham lived in such a way that he would be reminded of the promises of God.

John 3:15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The God of oath, the covenant keeper, spared not His Own Son so we could come to eternal life.  He who has the Son has life.  Abraham giving his son was but a shadow and a pattern that is fulfilled in what God the Father has done with the sacrifice of His Own!  Hallelujah what a Savior.

James 2:23 NKJV - And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.

Building an altar was Abraham’s lifestyle.  He believed God and lived by what he believed.  Abraham was the friend of God.

Jesus is the faithful God

God is good all the time!

Building an Altar of Worship- Lesson 1 Noah Built an Altar

Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every intent of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.  6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."  8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  From Adam and Eve’s disobedience came great chaos.  The enemy’s scheme was to contaminate the seed which God had prophesied would crush his head.  God stepped in to destroy the wickedness.  There was a man however who had found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Genesis 6:13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 "Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 "And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 "You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it [with] lower, second, and third [decks]. 17 "And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which [is] the breath of life; everything that [is] on the earth shall die. 18 "But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark--you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ... 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

What a word Noah heard from God.  Build the ark!  “But I will establish My covenant with you.”  Noah did what God commanded him.

2 Peter 2: 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast [them] down to hell and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, [one of] eight [people], a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned [them] to destruction, making [them] an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot, [who was] oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented [his] righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing [their] lawless deeds)-- 9 [then] the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

We learn from this passage that Noah was a preacher of righteousness.  Imagine preaching righteousness for 100 years and never having a convert save your own family.  God delivered Noah out of great wickedness; He delivered Lot out of great filthiness.  My friend, God knows how to deliver you!

Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen [that] you [are] righteous before Me in this generation. 2 "You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that [are] unclean, a male and his female; 3 "also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. 4 "For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made." 5 And Noah did according to all that the LORD commanded him. 6 Noah [was] six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.

Noah again heard the voice of God and responded.  Before a single drop of rain came Noah and His family were in the ark.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [Him], for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and [that] He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Noah became the heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.  Noah heard the word, believed the word and responded to the word.

Genesis 7:12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark-- 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which [is] the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in. 17 Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

Noah and his family get on the ark, it begins to rain.  The ground beneath breaks forth and the rain above pours out.  The ark is lifted and the rain and the floods continue for 40 days.

Luke 17:26 "And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 "They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Noah's life and times have become a prophetic utterance.  The times we live in echo the violent times Noah lived in before the flood.  Clearly, Jesus declares it is a sign of the time of the end.

1 Peter 3:20 NKJV - 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while [the] ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

When the world is so wicked why does God put off His returning?  It is called the divine longsuffering of the Lord.  It is God’s heart for all men to be saved.  What if our heart gets in line with the heart of God, longing for an end time harvest of souls for the kingdom of God?

Genesis 8:15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that [is] with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, [and] whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 22 "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease."

Noah built an altar of worship to the Lord!  It is the first mention in scriptures of an altar.  Noah came through and he recognized it was God’s hand that brought him through and he worshipped God.  From the clean animals he offered an offering on the altar of worship.  God received Noah's worship!  Whenever men have worshipped the true and living God it has always moved the heart of God and He responds to the worshipper.  The altar speaks of relationship with God!

Genesis 9:8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 "and with every living creature that [is] with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said: "This [is] the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations: 13 "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

After the altar of worship, God spoke with words of covenant!  At the altar we learn God is a covenant maker and a great covenant keeper!  At the altar we learn God longs for relationship with man.  Let the altar turn your heart and attentions to the God of hope and truth.  The rainbow stands as a sign that God does not and will not lie!  God’s purpose for the rainbow still stands even though some groups have tried to repurpose the meaning.  God’s word is the word that is above all else; God is the great promise keeper!

Jesus is the faithful God

God is good all the time!