Today I would like us to start and
have a look at the utensils that God ordained to be around the
Temple as well as inside the Temple. We will start in the outer
court, and then move to the Holy Place and then of course to the
Most Holy Place.
Now the first thing of note in the
outer court was the altar for burning sacrifices. The altar was
made of bronze and used to sacrifice all the animals on that were
brought by the people as stipulated in the Law of Moses.
The color bronze has a number of
meanings in the Bible. One of them is the righteous judgment of God
against sin. And this is clear to see with the bronze altar. But
the other wonderful meaning of the color bronze is redemption.
Therefore bronze can refer to a word of grace and redemption from
the Lord. Isn't it wonderful to see? At the altar God judges sin,
but also at the altar there is salvation and deliverance. Why?
Because Jesus was sacrificed for us as the Lamb on the altar. And
therefore it is liberating for us to come to the altar often.
At the altar we can stand with
confidence, knowing that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for us.
He is the one leading us unto new heights. Because of Him we can
come close to the 'Temple' without feeling condemned. We can come
close and stand in His presence without being reminded of our sins.
We can stand there KNOWING that all is forgiven. He took our place,
we don't need to sacrifice anymore, we simply need to come to Him
and draw closer to Him in the Most Holy Place as we've seen last
week.
Now even though we don't need to
sacrifice anything anymore, I would like us to just dig a little
deeper. There is symbolically so much for us to learn. So as I
contemplated the altar, the Lord placed on my heart that even
though we don't need to actively sacrifice our sin offerings
anymore, He wants us to come and sacrifice our idols to Him. At
first I was surprised as I don't see Christians as having idols
anymore. But God revealed to me that we do, we might not perceive
it as such.
For some it might be exercising.
Even though exercising is very good for you, once you are consumed
by it, when it takes most of your free time and you cannot live
without it, you might need to take a second look at it. For others
their work might become their idol, and for others their children
might even be their idols. Thriving on and receiving your
self-worth from recognition might be an idol, your friends might
even be an idol for you. And yes, even work performed for the Lord
might become an idol to you, like the Pharisees. I have always
looked with contempt at the Pharisees as I read what they have done
and how they became so proud in their positions, until God showed
me that some things that I was doing for Him was not far from what
they were doing. And He was right. I had to let so many things go.
But it truly set me free.
Ask God this week to show you what
your idol might be. He will gladly show you. And then go to the
altar and sacrifice it there. Let it be burned to ashes and leave
it there. It is liberating and will truly free you. Idols keep you
earthbound, but God wants you soaring high above like the eagles.
He wants you to be close to Him and to live within reach of His
heartbeat for you. But the idols can drag you down. Rather let it
go and fly high above it all, liberated and free.
Father we do have idols in our
lives and we didn't even realize it. Thank you so much that You
reminded us of this fact again. We are so sorry and today we
sacrifice it to You, once and for all. We know this sacrifice
doesn't save us, but it sets us free to be able to live the life
that You destined for us. We look forward to living within Your
best for us! Hallelujah! In Jesus' Name. Amen