The Bronze Altar
Tabernacle 2.
Turn to: [Exodus 27:1-8 “And you shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. “You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. “You shall make its pails for removing its ashes, and its shovels and its basins and its forks and its fire-pans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze. “You shall make for it a grating of network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. “You shall put it beneath, under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar. “You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. “Its poles shall be inserted into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. “You shall make it hollow with planks; as it was shown to you in the mountain, so they shall make it.] – bronze, bronze, bronze! An altar made of bronze.
Man seeking God found entrance to where God dwelt Last time I started looking at the tabernacle [P] – God’s dwelling place among men. Last time we met a hypothetical Israelite, a man with a yearning after God – he sought to get to the place where יְהוָה dwelt [P]. That’s my prayer, as we look at that tabernacle, that we will show that yearning after God [P] – journey on to get closer to God. This Israelite was confronted with the unassailable barrier of יְהוָה’s perfect righteousness [P]. But found a gate [P] – Jesus: God, man, righteous.
Christian sanctuaries So he enters the place where God is! - The sanctuary. We come to a place to meet with God – the sanctuary. Ours here is rather plain but great cathedrals have been built [P], there are also small churches, stained glass, quiet places of stillness and contemplation where you can meditate upon God – a sanctuary from the hussle and bustle to be with God. More recently they have become loud places like concert auditoriums. They are places of passivity, sit and contemplate God – holy, reverent and still.
Difference in tabernacle: smell, activity, blood, death. It is all very different to the place our Israelite found when he went through the gate [P]. No seats! What did he find? Before he saw anything, the smell would assault his nostrils! [Smell Islington freezing works at school]. Because the first thing he encountered through the gate was the bronze altar [P]. How different to church! – No quiet, reverential cathedral but bleating of sheep, the stench of burning fat, flesh and skin. No minster in a fine suit or dog-collar but a priest spattered with blood. Blood poured on the ground, blood sprinkled against the altar. You are in the desert in 40 degree heat; there are dead animals and blood – flies! It hits you! Busy, active! [P] This is no quiet place of contemplation [P] – it is a slaughter house! [P] The thing that strikes you is that this is a place of DEATH! [P]You don’t come to הוהי without blood being shed - without a sacrifice [P]. We’ve lost sight of that – eat meat, comes from the supermarket, we haven’t butchered it, seen it die.
Cross: place of death, sanitized instead of brutal How far removed from our places of worship, our concept of worship. We have made everything respectable and refined, clean and clinical. Yet a death is central to our faith – the cross! [1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,] Yes, we acknowledge the cross, it is central. Often we have one outside a church, sculptured in metal, chrome plated, bronze [P] or inside, prominently displayed [P].We even have gold ones on a chain and wear them around our necks [P]. But the cross was the place of death – ugly and cruel [P]. The place of slaughter, the place of death the place of sacrifice!
Sacrifice – costs, bring something to offer Sacrifice is ugly, we shy away from it, sanitize it. We have a religion that is reluctant to make demands, to speak of personal sacrifice, that is required to “take up your cross and follow Me.” The altar was the place of sacrifice [P]. You come to יְהוָה, you couldn’t come empty handed – you brought an offering [John’s message on worship: Mary anointing with costly perfume, widow’s mite, David at Arunah] [Exodus 34:20 You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.]. Jesus paid a great price and although salvation is free discipleship costs everything – “Lord we’ve left all to follow You!” And our salvation cost Jesus everything!
Altar – judgement – Korah’s rebellion The altar was made of bronze – remember this list of symbols [P] – bronze [P] speaks of judgement – the place of judgement on man’s rebellion. You see this in an incident that occurred in the wilderness: [Numbers 16:1-40 Now Korah, with Dathan and Abiram, took action; and they rose up before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and יְהוָה is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of יְהוָה?”] They rebelled against יְהוָה’s appointed leadership. What was Moses’ reaction: [When Moses heard this, he fell on his face; and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning יְהוָה will show who is His, and who is holy, and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. “Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and all your company, and put fire in them, and lay incense upon them in the presence of יְהוָה tomorrow; and the man whom יְהוָה chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!”] So there was to be a show-down – יְהוָה was going to vindicate His chosen priesthood, show who was the ones that He had chosen. [Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company be present before יְהוָה tomorrow, both you and they along with Aaron. “Each of you take his firepan and put incense on it, and each of you bring his censer before יְהוָה, two hundred and fifty firepans; also you and Aaron shall each bring his firepan.” So they each took his own censer and put fire on it, and laid incense on it; and they stood at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of יְהוָה appeared to all the congregation. Then יְהוָה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” But they fell on their faces and said, “O God, God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation?” Then יְהוָה spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’ ”] Separate yourself from rebellion or you will be consumed! Judgement was about to fall! [Then Moses arose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him, and he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart now from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing that belongs to them, or you will be swept away in all their sin.” So they got back from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents, along with their wives and their sons and their little ones.] Judgement separates the evil from the righteous. [Moses said, “By this you shall know that יְהוָה has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. “If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then יְהוָה has not sent me. “But if יְהוָה brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned יְהוָה.” As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, “The earth may swallow us up!” Fire also came forth from יְהוָה and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense!] The fire of judgement! יְהוָה’s judgement is a fearful and awesome thing! Now here is the thing I want to draw attention to in this incident: [Then יְהוָה spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad. “As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, (we all do that!) let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before יְהוָה and they are holy; and they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel.” So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which the men who were burned had offered, and they hammered them out as a plating for the altar, as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before יְהוָה; so that he will not become like Korah and his company—just as יְהוָה spoken to him through Moses.] The rebellious cannot come near or judgement will consume them! יְהוָה is holy! Punishment was exacted. The altar was the place where judgement on man’s rebellion to place and the punishment for it was exacted. The bronze was a sign – a reminder of the judgement of יְהוָה on rebellion. The bronze altar reminded of the judgement of יְהוָה. Rebellion required death. But instead of the rebel dying an animal did – substitutionary sacrifice. The sinner place his hands on the animal, identified with it. His sin was placed on the animal. This animal’s death was the death he deserved, the punishment he should have borne. He was relying on the animal dying in his place. This was the sin offering. We read that the bronze altar was made of acacia wood [P] – this speaks of man, humanity. There was a man who became the sin offering – Jesus Christ. [2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.] יְהוָה gave instructions to make an altar, a place of substitutionary sacrifice – Jesus died taking the penalty of our rebellion instead of us – here are the instructions: [Exodus 20:24-26 ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. – nothing of human effort and design – ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’] – no flesh was to be exposed. Nothing our efforts, nothing of the flesh – the sacrifice is totally of God, not of our works – we must rely on the sufficiency of what Jesus has done for us and not in our own works and efforts. You must depend on the sacrifice of another in your place – righteousness comes by faith in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and His burial and resurrection from the dead – depending on what He the Righteous One has done on your behalf.
Offerings: Various offerings were made on the bronze altar [P] – this is a series in itself but I’ll give a brief overview:
Sin – [P] a sinner couldn’t come before God. Atonement had to be made, made at one with God. The sin offering was atonement. Last time I said that the tabernacle pictured Jesus, Christ fulfilled every aspect of each of these offerings on the bronze altar. He was the perfect and only offering for sin. [2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.]
Guilt – [P] Not only must our sin be paid for but also the taint it leaves be removed, our guilt taken away. The guilt offering was restoration. Jesus Christ was our guilt offering [Colossians 2:13-14 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.]
Burnt – [P] the burnt offering was offered twice daily and was burnt in its entirety, picturing a total giving of oneself, total dedication. The burnt offering is complete consecration of yourself to God. Christ is the perfect burnt offering – gave Himself completely, holding nothing back. [Ephesians 5:2 Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.]
Grain – [P] was an offering that was not of blood and was always offered in association with the burnt offering – it was the only offering that was the fruit of your own labour – it represents what we do for God, service, a consecration of our gifts. It can only be offered once sin has been dealt with by a work not our own, and is only acceptable when we are wholly consecrated to God. Christ was the perfect grain offering [John 12:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.]
Peace – [P] Sometimes called the fellowship offering. Once sin and guilt have been removed we become God’s in complete devotion and dedication and service. There is no more barrier, no more enmity, we have peace with God, fellowship has been restored [Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,] The peace offering is reconciliation. [Colossians 1:20-22 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven — And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—]. Christ was our peace offering [Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,].
Christ the sacrificial Lamb – So we have come to the bronze altar, the place of judgement, yet there we find atonement, restoration, reconciliation, fellowship restored with God. I have said that Scripture speaks of Jesus the Messiah, that Jesus is pictured in the Tabernacle – He is the perfect Sacrifice, the fulfilment of all that was offered on the bronze altar [P]. Do you know that the greatest prophet born of women performed no miracle or sign – what made him so great? What was his great revelation, the message he received from יְהוָה? [John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!] [P] Do you yearn to be near God? – The barrier of perfect righteousness prevents you, you are contaminated with sin and are a rebel. A lamb is required to be sacrificed in your place. Here it is at last! The blood of bulls and goats cannot really remove sin, but the sacrifice of this Lamb can! Hallelujah! [P] [Isaiah 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; - that is rebellion – but יְהוָה has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Isaiah 53:11-12 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many,(make them righteous) as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.] Through His death on our behalf our sin is paid for, our guilt is removed, in perfect and complete dedication to God He has made peace with God, brought us into fellowship. How great are His deeds! How wonderful is the Lamb that was slain! Hallelujah! [Revelation 5:9-10 “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.” And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and dominion forever and ever!”].