Exodus 20:22-26
September19, 2024
Laws About Altars
And the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the people of Israel: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and 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 me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’
To the best of my understanding, hewn stones were cut or dressed stones. They were to be the real thing, not cut or made by man. Do you recall Jesus as the stone the builder rejected? It is referred to in Mark 12:10-11, “Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” In Psalm 118:22-23, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.[ This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” If you read Isaiah 5, you see the cost to a nation that turns from God.
As a follower of Jesus, we are called Living stones, 1Peter 2:4-8, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So, the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. ”They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
That is the good news, but I must tell each of you the bad. Hell was not designed for humans, but for the devil and his angels, or demons. Jesus makes clear in John 3:-17-18, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” We are told to choose today who we will serve.
Please do as I often do, examine yourself, 2 Corinthians 13:5-6, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.”
From our Back Porch,
Bob Rice
No comments:
Post a Comment