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The Better Altar

Sunday, May 15, 2022
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

I.          The Bronze Altar [vv1-8]
II.        The Bloody Altar [Heb 9:22
III.       The Better Altar [Heb 9:26]

I.         The Bronze Altar [vv1-8]
1 You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. 2 And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 You shall make pots for it to receive its ashes, and shovels and basins and forks and fire pans. You shall make all its utensils of bronze. 4 You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 And you shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net extends halfway down the altar. 6 And you shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8 You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.

What was this altar of bronze for? Why did it exist? What was its purpose located there outside the actual tent?

This earthly tabernacle was a powerful and vivid reminder to the Israelites of their depravity and God’s holiness --- that no one can see God and live.

Is 66:1 Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.

16 For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework. It shall have four pillars and with them four bases.

Those of the earth, those of the courtyard, those of “bronze”, their access to God was very limited. The tabernacle restrictions were intended to teach ancient Israel the great spiritual truths of their sin and God’s holiness.

Eph 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.

II.        The Bloody Altar [Heb 9:22]
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Ps 100:4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!

Ps 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

Do you believe it’s better in this courtyard, this place, together on the Lord’s Day to worship and fellowship than a thousand elsewhere? And is God’s salvation and forgiveness and the gospel of Jesus Christ the foundation for why we come and celebrate? This is why it is better to be at church, in the church, with the church than anywhere else in the world.

You need to be at peace with God before you have the peace of God.

Heb 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Has your sin been atoned for? Have you had your offenses against God forgiven? This is why you need Christ. The apostle Paul wrote in Rom 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness.

III.      The Better Altar [Heb 9:26]
26 [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

Lev 6:12-13 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

Heb 9:26 [Jesus] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

John Owen: “The altar which we now have is Christ alone and his sacrifice. For he was priest, altar, and sacrifice…all in himself.”