Monday, December 7, 2009

What Happens at the Altar, Happens at the Cross

What perks you up? I perk up with the aroma of freshly brewed Café Bello coffee (or Café Madre Isla, when Café Bello is not available) made from Arabica beans grown in the mountains of Ajuntas, Puerto Rico, especially when it is served with the warmed frothed milk separated on top. Know what else perks me up? When I hear reference to the tabernacle in, well, anything!

Sometimes when I am doing mindless tasks at work, I plug in the Shure earphones and listen to Bible reading, SermonAudio, or music. Today, I was listening to one of my ‘contemporary’ Christian stations on Pandora and I hear lyrics referencing the brazen altar, the court, the holy place! Tabernacle worship in a contemporary song…Whoa, whoa, whoa, as my 14 month old granddaughter would say.

According to Pandora 16,398 people (besides me) listen to the artist Kutless.

Here are the lyrics their song, Take Me In.

Take me past the outer courts into the holy place
Past the brazen altar, Lord, I want to see Your face
Pass me by the crowds of people, the Priest who sing Your praise
I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness but it's only found one place

Take me in to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the Lamb
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take the coal, touch my lips, here I am


That is the entire song. They just sing the same thing over and over again. What ever happened to great hymns with 19 verses? Like the one I want sung at my funeral?... http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/a/sandtime.htm . I digress.

Take me past… the brazen altar, Lord, I want to see Your face

I think I know what the song writer is saying. He doesn’t want to waste anytime to get to Jesus who is sitting within the veil at the right hand of Majesty on High (in the Holy of Holies). Hold on young whipper-snapper! If you really want to see Jesus, don’t rush too quickly past the brazen altar! Stop and consider what happens at that altar.

The brazen altar is better known as the altar of burnt offering. In fact, it is referred to as the altar of burnt offering about 2 dozen times in the Old Testament.

The burnt offering could be studied on different levels. The main level, perhaps, is that the offering is a type of Jesus. Let’s do a little comparison (the requirements for the burnt offering are found in Leviticus chapters 1 and 6).

The burnt offering was not compulsory like the sin and trespass offerings, but voluntary.
Jesus voluntarily went to the cross (Phil 2:8).

With some variation, depending on the animal offered, the animal was examined inside and out, it had to be blemish-free.
Jesus was examined and found to be blemish-free (1 John 1:1-2).

The offerer (the sinner) laid his hand on the animal’s (the innocent) head, actually leaned on it. The sin of the guilty was symbolically transferred to the animal that was innocent.
Jesus (the innocent) bore our sins, He actually became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21).

The offerer slaughtered the animal (by the shedding of blood) and the priest sprinkled the blood. The slaughtered animal was accepted as an atonement for the sins of the offerer.
Jesus shed His blood (Heb. 12&13) and we believers are accepted (Eph. 1:6).

The animal was wholly consumed on the wood that was on the fire that was on the grate in the altar.
Jesus wholly did the will of His Father (Phil 2:8) even the blood-shedding death on the cross.

It was a sweet savour that burned continually before the Lord.
Jesus's sacrifice is a sweet smelling savour (Eph. 5:2).

Want to get to Jesus? Eger to get inside the veil, into the Holy of Holies? Don’t past the brazen altar in haste. Stop and take time to reflect and praise God for the cross. Because what happened at the altar, happened at the cross….

We will Jesus face to face, within the veil, soon enough….

Soon Thy saints shall all be gathered—
Inside the veil.
All with Thee—no more be scattered—
Inside the veil.
Nought from Thee, our hearts shall sever;
We shall see Thee; grieve Thee never;
"Praise the Lamb!" shall sound forever—
Inside the veil.
-- Elizabeth Dark