THE FIRE ON THE ALTAR

THE FIRE ON THE BRAZEN ALTAR

The Lord gave some definite instructions about the worship of Israel in Old Testament times.

While those instructions and customs are not, necessarily, binding upon us today, they serve as a pattern for our lives if we hope to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

It is possible to have had our sins forgiven, and be on the way to heaven, yet have many things in our lives which are not altogether pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. If we really want to please Him, we should take careful note of the statutes of the Old Testament, and order our lives accordingly, for it is in those statutes that we find the pattern for pleasing God.

Today I am thinking about the fire on the Brazen Altar, and how the statutes concerning it have an effect on our lives today if we are to be thoroughly pleasing in His eyes.

The first thing of note is that once the fire was started on the Altar of Sacrifice, it must never be allowed to burn itself out. It was a fire which was acceptable to God-- none other would do.

Leviticus 6:13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

What made this fire so special to the Lord was the fact that it came from Eternity. It was Eternal Fire, and was different from that which is kindled by man. The two fires may have looked the same, but they were different in that one was a Holy Fire-- the other was common fire. Common fire was not acceptable to the Lord. The programs of man will never please the Lord.

Leviticus 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: [which] when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

After having been started by the Hand of God, this Eternal fire was used to light the candlesticks in the Holy Place, and to burn the incense before the Lord. Nothing but this Eternal Fire was to be used in the worship of the Lord.

But, then, as now, there were always those who were eager to "push their luck" to see if the Lord really meant what He said. Their fate should be a lesson to any of us who want to do the work of the Lord in any official capacity.

Leviticus 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

If a man received a special anointing from the Lord for a special message to His people, we have one instance where his lips were touched with this Eternal Fire from the Altar of Sacrifice. Oh, how badly we need men and women with their lips anointed with that fire. It is a fire, not kindled by man -- an anointing given by God alone.

Isaiah 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

It is the solemn responsibility of men to keep that Eternal Fire burning in their souls-- daily. It must never be allowed to go out.