ALTARS

ALTARS
Abraham has been called the Altar Builder. He built at least three of them in his recorded life time.
The first one was in RESPONSE TO GOD WHO APPEARED TO HIM. He had left his father, Terah, in Haran, and was in the land of Canaan. We have no record of him ever seeing his father again, although Terah lived until after the birth of Isaac.
This was one of the many "SEPARATIONS" of the life of Abraham.
Genesis 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
The second recorded altar was built when Abraham called upon the Name of the Lord. It was a form of worship to God.
Genesis 12:8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, [having] Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Abraham found it good to return to his former places of worship, and again "call on the Name of the Lord."
Genesis 13:4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Abraham's last recorded altar became a "life altering altar". His life would never be the same again.
Genesis 22:9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
Abraham was in deep trauma as he built this last altar. God had asked for what he valued most dearly-- Isaac, his only son by Sarah. He was the "Son of Promise."
God had put him to an acid test of obedience, and though bleeding emotionally, Abraham had passed the test.
He was about to hear God's "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not witheld..."
At no time did God promise to shield us from difficult situations and hard choices. In fact, He initiates most of them in order to assist us in our maturing process. We naively blame the devil for them.
Richard Reneau tells us that we do not use altars of earth and stone now, because we have Jesus Christ. But he says that we do figuratively build them and use them in our walk today.
OLD TESTAMENT ALTARS WERE SHADOWS OF NEW TESTAMENT REALITY.
There are crises in our lives which need to be brought to our "altars" like our fathers did theirs. There are disappointments and painful and confusing experiences. We can, and should, make "altars" out of the "dirt-y" things which beset us.
Exodus 20:24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
We should also make "altars" out of the hard things (stones) of our lives.
Exodus 20:25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
Don't try to "shape" things with tools. (counselling) Bring them just like they are. Bro. Reneau says that if we don't turn the dirt and stones (hard things) into altars, they will turn us into stone.
They left the altar where they made the sacrifice-- they went on.
We lay our burdens-- dirt and hard things, before Him. Then we walk away from them-- before bitterness and hardness sets in.
It is not easy to build altars. We carry dirt and hard things until we wear ourselves out before we make them into altars-- and go on.
Small, frequent altars diminish the need for large ones.
Take the cross daily-- keep them small.
Accumulated dirt and hard things can become traumatic, and leave us, like Jacob, with a lifetime limp.