Genesis 3:15, 22:13

 

There is a perfect sacrifice placed on an altar by a perfect priest.

Jesus is the perfect sacrifice

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. 

Jesus is the perfect priest

He was more than a priest. he was the great high priest.

Hebrews 4:14  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 

Jesus willing built the altar

1 John 10:17-18 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” 

Building a physical altar is not difficult but willing laying your life at the altar is. The main reason is that the sacrifice is a living one. The living one has a choice. So when given a choice, most people choose to come down from the altar. But Jesus’ attitude is ‘not my will but yours be done’.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

Fires of Revival

G                          C                           G

I came into the gathering of the people of the Lord

            C                        D                                G   D

And found my way among them to His Throne

      G                  C                          G

I needed to return unto the altar of my God

C                                   D                       G    G7

To renew again my covenant with Him

         C             D                Bm     Em

And there I built an altar to His Name

           C                                  A                  D

And realise that my life would never be the same

                         G                                 C

And then the fires of revival came sweeping

                       G

through my soul

          C                         D                          G

And I touch the Holy Presence of my God

                              C    D             G

Come build an altar unto the Lord

                  Em           A                         D

Return to worship and hear His Word

                         G                                C

And then the fires of revival will come sweeping

                         G

through your soul

 C                                         D                           G

And we’ll touch the Holy Presence of our God

G                             C                      G                   

I wanted to discover the first love we once had shared

C                          D                  G           D

Rekindling the fire deep within

G                                        C                            G

I found the lamp still flickering in the temple of my Lord

C                                 D                 G     G7

And pour a horn of oil unto the flame

Genesis 35, 27-28

35:1  Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”… Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel, because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 

When he was fleeing from his brother, Esau, the Lord gave him the Abrahamic covenant.  

28:10-17  Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place…  There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”…  He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” 

Jacob set his heart to remember this place. This is an awesome place where God reveal His reality and His presence. 

28:18-22  Early the next morning Jacob:a.  took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar andb.  poured oil on top of it. c. called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.d.  made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.” 

Jacob made a covenant with God that if what God promised him will come true, then truly will Jacob wholeheartedly follow his Lord. Reflection:

·        God indeed is faithful to Jacob.

·        Jacob remembered God’s faithfulness.

·        When Jacob built an altar at Bethel, sweet memories of God’s help and hope came bubbling in his mind.

·        Are there any Bethels you need to go back to and remember God’s faithfulness

·       Are you grateful for what has done for you?

·       Come, build an Altar of Grateful Memory!

Genesis 33

I received the firstborn blessing from my father under the instruction of my mum. Esau was so angry that he wanted to kill me. After 20 years away from home, I was uncertain whether Esau still harbor anger against me. The nearer I approached my father’s land, the weaker my knees become.

But I met the angel of the Lord. He blessed me and changed my name. Even though I felt weak, but I gave all I have to contend with him. After he gave me a new name, Israel, I somehow felt different. I was more ready to meet my brother.

I simply moved in faith in daring to approach my brother. However, when I saw him coming with 400 men, my body seemed to immediately grow weaker. I now learn to compensate my weak body with a stronger faith in Elohim.

Praise God! I cannot imagine Esau kissing me. It must be God, when I am weak He is strong. I must build Him an altar to remember His might.

I shall call this altar El Elohe Israel (Mighty is the God of Israel).

Reflection:

·        Are you feeling as weak as Jacob?

·        Join me in wrestling with God?

·        As you wrestle, share with him your weaknesses and ask Him to strengthen you.

·       You will be strong if you learn to build an Altar of Might!

Genesis 26

Favor in Crop Planting

12-13 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 

Favor in Flock Rearing

14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 

Favor in Well Digging

15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. 

Don’t worry, the Lord’s favor was upon Isaac, he needed only to reopen Abraham’s wells. 

18-19 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 

20  But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 

Will the favor of God be upon Isaac so that he could find another well where no one will quarrel with his herdmen?

21  Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 

Has the Lord’s favor left Isaac?

22  He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” 

No, the Lord’s favor was upon him.

Favor from Potential Enemy

16-17  Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.” So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 

This time round, it was a different opposition. Not just some herdsmen, it was the king of the Philistines. MOVE AWAY! MOVE AWAY! MOVE AWAY!

26-29  Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’–between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the LORD.” 

HERE I COME! HERE I COME! HERE I COME! What a drastic change in the attitude of Abimelech. From being hostile to courting the favor of Isaac. What happens between these 2 attitudes?

Favor from God

24-25 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. 

Reflection:

·        If I found favor in planting crops and rearing flocks, praise the Lord.

·        If I meet opposition in digging wells, press in until I find favor.

·        If I meet great opposition in Abimelech, I shall not give up hope. I shall build an altar to claim my hope and my future. Favor will surely come.

·        Let us build an Altar of Favor!

 

Genesis 22

My father Terah was a wealthy man in Ur of the Chaldeans. We left our land of comfort to Haran. I surrender my comfort.

In Haran, the Lord blessed us tremendously and we accumulated more, more, more…  But God told me that Haran was not for me, Canaan is. I’m now 75 years old, should I go to Canaan? Yes, I will surrender the present that can be seen in order to claim the future that is now unseen.

When Lot’s herdsmen quarreled with mine, I surrendered the first choice as the elder and let Lot choose his land first.

Two days ago, the Lord told me to sacrifice my only son, Isaac at Moriah. It was a painful decision. However, in Him alone will I trust and obey, for to me there is no other way. I surrender my destiny; the promised son who will birth forth a great nation.

Yesterday was a day of inner tension and turmoil, but I journeyed on.

Today, when I Isaac asked me “The fire and wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Though my heart was in pain but with a surge of faith I told him, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” I’m asking for a miracle from God.

But there was no miracle. I built an Altar of Surrender and still there was no miracle of God providing a lamb. I tried to slowly arrange the wood to delay the process but there was no lamb in sight. I reached out my hand to pick up the knife and still no miracle. When I was about to slay my only son and SUDDENLY…

But the angel of the LORD called out to me from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” I replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” I looked up and there in a thicket I saw a ram caught by its horns. I went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of my son.

I suddenly realized that Moriah means “Yahweh provides”. The angel of the LORD called to me from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

Reflection:

·        Do you prefer to ‘withhold’ or ‘surrender’?

·        Are you willing to build an altar of surrender?

·        What are the most precious things you want to surrender?

·        May you know the Lord more at Moriah!

Genesis 12-13

Abram seemed to score a distinction in his geography exam when he traveled southward from Haran to the land of Canaan.

12:1-8  The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you…So Abram left… he set out from Haran… and they set out for the land of Canaan… Moreh at Shechem…The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” …From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east… 

The next moment, he forgot to revise his textbook called ‘Theo-Geog’ and failed the next exam badly.

12:9-20  Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe… 

 

However, his Divine Teacher guided him and he slowly got his act together.

13:1-4  So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev…From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai … 

Then came the next exam. Would Lot or Abram score better?
Lot didn’t do so well because he got his calculation wrong on the topic ‘land yield’.

13:5-11  …Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company. 

Not that Abram was that smart by sticking to ‘Theo-Geog’, it was because Lot had no clue about the content in ‘Theo-Geog’.

13:12-13  Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom… 

The Divine Teacher was patient; He took time to revise with Abram his geography.

13:14-17  The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” 

Abram finally discovered the mystery in ‘Theo-Geog’ and realized that he needed to be rooted in the land of Canaan. He had to put his full stake in a particular place to show his commitment.

13:18  So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD. 

Mamre at Hebron became the burial ground of Abraham’s wife Sarah, Abraham, Abraham’s daughter-in-law Rebekah, Abraham’s son Isaac, Abraham’s granddaughter-in-law Leah and Abraham’s grandson Jacob.

49:29-31  Then he (Jacob) gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite, along with the field. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. 

Reflection:

·        Have God spoken to you about the issue of rootedness?

·        Are you always unsatisfied and wanted to wander your own way?

·        You may be eating in Egypt and not starving in Canaan. Have God prompted your that you should not settle for something easy instead of persevering?

·        Are you a wanderer who is fearful of the word ‘commitment’?

·        Are you rooted in your G12 family, rooted in the Vision and rooted in your Pursuit of Destiny?