Altar:
The word altar is employed as a figure of speech for the Sacrifice or offering itself.
Matthew 23:20, “Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things theron.”
So, in a typical sense, it sometimes signifies Christ, the Sacrifice of atonement.
John 1:29, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
Hebrews 13:10, “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” The Christian church has its altar, not a material altar, but a personal one, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christianity and Judaism are so distinct that those who serve the (Jews) Tabernacle have no right to eat Christians’ spiritual food, speaking of the gospel.
They are the priests of Israel and all those who follow their guidance and instruction when serving the ceremonial ordinance. Contrast that with this humble worship of Christians. The writer of Hebrews said, “Those who serve the tabernacle,” not “Those who serve in the tabernacle.”
Our altar is the cross of Christ, upon which he offered his body. The Lord’s table represents this altar:
The cross, as the bread and wine, represents the Sacrifice offered on it.
Our food, which we by faith spiritually eat, is the flesh of Christ; in contrast to the typical ceremonial food offered in the temple.
Galatians 5:2, “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you be circumcised (show an external ritual one that symbolizes the law) Christ shall profit you nothing.”
Concerning the Lord’s supper, it is not a literal eating of the Sacrifice of Christ but a spiritual meaning.
Hebrews 13:9-10, “Be not carried about with divers (various) and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with foods, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.”
Verse 11, “For the bodies of the sacrificed animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.”
Verse 12, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”
Verse 13, “Let us go forth therefore unto him (Christ) outside the camp, bearing his reproach.”
Verse 14, “For we (Christians) have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”
Verse 15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
There were from Moses to Christ, two altars used in the service of the Jewish temple; one outside, this being the altar of burnt-offering, upon which the offerings of atonement were made for the people; the other, within the temple, upon which the incense was offered.
In both, the typical signification is the same, but it is through Christ crucified alone, himself the altar, himself the Sacrifice. In this can we approach the Father; only through the Lord Jesus can we plead his merits and offer up praises and thanksgiving before the Father.
Revelation 8:3, “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”
And as it was in temple worship, the Sacrifice of atonement had to be made first before the incense could be offered, so likewise, in the services of God’s spiritual temple, the atoning influence of Christ’s Sacrifice must be received into the heart by faith before any offerings of the believer can to acceptable to him.
So, in a bad sense, the type applies to idol sacrifices and the mediatorial object of idol worship.
1 Corinthians 10:18-21, “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and the table of devils.”
The first Christians never acknowledged temples, material altars, mortal priests, or carnal sacrifices. The first Christians understood that an end had been put to altars, priests, and fleshly sacrifices, all fulfilled by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For anyone to have continued in the use of these things would be to deny, by their actions, what, in words, they professed to believe;
- That being that the Lord has fulfilled the mercy promised unto their fathers by the prophets; that he had visited and redeemed his people; that their Messiah had been cut off for the sins of others; and that he had, by his death,
- Finished transgression and made an end of all sin-offerings:
Psalms 40:6-8, David wrote, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Verse 8, “I delight to do thy will, my God: yea, the law is within my heart.”
- Made reconciliation for iniquity:
Isaiah 53:4-12, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Verse 12, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”
- Brought in everlasting righteousness:
Daniel 9:24-25, “Seventy weeks (490 Years) are determined upon thy (Daniel’s) people and upon the holy city (Jerusalem), to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks (483 Years): the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”
Seven years remain for this prophecy to be finished.
Since the days of the apostles, the use of altars has been resumed in places in Synagogues and Churches worldwide, supposedly but not appropriated for worship. Still, these things did not occur until Christianity became corrupted from Christ’s original simplicity of worship, and men began to forsake the form of sound words and mingle their inventions with the doctrines and precepts of the apostles.
Once the minds of men and women had become darkened by the nature and importance of the memorial of the Lord’s death, they began to consider it in the light of a sacrifice.
Therefore, the necessity of altars on which to offer these sacrifices and that of officiating priests became a necessary consequence; thus, these shadows revived in many denominational churches.
But these things belong to the corruptions of Christianity and are easily understood by such as,
Revelation 2:7, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;”
Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com