In the Bible, an altar is a sacred structure used for worship and sacrifice, symbolizing a place where humans meet God. It serves as a site for offerings, prayer, and communion with the divine, representing a covenant between God and His people.
Scripture
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike down every living creature as I have done.
22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.
Meaning of Altar in the Bible
The concept of an altar in the Bible transcends its physical structure, epitomizing a profound connection between humanity and the divine. Altars are often seen as sacred spaces where believers present their offerings and sacrifices, both literally and spiritually, reflecting their devotion and reverence. In Genesis 8:20, Noah builds an altar to the Lord after the flood, marking a moment of thanksgiving and a renewal of the covenant with God. Similarly, Exodus 20:24 instructs the Israelites to make altars of earth or stone, emphasizing their role as places of worship and reminders of God’s faithfulness and presence among His people.
Moreover, the altar symbolizes the idea of atonement and reconciliation. In Leviticus 16:30, the Day of Atonement involves sacrifices on the altar that provide a means for the people to atone for their sins and restore their relationship with God. This sacrificial aspect foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who in Hebrews 13:10 is referred to as the true altar, enabling believers to access God through His sacrifice. Thus, altars embody not only the tradition of worship but also the ongoing narrative of redemption and closeness to God, underscoring their critical role in the spiritual life of individuals and the community of faith throughout the scriptures.
Continuing the exploration of altars in biblical texts, the altar serves as a powerful symbol of covenant and promise, often built in response to divine encounters. For instance, in Genesis 12:7, Abraham constructs an altar upon receiving God’s promise of land and descendants. This act signifies his faith and obedience, establishing a physical manifestation of his relationship with God and a place to commemorate divine revelations. Such altars serve as landmarks in the spiritual journey, reminding generations of God’s unwavering commitment to His people.
In addition to marking pivotal moments of divine interaction, altars also represent communal worship and intercession. In 1 Kings 18, the Prophet Elijah repairs the altar of the Lord on Mount Carmel to challenge the prophets of Baal, ultimately demonstrating God’s sovereignty. This act brings the community together in a renewed dedication to worship the one true God, highlighting the role of the altar as a rallying point for faith and collective supplication. Throughout the Scriptures, altars are not merely geographic markers; they encapsulate the essence of worship, communal identity, and the ongoing dialogue between God and humanity, serving as a testament to faith throughout the generations.
Symbol of Sacrifice and Atonement
In the biblical context, the altar serves as a powerful symbol of sacrifice and atonement. It is a place where offerings are made to God, representing the need for reconciliation between humanity and the divine. The act of sacrifice on the altar signifies the acknowledgment of sin and the desire for forgiveness, illustrating the fundamental principle of atonement that runs throughout the scriptures.
A Space for Worship and Encounter
The altar also represents a sacred space for worship and encounter with God. It is where individuals and communities come together to express their devotion, seek guidance, and experience the presence of the divine. This aspect of the altar emphasizes the relational nature of faith, highlighting the importance of communal worship and personal connection with God.
A Foreshadowing of Christ’s Sacrifice
In Christian theology, the altar is often seen as a foreshadowing of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifices made on the altar in the Old Testament point towards the New Testament revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God. This understanding deepens the significance of the altar, transforming it into a symbol of hope and redemption, as it encapsulates the narrative of salvation history.
How to Embrace Sacrifice for a Deeper Faith
Embracing sacrifice as a pathway to a deeper faith can be both challenging and transformative. It often requires us to step outside our comfort zones, whether that means giving up our time to serve others, letting go of material possessions, or even enduring personal hardships for the sake of our beliefs. I’ve found that when we willingly make sacrifices, we create space for God to work in our lives, revealing His presence in ways we might not have noticed before. It’s in those moments of surrender that we learn to rely on Him more fully, deepening our trust and understanding of His love. Remember, Jesus Himself modeled this ultimate sacrifice, and by following His example, we not only grow closer to Him but also become vessels of His grace to those around us. So, as you consider what sacrifices you might make, pray for guidance and be open to the ways God might be calling you to step out in faith.
Bible References to the Meaning of Altar:
Genesis 12:7-8: 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
Exodus 20:24-26: 24 An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.
25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it.
26 And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’
Leviticus 1:1-9: 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.”
3 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
6 And he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces,
7 The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.
8 And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar;
9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
Leviticus 4:1-7: 1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them,
3 if it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer for the sin that he has committed a bull from the herd without blemish to the Lord for a sin offering.
4 He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord and lay his hand on the head of the bull and kill the bull before the Lord.
5 Then the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it into the tent of meeting,
6 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle part of the blood seven times before the Lord in front of the veil of the sanctuary.
7 And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before the Lord that is in the tent of meeting, and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus 6:8-13: 8 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.
10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar.
11 Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.
12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.
Leviticus 16:11-19: 11 “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil
13 and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.
14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.”
16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.
17 There shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.
18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.
19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 27:4-8: 4 So when you have crossed over the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, concerning which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.
5 And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. You shall wield no iron tool on them;
6 You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.
7 And you shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God.
8 And you shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”
Joshua 8:30-31: 30 At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,
31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings.
Judges 6:24-26: 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace.
25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it.
26 And build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.”
1 Kings 18:30-39: 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.
31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,”
32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord.
33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
34 And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
2 Chronicles 4:1-6: 1 He made an altar of bronze, twenty cubits long and twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.
2 And he cast a round molding, half a cubit high, around the top of it.
3 Now figures like oxen were under it, and all around it. And the second row of oxen was below the first row.
4 He also made a sea of cast metal ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
5 It was a handbreadth thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily. It held 3,000 baths.
6 He also made ten basins in which to wash, and set five on the south side, and five on the north side, to rinse in them things for the burnt offering. They were made of cast metal.
Ezra 3:1-6: 3 When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem.
2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his fellow priests arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.
3 They set the altar in its place, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening.
4 And they kept the Feast of Booths, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required,
5 and after that the regular burnt offerings, the offerings at the new moon and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord.
6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
Isaiah 6:1-7: 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Ezekiel 43:13-27: 13 And these are the measurements of the altar by cubits (the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth): its base shall be one cubit high and one cubit broad, with a rim of one span around its edge. And this shall be the height of the altar:
14 And from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, two cubits, with a breadth of one cubit; and from the smaller ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits, with a breadth of one cubit.
15 And the altar hearth shall be four cubits, and from the altar hearth shall project upwards four horns.
16 The altar hearth shall be square, twelve cubits long by twelve broad.
17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim all around it of half a cubit, and its base one cubit all around. Its steps shall face east.”
18 And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it,
19 You shall provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord daily; morning by morning you shall provide it.
20 You shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it.
21 you shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.
22 On the second day, you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull.
23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.
24 And you shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 Seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided.
26 Seven days shall they make atonement for the altar and cleanse it, and so consecrate it.
27 And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.”
Matthew 5:23-24: 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Luke 1:11-17: 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,
17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
Hebrews 13:10-16: 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.
12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Revelation 6:9-11: 9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Revelation 8:3-5: 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne,
4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Reverend Ogunlade is a seasoned Church Minister with over three decades of experience in guiding and nurturing congregations. With profound wisdom and a serene approach, Reverend Ogunlade has carried out various pastoral duties, including delivering uplifting sermons, conducting religious ceremonies, and offering sage counsel to individuals seeking spiritual guidance. Their commitment to fostering harmony and righteousness within their community is exemplified through their compassionate nature, making them a beloved and trusted figure among the congregation.