Reflection: Altar Stones
Noah built…yes, the ark, but also the first altar recorded in the Bible. And after that there are more than 400 biblical references to them. But before that they were common in primitive pagan culture and they still are today. Most of us are fairly immune to the whole costly process going on around us. We’re too busy looking down. But in sacrifice it’s all about up: build up something like a pile of rocks, ideally up high, take something that’s precious and burn it up on that altar so the smoke rises. Hopefully the sweet smell of what you’ve given up will get the attention of/gain the approval of a higher power, and your future – what’s up ahead, will change for the better.
Noah built an altar because that’s what people did back then. It’s not like he needed to get God’s attention in this narrative. But his sweet-smelling sacrifice was worship that pleased God. There’s a lot of overlap in worship cultures. There was back in Noah’s day and there still is. And when God again fishes his special people out from a sea of pagans to genuinely worship him, the one-true God, he makes super clear what unique worship pleases him. Be distinctive in fidelity and faithfulness to me. Don’t slip into habits like the pagans around you. …Right down to the kind of stones that are stacked for building an altar: not bricks or rocks like pagans use but stones that haven’t been touched with tools. It’s that particular, and that’s why.
All those rigorous rules spelled out in Exodus foreshadowed a once-and-for-all sacrifice (Hebrews 7:27). Praise God, atonement through his precious Son put an end to altars!
Prayer:
The sacrificial system, fastidious as it was, is a reminder today of my freedom in you, Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for sweet salvation through your costly, shameful death. May my worship and walk be like a sweet smell to you. Give winsome courage to your world-wide church today to be as counter-cultural as you intend for your people in every generation.