Embrace Worship: Altars

The phenomenon called Frequency Illusion happens when we become aware of something we hadn’t before, and ‘suddenly’ that thing appears frequently. Like when my husband started working for Hyundai and I started seeing Hyundai cars I’d never noticed before all the time. 

I’ve had that kind of experience with the word ‘altars’. I’m not completely unfamiliar with the term or the concept, but two years ago a worship band I love, Bristol House, came out with an entire album called Altars, which included a song entitled “Altars.” 

And I wondered…why altars? Which began my season of Frequency Illusion. I now hear and see ‘altars’ all.the.time. 

When Bristol House published a book of devotions to go along with their album, they offered an answer to my ‘why altars’ question: “Each song carries the DNA of a unique encounter between the songwriter and the triune God. We call these encounters ‘altar moments.’”¹ Lead singer Brenna Bullock describes it as “a way in which I place my heart with God.”¹ 

Altar moments. Encounters between us and God. My friends, we have landed on another facet of worship! But before we explore it further, let’s erect some scaffolding on which to build upon. Let’s begin where it all began!

Altars of the Old Covenant

In the Old Testament, altars are plentiful. Beginning with the altar Noah built after stepping off the ark (Genesis 8:20), we see altars constructed as a place to worship God. In the context of this ancient culture, worship looked like offerings and sacrifices laid out on an altar, very often signifying gratitude to God or a renewed covenant with God.²  In Noah’s case, it was both!

Altars were also built as markers, as memorials of encounters with God.³ When God appeared to Abram, promising to give his future family the land of Canaan, Abram marked that moment with an altar as a way to remember God’s faithfulness (Genesis 12:7).² In Beersheba, Isaac had a similar encounter with God, so he built an altar (Genesis 26:24–25). A generation later, God called Jacob to move back to Canaan, and there Jacob built an altar (Genesis 35:1-7). God kept renewing his covenant, and the patriarchs were faithful in their worshipful responses – at altars.

Once God handed down His law to Moses, altars became a formalized, ritualistic part of the Hebrew way of life. Tucked among all the instructions for the building and running of the tabernacle were detailed plans for two altars. One, the golden Altar of Incense, sat at the entrance to the Holy of Holies (more to come in a future post).

The second, the Bronze Altar, also known as the Altar of Burnt Offering, found its home in the courtyard of the tabernacle – a place more accessible by the general population. Its massive size and prominent location delivered the message that no one can approach the Lord without making a sacrifice for the atonement of sin.⁴ 

One sacrifice in particular happened every single day when two lambs were slain and fully burned – one in the morning, one in the evening. These ongoing sacrifices were not only acts of atonement, but “a means of expressing worship and devotion and a way to seek God’s favor.”⁵ These continual burnt offerings marked the people’s forever need of redemption and made the way for God to dwell among them (Exodus 29:38-43). 

Several books of the Old Testament describe all the occasions that required burnt offerings,⁶ but one thing that remained the same everyday was the fire; it was never extinguished (Leviticus 6:9,12,13). It burned perpetually as an awe-inspiring sign of God’s holy presence and as a reminder of the Israelites’ unending need of Him.⁷  

Altars of the New Covenant

Jesus was born into the Levitical, blood-spattering system of the Temple — brought into the world to change this centuries-old way of sacrificial offerings. John the Baptist demonstrated the truth of Jesus’ role when he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). 

But Jesus didn’t just pop onto the scene to make sweeping reforms out of the blue. God had spoken through prophets over the centuries to prepare His people for this coming shift, seismic as it was, telling them the Messiah would be led as a lamb to slaughter (Jeremiah 11:19; Isaiah 53:7). His life would be given as a sin offering – the ultimate atoning sacrifice (Isaiah 53:10). 

Interestingly, John the Baptist also set the stage for the way Jesus would baptize His followers – with Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16). And sure enough, the Holy Spirit blew into the disciples on the Day of Pentecost fully aflame (Acts 2:3). 

So. We have a Lamb and fire. Where, then, is the altar? The writer of Hebrews tells us we have an altar, and His name is Jesus Christ (13:10).

Though it remains true that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22), we no longer have to build altars so that the insufficient blood of animals can temporarily atone for our sin (vv.7-9). Instead, we come to our Altar, covered in His blood and filled with His fiery Spirit – and that’s it! His death covers all sin for all time – His holy life for the sin-death of each person on earth (v.14). 

Friends, Jesus is the Lamb and the altar!!

The Second Facet of Worship: Altars of Encounter

Because Jesus’ Spirit dwells within us, we’re not required to build altars in order to meet with God. However, we may still have ‘altars of encounter’ – those places of remembering, of marking a holy moment with God.

Encounter – a word that indicates a personal meeting with someone. In the Bible, Moses encountered God in a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6), and Saul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-5). Jacob met God in a dream and in a wrestling match (Genesis 28 and 32). The Samaritan woman spoke with Jesus at a well (John 4) – while Elijah experienced God in a whisper at the mouth of a cave (1 Kings 19). 

In other words, our ‘altars of encounters’ can be anywhere, anytime – and look differently each time. Such interaction with God might be “a physical encounter, a stirring of the heart, a revelation or a picture in the mind, a pricking of the conscience, or a deep sense of reverence—to name but a few examples.”⁷ 

But no matter how the Holy Spirit meets us, the moment will always be personal and meaningful, often a catalyst for change. In addition, each encounter invites us to deepen our relationship with our Creator – and into an ongoing, eternal experience of our Father whose love for us never ceases to burn bright.⁸ 

Just as the Patriarchs built altars to memorialize moments with God, we can too – because we still have a need of solid places to return to that serve as reminders of past encounters with God. They become…

• The sites we come back to in order to remember God – like the spot where we were baptized.
• The places where we meet with God everyday – like a prayer chair or back porch.
• The anchoring spaces we need in seasons of transition – like a childhood home.⁹ 

In all these ways, altars can mark encounters with God or invite us into them!  

Fear of God

When we have a sacred encounter with God, we are to claim it as an altar moment. And while Jesus may grab our attention in the most unexpected ways, encountering God most often begins with us coming to Him with hearts that choose Him (Joshua 24:15), with minds that ask for more faith (Revelation 21:6), with spirits that acknowledge our need for Him (Proverbs 3:6).¹ 

And with bodies that desire to worship Him (Psalm 86:12, 96:9).

I’m coming to understand and experience that when we come to God in these holy ways, we are approaching an altar full of reverence and awe – with what the Bible calls the fear of God. We are meeting God on His terms, not ours.¹⁰ We are entering into a sacred space that ushers us into a friendship with the Almighty – because we fear Him (Psalm 25:14). 

Jesus Himself tells us to “fear God” (Luke 12:5), but it’s not a worrisome fear like anxiety. Rather, it’s an inner trembling sourced by knowing the One who shows up in burning bushes that don’t burn up. “Fearing God” is acceptable worship because it’s motivated by reverent awe (Hebrews 12:28 NIV) – because we recognize God’s holy authority and His all-consuming presence that burns like fire (v.29).

Friends, we please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe (v.28 NLT), by coming to the altar He has set before us, “brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God” (v.28 MSG). And this fear of God leads us into more intimacy with Him, not less¹⁰ – because each encounter with the One-who-burns-with-a-cleansing-fire purifies us, enabling us to move into depths with Him we didn’t know were possible (vv.28-29 MSG). 

Whether we initiate moments with our Father by coming to the altar or He surprises us with His purifying, awe-inspiring presence, each encounter is holy. Whether we construct an altar as a place of remembering or encountering, it burns with righteousness. Whether we come to God in gratitude or desperation, we do so covered by the forever atoning blood of Christ. 

And we do so by placing our hearts with God.

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not very often considered our heart posture when we come to You. And we know that to please You, to come to You with acceptable worship, we must do so with reverent awe. Holy Spirit, teach us reverence. Inspire within us the holy fear of God that we see in Scripture so that we will meet God with our hearts and souls trembling in righteous reverence. Lord Jesus, we recognize that often the desperation that motivates us to come to You is actually for something of this world rather than You – and we want that to change. We want to be desperate for You. So in this moment, we come before You humbled and grateful. Lamb of God and our Holy Altar, we bow before You and repent. Covered in your blood, we arise knowing that we are made clean and whole. Thank You for becoming our full and final atoning sacrifice! Holy Spirit, continue to stoke the flames of faith within us so that we’ll thirst for more of God and live fully aware of our need for Him. Father God, we choose You – now and forever. And we ask that this holy friendship we are building with You deepens over time and with each encounter we have with You. In Jesus’ most holy name we pray, amen.
(inspired by Joshua 24:15; Revelation 21:6; Proverbs 3:6; Psalm 25:14; Hebrews 9 and 12:28-29)

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – Bristol House’s “Altars” Devotion
• 2 – This Biblehub.com article on Altars throughout the Bible.
• 3 – This GotQuestions article – “What Is An Altar?”
• 4 – This GotQuestions article on the Bronze (Brazen) Altar.
• 5 – Another Biblehub article, on the Bronze (Burnt Offering) Altar.
• 6 – A second GotQuestions article gives a general list of the required burnt offerings:
  • Every morning and evening (Exodus 29:38-42; Numbers 28:2)
  • Each Sabbath (Numbers 28:9-10)
  • The beginning of each month (Numbers 28:11)
  • At Passover (Numbers 28:19)
  • With the new grain/firstfruits offering at the Feast of Weeks (Numbers 28:27)
  • At the Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah (Numbers 29:1)
  • At the new moon (Numbers 29:6)
• 7 – Another GotQuestions article about the continuous fire of the Bronze Altar.
• 8 – This article about what an encounter of God means and looks like.
• 9 – Pastor Levi Lusko talked with Annie F. Downs a bit about building altars on episode 972 of her That Sounds Fun podcast.
• 10 – That Sounds Fun podcast episode #499 with Brooke Ligertwood 
• I’ve included both “Altars” and the “Altars Reprise” from the Bristol House album on our Embrace Worship Spotify playlist. When you read and listen to the lyrics you’ll hear SO MUCH of what we unpacked in this post — because, of course, they were writing from an altar moment encounter and with Hebrews 12:28-29 in mind. So. Good.
  
  Here’s my altar made for You
  In this moment I will choose You
  Let surrender be my song
  Lay aside the things I want for You
  It’s all for You
  You’re the One my heart burns for
  Full of faith I ask for more, for more
  Here’s my altar start a fire
  Fan the flame of my desire for You
  It’s all for You
  You’re the One my heart burns for
  Full of faith I ask for more, for more
  Holy fire come consume
  Nothing matters more than You
  If no one’s watching I still choose
  I still choose You
  I still choose You
  You’re the One my heart burns for
  Full of faith I ask for more, for more
• Each Wednesday I upload a “Teacup” teaching video that carries on the topic here. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Many of you have already found me on Substack! Thank you so much! While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective. AND…don’t forget if you’d rather listen to these weekly posts, you can now do so on Substack — it’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post.
• My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes of those who have subscribed on my website, and I post them on Substack — usually within the first week of the month. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. These next three months we’re focusing on the rhythm of worship (surprise!).

• Get your highlighters and tabs out — we’re marking Hebrews 12:28-29 in our Prayer Bibles! Each week this summer we’re marking significant passages about worship so that we can find them easily, put them to memory, and apply them in our abiding lives. These are words we can pray with a little personalization. They can also become words of reverence-filled worship. It’s also impactful to look these two verses up in multiple translations. Today I’ll use The Message as it expands the central ideas and gives us a few more words to help us engage more fully. May we slow down and savor each image, each word and phrase that invites us to worship God at the altar of encounter:
  • “Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!” –Hebrews 12:28-29 MSG
• We’re all called to share the truths about the work of Jesus. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. Believe it or not, we worship God each time we share our stories of faith! We use our whole selves to tell about our holy God!!

Featured Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Aleksandra Sapozhnikova on Unsplash.
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