Altar מִזְבֵּחַ

We are rolling into chapter twenty-seven of Exodus with our word for today. מִזְבֵּחַ altar. It is used 401 times in the Old Testament, six times in our chapter. Our word is used in the sense of a raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are made. Our word is used to describe the worship of false gods or idols. Deuteronomy 12:3 You shall tear down מִזְבּחֹתָ֗ם their altars ... You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. 2 Kings 21:3, 5 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected מִזְבְּחֹ֜ת altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them … And he built מִזְבְּח֖וֹת altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Our word is used most of the time as part of the worship to the true living, reality God, YHWH. We see Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, Saul, David, and Solomon all building altars to worship God (Genesis 8:20; Genesis 12:7-8; Genesis 35:1; Exodus 17:15; Joshua 8:3; Judges 6:24; 1 Samuel 7:17; 1 Samuel 14:35; 2 Samuel 24:25; 1 Kings 7:48). This is also how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 27:1-8 You shall make הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַthe altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits broad. הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַThe altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. And you shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze … And you shall set it under the ledge of הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַthe altar so that the net extends halfway down הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַthe altar. And you shall make poles for לַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. And the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles are on the two sides of הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ the altar when it is carried. We see blood associated with our word as part of the worship of the true God. Exodus 24:6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ the altar. Deuteronomy 12:27 Offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the מִזְבַּ֖ח altar of the Lord your God. We also see forgiveness of sin associated with our word as part of worship of the true God. Leviticus 4:34-35 The priest shall burn it on הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חָהthe altar ... the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. Leviticus 9:7 Draw near to הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people, and bring the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded. The great news is that Jesus came to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Because of Jesus blood we have this forgiveness of sins that these Old Testament sacrifices were foreshadowing. Hebrews 12:24 Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 13:10-12, 20 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 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. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood … Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant. I’ll close with this great passage. Psalm 43:4-5 Then I will go to the מִזְבַּ֬ח altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.