Previously, in our Exodus study, we studied the construction of the Burnt Altar of the Wilderness Tabernacle.  Today we will consider the proper use of this altar.

God was giving Moses the instructions for the people on how to bring their sacrifices for this altar to the ancient priests.  He was instructing Moses to instruct the priest (Aaron and his sons) on how to properly minister at the Burnt Altar in the ways of God.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to our ongoing, chronological Thursday bible study called COME AS A CHILD.   If you missed last week’s lesson; you may review it here:https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/restitution-salvation/. Today we will be studying a passage from Leviticus; Chapter 6, which I have provided below:

LEVITICUS 6:1-13
The LORD said to Moses, “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar. Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to the place that is ceremonially clean. The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

THE HOLY FIRE FROM GOD

In the beginning of our study of the Exodus; we saw the fire from God in the example of the burning bush where Moses first met God.  The bush was constantly on fire; but it never burned up.  God was in the fire.  The fire burned perpetually.

At the Wilderness Tabernacle; the people were commanded to bring their sacrifices and the priest laid them before God on the burnt altar.  Fire came down from heaven and consumed their acceptable sacrifices.  That same fire from Heaven that landed on the altar was kept burning as a perpetual reminder of God’s presence among them.   The fire was never extinguished.  Every morning the priest added firewood to keep the fire burning.  No fire lit by man would be acceptable for the sacrifices of atonement.  Only the perfect fire which was originally lit from God and kept burning would work.  This same flame burned the whole time they were wondering through the wilderness, and it was kept going by God’s priest on up to the time of the building of the first Temple by Solomon.

The continuing flame on the fire was God telling us that He would always be with us and that He will continually forgive our sin.  Not just once, but with the proper sacrifice the forgiveness goes on and on forever.

So in these days where we live now; instead of bringing an animal sacrifice to be burned in the fire, a person believes in Christ as Messiah and asks that his perfect atoning blood cover their sins.  There is a holy fire from God that continuously feeds this process.  It is called The Holy Spirit.  The altar for atonement contains an unquenchable fire that never dies out.  The altar of God forgives our sins forever.  The fire of the altar of atonement is never extinguished.  God’s fire continues to cleanse us and makes us whole.  This whole process is fanned and fed by a fire from God.

THE FIRE OF ETERNAL LIFE

God’s fire?

Yes!

Have you not heard of the tongues of fire that descended from Heaven on the Day of Pentecost?  These flames are the fire of eternal life.  This happened long after the days of the Wilderness Tabernacle; but the fires of the burnt altar served as a shadow and type of God’s Holy Spirit.  This type of holy fire  brings the power of God that causes Resurrection.  It is the fire from God’s altar in heaven that never burns out.  This fire of the burnt altar is symbolic of  God’s Holy Spirit living within our bodies and souls that have been atoned by Christ who saves us and brings us to eternal life.

THE FIRE MUST HAVE FUEL TO KEEP GOING

Those priest of old had to continuously keep the wood for the fire.  Their work was never done.  The sacrifices were never enough.  Then Christ came; and Our High Priest  brought a more perfect gift of eternal fire from God that never burns out.  His work was complete.  Unlike those priest of old; Christ as The High Priest of Heaven could finish His work and sit down to rest at the Right Hand of God.

Later; when the Temple was dedicated; God came down from Heaven again and lit the fire for the altar.  It was never extinguished.

So where did the last of the fire from the wilderness tabernacle end up after the Temple was built?   And what happened to the fire of the altar from the Temple when it was destroyed?  The research on those questions is very mysterious.  It seems each time that the people fell away from God and turned to other idols.  They let the ark get separated from the Tent of Meeting and let the enemies take over the camp.  They went to worship in high places where idols were worshiped instead of God’s designated places.  We don’t know the whole story; all we know is the fire was suddenly missing because all those many years later after being safely delivered to the Promised Land; God’s people had stopped praying.  They quit worshiping God in the way God wanted to be worshiped. They had forgotten to provide the wood for the fire.  They lost it.

The fire did not return until after Christ had been crucified and the disciples had gathered together on The Day of Pentecost.  On that day holy fire fell from heaven again.  God was delivering a wedding present to the Church, the Bride of His Only Begotten Son.  Will the church of today attend to God’s holy fire at the burnt altar better than the priests of old?  Will we provide the wood that is needed to keep the fire going?  The wood is symbolic of the prayers and holy worship of God’s people.  Will we be able to keep what those people of old could not?

Time will tell.

We all must be doing our part to bring the wood to the fire.

GOD IS A GOD OF ORDER

Now we know just a little more about the burnt offerings.  We know the burnt offering was to be the very first offering.  There was an order to be strictly kept.  First the burnt offerings for the atonement of sin, then the meat offerings, then the peace offering, then the trespass offerings.  The order of each mattered.  These sacrifices and offerings must be presented in the order that God had spelled out to Moses, just as all the other patterns that God has presented to us through Moses.

For example; when we think of The Holy Days of God and we remember that the Passover must happen before Pentecost.  This is the proper order.  In the offerings, the Atonement offering for sin must happen before the Meat offerings, the Peace offerings or the Trespass offerings.  With God all things have their proper order.  We will see this constantly and clearly as this study of Leviticus progresses.

REMOVING THE LEAVEN OF LIFE

Let’s bring this picture of the priests of old officiating at the burnt altar a little closer to where we are living today.

Notice the part of the passage of scripture where it speaks of the priest removing the ashes of the burnt offering that was consumed by the fire to the place beside the altar.  The ashes could not accumulate forever; they would affect the burning of the fire.  At some point the leftover ashes, the part of the sacrifices that was not accepted; needed to be disposed of and removed.   The priest is serving in his priestly garments made of white linen when he is at the altar, then when the ashes are removed and placed to the side of the altar he comes back in his ordinary clothes and he takes the ashes outside the camp to another place.

Does this remind you of anything?

This week we are in the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread.  We have all been careful to remove the chametz from our homes because it represents sin, and we want to be clean before God.

The burnt offering atoned for sins; then the priest serving removed the ashes that were left to another place outside the camp.

The chametz we have removed is symbolic of the sin in our lives.  We want to dispose of it; get it out of our homes and never have to deal with it again.  Sometimes there is residue leftover that we didn’t notice.  This is like the ashes of the burnt altar.  When we see this; we clean it up and take it out too.  The ashes of the sin offerings are dealt with in a similar fashion.  They are taken outside the camp and disposed of.   No portion of the sin remains on the altar because God has accepted the sacrifice and the person is forgiven.  If there is residue left over; it is dealt with too and removed.

THE DUTY OF A HOLY PRIESTHOOD

This was part of the job of the ancient priests and it becomes part of the job of every priest of God today.  A priest serving properly must make this process plain and obvious to any person seeking atonement.

Are you a child of God?  Then you have become part of a holy priesthood with a High Priest named Jesus Christ.  Are you remembering your duties?  Are you daily keeping the fires of God going?  Are you bringing the wood of prayer and worship?  Are you helping those who seek atonement to know God’s order and how to remove the sin and residue of sin from their lives?

It is time to be about the Father’s work!