The Altar offers Hope

November 9, 2014 Background Scripture: Ezekiel 43:10 – 46:24 Lesson Passage: Ezekiel 43:13 – 21 God is holy and He demands that His people be holy. Even those who are called of God to minister to the people on His behalf and to minister before God on behalf of the people are not exempt but rather they are held to a higher standard than the masses. God made this clear when He informed Ezekiel that the priests who have sinned can minister before the people but they would not be allowed to approach God. No one is exempt from God’s law of holiness. God also informed Ezekiel that the priests who do not sin shall come near Him to minister before Him and to offer burnt offerings to Him. This presents an obvious dilemma. We know that all children of men sin. We also know that receiving a title does not rid a person of sin. Without an intercessor to stand before God on behalf of the people, the people are destined for eternal damnation. The answer to the dilemma lies in God’s guided tour of the temple. There were many rooms and some furnishings that God showed to Ezekiel and God told Ezekiel the purpose of them. Some of the rooms and tables were for preparing the various sacrifices that would be offered. There were also rooms the priests would use to change into different garments. The priest who would stand before God to minister on behalf of the people had to first offer a sin offering to cleanse himself. He also had to enter into a special room and take off his garments that he wore on the outside and put on special garments before he could appear before God on behalf of the people. The most important step in the priestly instruction was the offering of sacrifices. The sacrifices had to be prepared in a room made for that purpose and then offered on the altar located in the middle of the court. Each step in the process was prescribed by God. First the altar had to be purged or cleansed. After the altar had been purged, the priests were to offer burnt offerings for sin and peace offerings for trespass. Only after the prescribed steps were taken did God accept them because the steps and the sacrifices satisfied God’s holiness. Leviticus teaches us that during the process, the priests had to lay hands on the head of the sacrifice so they could identify with it. In other words, they connected their sins with the life of the sacrifice that was about to be slain and offered to God. After the priests were properly prepared, then they followed similar steps on behalf of the people. God promised to accept the people based on this. The priests had to teach the people the ways of God that they might know how to discern between holy and profane. It was required that they understand that they came short of God’s expectation for them. God did not overlook their shortcomings but He made provisions so that the people would be accepted by Him in spite of their spiritual shortcomings. Their spiritual shortcomings were the result of sin and their sin was against the holiness of God. They had to be taught to know sin so that they could repent of it and confess it. Afterwards, they could come with the proper sacrifice to be forgiven by God. Sin separated the people—including the priests—from God. This separation was leading towards eternal damnation. God provided an altar to bridge the separation and give the people hope. Robert C. Hudson November 1, 2014