An Altar of Earth

 “An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you” (Exodus 20.24 NKJV).

God told the Children of Israel to make altars out of the earth, so they could use them to burn their offerings to Him. Earth is symbolic of the material realm, which is separate and distinct from the spiritual realm. The Bible describes God creating us out of the earth (material realm), but He also breathed His Spirit into us (spiritual realm). Like Jesus, we are creatures of a temporal existence and eternal existence. Our bodies will die, yet our spirits will live forever. Therefore, the earthen altar, which is used as a platform for offerings, can allude to our earthly lives, which can also be used as a platform for offerings. God gives us a profound and amazing promise about the sacrifices we make on earth to further His eternal agenda! Every time we sacrifice the substance of our earthly lives—our time, our money, our energy, our control, our resources, our ministries, our bodies, our families, etc.–as an offering to God, He will write His name on it. And the offerings written with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords across them will have God’s presence and His blessings! So don’t hold anything back from God. Freely and joyfully sacrifice everything to His will, and believe that the substance of who He is and His glory will manifest in and around you.

“Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being” (Genesis 2.7 GW).