There was a wooden altar three cubits high and two cubits square; its corners, its base and its sides were of wood. The man said to me, "This is the table that is before the LORD." – Ezekiel 41:22

Today's Scripture Reading (July 15, 2020): Ezekiel 41

In the church of my youth, it lined the front of the sanctuary. Built of wood, it was a little more than a couple of feet high and extended the entire width of the sanctuary just in front of the platform area, with breaks in the center and on both edges. The wooden platform was only about foot wide. We called these wooden structures altars, although they were not intended to receive the sacrifice of an animal. The sacrifices received on these wooden platforms were human; it was here that the lives, hopes, and dreams of all who dared to kneel there, were turned over to God.

The church I pastor now is without these strange platforms. Some years ago, I thought about having these altars built for our new place of worship, but one of the congregants who had worshiped at this place for several years was hesitant. The idea was too foreign for him, too cultish for his imagination, and so I cautiously backed away from the plan. And yet, there are moments when I still long to kneel at the altars of youth.

Ezekiel's Temple contains an image of an altar that was made of wood. Typically such altars would be covered with metal. It made them easier to clean after the animal was sacrificed, and the blood had covered the table. After all, in Ezekiel's day, the sacrifice of an animal was the primary purpose of the altar.

But Ezekiel altar is different and seems to be built with a different purpose in mind. It's construction and dimensions reveal that this altar was not built as a place of sacrifice for an animal. This altar had a different purpose. But it was also more than just a table made to display the shewbread.

Ezekiel's altar, which was placed just in front of the Holy of Holies, and therefore "before the Lord," was an altar of incense. The smoke of the incense was intended to remind the priests who ministered in the Temple that their daily prayers rose continually to God. The altar that Ezekiel describes in his prophecy is more like the altar that sat at the front of the church of my youth than anything else in scripture. It was a place of prayer and a place where God met the human race.

Of course, our glorious reality is that, in our day, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the curtain that in Ezekiel's day had separated the altar of incense from the Holy of Holies and the very presence of God, has been removed. Now, when we come to our places of prayer, there is nothing between God and us. We get to meet with God of all Creation, face to face.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 42