And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.
Leviticus 6:12-13
The bible in 1 Peter 2:9 calls us a Holy priesthood, God’s own people who have been called out of darkness into God’s marvellous light. What God sought to achieve in Israel, making them a nation of priests, He has done in us through Christ. A priest is one who serves in the temple of God, carries out the ordained sacrifices and offerings, and teaches the law of God to people. Hebrews 5:1 says: “For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices for sins:”. Meaning, a priest is a person chosen by God to serve God for the interest of men, and to serve men for the interest of God, and the service involves offering sacrifices unto God in the temple. As priests, it is our responsibility to serve God in His temple and carry out God ordained sacrifices in His temple.
The temple in the new covenant is our body. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”. We have been purchased completely and so our bodies, souls and spirit belong to God. It is His expectation that we offer sacrifices here. The old tabernacle shown to Moses on the mountain was simply a shadow of things to come. It was to show us what God required of us in this new tabernacle. That tabernacle had several furnitures: the bronze altar, the bronze laver [basin], the golden lamp stand, the table of showbread, the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant. Each of these had various services that were to be offered on them.
Todays emphasis would be on the bronze (brazen) altar. The command of the Lord was that the fire was never to go out. It was here, on this altar that all the sacrifices offered by the priests were to be made. To fulfil this command, the priest was to burn wood day and night on this altar, so that it was hot enough for any offerings to be burnt and rise as incense to the Lord. For us, wood represents the un-sanctified earthy nature which is dishonourable in the sight of God as 2 Timothy 2:20-21 says. This altar itself was lit by God. Any other fire here was a strange fire, which God hated, Leviticus 10:1-3. While He provided the initial fire, as priests, God wants us to burn aspects of this earthy nature daily.
What does this mean for us? When we were saved, there was an initial zeal, an initial desire to hate sin each one of us had. Yet, that often wades over time due to negligence. As the light of God’s word dawns on an aspect or aspects of our earthy nature (earthy desires, habits, etc), we are to submit that nature or habit to be burned by the fire of God, and we do this by simply obeying God to stop that habit. Paul says that from his dying to flesh, the life of God is made manifest in His body, 2 Corinthians 4:10, 1 Corinthians 15:31. This is the only way we can offer acceptable sacrifices to God. This is a command, not a choice. The bible in Psalm 24:3-4 says the only ones who have access to the hill of the Lord are those who are pure and have not lifted up their souls to vanity. Yielding to God’s command daily to die to the flesh (choosing to obey God) sustains the fire of God burning in us so that it never goes out. Refusing to burn wood [the earthy nature] daily can lead to the fire of God [His zeal, His love and His faith] going out in us. It is our priestly duty and service to do as God has instructed – to burn wood daily to keep the fire burning.
Prayer for today: Lord Jesus, thank you for lighting up Your fire in my heart. Help me to be diligent as a priest of God to tend to this fire daily. Lord forgive my negligence to Your command and revive the fire in my heart where it has gone cold. Today, I submit to your Word and choose to obey Your Word that my fire and devotion for you may burn day and night and my sacrifices may be acceptable to you. Amen,
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