Back to the Altar
Text: Joshua 8:30-35
Introduction
1. Illustration: A heart-broken little girl began to kneel and pour out her heart to God in the altar at her local church. She did not know what to say. As she wept speechless, she began to remember what her Father had told her, "God knows your needs even before you pray, and he can answer when you don’t even know what to ask." So she began to say her alphabet. A concerned adult from that church knelt beside her and heard her sobbing and saying her ABC’s and inquired what exactly she was trying to do. The little girl told this caring adult, "I’m praying to God from my heart." But the adult answered, "It sounds to me more like your are saying the alphabet!"
"Yes," she said, "But God knows more about what I need than I do, and he can take all these letters and arrange them in just the right way to hear and answer my prayers!"
2. There is one place where:
a. You will always be welcome
b. You will always be heard
c. You will always feel accepted
d. You will always find answers
e. And that place is at the altar
3. The altar is so important because:
a. The altar brings us back to the Lord
b. The altar brings us back to the center
c. The altar brings us back to the Word
4. Read Joshua 8:30-35
Proposition: It is at the altar of prayer that we find the power of God.
Transition: First, we find that...
I. The Altar Brings Us Back to the Lord (30-32)
A. Joshua Built An Altar
1. Again, as I have been stressing from the very beginning, taking the land was more spiritual than physical.
2. Therefore, as Joshua and the people began to possess more of the land, it was time to give credit where credit was due.
3. In verse 30 it says "Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal."
a. Nothing is more prominent as a biblical image for worship and religious allegiance than the altar.
b. It is no exaggeration to say that the most visible sign of one’s devotion to the true God in the worship of the old covenant is the building of altars or traveling to them for acts of sacrifice or offering.
c. This word occurs ca. 401x in the OT, and refers primarily to the structure upon which a sacrifice or some other offering is offered up to the God (New International Dict of OT Theology & Exegesis. Pradis CD-ROM).
4. Typically, in the OT, altars are built as a direct result of an encounter with the living God.
a. Abraham built an altar after his encounter with the Lord, and so did his son Jacob.
b. There is a direct correlation between the altar and the promise of possessing the land, and this is the reason that Joshua built this altar on Mount Ebal.
5. Notice also the specific nature of the altar. Verse 31 tells us that "He followed the commands that Moses the LORD’s servant had written in the Book of Instruction: “Make me an altar from stones that are uncut and have not been shaped with iron tools.”
a. The altar was to be built out of uncut stones so it would not be profaned.
b. This would prevent the people from worshiping altars like idols, or worshiping the craftsmanship of the workers rather than the great works of God.
—Life Application Bible Notes
c. This was not to be an altar like the ones that the pagans built to worship false gods.
d. There is only one true God, and He is to be worshiped in a way that is unique and holy.
B. Go To the Altar
1. Illustration: Johnny Cash! Known internationally as the great country folk singer of all time, he broke all attendance records at the London Palladium. Cash found that his rise to stardom brought more than fame and fortune. It brought problems. While he was rising professionally and more and more Gold Records were added to his collection, in his personal life, things became worse. Show business pressures soon drove him to take "pep pills," and soon he became addicted to Amphetamine. His first arrest came in 1965, when he was caught with more than 1,000 pills in his pockets. From 200 lbs. he went down to 140 lbs. in weight. Side effects from drugs caused him a severe car accident—he broke his nose and knocked out four teeth. He was going steadily downhill. Then on May 9, 1971, Johnny Cash sat in a pew of a small church in his home town. The pastor finished his sermon and appealed to the congregation to come to the front to "make things right" with God. Johnny Cash stood up and walked a few steps to the wooden altar. God put his hand on Johnny Cash...—Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
2. If someone as lost and in darkness as Johnny Cash can find hope at the altar, so can you.
3. Every time we come to the altar, we have a personal encounter with the living God.
4. Every time we come to the altar, we direct access to the throne of God.
5. It doesn’t matter:
a. Who you are
b. Where you’ve been
c. What you’ve done
6. You will find the peace and power of God at the altar.
Transition: It’s time to come back to the altar!
II. The Altar Brings Us Back to the Center (33)
A. Between Them Stood
1. The first half of verse 33 indicates that coming to the altar involved all of Israel.
2. It says, "Then all the Israelites—foreigners and native-born alike—along with the elders, officers, and judges, were divided into two groups. One group stood in front of Mount Gerizim, the other in front of Mount Ebal."
a. Both the alien and the native-born citizen were included.
b. The word here for “foreigner” (gēr) refers to those foreigners who lived as permanent residents within Israel.
c. These were different from “foreigners” (nokrîm), who came into incidental contact with Israel, such as travelers or traders, and who had few rights within Israel—(New American Commentary)
d. The point here is that no one was excluded: everyone came to the altar.
3. However, it is the second half of the verse that is the focus. It says "Each group faced the other, and between them stood the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant."
a. "The ark, the sacred emblem of the Lord’s presence with his people, forms the center of the following ceremony" (Woudstra, NICOT: The Book of Joshua, 148).
b. Coming to the altar not only included all of Israel, but it illustrates to them that the Lord is at the center of their life in the Promised Land.
c. It is a reminder that the Lord is the reason that they are here.
d. It is a reminder that the Lord is the reason for the conquests.
4. The history of Israel shows us that any time they forgot this they faced disaster.
a. Whenever they took their eyes off the Lord they fell into sin.
b. Whenever they took their eyes off the Lord they were oppressed by their neighbors.
c. Whenever they took their eyes off the Lord the land flowing with milk and honey stopped producing.
5. Coming to the altar brought them to the realization that the Lord is at the center, and anytime they got away from Him they fell out of balance.
B. At the Center
1. Illustration: A story is told of a turtle that wanted to spend the winter in Florida, but he knew he could never walk that far. He convinced a couple of geese to help him, each taking one end of a piece of rope, while he clamped his vise-like jaws in the center.
The flight went fine until someone on the ground looked up in admiration and asked, "Who in the world thought of that?"
Unable to resist the chance to take credit, the turtle opened his mouth to shout, "I did--"
2. Just like the children of Israel, when we take our focus off the Lord we find ourselves in trouble.
3. When we come to the altar, our focus is not on:
a. The preaching
b. The music
c. The fellowship
d. What we have to do after church
4. When we come to the altar, our focus is on the Lord.
a. He is the center of our attention
b. He is the center of our thoughts
c. He is the center of our being
5. If for no other reason, we need to get back to the altar because it keeps our attention on the only things that really matters - Him!
Transition: However, anther thing that the altar does is...
III. The Altar Brings Us Back to the Word (34-35)
A. Written In the Book
1. Now notice what Joshua does: "Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction."
a. He reminds them of what God has already said.
b. Joshua is a true man of the word.
c. He took seriously the command of the Lord back in chapter 1.
d. Joshua 1:8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.
2. Notice what he specifically read to them: "all the blessings and curses."
a. The emphasis here is on the blessings.
b. In the Book of Deuteronomy the emphasis is on the curse, but here the emphasis is on the blessing.
c. The focal point has "shifted from the threat to the promise" (Butler, WBC: Joshua, 93).
3. The point of focusing on the blessings is to show that those who "respond to the call of Yahweh to worship and to renewal of the covenant are accepted and blessed by him" (Butler, 93).
4. On the other hand, even though the blessings are the focus here, it does not mean that the curses are ignored.
a. You see, there is a head and a tail to every coin.
b. If obeying the word of God brings us blessings, then disobeying the word of God brings us curses.
c. We cannot just accept what sounds good to us and throw out the rest.
d. 2 Tim. 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
B. The Word
1. Illustration: I read of a minister who was visiting one of his members. The lady of the house was trying to impress him about how devout she was by pointing out the large Bible on the bookshelf and talking in a very reverential way of it as "the Word of God". Her young son interrupted the conversation, "Well, if that’s God’s book we better send it back to him because we never read it!"
2. Coming to the altar gets us back into the word because it reminds us of God’s promises.
a. It reminds us that God will never leave us or forsake us.
b. It remind us God will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory.
c. It reminds us that if we seek Him with all of our hearts we will find Him.
d. It reminds us that if we ask anything in His name it will be done.
3. Coming to the altar brings us back to the word because it reminds us of His holiness.
a. It reminds us that if God’s people will humble themselves and pray, He will hear us, forgive our sins and heal our land.
b. It reminds us that it is written "Be holy, because the Lord our God is holy."
c. It reminds us that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us.
4. Coming to the altar brings us back to the word because it reminds us of our need for God.
a. It reminds us to come to Him all who are weak and worn down and He will give us rest.
b. It reminds us that without Him we are nothing.
c. It reminds us that He stands at the door and knocks waiting for us to answer.
d. It reminds us that "as the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants after thee."
5. Heb. 4:16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Conclusion
1. It is at the altar of prayer that we find the power of God.
2. We find power at the altar because:
a. It brings us back to the Lord
b. It brings us back to the center
c. It brings us back to the word
1. Let me ask you a question: When was the last time you came to the altar?
2. Let me ask you another question: Do you need His mercy and His grace?
3. Let me ask you a third question: Are you ready to get back to the altar?
