Let’s talk for a sec about the Altar that Adoniyah ran to out of desperation.
As I explained yesterday, he rushed to the altar and grabbed one of the 4 protruding metallic horns located at each corner.
Now there’s some debate as to which Altar Adoniyah ran to exactly.
Rashi says Israel’s national Altar was located in Gibeon at this time.
So that’s where Adoniyah tried to escape to.
That seems a bit far-fetched, given that there was another Altar situated smack dab right there in Jerusalem.
In those days, people didn’t necessarily view one altar as being more sacred than another.
In fact, we know from both Scripture and archaeology that after the original Wilderness Tabernacle at Shiloh was destroyed, private altars started popping up all over the freaking place.
But that wasn’t God’s design.
That was people doing things their own way.
Ya feel me?
Anyway, I believe Adoniyah ran to the Altar located right there in Jerusalem, instead of hightailing it to some other random altar located somewhere else.
Most likely, it was the same altar David built on Araunah’s threshing floor at the top of Mt. Moriah.
So this leads us to the question of why exactly Adoniyah fled to the Altar in the first place?
Why did he think it would be a safe place?
It all has to do with the ancient Middle East’s belief system concerning asylum or refuge.
Adoniyah was hoping the Altar would be honored as a place of sanctuary, and thus his life would be spared.
What does the Torah say about this?
The Altar is actually not specifically listed as a place of refuge in Scripture.
But we do get a hint that it did serve that purpose in the following verse:
“But if someone willfully kills another
after deliberate planning,
you are to take him even
from my altar and put him to death.”
-Exodus 21:14
What takeaway can we extract from this?
It goes back to what I said about altars popping up all over the landscape after the tabernacle was gone.
That was not a good thing.
After Israel entered the land, God made it clear:
Worship and sacrifices were to happen at the place He chose
Not “wherever you feel like it.”
That central place eventually became the Jerusalem Temple.
The pattern was to be:
One God.
One altar.
One mediator.
Ya feel me?
The problem is that the world doesn’t accept this notion, clearly spelled out in Scripture.
They think any way to God is just as good as another.
That same pattern hasn’t gone away.
Why do you think there are like 20,000 different Christian denominations out there, each with its own unique theological slants on how things should be done properly to please the Lord?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.
The Lord does not approve of religious syncretism.
Just like there weren’t meant to be many altars, there aren’t many ways to approach God
There’s only ONE God who has appointed only ONE mediator between Him and mankind.
Ya feel me?
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Yeshua answered,
‘I am the way and the truth
and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.’“
-John 14:6
In my first book, “Back to Basics: God’s Word vs. Religion”, one chapter is about how people choose what they like about the Torah and ignore what they don’t like, similar to what you are talking about here in that people think they can worship the way they want to.
I have given a name to those people, and it is “Buffet Believers.”
They see the Bible, especially the Torah, as some sort of buffet table with different laws, commandments, regulations, ceremonies, etc., (depending on which religion “spread” they are in fornt of) and they believe that they can just pick and choose what they like, and reject anything they don’t like.
I have even seen this within Conservative Judaism, where some I have known will keep a kosher home, but have no problem going to Bob Evans and ordering (pork) sausage and gravy for breakfast.
I try to warn people about being buffet believers, but they have chosen their own diet.
I tell people when I meet God I can say,
“I tried to do what you told us to do”,
but all they can say is,
“I did what I wanted because they said that’s all I had to do.”
And then I ask them,
“Which one of those statements do you think God would prefer to hear?”
“Buffet believers” is a great way to put it. lol
But I’m not just talking about picking and choosing.
I’m talking about REPLACING God’s way with our own fleshly-driven ways and agendas. That’s exactly what was happening with all those altars.
The real question is are we coming to God His way…or substituting His way for something else? That’s the main point I wanted to drive home.
Thanks for the insights brother!