“The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places, because no house had yet been built for the name of Adonai.”-1 Kings 3:2
Following on the heels of yesterday’s discussion about the “high places,” the bottom line is that God’s command to only sacrifice at the place He had designated was being ignored.
By erecting altars willy nilly all over the place, including in their homes, the people had defaulted to ancient Middle Eastern customs that were NOT in alignment with Torah.
Remember that before Israel’s exodus from Egypt, the Israelites had a practice of sacrificing in their homes and the person overseeing these sacrifices was the firstborn in the household.
In other words, the firstborn son served as a kind of family priest in the household.
This was a firmly ingrained custom that the Israelites didn’t wanna give up so easily.
And I’m pretty sure the firstborn son loved the status of being appointed the designated priest in the family.
However, all of that changed with the Law of Moses.
A special ceremony was even held officiating the transfer of authority from the firstborn family priest over to the Levitical priesthood.
That would officially be the deathblow to the custom of the firstborn being the priest in the household.
One top of that, another major change that was implemented was that sacrifices were now only to take place at one location designated by the Lord.
The first designated location was the bronze altar located in the courtyard of the Wilderness Tabernacle.
The location of the bronze altar obviously changed because the Israelites moved around quite a but during their 40-year wanderings in the desert.
However, once Israel entered the Promised Land, the Tabernacle was set up in a couple of different spots with the longest-running spot being most likely Shiloh.
Eventually, it was finally relocated to Gibeon.
The point is there was ONE single authorized placed for sacrifices in existence at all times after Joshua succeeded Moses, but as we can see the people didn’t use it.
The next time we meet, we’ll take a look at an absolutely fascinating story in the book of Judges that sheds light on this situation of private altars and why the Lord was against it.
We’ll get into that next time.
But for now, let’s switch over to the takeaway.
It all boils down to the fact that details are important when it comes to obeying the Lord’s commands.
I know that in the Christian world, a lot is left up to one’s subjective feelings and warm fuzzy emotions when it comes to obedience to the Lord.
But the Lord, in His Torah, has given us a lot of detail in terms of how He wants us to obey Him.
I don’t think we should just willy-nilly ignore all of that detail.
I’ll leave you with that food for thought for today.
Be blessed.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do not think I came to abolish Law or Prophets.
I did not come to abolish, but fulfill.
Truly I tell you,
until heaven and earth pass,
not the smallest letter,
nor least stroke will disappear.
Nothing will pass from Law
until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who sets aside
even the least command,
and teaches others to do so,
will be least in heaven.
But whoever practices and teaches
these commands will be called great.
They will be great in the kingdom of heaven.
Unless your righteousness surpasses theirs,
Pharisees and teachers of the law,
you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 5:17-20
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