THE ALTAR OF EARTH AND THE ALTAR OF STONE
D. J. Hutson
Exodus 20: 22–26; 2 Kings 5: 9, 10, 14–18; Romans 7: 18, 24, 25; 8: 1–4; 1 Kings 18: 30–39; 1 Peter 2: 4, 5
I feel much cast on the Lord, beloved, to speak of these scriptures, and the need of much dependence on the Holy Spirit, that what is said may be profitable to us and that it may be according to truth. We know this chapter 20 and the commandments, but I have never heard much said about these two altars, the altar of earth and the altar of stone. I think it is implicit that Naaman wanted this two mules’ burden of earth to build an altar, because he immediately speaks of not worshipping any other gods, but the God that he had known who was in Israel, who had brought him deliverance from that scourge of leprosy, typically sin in the flesh. It is also striking that this altar which Elijah built, the altar of stone, has a very distinct place in the history of the people of God, and I felt there would be some profit in enquiring as to this. In a sense I would have preferred to have brought this in in the reading, so that we could get help together by mutual enquiry, but seek just simply to bring forward impressions which may lead to enquiry by each one of us as to the meaning of this, why should the question of the two altars be put in at this point, and why is it that there does not seem to be any requirement of an altar of stone? The first one indeed is a divine requirement, “An altar of earth shalt thou make unto me” and yet the only one it would appear who ever had it in mind to make such an altar was Naaman the Syrian. Then it says, “And if thou make me an altar of stone”, as though something is arrived at in the soul, believe it has been connected with the matter of resurrection, which one may come on to later, in order that there should be this altar of stone built.
So I speak of Naaman as we have read of him in 2 Kings 5. Typically he had to come to what we have read of in Romans, “that in me, that is, in my flesh good does not dwell”. The youngest here I suppose knows the story of Naaman and the little maid, and the way that she pointed him to the prophet in Israel, and how he was told to go and wash seven times in the Jordan, but how he said, “Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?”. Then think of the appeal of his servants, the way they could say, “if the prophet had bidden thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?” If it was something that he could do, some great thing, but he had to come to it that he could do nothing of himself because in his flesh good did not dwell. And having come to it he goes the whole way and he plunges himself. I like that word; he was told to wash but he plunged himself seven times in the Jordan, absolutely committed to the word that was given to him.
And then what happens? The prophet told him what would happen but it did not happen. The prophet said, “thy flesh shall come again to thee” but that flesh did not come again. The work of Christ has removed that man altogether, so that it says that “his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child”. It was a different Naaman who came out of the Jordan. As we go this way in soul experience, we find proof of the work of the Lord Jesus, the way He has been, and we find that there is a different man. We can say, “I myself”. Naaman came to “I myself” but he was concerned that there should be response to God, no other God than the God that he had found in Israel. So he wanted this two mules’ burden of earth in order that he might build an altar.
Applying the scripture in Romans 7, he came to know that in his flesh good does not dwell, but then he finds that there is a way out, “O, wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. The first priestly utterance of a soul, how wonderful that is! He has become a priest now, he would build an altar in order that there might be this offering, not a sin-offering, but burnt-offerings and peace-offerings to Jehovah—how grateful he was, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Now we see, as we were reading earlier, one who has been buried with Christ in baptism, but is now raised with Him, and a new man is there, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law; but with the flesh sin’s law”. It is still there but it is not the same “I myself’ any more. His flesh became as the flesh of a little child. So it says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh”. I believe, beloved, that that would refer to the altar of earth.
It has been pointed out that the altar is Christ, the offering is Christ and the offering priest is Christ, so how can it be the altar of earth? Sending His own Son in the likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin. This is how we arrive at it, this is the One who has occupied us earlier, our glorious Lord and Saviour, has taken part in blood and flesh so that He might set us free.
What are we set free for? We are set free in view of what returns in praise to God, so that each one of us in that sense, for it is an individual matter here, can have our altar and we can render praise to God on the basis of that great sacrifice, on the basis of the fact that He Himself has come into this condition in which we are, apart from sin, so that we might be set free in view of the service of God. Have you come that way, beloved? Are your sins forgiven? Thank God for that—but what about the man that has sinned? The Lord Jesus has not only borne our sins, something which none of us can ever fathom, what it meant to Him, but He was made to be sin and He was buried. That man has gone and we can regard ourselves in the light of that, as gone from before the eye of God. Thank God He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and our acceptance there as before God is according to the acceptance of that blessed One.
How wonderful! Do you realise it, does every young one here and we older ones, does it not stir our hearts afresh, the provision of divine grace according to divine purpose, so that we should be brought into the gain of these things at such infinite cost to God, such infinite cost to His beloved Son?—the Holy Spirit having part in it when He offered Himself without spot to God.
But there is another question that arises in Naaman’s mind. ‘What about my job? It is not a very easy job and it does not look as if it is going to be very easy for me. I have to bow down in the house of Rimmon, what can I do? Could you forgive me for it?’ “In order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit”. He is going to be given a new power so that he might fill out his responsibilities in a new way as walking, not according to flesh, but according to Spirit. So what does Elijah say to him? He does not say, ‘That will be all right’; he does not say that; he says, “Go in peace”. I believe that when that word is said there is an inference for us of the gift of the Holy Spirit. I just suggest that. There was a time when Jesus said to a woman, “go, and sin no more”, John 8: 11. What power would she have for it? Of course the Holy Spirit had not come then, but I believe it looks forward to the fact that there will be power in the believer to walk according to God, to “not walk according to flesh, but according to Spirit”. So Elisha says to him, “Go in peace”—‘you will know what to do’. And that is the resource we have in the Holy Spirit, that we might be here for the filling out of righteousness, walking according to the Spirit of God.
Well, I pass on to Elijah. First of all “he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down”. It is rather a mysterious reference, we cannot quite understand how that could have been because here he was on Mount Carmel. I believe it shows, beloved, for this is a day of recovery as we can apply it, that whatever may be our activities in a day of recovery, in view of securing for God that which has been lost through the failure of the church publicly, we must keep the divine standard before us. I think that is what is involved in this, that when he “repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down”, he had in his mind what had originally been set up according to God and for His pleasure. Physically he could not have repaired it because he was on the top of Mount Carmel, but in his mind he repaired it, that is, he viewed the matter as complete as according to God and, if we are to secure anything for God at the present time, if there is to be anything for divine pleasure in this day of recovery, it can only be as we hold to God’s original thoughts. But then he “took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name”. What were these stones? That was the question that was asked earlier, “What mean ye by these stones”, Joshua 4: 6. I would connect these twelve stones with the twelve stones that came out of the Jordan. I trust I am not putting too much into it but just to apply it this way. It says of those twelve stones that they were “according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel” (Joshua 4: 5), but here it says they were “according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name”.
So the material on which the service of God is to be raised in a time of recovery is such material and in a sense we compose that material, with those who have come that way and been set up the other side of death as living stones; that is why I referred to Peter. And so it says he built the altar with the stones and made a trench round about it. Then “he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood”. All these things would remind us in some way of Christ, the humanity of Jesus, and of the wonderful offering, the sacrifice, the bullock that was laid on the wood. He had in mind that this should be something offered at this time in the way of a burnt-offering. Again I say we might have thought he would have offered a sin-offering because of the condition of the people, but it is a burnt-offering, typical of Christ in all His fragrance to God, all His blessed acceptance, to be offered on this altar, and nothing of the first order is to have any part in it. The water was poured on it, one, two, three times. Think of all the water, speaking of the death of Christ, if I may so apply it, that nothing of that order of things which has been removed there is to have any part in this offering; it is to be holy and pure in relation to Christ Himself, and beloved, in our localities may I suggest we can build this altar. As coming together in this light we can provide a basis on which Christ Himself as the altar, can sustain the service of God for God’s pleasure.
I just make that suggestion and it was that that led me to read in Peter. I know it is a house there, not an altar, “To whom coming, a living stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious, yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”. I believe in a sense we can say that our desire would be that in our various localities, there might be something of this building of an altar of stone, so that there might be that which returns to God in fragrance as to the person of His only-begotten Son. I relate it to our localities because it was twelve stones and we are taught as to twelve being the number of administration, so that if matters are kept in our localities according to the divine standard, maybe at cost, maybe causing sorrow at times that the area should be kept pure and undefiled, let us see that our administration locally, beloved, has this great end in view.
I was thankful for the reference that was made in the reading to see that the great end in view in all these things is God Himself, and in the administration in our localities, it is not simply that we might have happy times together, thank God for the times we have together, thank God for the enjoyment of eternal life among the brethren, but the great thing is the provision of an altar, that in which there can be what arises for the pleasure of God Himself. I have not more to say. I bring forward, beloved, these thoughts which I trust are of the Spirit so that they may encourage us, and that we might see the complete clearance that has been made of one man at such cost, so that we might be available in the service of God, and as built together in our localities and as maintaining things according to the divine standard, we might be encouraged. Thus may there be an increase for God from each one of our hearts, and from each of our localities, as we simply go over these things together. I am sure the Lord will open up more to us as we wait upon Him in relation to it. In the name of the Lord Jesus.
Address at Havering
22 November 2008