Keep the fire on the altar burning – Leviticus 6:13

Back in the day, about six years ago when I had just begun my relationship with Jesus, I did not exactly fancy reading certain books in the old testament. I thought they were boring and pointless but I was wrong. More than often, I keep finding out how the bible is wholistic and every word in the bible points us to Jesus and how we can be like Him.

The book of Leviticus was one of those books that I found boring and daunting to read. Even up until now, I do not see reading it as exciting as reading the letters from Apostle Paul or reading about the life of King David and so on. But the Holy Spirit helps me to find studying these books enjoyable, He also opens up these scriptures to me like booming flowers in the Spring per time.

About a few days ago, I was non-chanatly looking through my mail box and for some reason I found myself opening the attachment in this email. It was an internal email I had received about the middle of October from Rock Solid Faith Inc. As I opened the attachment and saw the anchor verse, I was prompted to open my bible to see for myself what the scripture says and like a light bulb in a dark room, the scripture lit up before my very eyes and the light quickly spread to my mind and every other part of my body.

My excitement from the revelation is the reason I chose to share today :). Below is the scripture I am writing to you about this week.

The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. ¹³ The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

Leviticus 6:12-13

I will like to start off by saying that I have come to learn and I am still learning that the book of Leviticus points us to the practices God put in place and shared with His children in order to reconcile them in their sinful nature to Him who is pure and Holy. These practices such as the slaughter of animals, the shed of blood, burned sacrifices were all practices to atone for the sin of man, while establishing a level ground for fellowship between God and man. And most important for me, it helps me to really appreciate what Jesus Christ came to do on the cross of Calvary. He came to shed His blood once and for all for the atonement of my sin, the sin of my children unborn and even my grandchildren unborn- Hebrews 10:10. He came to tear apart the barrier between God and man; now you and I can access God’s throne & enjoy sweet fellowship with the Lord.

Now, that I have taken that off my chest and shared with you, let us have a close look at Leviticus 6:12-13. It opens up by telling us that the fire on the altar must be kept burning, It must not go out. I’d start by describing what an altar is, an altar is a designated place of communion & communication between man and the spirit realm. In this case, the altar was a designated place of communion between the Israelites and their God. When we read through scripture, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and so on raised altars as they journeyed with God in their lifetime. So, here was God telling His children to keep the fire on this altar burning- this symbolizes God’s instruction to His children to keep their communication, fellowship, communion with Him burning, non-stop, never ending.

Next, we see – Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. Yet again, I will start by describing what the burnt offering meant to the best of my understanding. The burnt offering signified the relationship that God desires between Himself and man- a renewed life, a life that subjects himself or herself to the purging fire of the Lord in order to be purified, renewed, made clean from the sinful nature,to become Christlike, doing the absolute will of God- Romans 12:1–2. The burnt offering signified the life who presents himself or herself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord, whose sacrifices ascend to the Lord in heaven with the pleasant aroma from the sacrifice- Romans 12:1-2. Now the Lord was saying to His children to add firewood to this burnt offering every morning in order to keep the burnt offering and fat offering burning. This instruction is still valid to God’s children till date. We are God’s burnt offering, presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, Holy and pleasing to Him. The firewood to our burnt offering every morning may include our addition of God’s word to our lives every morning as we start our day, our intentional commitment and actions to stay in sweet fellowship with the Lord daily.

And finally, the verse of focus closes up by saying yet again – The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuosly; it must not go out. God does not want the fire on our personal altars, on the altars in our churches to burn out. He wants these altars to be constantly set on fire, burning for Him, burning to please Him, burning to do His will always.

How may you keep this altar burning you may ask?

• My dear friend who may not have an altar just yet to commune with the Lord, you should start by making Jesus Christ your friend.

• Then proceed to getting baptized in the name of the Lord

• Get baptized in the Holy Ghost: the Holy ghost is the one who is able to set your altar on fire. He is able to help keep your altar burning for the Lord. Rememeber do not just get baptized in the Holy ghost, cultivate a relationship with Him by talking to Him and asking Him for help always.

• And finally, be determined and intentional in keeping the fire on your altar burning. This state of mind will translate into your actions.

You have questions? Shoot me an email at info@abimbolaswalk.com or connect with me on social media – Abimbolaswalk 🙂