A Life in Exile

How many times have you put a string on your finger or a Post-it note on your dashboard to remember something important? Just as we’ve seen the importance for believers to remember God, there are times when it takes something monumental to entrust the moment in history. Altars are one example of how individuals not only worshiped God but also remembered important moments when he acted to impact their lives and futures.

The use of altars would be commonplace in the history of the people of Israel as well as the pagan nations of the world. Built of stone, they required an effort to put together. Wood would be arranged on top, a fire started, and the sacrificial animal laid on top, sending a fragrant smell to the heavens. Altars often became places of worship for future generations who lived in the same area or traveled as a pilgrimage to the site.

Jacob’s altar at Shechem.

He’d lived away from the Land of Promise for too long, marrying not one but two wives, raising sheep for his father-in-law, having children of his own, and growing in wealth. After the anxiety had passed over his reunion with his brother, Esau, Jacob arrived at Shechem, once again within the borders of the land promised to his father and grandfather. He pitched his tent on a portion of a field purchased from the sons of Hamor, and there he built an altar.

And he set up an altar there and called it God, the God of Israel. (Genesis 33:20 CSB)

Jacob was not quick to make decisions, and his return to the Land of Promise easily demonstrates this trait. Instead of moving further into the land, back to Bethel, he stopped short in Shechem and purchased land. It would prove to be a place of trouble for his family, but still, after twenty years outside of the land, this would be the spot where Jacob builds his first altar to the God of his fathers. This place was special, as it marked the Lord’s watchcare over him until his return.

Jacob’s altar at Bethel.

After the trouble with the sons of Shechem, it was time for Jacob to move on. God made it clear.

God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”

Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. (Genesis 35:1-7, 14)

Unlike his arrival at Shechem, Jacob knew that Bethel was different and the people needed to be ready for the moment they would arrive at the place of Jacob’s encounter with the God of Creation. It was clear that this altar would mark God’s call on his life and his help through the years past. Jacob would worship the God whom he knew was with him, wherever he roamed.

Not only would he remember God with the altar, but he also adds a marker as well. This place would be remembered throughout the history of his people. The stones would cause them to remember.

Moses builds an altar at Rephidim.

Just as God took care of Jacob, he also proved himself faithful in saving his people when they faced enemies after coming out of Egypt. After the defeat of the Amalekites, Moses marks the victory.

And Moses built an altar and named it, “The Lord Is My Banner.” He said, “Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:15-16)

Moses builds an altar in worship to the Lord, but also gives it a name. Both will serve as a memorial to how God helped his people to defeat the Amalekites. Moses held his hands up throughout this battle, held up by Aaron and Hur, and such a momentous act deserved acknowledgement of God’s presence and power through his people.

The tribes across the Jordan built an altar.

After the land had peace from their enemies, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned to the land given them by Moses over the Jordan and built an altar. After a misunderstanding by their fellow Israelites over what this meant, it was made clear by them that the altar was a memorial to their loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We actually did this from a specific concern that in the future your descendants might say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!’ So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.

“Therefore we said: Let’s take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice. Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you, and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings.

The Israelites were pleased with the report, and they blessed God. They spoke no more about going to war against them to ravage the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived. So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar: It is a witness between us that the Lord is God. (Joshua 22:24-27, 33-34)

What a great reason for building an altar! They wanted to make sure they would always be considered as part of the people of Israel. They wanted to remember the foundation of their faith and God they served. The altar was a fitting memorial to their heritage.

What altar are you building?

If only these memorial altars could have prevented God’s people from forgetting. Unfortunately, the Israelites were quick to turn to the gods of the nations around them, and they required altars too; they required sacrifice. Because of their forgetfulness and idol worship, the people would end up in exile, surrounded by the idols and detestable practices of their captors. Jeremiah points out their sin.

The sin of Judah is inscribed with an iron stylus. With a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles, by the green trees on the high hills—my mountains in the countryside. (Jeremiah 17:1-2)

Just as the earlier altars commemorated a people’s worship of the One True God, these lesser altars were reminders as well—reminders of their sin and disloyalty to the God who chose them and brought them out of Egypt. They would be reminders of why they were now living in exile from the Land of Promise.

These verses illustrate that we, too, have a choice. We no longer have to build altars to sacrifice animals to the Lord, because of the once-and-for-all sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who took away all our sin. I’m grateful for that, but I’m also aware that we still are building memorials to the one we worship. Whether it’s a person or thing, mankind is marking territory with reminders of loyalties.

The questions for us as Christ-followers are these: What memorials am I leaving behind to show where my loyalty and faith lie? What do my neighbors see? What do my children and grandchildren see? Will they be able to look back after I’m long gone and say I was known by my devotion to the One True God?

The same questions could be for the church as well. What do we leave behind as the Body of Christ to point future generations to the God we claim to serve? Is it a building, a coffee shop, a gym, or a living witness in the lives of those we’ve led to the Lord?

Help us, Lord, to examine our altars of devotion.

Grace and Peace

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