An Altar
“We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” —Hebrews 13:10
Read Hebrews 13:1-11
The inspired author of the Epistle to the Hebrews had given many invitations to the Jews to believe, showing them how important faith really is. He gave Old Testament examples and added various narratives of martyrs. He wrote, “Seeing we also are com-passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses…let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” He also put it plainly: “ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God. See that ye refuse him not that speaketh” (Hebrews 12:22, 25).
By the end of his letter, he had one more strategy: he tried to make the Jews jealous by saying, “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” The author was not speaking about a visible altar, but about Jesus Christ Himself, who is not only the offering, but also the altar and the High Priest himself. The Lord Jesus entered into heaven with His own blood. He is the one true offering to which nothing may or can be added. Since He is also the altar, the prayers that we send up to God must be laid on Christ.
When we have this altar for ourselves, we will be able to enter our eternal home freely. We shall never perish, for “The Altar” is the great High Priest of believers, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he possesses us.
Do you know what the author to the Hebrews is talking about? Does this make you jealous?
This devotional was taken from “The Time of Your Life” a daily devotional published by the Youth & Education Committee of the FRC. To order a printed copy of this book, contact: bookorders@frcna.org.