Weekly Pursuit – Week 4 of January
Verses:
Lev. 9:24 “Then fire came forth from before Jehovah and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they gave a ringing shout and fell on their faces.”
Excerpts:
Every service to God must be based on the fire from the altar of burnt offering. In the Old Testament the priests burned incense before God. The burning of incense symbolizes the service rendered to God by man. The fire used to burn the incense
had to be taken from the altar of burnt offering. If a person did not burn incense with the fire from the altar of burnt offering, that is, if he offered strange fire, his service was not accepted by God, and he suffered the judgment of death.
The fire on the altar of burnt offering descended from God. The children of Israel could not begin their service to God until the fire descended. Although they had been delivered by God out of Egypt, had crossed the Red Sea, and had raised up the tabernacle at the foot of Mount Sinai, they could not serve God, because they did not have a basis for their service. The basis of their service was the altar of burnt offering with fire burning upon it.
The offering of the burnt offering was the prerequisite for fire to descend from heaven. Merely having the altar was not sufficient; the burnt offering had to be placed on the altar. After the sacrifice of the burnt offering was killed, skinned, cut, washed, and placed on the altar, fire could descend from heaven. God wanted the service of the children of Israel to be based on this fire. (The Service for Building Up the House of God, ch. 2)
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