Contemplative Bible Reading

Exodus 20:24-15 (New Living Translation)

24 “Build for me an altar made of earth, and offer your sacrifices to me—your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats, and your cattle. Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, and I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you use stones to build my altar, use only natural, uncut stones. Do not shape the stones with a tool, for that would make the altar unfit for holy use.

This comes right after God gives the ten commandments to the people through Moses. God provides special instructions about the altar on which the people are to sacrifice the best of their livestock.

The altar should be natural: dirt and natural stones that were not cut, chiseled, and fitted.

I wonder about this. Why just pile up some rocks and toss on some dirt to fill in the cracks? Why not build “something nice?” This is lazy. This doesn’t make sense to me. Why, why, and why not?

Here is one guess from me: God says, “I want the greatest effort of sacrifice to come from your heart. Don’t put effort and expense into the physical stuff. Put the effort in your heart.”

I am sure folks who study these things have better explanations. I would love to hear them. The lesson I take is the focus on the heart. Does this mean something to me? Am I loving? Do I care? How do I treat this as more than just write a check and put it in the plate and go one with the stuff I like in life? That is my burden.