Exodus 20:22 – 26 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “This is what you are to tell the Israelites: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold. You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it. And you must not go up to My altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it.’
Ah Egypt! Land of soaring pyramids and gorgeous temples filled with huge images of the Pharaohs covered with gold and precious stones. Boy, those Egyptians really knew how to worship…. or did they? From this passage, it seems God has totally different ideas about how He is to be worshiped. WHY? What’s wrong with making temples and churches and altars as gorgeous as possible?
In Egypt, the Pharaoh was considered to be divine and therefore worthy of worship. In the book The Africans, David Lamb, the former African Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times, described one African country in which the dictator was hailed as a divine savior each time the national TV station began and closed operations. Unfortunately, the man in question plundered his country, sending billions of dollars to bank accounts in Switzerland and France. The only people who were saved by this individual were members of his own family or tribe.
God wants to be worshiped exclusively without any competitors. After all, who can compare to the One True Living God? But the shocking thing is the description of God’s requirements for the altars the Israelites were to build. God demands that His worshipers build an altar of earth or an altar of uncut stones. These requirements are to avoid the pitfall of someone chiseling images of the sun, moon, stars, fertility gods/goddesses, etc. Give an artisan an inch and pretty soon he’s going on about freedom of artistic expression and coming up with his own designs to show off how skillful he is.
God is not taking any chances that people are going to worship the altar rather than worshiping Him. Later on, Paul described this problem. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” Romans 1:21-23
“Fine,” you say. “But why the demand that the altar be approached by a ramp and not by steps? What is the harm in using steps?” The answer to that question lies with the pagan priests of the time and the way they flaunted themselves. Later on when God instructs Moses in the proper mode of dress for the priests, God ensures that the priests will wear trousers under their other robes. Evidently, the pagan priests may not have worn anything under their robes and may even have made sure that their genitalia were on public display with every step they took up the steps leading to an altar. God wants to be the sole object of worship; the priests are to serve and not to show off or to distract worshipers.
“But what about beautiful churches and cathedrals,” you might well ask. “Is there anything wrong with lovely houses of worship?” Good question. When the cathedrals were built in the Middle Ages, many who could not read could see Bible stories demonstrated in the stained glass windows or in bas reliefs. Today similar depictions can be seen in the old Catholic Cathedral in Navrongo, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. But remember that at the time of the Israelites, God was actually with them all the time, either as a pillar of could or as a pillar of fire. The means of worship could be extremely simple because the One who was being worshiped was obviously present. (The photo is of the Navrongo Cathedral depiction of Adam and Eve being driven out of the Garden of Eden.)
The fundamental problem with any structure built for worship comes when the structure itself becomes an object of worship. One skeptic has described this problem as “an edifice complex;” i.e., the building becomes more important than the One who is to be worshiped in that building.
APPLICATION: In speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus advised her that “God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 The question for us is this: whom are we worshiping? What are we worshiping? Are we worshiping God or have the forms of worship, the buildings, our relationships with others in the congregation or our relationship with a religious leader become more important that our relationship with God?
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for loving us and caring for us! Lord, help us to truly worship you in spirit and in truth. And help us to worship only you and not our work, our families, our vehicles, our hobbies, or anything else apart from you. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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