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. Sermons
I. THE OBJECT Or WORSHIP. The true God, not gods of silver, or gods of gold (ver. 23). The God who had talked with them from heaven had appeared in no visible form. "Ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice" (Deuteronomy 4:12). Let the sole object of our worship be the invisible, spiritual, infinite, yet revealed God. God's revelations of himself lay the basis of right worship. God has spoken. How reverently should we hear! II. THE PLACE Or WORSHIP. "In all places where I record my name" (ver. 24). God records his name by making a revelation of himself, as at Bethel, Peniel, etc. Whatever places he chose for the building of his altar, till the time came for the erection of a permanent sanctuary, there would he meet with them. Religion is now set free from places (John 4:23). Wherever two or three are met in Christ's name, there will he be in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20). III. THE ALTAR OF WORSHIP. To be built of unhewn stone - i.e., of natural materials (ver. 25). It was the altar of propitiation. Man is viewed as one whose sins are yet unexpiated. His art, in that state, would have polluted the altar. Art came in afterwards (ch. 25. etc.). Nothing of man's own avails for propitiation. IV. THE MATERIALS OF WORSHIP. Animal sacrifices (ver. 24). For purposes of atonement - as symbols of personal consecration (burnt offerings) - as pledges of peace and renewed fellowship (peace offerings). Not in the first, but in the other meanings of sacrifice, we are still summoned to bring them in our worship - "spiritual sacrifices" of self-surrender (Romans 12:1), of the broken spirit (Psalm 51:17), of praise and thanksgiving (1 Peter 1:5). V. THE MANNER WORSHIP (ver. 26). Reverence and decency. - J.O.
In all places where I record My name, I will come unto thee. I. THAT GOD DEMANDS FROM HIS CREATURE MAN REVERENT AND INTELLIGENT WORSHIP.II. THAT SUCH WORSHIP, TO BE ACCEPTABLE TO GOD, MUST ALWAYS BE ASSOCIATED WITH DIVINELY-APPOINTED SACRIFICE. III. THAT SUCH WORSHIP AND SACRIFICE OBTAIN FOR MAN THE BEST BLESSINGS OF HEAVEN. (F. W. Brown.) II. THE BLESSING PROMISED. 1. "I will come to thee." God's gracious presence. 2. "I will bless thee." Remind Him of His promise. 3. Make this a house of prayer. (T. Guthrie, D. D.) 1. By the name of the Lord is often understood God Himself, or the display of His infinite perfections in those works, whereby He makes His being and nature known. — Thus, Psalm 20:1. But the name of the Lord, when used in a particular reference to the covenant of grace, always respects God considered as a Redeemer; and expresses His Divine perfections, as they are gloriously displayed in the salvation of sinners. 2. Let us now see in what respects that name may be said to be recorded in any place. The words might be rendered, "In all places where I shall fix the memory of My name"; or, "In all places where I shall make My name to be invoked." The Chaldaic paraphrase has it, "In every place where I shall make My majesty dwell." The phrase, agreeably to either of these translations, evidently refers to the public worship of God, and has respect both to the place when, and the manner in which, it was to be celebrated. It is well known that the tabernacle was the place of public worship which God, exclusively of all others, determined for the Israelites while they were in the wilderness. After they had possession of the promised land, the ark of the covenant was lodged at Shiloh, and there, for a long while, the people celebrated Divine service. When the temple was finished, Jerusalem was fixed upon as the permanent seat, 3. If you now inquire how the name of the Lord was recorded in all these places, and by what means it might be said that He made Himself to be there remembered as the God of Salvation; we refer you, for a general answer, to the genius and scope of the Mosaic institution. 4. But this great end was more especially attained by the sacrifices and burnt-offerings, which formed an essential part of the daily worship in Israel. Believers were then looking for the appearance of the promised Seed who was not yet come. What could be better calculated to assist their faith, to establish their hope, and instruct them in the method of salvation, than to be commanded of God to substitute a bloody offering in their own stead, and thus transfer the legal guilt and punishment upon a sacrifice? In this act of worship, the bleeding lamb and smoking altar directed them to the promised Surety, the precious Lamb of God, who, by His sufferings and death, was fully to atone for His people, and, by one perfect sacrifice, became the Author of salvation unto all that obey Him. II. THE IMPORT OF THESE WORDS, "I will come unto thee, and bless thee." The blessing of the Lord is always upon His people in every place. He hears their prayers in secret, and in their families. He has never said to the seed of Jacob, "Seek ye Me in vain." But to public worship peculiar mercies are annexed. 1. The Lord blesses His Church when He gives it a pure and faithful ministry. 2. The Lord blesses His Church when, in His good Providence, He preserves His people together in mutual peace, and prevents confusion, animosities, and schisms. 3. But especially He blesses His people in the place where He records His name, when He bestows that blessing of all blessings, the Holy Spirit. 4. The protection and defence of the Most High, whereby He preserves His Churches in the enjoyment of their privileges, and continues His blessing from the fathers to the children.Application: 1. We learn, "that the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to Himself, by His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, a Church chosen to everlasting life and agreeing in true faith." 2. We learn, that there is forgiveness with our God, that He may be feared; and thus a foundation laid for true and spiritual worship. 3. We see, that the doctrines of the gospel, like their Divine Author, are the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. (J. H. Livingstone, D. D.) I. THE PROMISE IS EVIDENTLY OF UNIVERSAL APPLICATION. Its language implies or rather asserts this. It speaks of "all places," and consequently it takes in or may take in the whole world, and every spot in the world. The Lord "records" His name in a place, when He declares His perfections and makes Himself known there; when He tells us what He is; unfolds to us His character. Now comes the question, Where has the Holy One of Israel thus revealed Himself? Where has He thus recorded His great name? It is engraven on the face of universal nature. The Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is, in fact, the one great manifestation of a hidden God.II. Let us go on to consider HIS PROMISE. 1. It encourages us to expect in this house of prayer the presence of God with us. "I will come unto thee." And what more can we desire? It is rest to the soul; a something which not only quiets, and strengthens, and raises it, but leaves it nothing to wish for; it is the "fulness of joy"; no cistern of happiness, which a few moments or hours of enjoyment can empty; but a fountain of life, a spring that eternity cannot dry up nor a universe exhaust. "I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee"; "so bless thee, that My presence shall be known by the happiness I communicate, and the mercies I bestow." 2. We are warranted then to look for blessings from heaven in this place, and these real blessings, great blessings, mercies which God Himself esteems blessings. But here we must remember that anything, in order to be a blessing, must be adapted to the situation and condition of those to whom it is given. Hence when the Lord Jehovah says, "I will bless thee," before we can understand His words, we must have some acquaintance with the character and circumstances of those to whom they are addressed. If spoken to an angel or a redeemed saint in heaven, they may mean one thing; addressed to this sinner on the earth, another thing; and sent home to the heart of that poor child of the dust, yet something different. We must look to ourselves then. We must ask where we are standing and whither we are going; where we are and what we are. And to what a multitude of thoughts do such questions as these give rise! What wants, and burdens, and sins, and fears, do they bring before us! (C. Bradley, M. A.) "I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee," said a faithful God on Sinai. And did the words, as they died on His lips, pass away from His remembrance? No; His Church in the wilderness beheld and owned His presence. He shone forth between the cherubim; He met His people in His tabernacle, and "made them joyful in His house of prayer." And when a temple was built at Jerusalem for His rest, He dwelt visibly in it. "The glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord"; and this was His promise concerning it, "I have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice. Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually." And when He left the heaven of His glory, and came down "a Man of sorrows" to the earth, was Sinai forgotten amidst His labours and griefs? A thousand years had not erased from His memory one word of the promise He had uttered there. He remembers it; He takes it up as His own; He confirms and extends it. "In all places," was His language on the mountain; "Wheresoever any are gathered together," is His language now. "I will come unto thee," said He to the hosts of Israel; He says to us, "Where only two or three are met together, I am." "I will come," was His promise in the wilderness; but this is His declaration in His Church, "I am come; there am I in the midst"; His presence is no longer a mercy to be hoped for, it is a blessing to be enjoyed. But all this, it may be said, was addressed to His disciples; and was intended only for the early ages of His Church. He foresaw the objection. Hear Him again; "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." What then is this house of prayer? It is a place where we are to meet our God. We see Him not, perhaps we think not of His presence; but if only two or three of us are seeking our happiness in Him, He is here, and here to bless us. His own faithful lips have told us so. May His Spirit grant that our own experience may often tell us the same!(C. Bradley, M. A.) People MosesPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Altar, Bless, Blessed, Blessing, Burned, Burnt, Burnt-offerings, Cattle, Cause, Fellowship, Flock, Goats, Hast, Herd, Honored, Memory, Mentioned, Offering, Offerings, Oxen, Peace, Peace-offerings, Places, Record, Remembered, Sacrifice, Sacrificed, Sheep, Thereon, Wherever, YouOutline 1. The ten commandments are spoken by Jehovah18. The people are afraid, but Moses comforts them 21. Idolatry is forbidden 23. Of what sort the altar should be Dictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 20:24 4684 sheep Library The Decalogue: I --Man and God'And God spake all these words, saying, 2. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Decalogue: ii. --Man and Man May the Third Other Gods! The Mediator --The Interpreter Weighed in the Balances Traditionalism, Its Origin, Character, and Literature - the Mishnah and Talmud - the Gospel of Christ - the Dawn of a New Day. Covenanting Sanctioned by the Divine Example. Beam on us Brightly, Blessed Day, For, Concerning False Witness, which is Set Down in the Ten Commands of The... On the Other Hand, those who Say that we must Never Lie... What Then, if a Homicide Seek Refuge with a Christian... Thus Has the Question Been on Both Sides Considered and Treated... The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close. The Preface to the Commandments The Right Understanding of the Law The First Commandment The Second Commandment The Third Commandment The Fourth Commandment The Fifth Commandment The Sixth Commandment The Seventh Commandment The Eighth Commandment Links Exodus 20:24 NIVExodus 20:24 NLT Exodus 20:24 ESV Exodus 20:24 NASB Exodus 20:24 KJV Exodus 20:24 Bible Apps Exodus 20:24 Parallel Exodus 20:24 Biblia Paralela Exodus 20:24 Chinese Bible Exodus 20:24 French Bible Exodus 20:24 German Bible Exodus 20:24 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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