For us to have the recovery of the church as the house of God, we need to have the recovery of the altar, and we need to offer everything on the altar for God’s interests and for His satisfaction.
This week we come to the third main crystal in the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther; the title is, The Rebuilding of the Altar of God – the Altar of Burnt Offering.
When the children of Israel returned to the good land from captivity in Babylon, the first thing they built related to the house of God was the altar.
This is a crucial aspect of living in the good land after returning to the ground of oneness from Babylon.
We thank the Lord for His mercy upon us; He has brought us into the church life in His recovery, away from the division, confusion, and mixture in Christianity today.
Now that we have returned to the genuine ground of oneness, we are being recovered continually so that we may practice the church life in a proper way for the Lord’s Body to be built up.
There are many crucial aspects related to our living the Christian life and the church life after returning to the ground of oneness.
The history of the children of Israel is our history today; what they experienced in their history is a type of what we experience in our spiritual history with the Lord.
Seventy years after being brought into captivity in Babylon, God raised Cyrus, the King of Persia, who was moved by God and gave a decree that all those who are of the people of Israel and are stirred up by the Lord in spirit would return to rebuild the city and house of God. This is quite amazing.
Cyrus was a pagan king, but he was a type of Christ, for God burdened him for the building of God’s house, and he not only released the people to go and build but also offered to help and give anything that is necessary for the building.
In the first wave of people who returned there were about fifty thousand people; they arrived in Jerusalem, and they did something wonderful before even starting to rebuild the temple.
They, first of all, rebuilt the altar of God and offered burnt offerings upon the altar.
This is very significant, and in the church life, we need to have such an experience in order to be able to recover the house of God and the city of God.
Before we can build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God, we need to build an altar.
The recovery of the altar is important both on a personal and on a corporate level; we need to personally have the experience of consecrating all we all to God, and corporately we also need to give all we have to Him.
May the Lord enlighten us and remove any veils so that we may see what it means to rebuild the altar of God, and how can we experience this in our daily life and church life.
The Start of the Church Life is the Recovery of the Altar, the Real Consecration
What we need today in the church life in the Lord’s recovery is the priesthood and the kingship in order to be the kingdom of priests that the Lord desires to have for the fulfilment of His purpose.
For this, the first thing that needs to be recovered is the altar. We need the recovery of the altar, just as the returned captives in Jerusalem built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it (Ezra 3:2).
For us to have the recovery of the house of God, we need to have the recovery of the altar of God (1:2-3, 5; 3:2-3).
Even before we lay the foundation for the house of God, we need the recovery of the altar, the recovery of real consecration.
![Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred up to go up to build the house of Jehovah, which is in Jerusalem. Ezra 1:5 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up, [along] with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar upon its bases, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings of the morning and evening. Ezra 3:2-3](https://i0.wp.com/www.agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Then-the-heads-of-the-fathers-houses-of-Judah-and-Benjamin-and-the-priests-and-the-Levites-rose-up-even-everyone-whose-spirit-God-had-stirred-up-683x1024.webp?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1 "Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites rose up, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred up to go up to build the house of Jehovah, which is in Jerusalem. Ezra 1:5 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up, [along] with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar upon its bases, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings of the morning and evening. Ezra 3:2-3")
On this altar, the children of Israel offered mainly burnt offerings, not any sin offering, the trespass offering, the peace offering, or any other offering.
The burnt offering is an offering fully for God’s satisfaction. The recovery of the altar means that we offer everything to the Lord for His satisfaction.
This is our consecration to the Lord.
We offer all that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do to the Lord for one purpose, that is, to satisfy Him.
God desires to gain a house on earth where He can dwell for His satisfaction.
We are here as His people, and the Lord has brought us back from any division, confusion, and mixture to the genuine ground of oneness.
As we live here on the ground of oneness, we are the recovery people, and we care for one thing: the house of God, the building of the temple of God, which is the Body of Christ.
Before we can begin this work, however, we need to recover the altar even as the people of Israel did.
The first thing to be recovered for the church life is the altar.
We need to present our bodies with our whole being as a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is our reasonable service (Rom. 12:1).
Paul exhorted the brothers in Rome, through the compassions of God, to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God.
For us to practice the church life and live in the reality of the Body of Christ, we first need to have a real consecration by offering everything we have and are to the Lord for His satisfaction.
Before we can have the Body life for the building up of the church as the temple of God on earth, we must recover the altar.
We must present ourselves and offer ourselves to the Lord for His church, His house.
When we offer our body as a living sacrifice, we offer everything we have and are, for where our body is, that’s where our whole being is.
We cannot say we have consecrated everything to the Lord yet, when it comes to the meetings of the church, we stay home; we need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice for the church life.
The altar is very important for us to have the church life.
Before we can have the church life, we must put everything on the altar (Psa. 43:4).
This means that everything we have, everything we possess, and everything we are needs to be on the altar.
Our job, our being, our education, our family, our possessions, our finances, everything belongs on the altar as a sacrifice, an offering to the Lord for His satisfaction.
This is what we need at the start of everything related to the church as the house of God: we need a real consecration by offering everything to the Lord on the altar for His satisfaction.
We are here on earth for the Lord’s satisfaction; there’s no reason for us to be here except to satisfy God by building His house on the earth.
We must put all that we have, all that we are, and all that we can do on the altar for God’s satisfaction; this is the start of the church life.
Yes, we do experience Christ as our peace offering for our peace with God, as the sin offering for our sinful nature, as the trespass offering for our sins, and as the reality of all the offerings, but in particular, we need to take Him as our burnt offering for the church life.
We should be in the church life for God’s satisfaction and only for His satisfaction; we are here to carry out what is in His heart, for His eternal purpose and economy to be fulfilled.
Lord Jesus, recover the altar among us today for the building up of the church as the house of God. Amen, Lord, we give ourselves with all that we are and have to You. May there be the recovery of the altar in the church life for the church to be built up as God’s testimony. We are here for You, Lord, for the building up of the church as the house of God. We offer up everything that we have, everything that we are, and everything that we can do on the altar for Your satisfaction. Thank You for bringing us back to the ground of oneness. We put all that we have, all that we are, and all that we can do on the altar for God’s satisfaction. Lord, we are here for You and for Your satisfaction. We are here for the fulfilment of Your purpose, for the carrying out of Your economy!
Not Keeping Things for our Own Interests but Offering Everything on the Altar for God’s Interests
The problem in the church life many times is that we still hold things back, we still keep things for ourselves and for our own interests, not offering everything on the altar for God’s interests.
We may do what the returned captives of Israel did: they returned from Babylon to Jerusalem but still lived the same way as they used to live in Babylon.
We thank and praise the Lord that we’re here, in the church life, on the ground of oneness; however, what about our daily living, is it as it used to be before, in Christianity?
Do we still hold things back from the Lord and keep things for our own interests, or do we offer everything on the altar for His interests?
We have come back from Babylon to Jerusalem, but here in Jerusalem we may still keep many things for our own interests.
We may be in the church life but we may not offer everything on the altar for God’s interests and for God’s satisfaction.
If we really mean business with the Lord, we must offer everything on the altar.
We shouldn’t come into the church life and merely enjoy the Lord, yet have a living that is the same as before, as in the world or as in Christianity.
The life we live in the church life today must be absolutely for the Lord’s interest.
The life we live today in the Lord’s recovery must be absolutely for the recovery of the building up of the churches.
We should not keep anything for ourselves; rather, we should offer everything to Him on the altar for His interest and satisfaction.
We should not bring our former manner of life into the church; rather, we need to offer everything on the altar for God’s interests and live a life for the fulfilment of His purpose.
If we read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah we will see that there were so many elements of the living in Babylon that the children of Israel brought to Jerusalem, and many problems arose because of these elements.
In the church life, we live in Jerusalem, and we enjoy the Lord with the saints on the genuine ground of oneness; however, we should not bring in our old manner of life but simply live for the Lord’s interests.
In Babylon, we lived an idol-worshipping life and a life that was for our own personal enjoyment and satisfaction.
Now that we have come to Jerusalem, we need to have an altar and offer everything we are and have on the altar for God’s satisfaction and enjoyment.
The life we live in the church life today must be absolutely for God’s interests.
How can we do this? In ourselves we cannot, for in ourselves we are fully for our own interest, but when we lay our hands on Christ, He as the burnt offering is reproduced in us.
His absoluteness for God will be our absoluteness for God in our organic union with Him.
We may seek to have the increase in the church life, but not many people may come in; we may labor much and go to preach the gospel, but not much fruit may remain.
This may be because we still did not offer everything on the altar for the Lord’s interest and satisfaction.
We may still not have a real consecration but rather, we may still maintain our life as it was in Babylon.
May we realize that our life in the church life must be absolutely for the recovery of the building up of the churches.
We are here in the local churches practicing the church life for the building up of the universal church, the temple of God, the Body of Christ.
Everything we have, everything we are, and everything we do is for this one goal: to satisfy God and fulfil His purpose by doing all things for the building up of the church.
Lord Jesus, save us from being in Jerusalem yet living as we used to live in Babylon. Save us from living according to the former manner of life as we practice the church life. Save us from keeping things for our own interests. Oh Lord, we open to You. We offer everything on the altar for God’s interests and satisfaction. May our daily life and living in the Christian life and church life be absolutely for the Lord’s interests. Lord, we mean business with You; we want to be burning for You and for Your interests. We don’t care what others say about us: we are crazy lovers of Jesus offering everything on the altar for God’s purpose and interest! Amen, Lord, we want to practice the church life in the local churches for the building up of the universal church, the temple of God, the Body of Christ! Everything we have and are is for this one goal, that we satisfy God and fulfil His purpose!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City,” pp. 330-331, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2022 winter training), week 3, entitled, The Rebuilding of the Altar of God – the Altar of Burnt Offering.
- Further reading on this topic:
– The Altar – a portion from, The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
– Week 3 — Day 1, a portion via, The Church in Auckland.
– What Is Consecration? After we’re regenerated, the next step is to consecrate, or give ourselves to the Lord. In this post, we’ll look at the meaning of consecration, and why it’s a crucial step in our life-long journey with the Lord. Read more via, Bibles for America blog.
– What is God’s Recovery? God is moving today to recover what was lost by the historic Christian church. Read more via, Contending for the Faith.
– The Altars in Genesis (3) – The Altar Built by Noah. Article via, Living to Him.
– Laying ourselves on the altar to be burned by the Lord for His present recovery. A portion via, North California Churches website. - Hymns on this topic:
– Consecrated is Thy temple, / Purged from every stain and sin; / May Thy flame of glory now be / Manifested from within. / Let the earth in solemn wonder / See my body willingly / Offered as Thy slave obedient, / Energized alone by Thee. (Hymns #403 stanza 1)
– Lord, Thou art our consecration, / Thou the consecrated One; / Thou hast satisfied the Father— / Consecration thus was done. / When on earth Thou hadst no pleasure, / Save to do the Father’s will; / Now Thou livest here within us, / Consecration to fulfill. (Hymns #1138 stanza 1)
– Take my life, and let it be / Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; / Take my moments and my days, / Let them flow in ceaseless praise, / Let them flow in ceaseless praise. / Take my hands, and let them move / At the impulse of Thy love; / Take my feet and let them be / Swift and beautiful for Thee, / Swift and beautiful for Thee. (Hymns #445 stanzas 1-2)
About aGodMan
According to Ezra 3, they did not offer anything except the burnt offering upon the altar. They did not offer the sin offering, the trespass offering, the peace offering, or any other offering…We all know that the burnt offering is for God’s satisfaction The sin offering is for sins, the trespass offering is for our trespasses, the peace offering is for our peace, the meal offering is for our satisfaction, but the burnt offering is for God’s satisfaction. To recover the house is for God’s satisfaction. The house is not for us to be forgiven; it is not for us to have peace with God; it is not for our enjoyment; it is wholly for God’s satisfaction. Therefore, we must offer nothing but the burnt offering. In other words, we must put all that we have, all that we are, and all that we can do on the altar for God’s satisfaction. This is the start of the church life. Before we can have the church life, we must put everything on the altar. The young people must offer their college degrees and their scholarships, and we all must offer all that we have and are on the altar for God’s satisfaction. Otherwise, it is impossible to recover God’s house. Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1969, vol. 2, “The Recovery of God’s House and God’s City,” pp. 330-331
The first thing that needs to be recovered for us to have the church life is the altar.
We cannot live in the church life the same way we used to live in Babylon; we must offer everything we have and are on the altar for God’s satisfaction.
We must put all that we have, are, and can do on the altar, and we need to live a life for the Lord’s interest.
Dear brother, as those who have come out of Babylon to Jerusalem for the recovery of God’s house we must offer all that we are, all that we have and all that we can do as a full consecration.
This is to recover the altar of burnt offering for the rebuilding of the temple. If we, even as responsible ones, do not do this, we will see little or no increase in the local churches.
We must be crazy lovers of Jesus, those who will give everything for the building of God’s house.
Only the burnt offering of Christ Himself can satisfy our God.
The fire of Christ in us must burn continually day & night.
Amen! We all want to please our Heavenly Father.
Lord, making us turn to you everyday and keep us in the church life!
We have peace in your Spirit and give you everything we have.
Amen brother!
O Lord we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice!
May this be pleasing in your sight.
Amen Lord, we lay our hands on You! We give our to You and for Your purpose!
Yes brother.
Without giving our whole beings to Him as an offering of burning, we cannot serve and play our part in the building of His Church.
Praise to God for the wonderful opportunity He gave us.
We lay our all on the alter of sacrifice for God satisfaction.
We want to be absolutely for you and for the recovery of the church life
may we offer everything on the alter of sacrifice so that you may give us an increase in the church.
Make us those who are burning for your interest.
In ch. 6 the members of our body are to be presented as weapons of righteousness (Rom. 6:13) for warfare and service. In this chapter, however, our bodies are to be presented as a living sacrifice for the church life. This sacrifice is living because it has life through resurrection; it is not like the sacrifices in the Old Testament, which were all slain. This sacrifice is also holy because, positionally, it has been separated unto God by the blood of Christ from the world and from all persons, matters, and things that are common; and because, dispositionally, the natural life and the old creation have been sanctified and transformed by the Holy Spirit with God’s life and God’s holy nature for God’s satisfaction. Thus, this sacrifice is well pleasing to God.
In Greek, bodies here is plural and sacrifice is singular. This indicates that, although many bodies are presented, they become one sacrifice, implying that, although we are many, our service in the Body of Christ should not be many individual services, separated and unrelated. All our service should constitute one whole service, and this service must be unique because it is the service of the one Body of Christ.
Rom. 12:1, footnote 5 on, “living sacrifice”, Recovery Version Bible
Enjoy the audio version of the agodman.com article entitled, The Recovery of the Altar: Offering Everything to the Lord for His Satisfaction (based on the HWMR on, the Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther – week 3 day 1).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehqrz23qEqI
The article is online at https://bit.ly/RecoveryoftheAltar
You have longed for sweet peace, and for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest, or be perfectly blest,
Until all on the altar is laid.
Enjoy this hymn via, https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/448
Ameen!!! Lord recover the altar of consecration in our experience.
Thank You Lord You are our burnt offerings. You are the One who is absolutely for God and for His interest. May we keep enjoying You as the absolute One. May You move and work within us to live in us a life that is a repetition of the life that You lived on earth, the life of the burnt offering. Amen!!!
Amen, Lord Jesus. Praise You as the real burnt offering! We take You as our burnt offering that we could be absolutely for God’s interest on earth, for the building up of the church as Your organic Body!
Ezra 3:2
Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up, along with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
HWMR Week 3, Day 1
…we must offer nothing but the burnt offering. In other words, we must put all that we have, all that we are, and all that we can do on the altar for God’s satisfaction.
The burning offering is the only offering for God’ satisfaction, yet many of us still “…at Jerusalem [keeping] many things for our own interest. We would not offer everything on the altar for His interest and for His satisfaction.”
It is tough what our dear brother Lee shared here, but it is true that, “certain brothers like to bear responsibility in the church life, but they are still in the world. They have not put all that they have and are on the altar.”
Have I? Have we?
It is the intangible things like our PRIDE of who we are or what we achieved on this earth, our personal comfort, and the hidden personal interest we have in our
s, that we need to bring to the altar.
We all are just a little piece of the whole big puzzle, members of His Body, and our focus should be to consecrate ourselves to Him, grow unto Him, and offer the burnt offerings everyday, morning and night.
Our titles, certifications, personal plans, achievements, all mean nothing and are nothing before the eyes of our Lord. Those only bring personal satisfaction in our pure natural ways.
He is satisfy with each of us as a functional member of His Body, when we humble and come to Him naked, with nothing in our soul-life, as empty vessels, in meekness, to received His riches, then He is satisfy with our burnt offering and we can have a healthy, glowing, and growing church life. He will bring, not us, the increment to His house.
We, who understand this, will never speak for our own satisfaction and our own indulgence, hoping and counting how many Amens we can get. As our dear brother Lee shared, we are not here to “keep many things for our own interest.” We are here to cooperate with the building of His house, but first we need to understand:
“…For the recovery of the house we need the recovery of the altar…The altar is the place to offer all things to the Lord. This is the recovery of the real consecration.”
Lord we just want to consecrate ourselves to You, we don’t want be freezing, we want to be crazy, burning so “…we will see the increase of the church.” Amen!!