PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 316: Altar Building, Part 9
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 316
: Altar Building, Part 9
There are many things in life that are a duty, and yet without them, we could not live an ordered or enjoyable life. Duty results in delight! Have you experienced this?
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Altar building again! We are still on point . . .
No.19: WE BUILD A FAMILY ALTAR ACCORDING TO GD’S ORDER
Two more thoughts about order. We see something of this when David was bringing back the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. He was so excited to bring it back. Oh, it was a joy to his heart! We read in 1 Chronicles 13 how it was all already organized. Now it says in verse 7: “And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.”
Wow! It must have been amazing! As they continued: “Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.” Help!
It says: “And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzza . . . And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me? So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obededom, and all that he had.”
Here's David. His dream, his vision, to bring the ark back, and he’d done everything in his power to do it right! He’d gotten a new cart. He most probably had it specially made. He was the king of Israel. He had all finances at his disposal. I’m sure it was the best cart that had ever, ever been built before, because he’s bringing the ark of God, the Presence of God, to his city! And yet, this happened. Why did God do that?
Now David is angry, but I guess now he’s getting jealous because Obededom and all his family are getting specially blessed by the Lord because the ark is in their home. So, David begins to seek the Lord. He asks the priests to seek out what was wrong. “What did we do wrong?”
And, we find, they had done it all wrong! Oh, they’d done it the best way they thought. They had done it with all this pomp, and all this. Nothing was left undone to make this new cart. But they found out that was not how the ark of God was to be carried. God had stipulated that the ark of the covenant was to be carried on the shoulders of the priests.
So, they tried again. OK, so we now go over the chapter 15:11: “And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites . . . and said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.”
You see, God has order for everything. Many times, we can just do it our way and think we are giving God our best. We’re doing our best for God, but it’s not God’s way. He’s not going to accept it. We have a responsibility to seek the truth and seek after the due order.
1Chronicles 15:14: “So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon;” they carried them on the staves. “As Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.” So, this time, they brought the ark of the covenant in safety to Jerusalem, because they did it “after the due order.”
It's important to have order. In the story of Gideon in Judges 6:26, God says: “And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place.” In the margin of my Bible, it says: “in an orderly manner.”
In the New English Translation, it says: “according to the proper pattern.”
Other translations say: “in the proper arrangement, in an orderly way.” Once again, we see that in building an altar, God mandated that it was to be done according to the proper pattern and according to the proper arrangement.
Now, we see even regarding the priesthood, Psalm 110:4: “Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” The original priesthood was the Aaronic priesthood, but then Jesus became the priest after the order of Melchizedek. We don’t have to go into all that today, but just knowing that there was an order of the priesthood, and many other Scriptures.
And then, even the singers in the temple had to do everything by order too. Let’s go to 1 Chronicles 25:6. There were three main families who were the singers, the family of Jeduthun, the family of Asaph, and the family of Heman. It tells about all their families. Verse 5 mentions all their names. “All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.” Yes, 17 children!
“All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD.” Wow! Imagine that family, singing in the house of the Lord! Then it goes on: “according to the king's order.” It was the order of King David who gave these orders. He had gotten all his orders from the Lord. He gave them to the singers: “Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman. So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.” Wow! So, even the singers all had to do everything according to the order.
God also ordered His kingdoms. I love that Scripture in Isaiah 9:6, where it talks about God ordering His kingdom. “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” God orders His kingdom. Our home is our little kingdom, part of God’s kingdom. He wants us to order it.
He even wants to order our lives. In Colossians 2:5, Paul is writing to the Colossian believers. He says: “For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.” The Knox Translation says: “I rejoice to see how well disciplined you are. Go on then, ordering your lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, according to the tradition you have received of Him.”
Even in our Christian walk, yes, God has shown us He wants us to have order as we build an altar to Him. But He wants us to have order in every department of our lives because God is a God of order Himself.
Titus 1:5: “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.”
The next one . . .
No. 20. WE EAT AND REJOICE AT THE FAMILY ALTAR
Deuteronomy 27:7: “And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God.” I mentioned in one of my previous points that we don’t allow eating when we are having the Word of God. But it’s all part of our table. We eat first, and while we’re still at the table, when we’ve finished our eating, we then open God’s Word, we pray, and we rejoice together.
It’s something that goes with the altar. God puts eating with His Presence; He puts it all together. It’s part of life. Eating and rejoicing are actually twins.
Deuteronomy 27:5-7: “And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God . . . and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God.”
I find that the table is an incredible preparation for our altar for when we come before the Lord, because it’s not easy to get your family together, especially as they get older. They’re involved in so many things, and they’re doing so many different things. But to get your family together, the easiest way is for food! “OK! It’s suppertime! Come! Come and eat!” Everybody’s hungry, so they gather to the table.
It is a gathering place, but the table is not just a place to feed the stomach. It’s a place to feed the body, to feed the soul, and to feed the spirit. As we do it all together, it becomes a wonderful thing. We feed our family. We feed their hungry tummies. As we do, they relax, because food relaxes you.
We fellowship together, and talk about the day, and talk about things together. That also relaxes you. So, we get prepared. We are prepared then for the receiving of food for our spirits. It’s there. It’s all together, although we’re not doing it all at the same time. We’re feeding the body, and then we’re feeding the spirit. That’s how we love to do it in our home. But God loves it to be associated with the table.
After great altar experiences, Moses and the elders of Israel went up the mountain. It tells us in Exodus 24:1-22 the whole story. “They saw God and did eat and drink.” When we have been eating and drinking, then we come to hear from God, and to receive into our spirits food for our spirits. But it’s all in the presence of God. Eating is in the presence of God. Eating for our bodies is in the presence of God. Eating for our souls and our spirits is in the presence of God also.
I love that passage in Luke 24, the last chapter. You remember that beautiful story of the two disciples walking to Emmaus, so forlorn because they think that Jesus has died. They don’t know He has risen from the dead. Jesus comes alongside and walks beside them. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself . . . And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.” Their eyes were opened, and it was so amazing.
Then they said to Him, as they got to their little town of Emmaus, “Come, come, come and have a meal with us.” Jesus acted as though He was moving on. They said, “No, no,” and they constrained Him to come in. So He came, and they prepared the meal. They sat down at the table.
Then the Bible says, as they sat at the table, then Jesus broke the bread and blessed it. He wasn’t actually conducting communion, because that was how they eat in the Middle East. They break the pita bread, and they dip it in the dish, maybe hummus or baba ghanoush. They dip it in. Of course He would give thanks, although usually the Jews give thanks at the end of the meal. He was breaking the bread, and they were beginning to eat.
As He did that, their eyes were opened, and they knew it was Jesus. They didn’t even know it was Him as He was talking to them. But as they sat at the table—there’s something about the table. The table is the place that prepares us for revelation from God. We come to the table, and we sit, and we eat. We fellowship, and then our hearts are prepared and open to receive revelation from God. Amen?
Oh, while we’re on this subject of food, and eating at the table, I did a little study about FOOD TWINS. Did you know that I found . . . I’m always finding so many, aren’t I? I found 25 different things God associates with food in the Bible. They are food twins. They go together. I can just give them to you. You can email me if you want all the Scriptures. There are Scriptures for every one of them.
Number one: Food and the Table.
Food and table are twins. You don’t eat food walking around the house. You don’t eat food in your bedroom. Your bedroom is for sleeping. You eat food at the table. That should be a principle in our homes. That’s where we eat food; at the table, not all around the house. No, the table is the place for feeding.
Number two: Food and Abundance.
Food and cooking.
Food and comfort.
Food and celebration.
Food and fellowship.
Food and fullness.
Food and gladness.
Food and good cheer.
Food and good things.
Food and healing.
Food and hospitality.
Food and laughter.
Food and leftovers.
Food and leisure.
Food and merriment.
Food and prayer and praise.
Food and the presence of God.
Food and prophecy.
Food and protection.
Food and provision.
Food and raising children.
Food and strength.
Food and teaching, and
Food and work.
Did you know that God associates food with every one of those things? Twenty-five food twins. That’s how much God loves food! He puts it together with all those things in the Word. You can email me if you would love to have all the Scriptures about them.
No. 21. IT WILL COST YOU SOMETHING TO BUILD AN ALTAR TO THE LORD
I’m going to take you now to 2 Samuel 24. We read here a story about David. It’s the last chapter of 2 Samuel. And very sadly, David has sinned in regard to the numbering of the people of Israel. God sent a plague upon the Israelites. It was devastating. This plague was killing thousands. David was desperate. Already 70,000 Israelites had died. David cried out to God, “God, please save my people!” And God said, “I want you to build an altar.”
2 Samuel 24:18: “And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David, according to the saying of Gad [the prophet], went up as the LORD commanded.”
And so, David arrived at the threshing floor of Araunah, and he said to Araunah, “I’ve come ‘to buy the threshing floor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.’” But Araunah said, “Oh, King David! You don’t have to buy it from me. It’s all yours. I give it to you, and the animals for the offerings. Everything! You take it all! You just go to it.”
What did David say? “Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the LORD.”
So, we see here, ladies, that David wouldn’t accept just doing it for nothing. No. He was building an altar to the Lord. He said “I am not going to do that “of that which doth cost me nothing.” I will buy it at the full price.”
It is true, ladies, it will cost you something to continue having your family altar each day. It is a commitment. It is a commitment that takes effort, that takes time, that takes your, yes, I said the word “commitment,” but I think there’s another word that holds you to it, that you will not give it up.
You will not give in to all these things that come into your lives to stop it, because the devil hates the family altar. He hates that we are getting together as a family to hear the truth of God’s Word, to cry out to the Lord, and pray against his evil works. He hates that! He’s going to try and do everything to stop you. He won’t try with bad things. You wouldn’t even take any notice.
But he’ll try to stop you with good things. That’s how he does it. That’s how he did it with Eve in the garden. He didn’t tempt her with something bad. No, he tempted her . . . He said, “Oh, it’s so good! It will make you wise.” Oh, he tempted her with that which looked good and was wise. That’s how Satan will tempt you, with things that are good. You’ll get so busy with good things that you won’t have time for the best things. So, it will cost us. Are you ready for it to cost you something? That’s what it takes, to have a committed altar unto the Lord our God.
This story is written again in 1 Chronicles 21, so I’ll read it from that book also. In verse 24 it says, “Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost.” Amen? That is a very powerful point, isn’t it?
Number 22: Genesis 4:4 is talking about Abel. It says here, “Abel also brought the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock.” The New English Translation says, “Even the fattest of them.” So, number 22: when we build an altar to God, we give God our best.
We don’t come to the altar to give God the dregs. No, we’re coming to give Him our best. We sacrifice the best unto the Lord. It was always the best of the flock, and also the pure of the flock. He talks about how God would not accept any sacrifice that had a blemish. They always had to be pure.
No. 23: WE ESTABLISH A FAMILY ALTAR AS A DUTY TO GOD
Wow, we’re getting there, aren’t we ladies? Do you like the word “duty”? Oh, sometimes we don’t like that word, do we? We think, “Oh, we should do everything spontaneously. We should do things as we feel them and as we get the urge.” No, life consists of duty.
God even gives us this word when He talks about the altar. Let’s have a look, shall we?
2 Chronicles 8:14: “And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required.”
So, the things that the priests had to do, they didn’t do them when they felt like it, or when they felt this anointing come upon them. No, it was a duty that every day required. That word “duty” in the Bible occurs 1400 times in the Old Testament. It uses 85 different English words in the King James Version to describe it. It’s not a word that is hiding away in our Bibles. No, it’s there quite often for us to read, over 1400 times.
Let’s look at this Scripture in Ezra 3:4. They “offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day required.” I see in that little Scripture, that little sentence, five words about duty. Can I read them over so you remember them?
“Daily.” They offered daily, so every day they had to sacrifice, every morning and every evening. It was a duty. It was what God commanded.
“Custom.” Yes, “according to the custom.” It was a habit. “The custom.” It’s said of Jesus how He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, “as was His custom” (Luke 4:16). He didn’t go to the synagogue when He felt like it. He didn’t go when the anointing came upon Him. He went every week as His parents had trained Him, “as was His custom” and His habit.
It is important, as we train our children, to get them into customs and habits, especially Bible customs and Bible habits. We search the Bible for His truths and what God wants us to do so our children are being trained in biblical habits and duties which are the part of life.
Then we have the word . . .
“Duty.” Yes. And then. . .
“Every day.” Every day again. And then . . .
“Required.” It was something that God required.
Wow, they really got the message, didn’t they? In this one little Scripture, “daily, custom, duty, every day, required.” There it is. So, our establishing of the altar is a duty before the Lord. It was a duty in the Old Testament.
Now, we’re also taking on this principle. We’re not doing the building of literal altars but we are carrying on this duty of meeting with the Lord. Now, although it’s called a “duty” here, it should also be our daily life. Duty is something . . . In fact, we can’t really have life without duty. Every day, we as mothers, we have to cook the meals. Of course, we’re gathering our children to help us with this. We have to tidy the house. We have to do the dishes. We have to do the laundry. They are duties. If we were to think, “Oh, well, I’ll just do them when I feel like it,” things will pile up. The whole house will get out of order and we can no longer enjoy life.
As we attend to the duties of every day, then we find that as the duties are done, we can then enjoy life. So, duties become a delight. Duties depend on how we do them. We can do them grudgingly. “I have to do this. I do this every day. Make my bed. Help! Why do I have to do this every day?”
But we do it with delight because it brings order to our home. If we have the right attitude, it doesn’t matter what duty it is. We can do it with delight. Even our gathering to meet with God, wow! It is a duty but it should be the greatest delight of every day! Amen? I find it is the greatest delight of my day every day.
I wrote a quote here by Albert Barnes. He says:
“It is possible to deny the faith by conduct, as well as words, and our neglect of doing our duty is as real a denial of Christ as it would be to openly renounce it.”
That’s a pretty powerful quote, isn’t it?
Actually, at the moment, with my weekly email devotions, I do send out a devotion to all the readers who would like it. Every week, every Thursday, it comes out. You can get it coming to your inbox if you would like to receive it.
Currently, I’m doing a little series on “What is Our Duty? Beyond our Normal Selfish Lives.” I think I sent out No. 3 today. While we’re talking about duty, maybe I could share with you quickly some of the other duties that we read about in the Word of God. I’ll give them to you in the order of the series I’m doing. In this series, No. 11 is the one we talked about today, about establishing the family altar as a duty. But, oh, I see I’m nearly at the end of my time! Oh my. I’ll just give you a couple as a teaser and we’ll do the others next time.
Number 1: LOVING ONE ANOTHER
Did you know that was a duty? In 1 John 4:11, it says: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” That word “ought,” in the Greek, is the word opheilo. What does it mean? “Duty.” So, we could translate it: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we have a duty to love one another.” Isn’t that amazing?
It’s not something we do if we feel like it. No, we do it as a duty, because we ought to do it. And why should we do it? Because “if God so loved us.” We’re not perfect, and maybe we can be hard to love sometimes. But God still loves us. Therefore He wants to love others even when they may be a little bit hard to love.
So, it starts with our husbands; then our children, and then filters out to everyone around us. But how can we love those around us if we first don’t know how to love our husbands and our children which is a duty? But also, we find it a delight, don’t we? That’s the wonderful thing about these duties that are mentioned in God’s Word. They are also a delight.
Romans 13:8: “Owe no man anything.” Well, that word is the same Greek word for “duty.” So it’s our duty to “owe no man anything but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
Number two: SEXUAL INTERCOURSE FOR MARRIED COUPLES
1 Corinthians 7:13 talks about this and it calls it “due benevolence.” Well, that doesn’t sound a very romantic word, does it? However, let’s read it from the New Living Translation: “The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife. Do not deprive each other of sexual relations.”
As I said, the King James brings out the root meaning, which is “duty, due benevolence.” So, we see here, it is a duty. Once again, it’s not something that you think, “Oh well, just when I feel like it, or just have the urge.” No, it is a duty to minister to one another because you’re thinking of blessing the other person. But of course, once again, it’s not only a duty, but it is a delight. Everything that God gives as a duty turns into a delight!
When we go to Proverbs 5:19, we see that God describes it as “ravishing, enrapturing, intoxicating, captivating.” Duty turns into delight, even when maybe you are not feeling like it. Even when you would rather not be bothered. As you yield to your husband, it will turn into delight. So, that’s the wonderful thing about God’s ways. Amen?
Time’s up! Oh my. OK, we’ll carry on next time, dear ladies. Let’s pray.
“Dear Father, we thank You so much again for Your wonderful Word, and how You teach us and show us the way to live. Oh, we are so blessed. I pray for all the families, the mothers, the daughters listening today, that You will bless them abundantly, Lord. Give them such a desire to walk in Your ways, such a desire to strengthen their families.
“Oh God, I pray that You’ll help them to be truth-upholders, and truth-speakers in this deceived world. Lord God, as we go out in the darkness and deceptions of this world, that, Lord, You will fill us with Your light. Just as light travels at 186,000 miles per second, that the light, oh God, in our lives will expel the darkness as we touch it. We ask it in the Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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Transcribed by Darlene Norris
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P.S. If you would like to have all the Scriptures regarding the FOOD TWINS, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I will be happy to send them to you.