The Altar

In short

An altar is for sacrifices. It’s not where people get married or “left at the altar” – not in the Bible. An altar is for sacrifices.

Of course, there are wicked people in the Bible that sacrifice on altars to false gods. There is also an altar of incense inside the tabernacle or temple* of the LORD. And a few other random altars pop up in stories.

But roughly 80% of the time that the Bible talks about an altar, it is THE altar – the big one OUTSIDE of the temple/tabernacle that was used to sacrifice ANIMALS in worship to the LORD.

Why it is important

In the Old Testament, sin is atoned for by sacrificing animals, so the altar probably was used a lot. Well, you would hope, anyway.

THE Altar

1. Called the “altar of burnt offering”; you will see it as the bronze altar also
2. Described in Ex 27:1-8
3. It’s 7.5 feet square, so a good bit larger than a king bed, for example. And over 4 feet tall.
4. It’s a giant fire pit, basically (Ex 27:3)
5. As such, it is OUTSIDE of the temple/tabernacle.
6. Let that sink in – it’s not a table!
7. No steps (Ex 20:26). For something that would come up to my chin, that would be a challenge for me to offer sacrifices on it.

Other good altars

• The golden altar of incense. Much smaller and inside the tabernacle/temple.
• Noah set up an altar to worship as did other patriarchs, like Abram and Jacob, before the Law of Moses.
• The eastern tribes of Israel set up an altar as a memorial in Joshua 22.
• A few mentions of one in Revelation

“Altars” (plural) = bad

I think literally all 63 times the word is plural, it is bad. “Altars” is (almost?) always describing worship to false gods.

Can a church building have an altar?

No, I can’t see why that would be right.

It is typical to have a table at the front of the building for the Lord’s Supper. Some call this an altar, but that’s not right at all. It makes even less sense to marry people at an “altar.” I mean, eww. A bloody pit of animal ashes – how romantic.

As a pure guess, perhaps there is a mashup of

• The altar of incense (in the temple)
• The table for the showbread and drink offerings (in the temple)
• The Lord’s Supper (a holy meal of bread and drink)
• Confusion that a church building is a temple

Put it all together and I guess you get a place to serve communion. And get married. Yeah.

Footnote

* The Jews had EITHER a tabernacle OR a temple to sacrifice and worship at. The temple replaced the tabernacle once it was finished. Either way, the bronze altar (for animals) was outside the building and the golden altar was inside.