Joshua Built an Altar to God: Jesus Christ Has Built an Altar to God

Joshua 8:30-35

Click here for a description of the image and mark of the beast.

• Jesus Christ built an altar to God by atoning for sin.
• The altar of God joins the human spirit to God’s Spirit and is not artificial.
• The word of God is written on the altar of our heart by the Spirit of Christ.
• Jesus Christ wants the Bible to be read to everyone.

Jesus Christ built an altar to God by atoning for sin.
“Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal…” Joshua 8:30

After the victory in battle, Joshua built an altar to God. Joshua represents Jesus Christ who built an altar to God within our soul after His victory over sin and death. When He died on the Cross, that was the sacrifice He made to atone for our sin, and that opened us to become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Before His death, there was a veil separating us from God, “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Luke 15:38 From then on, the soul of people has become the altar of God, that is the altar that Jesus Christ has built.

“…as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” Joshua 8:31a.

God commanded Moses that the altar had to be whole stones and not man-made. The whole stones represent Holiness, and Jesus Christ was sinless and Holy, who brings us into the presence of God. Our Holiness is through Jesus Christ by the forgiveness of sin. Holiness cannot be attained by human effort; there is nothing made with human hands that can sanctify the spirit and soul. Ony by the Holy Spirit can Holiness of the Spirit be possible. “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:13-14

An altar of Holiness certainly cannot be made by the entity that replaces the spirit and conscience [while oppressing the presence of the holy Spirit] to give people what to think, feel, do, and say. This entity builds the altar that gives life to the image of the beast to speak and live through people. On that altar, people are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

The altar of God joins the human spirit to God’s Spirit and is not artificial.
“And they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.” Joshua 8:31b. 

Part of the “scarlet cord” of the Old Testament, pointing to Jesus as the Christ and Savior of the world, are the burnt offerings and peace offerings made on the altar. The burnt offerings of bulls, goats, lambs, etc. were for the atonement of sin, and the peace offerings were to make peace with God. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who gave Himself as a “burnt offering” on the Cross to atone for our sin and to give us peace with God. “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ …this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God…” Hebrews 10:4-7, 12 “” Hebrews 10:12 

The word of God is written on the altar of our heart by the Spirit of Christ.
“And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.” Joshua 8:32

Joshua wrote a copy of the law of Moses on stones, in the presence of the children of Israel. This was a rededication, by Joshua and all of Israel, to the Lord to follow His word. Moses wrote about our Lord Jesus, in the same way that the law of burnt offerings is referring to Jesus as the Lamb of God. Jesus says, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 5:46-47  “For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house.” Hebrews 3:3 “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

The law of Moses might be hanging on a wall somewhere, declaring the Ten Commandments, but through Jesus Christ, God’s word is written on our heart by the Holy Spirit.

“Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.” Joshua 8:33

The ark [ark of the covenant] is part of the “scarlet cord” that points to the New Covenant that God made with us through Jesus Christ, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

All of the Israelite congregation gathered around the ark of the covenant, the same as Christians who gather around the Cross of Jesus Christ. Some of the non-Israelites and those born within the culture of the Israelites were also standing around the ark of the covenant. This symbolizes that in Jesus Christ we are all one, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:28-29

By gathering all people by the word of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, and in the presence of the Holy Spiri, all people are blessed.

Jesus Christ wants the Bible to be read to everyone.
“And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.” Joshua 8:34

To read the Bible is to read words of blessings and cursings. People often ask why God allows so much hardship to happen to Christians, as if life in Jesus Christ is supposed to be hassle free. In contrast, it’s impossible to read the Bible without the trials, tribulations and hardships now and the tribulation to come in the events of the Seven Trumpets of Revelations 8, 9, and 11 and the events of the Seven Plagues in Revelations 16. I can’t think of a single Bible passage that does not mention hardships, trials, and cursing along with blessings.

Through all the trials and hardships, there is the promise of the blessings that we will not perish but have eternal life. And with Paul we say, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 Our Lord Jesus says to us, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12

“There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.” Joshua 8:35

In the Holy Spirit, the Bible is for all ages from the toddler to the senior, for all people from one side of the globe to the other, for all genders, everyone… Jesus Christ gave His life on the Cross to forgive sin and give eternal life for whoever believes in Him. That is a message that every person needs to hear and live by.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1