KNOWING GOD – THE GOD OF LOVE
[With Reference to the Events Concerning Jesus’ “Passion,” note how Jesus’ love is amazingly displayed throughout and therefore ‘stand in awe of God, the Most High.’]
Lesson Two
AT THE COENACULUM, name of traditional place of the Last Supper.
Text: (NIV) Matthew 26:17-35 (Mark 14:12-31; Luke 22:7-38; John 13 & 14)
Events Relating to the Coenaculum:
Passover Supper – Matthew 26:17-20 [Mark 14:12-17; Luke 22:7-18; John 13:1-17] (Cont’d.)
The Temple – Herod’s (Cont’d.)
The Altar – Description of that of the Tabernacle: Exodus 27:1-8 – 1“Build an altar of acacia wood, three cubits high; it is to be square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. 2Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze. 3Make all its utensils of bronze–its pots to remove the ashes, and its shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. 4Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. 5Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar. 6Make poles of acacia wood for the altar and overlay them with bronze. 7The poles are to be inserted into the rings so they will be on two sides of the altar when it is carried. 8Make the altar hollow, out of boards. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.
[Made larger by Solomon – 2 Chronicles 4:1 – He made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.]
The horns (Exodus 27:2 – Make a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar are of one piece, and overlay the altar with bronze.)
On special occasions, sacrifices were bound with cords to them – Psalm 118:27 – The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
(NASB) The LORD is God, and He has given us light; Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
The horns were deemed to be a “place of refuge” – Exodus 21:12-14 – 12“Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. 13However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate. 14But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death.
(NLT) 12“Anyone who assaults and kills another person must be put to death. 13But if it was simply an accident permitted by God, I will appoint a place of refuge where the slayer can run for safety. 14However, if someone deliberately kills another person, then the slayer must be dragged even from my altar and be put to death.
Example: 1 Kings 2:28-34 – 28When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the LORD and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, “Go, strike him down!”
30So Benaiah entered the tent of the LORD and said to Joab, “The king says, `Come out!'” But he answered, “No, I will die here.” Benaiah reported to the king, “This is how Joab answered me.”
31Then the king commanded Benaiah, “Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my father’s house of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed. 32The LORD will repay him for the blood he shed, because without the knowledge of my father David he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them–Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army–were better men and more upright than he. 33May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants forever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the LORD’s peace forever.”
34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed him, and he was buried on his own land in the desert.
Compare: 1 Kings 1:49-53 – 49At this, all Adonijah’s guests rose in alarm and dispersed. 50But Adonijah, in fear of Solomon, went and took hold of the horns of the altar. 51Then Solomon was told, “Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon and is clinging to the horns of the altar. He says, `Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.'” 52Solomon replied, “If he shows himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground; but if evil is found in him, he will die.” 53Then King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And Adonijah came and bowed down to King Solomon, and Solomon said, “Go to your home.”
The grating and the ledge (Exodus 27:4-5 – 4Make a grating for it, a bronze network, and make a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the network. 5Put it under the ledge of the altar so that it is halfway up the altar.) – BM&C “Around the altar, midway from the bottom, was a projecting ledge on which the priest stood while offering sacrifice. This is represented in the word karkob, rendered “compass,” in Exod. xxvii, 5, and xxxviii, 4; a word which Gesenius renders margin or border. It is supposed that an inclined plane of earth led to this on one side, probably the south. Thus we may see how Aaron could “come down” from the altar. Lev. ix, 22.”
Leviticus 9:22 (KJV) – And Aaron lifted up his hand toward the people, and blessed them, and came down from offering of the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and peace offerings.
Compare: Luke 24:50-53 – 50When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Symbolism of the Altar: (Matthew Henry’s Commentary) “Now this brazen altar was a type of Christ dying to make atonement for our sins. To the horns of this altar poor sinners fly for refuge when justice pursues them, and they are safe in virtue of the sacrifice there offered.”
(Halley’s Bible Handbook) “A symbol that man has no access to God, except as a Sinner atoned for by Blood. A “Shadow” of the Death of Christ.”
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Application (Re the “horns of the altar” as a place of refuge): Psalm 91:1-2 (KJV) – 1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
John 15:1-4 – 1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Let us thank the Lord for His great love in making this provision for us and ask Him to help us to accept it.