Joshua 22:29 (NIV) “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.”

When the Israelites had conquered most of the Promised Land on the west side of the Jordan, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh started their trek back home, which was on the east side of the Jordan River. Before they crossed the river, they built a huge altar at a town called Geliloth, which was close to the river. When the ten northern tribes heard about it, they sent a delegation after them to find out what was going on. The ten northern tribes were ready to go to war with these two and a half tribes if they intended to serve the Lord and make sacrifices at that new altar. The reason that they were ready to fight was because God had made it clear that the only place to serve Him and make sacrifices was at the altar that was located at the Tabernacle that was in Shiloh. The Lord would not be pleased if anyone built their own altar to serve the Lord in any way that they wanted. Thankfully, these two and a half tribes had just set up this altar as a memorial and as a witness so that they would not be forgotten and then forbidden from serving the Lord at His true altar in Shiloh.

God is God alone and He is the one who tells us what He accepts and what He rejects. He tells us how to serve Him and how He receives worship. Although in today's world we don't have one specific place to worship the Lord because of the New Covenant, there is still only one altar to go to in order to worship and serve the Lord. That altar is located in the Holy of Holies, which is the very presence of God. That has been opened to us through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross of Calvary. We are invited into the presence of God in the name of Jesus. There is no other name by which we may be saved or by which we can approach the throne of grace. There is also only one way to worship the Lord our God and Jesus told us what that way is: in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). That means that we can only do it with sincere hearts (not by tradition or ritual) and with our innermost being. Any other way to God is false, just like any other altar other than the one that God prescribed in the days of the physical Tabernacle was false. No one has a special revealed way other than that. There are no deviations or special revelations that are valid other than the revelations that come from the Word of God.  No one has an exclusive on the way to worship and serve the Lord. There is no religion, no denomination and no special group that has an “in” with God and a way to approach Him other than how He tells us to approach Him. We enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4) and if we are going to serve Him, it must be with all our hearts. Just like there was only one altar, there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6). Worship and serve Him and Him only and in the way that He instructs us for spiritual growth and for blessings untold.

Pastor Joey Vazquez