The Bible in a Year
“There shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God, an altar of stones; thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.” — Deuteronomy 27:5
As we continue our journey through Scripture this year, we come to a moment of quiet significance in Israel’s story. After wandering through the wilderness for forty years, the nation was finally preparing to enter the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Crossing the Jordan River would mark a new beginning, yet before Israel could settle into the blessings of the land, God gave them a command that might seem surprising. They were to build an altar.
The instruction appears simple: “There shalt thou build an altar unto the Lord thy God.” But the details surrounding this command reveal something important about the heart of worship. God was teaching His people that their life in the promised land must begin with devotion to Him. Before building cities, planting vineyards, or establishing homes, Israel was to build an altar.
The place of the altar is the first lesson we notice. The command says the altar was to be built “there”—in the land of Canaan itself. Israel would soon live among nations that worshiped many false gods. Temples, shrines, and idols would surround them. Yet in the midst of that environment, they were to publicly declare their allegiance to the Lord. In the same way, believers today are called to honor God wherever they are placed. Our faith is not meant to remain hidden in private spaces. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). The altar in Canaan was a declaration that Israel belonged to God even in a land filled with competing voices.
The altar was also meant to communicate permanency. Scripture specifies that it should be built of stones. Stone altars were not temporary structures; they endured. In a similar way, faith is not meant to be fragile. The apostle Paul later warned believers about being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). The Christian life requires stability. A relationship with God must be built on a foundation that survives pressure, criticism, and uncertainty. Just as those stones formed a lasting altar, our faith must be grounded in the enduring truth of God’s Word.
Another lesson emerges from the physical labor required to construct the altar. Gathering and stacking stones would not have been easy work. It required effort, energy, and determination. This reminds us that devotion to God often involves discipline. Spiritual growth does not happen automatically. Prayer, Scripture study, obedience, and service all require intentional commitment. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Bonhoeffer was describing the reality that discipleship involves sacrifice and effort. The altar in Deuteronomy symbolized that truth long before the New Testament was written.
The purpose of the altar also deserves careful attention. Altars in the Old Testament were places where sacrifices were offered to God. Worship in Israel was never separated from sacrifice. The Hebrew word for offering, קָרְבָּן (qorban), literally means “that which draws near.” In other words, sacrifice created the pathway for approaching God. Ultimately, these sacrifices pointed forward to the work of Jesus Christ. The New Testament identifies Jesus as the final and perfect sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 10:10 explains that believers are sanctified “through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Every Old Testament altar quietly anticipated the cross where Christ would give His life for the redemption of humanity.
There is one final instruction in Deuteronomy 27 that carries great spiritual insight. God told Israel not to use iron tools on the stones. At first glance, this might seem like a minor construction detail, but it had an important purpose. Carving designs into the stones could easily lead to decoration, symbolism, and eventually idolatry. God wanted the focus of the altar to remain on the sacrifice, not the structure.
This principle continues to speak to us today. Worship can easily become distracted by appearances, traditions, or personalities. Churches may sometimes emphasize buildings, music styles, or human leaders. Yet the heart of worship must always remain centered on Christ. The altar in Deuteronomy teaches us that the sacrifice—not the decoration—is what truly matters.
The great preacher A.W. Tozer once wrote, “The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.” God knew the human heart well enough to guard Israel against even the subtle beginnings of misplaced devotion. By commanding simple stones without carvings, He ensured that attention would remain on the act of worship itself.
As we reflect on this passage today, it invites us to ask a personal question: what does the altar of our life look like? In the Old Testament, altars marked places where people encountered God. Abraham built altars as he journeyed through the land. Elijah repaired an altar before calling down fire from heaven. Altars were reminders of God’s presence and faithfulness.
Today we no longer build physical altars, but the principle remains. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” The Christian life itself becomes an altar of worship.
Each day we decide whether we will place our lives on that altar—our time, our priorities, our resources, and our obedience. The stones of that altar are built through daily choices to honor God.
As we continue through the Scriptures this year, passages like Deuteronomy 27 remind us that worship is not merely a Sunday activity. It is a life built carefully, faithfully, and intentionally for the glory of God.
For further study on the significance of altars in Scripture, see this helpful article:
https://www.gotquestions.org/altar-Bible.html
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