Do Not Profane God’s Altar

Exodus 20:25-26, “And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it.”

God's altar was to be built of unhewn stones, so that no trace of human skill or labor would be applied to it. Human wisdom wants to arrange the gospel into a system, a religion that is more congenial to the corrupt fallen nature, but instead of “improving” the message, carnal wisdom pollutes it until it becomes “another gospel.”

Galatians 1:8 says, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” There are many congregations of “professing” believers who “cherry-pick” the scriptures to accommodate their worldly condition.

Revelation 22:18 says, “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.”

 The subtleties of the corruption to the Word of God began immediately, even before they were written down on the manuscripts.

In Genesis 3:2-5, satan and Eve had a discussion in the Garden, “And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

I cannot find that God said “do not touch the Tree” so both Eve and satan lied. And satan introduced a concept to entice Eve to disregard what God said because He didn’t tell you the whole story. So satan both detracted and added to God’s Word. Hasn’t that been going on down through history?

There are some translations of the Bible that are not the Truth of God. Charles Spurgeon said, “The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted.”

The Lord alone must be exalted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of man's chisel or hammer can be endured. There is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction.

There is among the religion of Christianity far too much inclination to square and reconcile the truths of revelation with the comforts of worldly living. This is a form of irreverence and unbelief. We must strive against it by diligently seeking out the truth of God’s Word in our personal edifying studies of His revelation… and receive the truth as we find it.

~revised and edited from C.H. Spurgeon “Morning and Evening”