The Altar and the Name

by T. Austin-Sparks

Introduction

"And Abraham built the altar there... and Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh" (Gen. 22:9,14).

"And Moses built an altar and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissi" (Ex. 17:15).

"And Gideon built an altar there... and called it Jehovah-Shalom" (Judges 6:24).

The common and governing feature of this triad of Scriptures is the union of the altar and the name. The all-inclusive and dominating factor in the Bible - which is the book of human history in relation to God - is the glory and honour of God's name. It is for this that God is supremely jealous. Weakness, poverty, smallness and ineffectiveness of spiritual life can be mainly traced to an inadequate or misdirected motive. The appeal is so largely made on the basis of the advantages which will accrue to those appealed to. It is their good, their blessing, and their gain which is emphasised as the reason for a response. Salvation, peace, joy and heaven are the enticements and the rewards offered. Usually it is the Saviour before the Lord. The New Testament preachers did not put it that way. Their preaching was always related to the Person and the place - the rights - of Jesus as Lord. "We preach... Christ Jesus as Lord" (2 Cor. 4:5). "He is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36).

Let us at once say that by the altar we mean the Cross. The Cross and the Name are joined - "obedient unto death, yea, the death of the Cross. Wherefore also God... gave unto Him the name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:7-11). In our three heading Scriptures we have this union in three ways and with three meanings or connections - Abraham, Moses, Gideon - and the fundamental issue is the honour, the vindication of the honour, of God's name.

Before we proceed to the examination and consideration of each of these, there are one or two preliminary, but very important things to observe.

Firstly, the supreme question at issue in the Cross of Jesus Christ, God's Son, is that of the honour of His Father's name. The Cross was inclusive of many aspects of redemption, but over them all, beneath them all, and as the only ground of them all, was this matter of God's honour being vindicated in a universe where that honour had been impugned. More will be said on that later, but let us get our foundation clear and established.

Secondly, there are two categories into which everything is divided in the Bible since man's defection at the beginning:

a) There is what - in the New Testament - is called the 'natural' ground; that is man's. It is a question as to what man can do and cannot do; of how far he can go, and where he has to stop because he can go no further. This is man's name; its range and its limits. To this Paul the apostle referred in 1 Corinthians, chapters one and two.

b) On the other side there is God's ground, which is super-natural ground. On this ground it is what God can do, and what God alone can do. God's honour, and the glory of His name, is always established on supernatural ground. In other words, God vindicates His honour on the ground of man's impossibility and His own exclusive ability.

Thirdly, this means, as the Bible everywhere shows, that when God moves for the honour of His name, He moves on supernatural ground, and He moves His instruments off of 'natural' ground, i.e. their own ability, name, and glory, and onto ground where only God can do it.

It is because there is so much of man and what he can do, or thinks that he can do, that there is so little of the absolutely supernatural in religious and 'Christian' work. God knows that all the glory will not come to Him, but that man will steal it, thus falling into the very thing that Satan has for ever set himself to do. Therefore God will not commit Himself, and He leaves man to their own devices. This is why, in the case of His Son, "God was with Him", and the Father's name was ultimately so greatly glorified.

We are going to consider the episodes of Abraham, Moses and Gideon in the light of the foregoing. But remember, the Cross is always the basis, because the Cross is always the end of all natural resource and glory.

1. Abraham - The Altar and the Name

Having laid a broad and essential foundation for our particular consideration of this matter, which is so very important to the true Christian, we can now come to the first of the three cited instances of the union between the altar and the name.

"And Abraham built the altar there... and Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh". (Gen. 22: 9,14). "Jehovah-Jireh": The Lord will provide.

Although this designation of the Lord has usually been taken as a general statement of His Providence, in the connection with Abraham it is not such. It is related to a fundamental need in God Himself. We have to get behind all the familiar details of Abraham's life and get our finger upon the essential and inclusive factor. We repeat that the all-governing factor was the vindication of the honour of the Lord, and therefore, the glory of His name. To do this, as we noticed, everything has to be taken away from natural ground and brought on to the supernatural.

The focal-point of everything is Isaac.

a) Isaac was the focal-point of God's purpose

The purpose was a heavenly 'seed', or people. This purpose God had clearly made known to Abraham and was embodied in a promise, "God made promise to Abraham" (Heb. 6:13, Gal. 3:18. etc.). Further, the purpose and promise was inseparably bound up with Isaac. That this 'seed' was to be of a heavenly kind is borne out by everything that relates to it in both Testaments, and the ultimate disaster of this people is attributable to failure in this matter alone. Let Christians take note, for there is a wide context of this law in the New Testament and in 'Christian' history, particularly today in the history of Israel, not the least of the many tragedies and disastrous consequences that followed their demand - "Make us a king... like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:5). The demand itself betrayed a fall in spiritual life, and the actuality brought discredit, shame, and impotence with the scandal of Saul. Into this snare the church has so largely fallen - 'Like unto the world' is its spiritual tragedy and defeat.

b) Isaac was the focal-point of divine promise

"In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). Remember Paul's comment and interpretation (Gal. 3:16 and context): "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ".

The universal blessing through Christ was inalienably bound to Isaac, and there was no alternative, be it Ishmael or any other recourse. This is vital to what follows.

c) Isaac was the focal-point of God's power and method

In His inscrutable sovereignty and wisdom God deliberately chose a medium of human and natural impossibility. There was the actual physical condition of both Sarah and Abraham (Gen. 18:2, Rom. 4:19) which was one of "as good as dead" in the matter of possible progeny. In birth, in death and resurrection, actually in the one and virtually in the other, Isaac represented and embodied the supernatural ability of God - "The God who raises the dead" - God's prerogative alone.

Now, all this converged, in the climax of Genesis 22, upon this one issue. It was a question of Abraham's personal interests, or of God's satisfaction in the glorifying of His name. The thing was utter. God could not have touched a point which more utterly affected Abraham personally than did Isaac. Everything in life, the justification of the way he had taken and for all future time, impinged upon Isaac. God was resolving this question of His own vindication into unmistakable significance and implication. Had Abraham any personal, private, secret or worldly interests to govern his life? Or could God have everything and provide Himself with a ground for establishing in heaven and earth the honour of His name? God needed His honour vindicated on the stage of the universe. It was just the drama of Job being enacted in the life of Abraham. God's honour had been assailed and impugned. God chose to answer that where it focussed - in human life. Abraham gave God the ground of the naturally impossible.

It was his utter abandon to God's honour and glory that led to the supreme title by which God called him - "Abraham, My friend" (Isa. 41:8). God did not abandon His demand when He arrested the uplifted hand and knife. It was - in heart - done. But the principle of Calvary must be preserved, and Jehovah-Jireh meant that God provides Himself with what He requires, and He secures it substitutionally in His Son. His Son is God's full supply to Himself in life, death, and resurrection.

The Cross (the Altar) is the:

a) Climax of two issues: our own, or God's satisfaction,
b) Birth-place of all divine sufficiency,
c) Guarantee of God's abiding faithfulness.

2. Moses

"And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-Nissi" (Ex. 17:15).

May we recall the three governing factors in this consideration which we mentioned:

a) The predominant factor in all the Bible, as human history in relation to God, is the vindication of the Lord's honour as bound up with His name.

b) God's way of doing this is by putting everything upon a supernatural basis, exceeding all natural possibilities.

c) God has determined to do this in the place where His honour and glory have been most immediately and definitely challenged and assailed, that is, in man (see the episode of Job).

This latter is the very meaning and explanation of the Incarnation.

In Abraham we saw the utter test of interests. We now pass to Moses and the battle with Amalek. We are going to take quite seriously the marginal note, because we believe this to be accurate, and, as later history proves, the very key to the situation. That marginal note reads: "Because there is a hand against the throne of the Lord" (Ex. 17:16 A.S.V. margin).

Let us analyse this event in both its literal and its symbolical features.

a) Amalek

The first adversary on the way to the inheritance. It is a spontaneous withstanding of God's purpose in a redeemed people.

There had been the terrific battle in Egypt for their redemption in its initial stage. Now it is more than their redemption initially. It is the great purpose of it. That purpose is not only a people for God, but a heavenly people in dominion. As we saw, the spiritual seed of Abraham - "which seed is Christ" - is that 'Seed' referred to by God in the Garden which is to bruise Satan's head, and of which Isaiah spoke when he said "He shall see his seed" (Isa. 53:10). It is the 'Seed', personal and corporate, 'receiving the kingdom' and in dominion. To this 'Seed', in foreshadowing, promise, and prospect, there is persistent and vicious hostility and obstruction.

Amalek is clearly seen to be 'a hand against the Throne'. The evil forces behind world systems know quite well the significance, for their dominion, of a heavenly people in prosperity. Saul lost his throne through compromise with Amalek, and David - the true king - moved up to the throne when Samuel "hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord" (1 Sam. 15:33).

Amalek represented some aspect of Satan's kingdom obstructing the purpose of God. Some have thought that Amalek symbolised commercialism. There is no proof of this, but there are few things more obstructive and inimical to the church's spiritual progress than commercialism. It has straddled the path of the church and insinuated itself into every aspect of its work with most disastrous consequences.

b) The supernatural realm

The actual aspects of this battle were below in the plain. The real issues were fought out above. It was, in type, a real instance of warfare "in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12).

The church has lost much of its effectiveness, and the enemy has gained much of his, because this secret of corporate governing in the heavenlies - above and behind the scenes - has been lost. Indeed, because its life and activity has become so largely on the earth level, the horizontal, and its heavenly position usurped, it fights either a losing or a ding-dong battle with the world and the "world rulers of this darkness".

We have repeatedly emphasized that when God moves for His name, He puts both the issue and the instruments onto a supernatural basis. This is so evident in the instance before us. Joshua was a good, stout-hearted fellow, but he was no match for Amalek without supernatural position and resources.

c) The Altar and the Name - Jehovah-Nissi: "The Lord my banner"

In an army the banner, or standard, is the symbol of the honour, glory, and pride of the army. It is also the symbol of the throne. Jehovah-Nissi as the Banner, simply means that the Lord has all the glory and honour. His name and its honour is vindicated. The altar is ever the symbol of God having everything. After Calvary the supremely potent factor in the Church's life, work, and warfare was the Name (See the book of the "Acts").

3. Gideon

"And Gideon built an altar there... and called it Jehovah-Shalom" (Judges 6:24).

If it is true that the all-governing concern of God is the honour of His name, then all who are called into fellowship with Him are called into that concern. It becomes the motive and reason for their life.

It is in His Son, Jesus Christ, that the name of God and its honour are fully vindicated:

a) His coming into the world was pre-eminently for this,
b) He lived and worked with this supremely in view,
c) He died for this. It is culminated and comprehended in the Cross.

The Christian is Comprehended by the Name

a) The Christian life begins by believing into the Name,
b) He is baptized into the Name,
c) He is called by the Name,
d) Christians meet together in the Name.

The Name, then, means:

a) A high and holy calling,
b) A sacred responsibility,
c) A vocation and a conflict.

The Name is a transcendent and a supreme name. It puts everyone concerned onto a supernatural basis.

All these elements are found in Gideon - his altar and the Name.

1. In his time the Lord's name was in much reproach and dishonour. The Book of Judges is one of the most terrible books of the Bible. There are parts of it which make us blush to read naturally, but they scandalize us when we see them related to the Lord's people.

2. The Lord is seen moving for the sake of His name. It is essentially sovereign movement, for there is so much to be desired, but lacking in the instruments chosen. The only explanation of God doing anything at all in such conditions was His jealousy for His name.

3. Then we have, in Gideon, God's instrument and God's method. Everything in the natural realm, so far as Gideon was concerned, was at a discount. He would well have qualified for Paul's category - "the things which are not". He was of a lesser tribe in Israel. His father's house was the least in the tribe. He was the least in his father's house. Gideon had no official position, no status, no prestige. Neither did he have any conceits as to his own abilities or qualifications. There was an absolute absence of all those things which men have ever regarded as essential to position and importance. Such was God's choice. But that was not the end. God's method with Gideon was one of continual and - apparently - devastating and desolating reduction. See the two strippings and siftings of his army. See the comparison and contrast between the enemy's forces and Gideon's three hundred. See the means to be employed for the assault - the pitchers, lamps, trumpets, swords and shouts. It is a story of the odds, humanly speaking, all being on the side of the enemy.

4. We have to focus much attention upon a certain vital point. It is the crisis upon which so very much would hang. Everything in stark reality was centred upon the crisis of committal - it was no small thing for Gideon to contemplate the big objective job in view. But there was involved an exacting demand which he well knew would cost him dearly. There was that compromising situation in his own home: that idol and that other altar! In the very background and base of his operations there was that which could sabotage his whole undertaking. How could he hope to defeat the enemy in the open field when the enemy had a footing in his private life? Such a footing could paralyze his arm. Before the battle could be joined with any hope of success, adjustment had to be made in the private life, the home life. No amount of valour in the field will guarantee triumph if there is a contradiction in the family, the home, the business, in the heart, etc., where it is, even at great cost, possible to put it right. We have seen more than one great ministry, either actual or in prospect, wrecked and lost because of compromise on the matter of popularity, fear, or ambition.

It is important to note that the name on the Altar did not come there after the public battle, but after the private battle and triumph. The 'Peace' ('Jehovah-Shalom') had to be within first!

God was all along sifting down to reality. No false factor, no lie could be allowed in the foundation, or, under stress the whole structure would collapse.

But, when all is said, what was the fundamental and all-inclusive issue? It was undoubtedly and manifestly the glory and honour of the Lord's name. Truly, everything in this instance was removed from man's ground and put firmly on God's - nothing natural here, but all supernatural. In such a day and condition the honour of God's name and its vindication called for God alone. So it will ever be. Unto this we can see clearly the elements of the Cross at work, not least in Gideon. But through the Cross, the Altar: the victory and 'Jehovah-Shalom' - Peace.