Fires of Forgiveness

And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out. Leviticus 6:12-13 (NKJV)

Often when we read certain verses, we just gloss over them and don’t pause to consider any deeper meaning or purpose in them. In Leviticus, it speaks of various Old Testament offerings and sacrifices, but it means more than that. For example, in Leviticus 6:12-13, it tells us that the priests were to keep the fire continually burning on the altar of burnt offerings. Why was this important then, and what does it mean to us now? I asked the Lord to show me the deeper hidden meaning, and He gave me some insight into it.

For the people of Moses’ day, it was important to keep the fire burning because if a person brought a sin offering, the altar would be ready for the sacrifice to be made so the man’s sin could be taken care of right away. It showed there was to be no delay in the forgiveness of sin. No one wanted to wait on the priest to get a fire built and to get it burning strong enough to consume an offering. Someone who knew they had sinned wanted to address it right away. Sin left unconfessed has the tendency to grow. It was important to bring it to the Lord right away and sacrifice the sin offering to Him.

So, let’s bring that forward to our day and time. We see that it speaks of a couple things. First, it shows that the blood of Jesus is always avaible. We can come to him and apply the blood right away. There is no waiting. The moment we confess our sin, He forgives and we are made clean again. The altar is always open for us to come to Him. The fire that burns up all transgression is always burning. Forgiveness is instantaneous once we confess it.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9 (NKJV)

Second, it points to the fact that we should always keep the fire of God burning in our hearts so we are on fire for God. When we maintain a fire for Him, we will keep our lives clean and free of sin. Sin will not easily enter, but it will be burned up instead. However, if sin does manage to get in, a person on fire for God will confess it right away and will quickly return to a place of righteousness before the Lord.

Leviticus describes Old Testament requirements that point to New Testament realities for us today. Thank God that the fires of forgiveness available through the blood of Jesus are always burning, and that they consume any and all sin the moment we bring it to God.