Last week our post ended at quite an interesting point which was the claim that we, as believers, are the sacrifices needed for an altar to be activated. I have explained why altars are needed in the first place and how they are activated in previous posts.

A sacrifice is an act of offering to a deity something precious especially : the killing of a victim on an altar – Merriam Webster Dictionary.

THE CONCEPT OF SACRIFICE

✓ Death: The basic concept of a sacrifice includes death. Death is a non-negotiable when it comes to a sacrifice. It is so imbedded in the concept of sacrifice that even the definition of sacrifice involves death. In the Old Testament, whatever animal was being offered to God was killed before the Lord and was laid in the altar to die. The pagans also killed humans as sacrifices before their gods. When you speak of a sacrifice, you speak of the death of something as an offering.

✓ Cost: If we want to look at this from a business perspective, then a sacrifice is the offer on the table for a deal to contracted. Therefore, it goes without saying, that the cost of the sacrifice is very important. Sacrifices cost much. The cost is how much price you had to pay for the sacrifice. Not just in terms of money but also of strength, energy, time, emotions etc. It is how much you have to offer. If the cost of your sacrifice is not up to the value of the deal, your sacrifice will not be accepted. We see this in a lament the Lord raised up in the Old Testament against Israel in Malachi 1:8 saying,

And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,

Is it not evil?

And when you offer the lame and sick,

Is it not evil?

Offer it then to your governor!

Would he be pleased with you?

Would he accept you favorably?”

Says the Lord of hosts.

The Offering the people of sick animals came at no cost to the people. It was good riddance as the animals were useless to them and so they offered that to the Lord. This was unacceptable to the Lord because the deal they were going to cut by that sacrifice was huge – forgiveness. Those useless animals had no place before the Lord.

✓ Value: The value of the sacrifice is how much worth the sacrifice is to whom it is being offered. The value is the perspective of the Deity on the worth of the sacrifice. The value of the sacrifice is seen in the demand or the specifications of the Deity. From a business perspective again, it is the terms of the contract that should be met before the contract can be legalized. Huge deals worth millions must be cut by an offering of something worth millions.

COST & VALUE

There is a difference between cost and value. To make it clear, let’s look at the sacrifices of Cain & Abel. 

And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit (of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. Genesis 4:3-5

Both Abel & Cain brought something that cost them. That is, something that was taken out of their labor, strength and worth. They brought to the Lord out of their jobs. Since Cain was a farmer, he brought some fresh produce from the farm but Abel brought a lamb as he reared life stock. But Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s rejected because the Lord had more value for Abel’s offering. It is not that the offering of Cain was rotten vegetables(as we were taught in Sunday school, lol) or worth less but it just wasn’t according to the specifications of the deal he was trying to cut. If you look through later parts of the Old Testament, Abel’s offering was according to the specifications of the deity, the Lord and so had value before the Lord though it cost them both equally. This is a principle that we must understand well.

I must say this, when you offer something according to the specifications of the Deity, the cost of the sacrifice to you begins to be important. Then the value the Deity will place what you have offered will be heightened. Let me use this story to illustrate:

Israel once went for a battle and was winning against the enemy. The King of the enemy nation decided to offer his god the highest sacrifice, his son, the next King. The cost was immense to both him and the nation. This was the second most important person in their nation but it was of greatest value. The Bible records that when that sacrifice was made, there was a power and a wrath that was unleashed against Israel such that Israel fled. (2 Kings 3:26-27)

The specification of their god is human sacrifice, especially of sons, but to go to the extent of offering the first son, the most important person in the Kingdom after the King increased the value considerably causing a strange power and wrath to be unleashed against the Lord’s people.

Such is the power that can be unleashed from an altar!

We need to realize this: The value of the sacrifice determines the level of power released from the altar.

The power of a deity is greater manifested in the one who has sacrificed much according to the specification. You see the power of God more in the lives of other men you admire more than in yours because they have made sacrifices of value before the Lord.

Your sacrifice legalizes your invitation for God to intervene in your situation. How much do you have to offer?

Thank you for reading. Do join us next time