BUILDING A FAMILY ALTAR IN YOUR HOME
Perry Stone

I AM REVEALED
B. Childress
Jun 24 2012

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up.   (Deuteronomy 11:19)

THE FIRST PASSOVER WAS in a home.  Jewish Passover celebrations are today celebrated in the home.  The first
churches in the New Testament were in homes.  Jews believe that your home is a miniature sanctuary, a place where
God’s presence should dwell.  Even the doorposts of the homes are marked with a parchment of Scripture encased in a
small cylinder, called a mezuzah.  With such emphasis on the home, why should we not accept the concept that God
would have us commune with Him through prayer, worship, bible study, and the Lord’s Supper in our homes?

Each family should have a special place in their house for a family altar.  In early days, many saints would set aside a
special room or a section of the bedroom as their “prayer closet.”  From this special area the believer would read the
Bible, commune with God in prayer, present petitions and prayer requests, and spend time in worship.  Much of the
believer’s intercession centered on his or her family, especially the children or grandchildren.

In Scripture, men would build an altar as a memorial to remind each generation of God’s covenant promises.  Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob built their own personal altars and offered a sacrifice to God from the sacred stones of the altars
(Genesis 22:9; 26:25; 33:20).  When special needs arose, the patriarchs would return to the altar to remind God of His
promises and covenant.

Even Christ spoke of having a special place where you can shut the door in secret and pray:

    But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the
    secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.     (Matthew 6:6, NKJV)

An altar is a meeting place between a person and God.  We are familiar with the altars in a church, but we can set apart
any place in our home as our secret place with God.

    1.  Set aside a place that is not in the flow of traffic.  In our home I have three places that can be used as an
    altar.  The first is a personal office with doors that can be shut if I choose to pray.  The second area is the living
    room, which is a wonderful place to pray late at night because it is quiet and peaceful.  The third area is either the
    master bedroom or the guest bedroom.  At times, to keep from disturbing the family, I will go into the guest room
    and close the door and pray.  I like the idea of having several choices in case one area is not available or is too
    noisy.

    2.  Have the proper study material in the room.  This includes Bibles, other books, and note pads.  I keep notes
    so that I can later refer back to what I have written.

    3.  Find a place where you can have the Lord’s Supper.  In my office and at home, I keep grape juice and matzo
    bread.

    5.  Pray over your family.  Both father and mother should pray over their children.  Even if you are a single
    parent, use your spiritual authority to pray, instruct, and live by example.

HEALING THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST

Most Christian churches accept the importance of salvation through the blood of Christ.  Many, however, either do not
accept or do not fully comprehend the second aspect of Christ’s atoning work, and that is healing through the blood of
Christ.

God established a healing covenant with ancient Israel in the wilderness.  The Almighty announced that He was the
Lord who healed them (Exodus 15:26).  God established a covenant healing name, Jehovah Rapha, to identify Himself
as a healer to His people.

Throughout the Old Testament, God performed amazing miracles for His chosen people.  In the New Testament, healing
of the body and soul was a central aspect of Christ’s ministry, and the healing covenant continued in the early church.  
While some theologians relegate physical healing to a previous time and teach that healing is no longer possible in our
contemporary time, the Bible totally contradicts this theological unbelief.

THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH

The prophet Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ, predicted that the coming Messiah would not only redeem men
but would also establish a healing covenant with the people.  Scripture says:

    But He was wounded for our transgressions.  He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement  for our peace
    was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.   (Isaiah 53:5, NKJV)

God not only laid the sins of the world upon Christ, but He also placed the sickness of the world upon Him.  Matthew
spoke of this:

    When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed.  And He cast out the spirits with
    a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He
    Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”   (Matthew 8:16-17, NKJV)

I believe that sicknesses of humanity and the sins of the world were placed upon Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  
This is why His stress level was so intense that His sweat became blood.  We know that prior to the crucifixion Christ was
beaten across His back with a cat-o’-nine tails – a short-handled whip with nine long leather straps embedded with glass
or bits of metal.  It was intended to rip the victim’s flesh apart.  It would form rows of stripes and scar the back of the
victim.

Why would the stripes on the back of Christ be the key to receiving healing for our bodies?  According to history, the
Romans could beat a victim with an unlimited number of strokes with the whip.  The Mosaic Law allow for up to forty
stripes to be given.

    Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these,
    and your brother be humiliated in your sight.   (Deuteronomy 25:3, NKJV)

In the Roman times it was common to whip the person with thirty-nine stripes.  Paul made this clear when writing about
his own personal persecution he received for preaching the gospel:

    From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.   (II Corinthians 11:24, NKJV)

I once read where this developed from the belief that a person receiving over thirty-nine stripes may die from the
punishment and the purpose of the beating was not to induce death but to induce punishment for a high crime.  Barnes’
Notes on the New Testament comments on this:

    In practice among the Hebrews, the number of blows inflicted was in fact limited to 39, lest by any accident in
    counting, the criminal should receive more than the number prescribed in the Law.  There was another reason
    still for limiting it to 39.  They usually made use of a scourge with these thongs, and this was struck 13 times.  
    That it was usual to inflict but 39 lashes is apparent from Josephus, Ant. 4. viii, section 21.

Adam Clarke’s Commentary gives details from the Jewish Mishna on how a beating was to occur:

    “The two hands of the criminal are bound to a post, and then the servant of the synagogue either pulls or tears
    off his clothes until he leaves his breast and shoulders bare.  A stone or block is placed behind him on which the
    servant stands; he holds in his hands a scourge made of leather, divided into four tails.  He who scourges lays
    one third on the criminal’s breast, another third on his right shoulder, and another on his left.  The man who
    receives the punishment is neither sitting nor standing, but all the while stooping: and the man smites with all his
    strength, with one hand.”  The severity of this punishment depends upon the nature of the scourge, and the
    strength of the executioner.

Notice the three areas of the body where the stripes are borne:

      1.  One-third on the left shoulder

      2.  One-third on the right shoulder

      3.  One-third on the breast

This means Christ was struck thirteen times on the left shoulder, thirteen times on the right shoulder, and thirteen times
on the breast.  This is interesting because the blood of the lamb in Egypt was smeared in three locations on the
doorpost – the left side, the right side, and the upper center mantle.  The stripes were placed near the top of the body
just as the blood in Egypt was on the upper parts of the door.

The number thirteen is also interesting in the Jewish faith.  While thirteen is considered a number of bad luck in the
West, it is a blessed number in the Jewish faith.  Thirteen is the age in which a young man (or girl) enters adulthood.  
Religious Jews celebrate the bar mitzvah when a young man turns from twelve to thirteen years of age.  He becomes the
son of the covenant, and, at that point, he is responsible for his own personal sins.  On the Feast of Tabernacles (which
represents the future kingdom of the Messiah), thirteen bulls were offered.  In the tabernacle and the temple, the bull
offering was the sacrifice of consecration for the high priest and his sons (Exodus 29:9-10).  The priests in Israel were
given thirteen cities and their suburbs.

At the whipping post, Jesus bore the sicknesses of mankind.  On His shoulders and upper back are stripes, and across
His breast, the area of His heart, are wounds and stripes.  These wounds and stripes are pictured in the matzo bread
that is used in the Jewish Passover during the Passover Seder.  The bread is thin and baked without leaven.  It has
rows similar to stripes across the front and back of the bread.  It is baked until the surface has a brown appearance.  
Before baking in the ovens, the moist dough is raked, and holes are pierced throughout the surface.

This is a perfect picture of the Messiah.  Christ said He was the bread come down from heaven (John 6:41).  We know
that manna, the food that fell from heaven in the wilderness, is the food of angels (Psalm 78:25).  Christ was the true
bread from heaven.  He had no leaven (sin), He was bruised and beaten with stripes, and the nails of the cross placed
holes in His left hand, right hand, and both feet.

Christ’s beating was for our healing.  The cross was for our salvation.  Adam’s sin brought the duel curse of sin and
sickness to mankind.  Christ performed the double cure for the double curse.




THE MEAL THAT HEALS, by Perry Stone, Copyright 2008, Charisma House.
2010 - HIS GLORY REIGNS
LIFE IN JESUS-MINISTRIES