In the Bible we will find Altars that were raised by people to God. The first mention of Altar in the Bible is found in the book of Genesis 8.20. This altar was built by Noah after God had brought him out of the ARK after the floods. Noah offered sacrifices of clean animals and birds on this altar which pleased God.
In the Bible we find the mention of Father's Altar in the book of Judges 6:25.(vs 25.That same night the Lord said to him, " Take the second bull from your father's herd,the one seven years old.Tear down your father's altar to Baal and cut down the Ashe rah pole beside it. )
In this passage of scripture we learn that our fathers have Altars that they might have built to other gods. Earlier God had commissioned a young man called Gideon to go out and fight the enemies of the Israelites. It is important to note that the enemies of Israel worshipped the god called Baal. Gideon was to go and fight them but before he went for that battle he had to make things right back at home. As i mentioned earlier Altars allows the powers that be to rule in a region. The god of the enemies of Israel had a right in the home of Gideon because his father had built an altar to him. It would have been dangerous for Gideon to go and fight against the midians who worshipped Baal while his father was also worshipping the same god through the altar to Baal. I believe this could have amounted to what we call treason and just as treason is a serious crime in most countries and punishable by death, so the same case would have applied to Gideon. God who was sending him had to instruct him to first of all destroy that Altar that could have caused him to be defeated in the battle field.
There were also other patriarchs in the bible who built altars to God and others who built wrong altars that were not godly.
Godly Altars:
1.Abraham raised Godly Altars in the book of Genesis.(Gen.12:7,13:4,22:9).
2.His son Isaac (Gen.26:25) and grandson Jacob (Gen.33:20,Gen:35:1-3) also followed the way of their father Abraham and raised Altars to God that pleased God.
Ungodly Altars:
In the book of 1 Kings 12:25-33. We find a King called Jeroboam who build a satanic Altar in Judea which caused the Israelites to sin against God.
In the new testament we find an altar to Artemis in Acts.19:24-35. which was against the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Ephesus.
Heaven:
In heaven there is an Altar of the Lamb of God that is before the throne of God. Revelation 8:1-5.
These are just but a few examples of Altars in the bible. God is pleased when human beings raise proper Altars for him in our homes and families.
