Today’s selected passage continues in the Old Testament prophetic book of Jeremiah, and more specifically, is found in the ninth chapter of the book. This chapter begins with a powerful declaration proclaimed from the prophet Jeremiah. “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men” (Jeremiah 9:1-2). When I read the words of the prophet Jeremiah, I am immediately reminded of the words of Jesus as recorded in the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel—“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). I have to admit that there have been many times when I have read the words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew, and have not truly understood what He meant. What did Jesus mean when He described those who mourn as being blessed? Moreover, what did Jesus mean when He declared that those who mourned would be comforted? I have long found myself asking what the mourning of such individuals was like. What was it that caused those who mourned to mourn before the Lord? Was their mourning in regard to themselves, or was their mourning in regard to others? Perhaps their mourning was both in relation to them, as well as in relation to others as well. For the prophet Jeremiah, he desired that his head were waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears. Jeremiah asked for, desired and longed for such a thing within his life in order that he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of his people. LONGING TO WEEP! DESPERATE TO WEEP! Please don’t miss the incredible and awesome signficance of Jeremiah’s words, for Jeremiah didn’t desire to weep for himself, but for the slain of the daughter of his people. The weeping which Jeremiah sought had absolutely nothing to do with himself, but rather with those around him in the land. Jeremiah longed for his head to be waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears in order that he might pour forth a profuse and profound weeping. Consider for a moment living in the place where the single greatest thing you longed for was to be able to weep before the Lord—and not just weep before the Lord, but weep on behalf of others. Jeremiah saw the slain and the fallen within his land, and it so gripped and seized his soul that it thrust him into an incredible place of weeping and mourning before the Lord.

 I can’t help but be reminded of the words of the prophet Joel, which are recorded for us in the second chapter of the prophetic book bearing his name. “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn asssembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, WEEP BETWEEN THE PORCH AND THE ALTAR, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the Lord be jealous for His land, and pity His people. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto His people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: but I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the East Sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things” (Joel 2: 12-20).

 Within this passage we find the prophet Joel calling the inhabitants of the land to a very specific place before the Lord. The prophet Joel called the inhabitants and people of the land to turn to the Lord with all their heart, and with fasting, and with weeping and with mourning. Pause for a moment and let those words sink down deep within your heart and soul. Consider for a moment the incredible reality of turning to the Lord with all your heart, and doing so in such a way that you are given to fasting, to weeping and to mourning. The prophet Joel didn’t merely speak of this turning to the Lord as an act of itself, but as an act that was accompanied and demonstrated by specific actions. The prophet Joel spoke of turning to the Lord, yet a turning that was accompanied by three specific actions. This turnin to the Lord would first be demonstrated and manifested through fasting before the Lord, and would then be accompanied by both weeping and mourning. Is it possible that one of the greatest demonstrations and manifestations of a true turning to the Lord is through weeping and mourning? The prophet Joel not only called for the inhabitants of the land to turn once more to the Lord through fasting, and weeping and mounting, but He also called the priests of the Lord to weep between the porch and the altar. The prophet Joel called the priests and ministers of the Lord to weep between the place of sacrifice and the place of entrance. There between the altar of the Lord and the door of the Temple the ministers and priests were instructed to weep before the Lord. This is actually quite interesting, for it means that the priests and ministers of the Lord would have to have first moved past the altar—past the place of sacrifice—and position themselves between the altar and the door. The priests and ministers of the Lord would move past and beyond the place of sacrifice and cleansing and just before entering into the Temple of the Lord, they were instructed to take up weeping and mourning before the Lord. Popular contemporary Christian group Casting Crowns wrote a song entitled “The Altar and the Door,” and even more than this, the entire album in which this song is found is entitled “The Altar and the Door.” The main premise of the song is what takes place within the heart of an individual the minute they rise from the altar and make their way to the door of the sanctuary. The song centers around the question of whether or not the work which began and was performed at the altar would remain as they made their way away from the place of sacrifice and cleansing.

 WEEPING BETWEEN THE BASIN AND THE DOOR! WEEPING BETWEEN THE ALTAR AND THE DOOR! WEEPING BETWEEN THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE AND THE PLACE OF ENTRANCE! WEEPENG BETWEEN THE PLACE OF CLEANSING AND THE PLACE OF ACCESS! When I read and consider the words of the prophet, I can’t help but wonder if the prophet didn’t instruct the priests and ministers of the Lord to fulfill their duties and responsibilities around the altar of the Lord, and at the bronze basin, and then as they began to make their way from the bronze basin to the door of the Temple they would stop in the porch and there from that place would weep before the Lord. Casting Crown’s song “The Altar and the Door” deals with the reverse reality—what takes place as we move from the altar of the sanctuary to the door of the house. What’s interesting, is that when it comes to the pattern and layout of both the Tabernacle and the Temple, the altar was the very first thing the priests and the ministers of the Lord encountered when approaching and drawing near unto the Lord. The altar—the place of sacrifice and offering—was the very first thing the priests would encounter, and they could not enter the Temple—much less approach the door of the Temple—without first coming to the altar. In other words, it was the altar of burnt offering—the place of sacrifice—which was the first step in coming and drowning near unto the Lord. I can’t help but see a powerful image and vision in my mind of priests and ministers of the Lord coming to the altar of burnt offering and presenting sacrifices, then coming to the bronze basin to wash themselves, and then as they make their way to the door of the Temple they stop, and there in the portico—there in the porch of the Temple—they prostrate themselves with their faces to the ground and weep before the Lord. What the prophet Jose was suggesting and inviting the priests and ministers of the Lord to do was to position themselves between the altar and the door, and in that place weep and minister before the Lord on behalf of His people and the land. After coming to the place of sacrifice, and after coming to the place of cleansing, the prophet Joel called the priests and ministers of the Lord to weep before the Lord. There between the altar and the door, there between the basin and the door, the prophet called the priests and ministers of the Lord to weep before the Lord.

 SACRIFICE APART FROM WEEPING! OFFERING APART FROM WEEPING! When I consider the invitation and call of the prophet Joel, I can’t help but think that first comes the offering, and then comes the weeping. First comes the sacrifice, and then comes the weeping before the Lord. The words of the prophet Joel are absolutely incredible, for the more I consider them them the more I can’t help but be drawn to the fact that sacrifice must be accompanied by weeping. I can’t help but be drawn to the fact that offering must be accompanied by mourning. When was the last time your sacrifice was accompanied by weeping? When was the last time your offering was accompanied by weeping and mourning? When was the last time your sacrifice and offering brought you into the place of weeping and mourning before the Lord. Consider the tremendous responsibility the priests and ministers of the Lord, for they were the ones who were responsible for taking the offerings brought unto them by the children of Israel and offer them upon the altar of the Lord. Consider what a tremendous sight it would have been if there was not only the sight of the sacrifice upon the altar, not only the smell of burning flesh upon the altar, but also the sound of the priests weeping before the Lord. THE SIGHT OF THE SACRIFICE, THE SCENT OF THE OFFERING, AND THE SOUND OF THE PRIEST WEEPING! Scripture gives absolutely no indication of the priests of the Lord weeping before the Lord while the sacrifice was burning amidst the flames upon the altar, yet I can’ they- but get the strong sense of how absolutely powerful that would have been. WEEPING WHILE THE SACRIFICE BURNS! WEEPING WHILE THE SACRIFICE BURNS UPON THE ALTAR! WEEPING WHILE THE SACRIFICE IS CONSUMED BY FIRE! The more I think about the sight of the offering in the midst of the flames, the scent of the offering filling the air, I can’t help but think about how incredibly powerful; it would have been if both of these were accompanied by the sound of the priests weeping before the Lord. Imagine if the priests of the Lord could not fulfill their duties as ministers of the Lord without weeping on behalf of those whose sacrifice and offerings they presented before the Lord. WHEN THE SIGHT OF BURNING FLESH IS ACCOMPANIED BY THE SOUND WEEPING PRIESTS! WHEN THE SCENT OF BURNING FLESH IS ACCOMPANIED BY THE SOUND OF WEEPING MINISTERS! What if weeping began at the altar, continued at the basin, and found its way to the door of the house of the Lord. What if the weeping the prophet Joel spoke about began at the place of sacrifice, continued in the place of cleansing, and found its way to the door of the Temple?

 Casting Crowns sings a song about the journey from the altar to the door—from the altar at the front of the sanctuary to the door at the bank of the sanctuary—yet I can’t help but see the reality of the altar and the door in a completely different light. I can’t help but see the concept of the altar and the door as the priests and ministers of the Lord making their way from the altar of the Lord to the door of the Temple where once inside they would encounter the table of the Lord, the lamp of the Lord, and the altar of incense. In the Tabernacle and Temple, the altar wasn’t a place that prepared you to leave and exit the sanctuary of the Lord, but was a place that prepared you to enter into the very presence and glory of the Lord. It was there at the altar where sacrifices and offerings would be made which would directly deal with all that was committed on the other side of the altar. Consider the awesome reality that the altar stands between your transgression, your wickedness, your sin, your rebellion, your idolatry and immorality, and the door of the Temple. Before you could enter into the door of the Temple and make your way past the table of the Lord, the lamp of the Lord, and the altar of incense into the place where the divine glory and presence of the Lord was, you would first have to come to the altar of the Lord. It was the altar that prepared the priests to enter into the Holy Place, and ultimately the Holy of Holies—that place where only the high priests could enter, and even that only once a year. Between the place of sacrifice and access the priests and ministers of the Lord would weep before the Lord, and would weep on behalf of the sin(s) and transgression(s) of the people. What an absolutely powerful concept it is to think of priests and ministers of the Lord giving themselves to weeping immediately after coming to the place of sacrifice, and the place of cleansing. Immediately after the offering and sacrifice was consumed amidst the flames burning upon the altar, the priests and ministers of the Lord would give themselves to weeping. Oh where are the priests and ministers of the Lord who are willing to come to the altar of the Lord, present their offering(s) and sacrifice(s) unto the Lord, and then before even going through the door of the Temple, they give themselves to weeping? Where are the priests and ministers of the Lord who after coming to the place of cleansing, they come to the place of the door, yet are completely unable to proceed because they are overcome and overwhelmed with weeping and mourning. The prophet Joel called the priests and ministers of the Lord to weep between the porch and the altar. What an absolutely incredible place that is—that place between the porch and the altar where the priests and ministers of the Lord completely and totally give themselves to weeping and mourning before the Lord.

 WEEPING IN THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE! WEEPING IN THE PLACE OF CLEANSING! There before the holy altar of God and the consuming fire of Almighty God, we are completely and totally overwhelmed and consumed with weeping and mourning. There at the altar—with the sight of the offering being consumed by the flames, and the scent of the offering rising up to heaven—we give ourselves completely and totally to weeping and mourning. Moreover, at the place of cleansing—at the place of water—we again give ourselves to weeping and mourning. MOVING TO THE HOLY OF HOLIES WITH TEARS! MOVING TO THE HOLY OF HOLIES WITH WEEPING! MOVING TO THE HOLY OF HOLIES WITH MOURNING! The prophet Joel called the priests and ministers of the Lord to weep between the porch and the altar, and the prophet Jeremiah longed for his head to be waters, and his eyes fountains that he might weep and mourn on behalf of the slain of the daughter of his people. Jeremiah longed to find himself in that place of weeping and mourning because of the devastation and destruction sin had wrought in the land, but also because of the sin itself. It is one thing to weep and mourn because of the consequences of sin itself; it is something else altogether when we weep because of sin itself. There are those who weep because they have witnessed and are witnessing the consequence of sin, yet there are others who weep because of the sin itself. There is a vast difference between weeping because of the consequences of sin, and weeping because of sin itself. Those who would weep between the porch and the altar would weep not only because of the devastation and destruction that had consumed the land, but also because of the sin, the transgression and rebellion which had brought it about. Jeremiah longed for his eyes to be fountains that he might weep and mourn on behalf of a people who were completely devastated and destroyed because of sin, transgression, and rebellion in the midst of the land. Jeremiah longed for his eyes to be fountains that he might weep for the transgression that had been committed in the land, for he was completely and totally overwhelmed with such a reality that loomed before him.

 As surely as I’m sitting here right now, I can’t help but ask the question when the last time was that I personally wept and mourned on behalf of the sin(s) of others. I can’t help but wonder when the last time was I wept and mourned because of the devastation that has so riddled and consumed this nation and land. Moreover, I can’t help but wonder when the last time was that I wept and mourned over the condition of my own heart and soul before the Lord. When was the last time I came to the altar of the Lord—the place of sacrifice—and there at the altar I gave myself to weeping and mourning before the Lord? When was the last time I came to the altar of the Lord—the place of the consuming fire—and there gave myself to weeping and mourning because of my sin and transgression? When was the last time I came to the place of cleansing, and there at the place of cleansing I gave myself to weeping and mourning before the Lord. Jesus declared that those who mourned were blessed because they would be comforted. I can’t help but find myself drawn to the thirty-second chapter of the book of the Psalms to help shine a great deal of light upon this reality. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no build. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heaven upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Delay. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:1-5). Why are those who mourn comforted? They are comforted because it’s in that place of mourning where transgression is forgiven, and where sin is covered. WHERE TRANSGRESSION IS FORGIVEN AND SIN IS COVERED. Those who mourn are blessed because they receive comfort regarding their own iniquity and transgression, as well as the iniquity and transgression of those around them. There at the place between the porch and the altar where the priests and ministers of the Lord give themselves to weeping, they are also comforted because transgression is forgiven, sin is covered, and the Lord does not impute sin. I am convinced the Lord is calling us to live in that place of comfort as we give ourselves to mourning—not only mourning for our own transgression and sin, but that of others as well. WHEN THE PRIESTS OF THE LORD ARE COMFORTED! WHEN THE MINISTERS OF THE LORD ARE COMFORTED! Oh that we would read the words of the prophet Jeremiah and that we would understand them in light of the words of Jesus in the famous Sermon on the Mount. Oh that we would find ourselves in the place between the altar and the door where we give ourselves to weeping and mourning –not only for our own sin, but for the sin of others. OH that the priests and ministers of the Lord would once more find their way to the place between the altar and the door.