Revelation Chapter 8

Once again we would like to take a look at Verses 3-5 and the censer-bearing angel as explained in The Keys of Revelation.

“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”

Angel with the Censer

“The angel is first observed with a golden censer approaching the brazen altar in the Court. Here he dutifully pauses to stand, alert to perform service. Much incense is given into his custody to be offered up within the sanctuary. Who is this personage? The angel is none other than a portrayal of Jesus as priest and caretaker of the Church. Seen in this favorable context, the censer of gold represents divine judgment, while its implied coals of fire indicate a mandated ordinance of fiery trials and discipline (1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12).

It was customary for the high priest to enter the Holy with coals of fire from off the altar in a censer suspended from his wrist by a chain, together with heaping incense cupped in the palm of each hand. (See Number 1 at bottom of page) Once he was inside, the censer was set down on top of the golden incense altar-table, and the incense was crumbled upon the open mouth of the censer pot.

The illustration above is only for reference and depicts the Day of Atonement ceremony in which the High Priest not only brought in a censer full of hot coals, but likewise a second censer containing blood from the sacrifice which would be sprinkle before the Mercy Seat when once he was approved to enter the Most Holy. His hands were likewise cupped full of incense. The only difference being is that in the daily incense offering he would only bring in one censer full of hot coals in which to burn the incense.

As the powder entered the coals and burned, it sent up smoke, yielding a rich perfume or fragrance that arose and drifted as a cloud into the Most Holy. This infiltration of smoke was made possible by the existence of a slight aperture (vent opening) high above the incense altar at the ceiling, where the veil or curtain hung suspended from four pillars positioned for that purpose (Exod. 26:31–33). The cloud of smoke was to “cover the mercy seat that . . . he [the high priest] die not” (Lev. 16:13).

In the type the high priest was required to offer and burn incense in this fashion “every morning” when he dressed and trimmed the lamps and “at evening” when he “lit the lamps” (Exod. 30:7, 8). And so, in the antitype, Jesus has been “dressing the lamps” and “burning incense” all down through the Gospel Age. Prayer accompanied the offering of incense at both ends of the day in this continued service, so that ere long the golden table was known as the prayer altar as well as the incense altar. Similarly, Jesus has been in the Holy condition making intercession on behalf of the Church (the fully consecrated those who as spirit begotten new creatures reside in the Holy of the Tabernacle) continuously: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

Although the high priest offered prayer morning and evening at the daily sacrifice, it was the 3:00 P.M. service “between the two evenings” (See Number 2 at bottom of page) that was more widely recognized as “the time of incense” and as “the hour of prayer” from the standpoint that more people joined in worship at that hour (Luke 1:9, 10) in both the ancient Tabernacle and the later Temple arrangements as well as privately at home. According to Hebrew reckoning, 3:00 P.M. was known as the ninth hour (Acts 3:1; 10:3, 30). In recognition of this association, the Psalmist David declared (Psa 141:2), “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”

The incense represents the perfections of Christ, which make prayers acceptable to God and enable them to ascend up out of the angel’s hand (Verse 4), lifted on the cloud of incense, as it were, to the heavenly throne. The moral virtues and qualities possessed by Christ were pictured as “beaten small” in the crucible of experience (“the work of the apothecary”) so that no lumps or unevenness would mar the glorious blending of a harmonious whole, even the supremacy of his model character (Exod. 30:36; 37:29). When these perfections came in contact with the trials of life (the hot coals), they yielded up the sweet perfume (or “smoke”) of faith, love, obedience, and praise to the Father.

This “incense” is offered “with the prayers of the saints” (Verse 4).

Jesus taught his disciples to pray in this manner: “Whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16). In other words, the name of Jesus is invoked in connection with prayers so that they will be heard by God. Jesus righteousness or justification must accompany the prayers of the saints, primarily because Jesus himself was faithful, and also because he is acting as Advocate on behalf of the Church, these petitions can be recognized (1 John 2:1).

Another thought sometimes presented is that the incense can also represent the imputed perfections of the Church, but only when these are coupled with the actual perfections of Jesus can they be a part of the “much incense” offered. To intensify the primacy of Jesus’ merit, Holy Writ keeps separate and distinct the mention of the saints; the saints are associated with the prayers only.

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Number 1: On the Day of Atonement, in addition to the incense, the priest took blood in a basin, which hung with a chain from his other wrist, into the sanctuary. No mention of blood is made in the Revelation 8 scene of the angel with the censer. This omission is most significant because the emphasis, and therefore the explanation of the vision, must, of necessity, be shifted away from the Atonement Day incense offering (which only took place once a year), and be placed upon the daily incense offering. Blood was not associated with the performance of this daily ritual, nor is it seen in Verses 3 to 5.

Number 2: The technical beginning of evening is 12:00 P.M. (noon), when the sun begins its declination overhead, until 6:00 P.M., when the sun sets. “Between the two evenings,” therefore, is 3:00 P.M. (Exod. 30:8 NKJV margin).

We will finish up with our Introduction to the Seven Trumpets in our next post.