Revelation Chapter 8

“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.” (Rev 8:3-5)

We continue now from previous post.

“Knowledge of the background of the censer-bearing angel is helpful in understanding where the vision is located on the stream of time. Prayers of the saints have been offered all down through the Gospel Age. But because here, in the vision, the prayers of ALL the saints are specified, the picture is an all-inclusive one, covering the entire age and progressing to a conclusion. In route to the garden of sorrow (John 17:20) just before his death, Jesus prayed for himself and for the saints then associated with his ministry, as well as for all the saints yet future.

However, that prayer is not the fulfillment of Verse 3 because the Gethsemane offering was FOR ALL saints, whereas, in the seventh seal, the offering will be the prayers OF ALL saints—something quite different.

 Attention has already been called to the Old Testament practice of offering incense daily, morning and evening. In antitype this practice would indicate a special presentation at the beginning and the end of the Gospel Age. But, as indicated previously, the emphasis is to be placed upon the second portion of this enactment, thereby forcibly marking the future termination of the incense offering. The lesson now becomes abundantly clear . . . Jesus will not cast the censer into the earth (Verse 5) until ALL the prayers of The Christ, head and body members, have ascended.

The true Church has to be complete, and to be changed from the flesh condition to the spiritual condition above, BEFORE the Time of Trouble can occur.

When the censer-bearing angel finishes offering the incense in the Holy, he returns to the Court. There he fills the golden censer anew with live coals of fire from the brazen altar and then casts both censer and coals into the earth. Again, divine judgment is suggested, but now it is the Day of God’s Wrath.

The statement “judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Pet. 4:17) has two applications.

First, it pertains to the trial of the true Church. After that comes the judgment upon the nominal Church (and the world). However, this latter judgment will not occur, in the sense of destruction, until the true Church has finished its course. Thus a second work follows the completion of the first.

The taking of two batches of coals of fire from off the altar indicates two kinds of divine judgment: first pertaining to the true Church, afterwards against the nominal Church and the world. The Lord has been judging His people for over nineteen centuries by refining them, by purging the dross from the silver and the gold (Mal. 3:3). Then, at the end of the age, a judgment will come on the world, on the living generation. Hence God allows the ministry of evil—of sorrow, trouble, calamity—to befall both the Church and the world. But the ministry or temporary permission of evil that comes upon the gold or Church class is one of special friendship and son-ship, while to the world it is one of rebuke and condemnation.

Such a judgment coming on the world does not mean that God has not love in His heart for earth’s inhabitants, but He does have to wound in order to heal and bring mankind to repentance. Throughout the Gospel Age the selection and the recognition of the saints have been going on secretly in the Holy, and the offering of incense and prayer still continues unbeknownst to the world (and the worldly church). However, once the Church class is complete, the golden censer and its contents will be cast into the earth, and tremendous repercussions will immediately follow: blood and thunder, as it were.

The use of the censer on behalf of the Church yields incense and a sweet perfume, but a marked contrast is seen upon the entry of the coals of fire into the world. The censer will create trouble and a wrath designed to humble mankind preparatory to future blessings for the willing and obedient. Today’s distress and disorder, described as the Day of Preparation (Nah. 2:3), are merely indicative of far greater woes to come. But beyond the future great tribulation, the sunrise of Messiah’s Kingdom of glory and peace shall prevail.”

We will take a break here before we begin our look at the relationship between the seven churches, seals and trumpets and return once again to our study of Matthew 24 and the Lord’s Great Prophecy.