Exodus 30:1-10
“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.” (Exodus 30:1-5)
The altar of incense seems to have been a simple accacia wood box eighteen inches square and three feet tall, with a horn like projection at each corner. It was overlaid with gold, like the other furniture for inside the tabernacle, with a gold rim to keep things from falling off. Like the other items of furniture it was equipped with poles for carrying, also gilded and attached with gold rings at each corner.
“And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.” (Exodus 30:6-8)
Revelation 8:3-4 makes it very clear the incense relates to our prayers. “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.” The other furniture in the Holy place was entirely about what christ does for us, but the altar of incense is about uor worship and prayer lives, which is why it is described here rather than with the other furniture.
Placed before the veil, directly ahead as one entered the Tabernacle, the altar of incense portrayed prayer as the way to reach out to God for the believer priests daily. The was made of wood representing Christ’s humanity and gold representing his deity. The Christian’s prayer is to be based on the authority from Jesus Christ. John 14:13-14 promises, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
Access to the altar of incense required that one be a priest, a believer and that one be inside the boundaries of righteousness as pictured by the courtyard fence. As David warned in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” Finally, he had to enter the Holy place, where everything was about God, rather than self. I John 5:14-15 states, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
The incense was to be offered every morning and evening while they were in the Holy place. Philippians 4:6 commands, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Christians ought to be in a constant attitude of prayer about everything, as I Thessalonians 5:17 directs. “Pray without ceasing.”
“Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.” (Exodus 30:9-10)
Even conscientious prayer and worship gets contaminated with sin and needs to be purged periodically, and an atonement for the altar was needed annually. I Thessalonians 5:21instructs us to test everything and keep only the good. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
Cain offered his own idea of worship rather than what God specified and his sacrifice was not accepted in Genesis 4. God specified that only what he prescribed was acceptable in worship and prayer. Nothing else was to be offered. He gives some specific things in the New testament that are not to be offered,
Specific guidelines were given as to prayer for example. Matthew 6:5-6 commands, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Prayer to impress people with our spirituality is not acceptable.
Prayer is to be personal, and repeating what someone else has said doesn’t qualify. Even “praying the scripture” moves it from a personal prayer to ritual. Matthew 6:7 commands, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” God is a loving father, and desires to hear what his children think rather than someone else’s viewpoint. He already knows what David or the other writers thought.
Prayers based on or mixed with bitterness, anger or disrespect are not acceptable. Matthew 11:25-26 warns, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” I Peter 3:7 continues in the same vein. “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” Paul said, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting,” in I Timothy 2:8.
These restrictions about prayer are just a few of the things about worship, but like Cain, people tend to decide to do it their way, and get upset that others are blessed for doing it God’s way.
“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.” (Exodus 30:1-5)
The altar of incense seems to have been a simple accacia wood box eighteen inches square and three feet tall, with a horn like projection at each corner. It was overlaid with gold, like the other furniture for inside the tabernacle, with a gold rim to keep things from falling off. Like the other items of furniture it was equipped with poles for carrying, also gilded and attached with gold rings at each corner.
“And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.” (Exodus 30:6-8)
Revelation 8:3-4 makes it very clear the incense relates to our prayers. “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.” The other furniture in the Holy place was entirely about what christ does for us, but the altar of incense is about uor worship and prayer lives, which is why it is described here rather than with the other furniture.
Placed before the veil, directly ahead as one entered the Tabernacle, the altar of incense portrayed prayer as the way to reach out to God for the believer priests daily. The was made of wood representing Christ’s humanity and gold representing his deity. The Christian’s prayer is to be based on the authority from Jesus Christ. John 14:13-14 promises, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”
Access to the altar of incense required that one be a priest, a believer and that one be inside the boundaries of righteousness as pictured by the courtyard fence. As David warned in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” Finally, he had to enter the Holy place, where everything was about God, rather than self. I John 5:14-15 states, “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
The incense was to be offered every morning and evening while they were in the Holy place. Philippians 4:6 commands, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Christians ought to be in a constant attitude of prayer about everything, as I Thessalonians 5:17 directs. “Pray without ceasing.”
“Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.” (Exodus 30:9-10)
Even conscientious prayer and worship gets contaminated with sin and needs to be purged periodically, and an atonement for the altar was needed annually. I Thessalonians 5:21instructs us to test everything and keep only the good. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
Cain offered his own idea of worship rather than what God specified and his sacrifice was not accepted in Genesis 4. God specified that only what he prescribed was acceptable in worship and prayer. Nothing else was to be offered. He gives some specific things in the New testament that are not to be offered,
Specific guidelines were given as to prayer for example. Matthew 6:5-6 commands, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Prayer to impress people with our spirituality is not acceptable.
Prayer is to be personal, and repeating what someone else has said doesn’t qualify. Even “praying the scripture” moves it from a personal prayer to ritual. Matthew 6:7 commands, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” God is a loving father, and desires to hear what his children think rather than someone else’s viewpoint. He already knows what David or the other writers thought.
Prayers based on or mixed with bitterness, anger or disrespect are not acceptable. Matthew 11:25-26 warns, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” I Peter 3:7 continues in the same vein. “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” Paul said, “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting,” in I Timothy 2:8.
These restrictions about prayer are just a few of the things about worship, but like Cain, people tend to decide to do it their way, and get upset that others are blessed for doing it God’s way.
Excellent post! God is clear in His directives, and Christians who read their Bible should be clear about the importance of prayer and about how to pray. Yet so many prefer to do it their way or not at all, at their own peril.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Laurie
Thanks, Laurie.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately believe that the "experts" such as pastors or other religious leaders have a greater power in prayer. Every Christian has the same right and access to heaven, and the same power, if they will use it, but like other things, the greatest effect comes with using it properly.