The bronze altar, located just inside the gate of the Tabernacle court, was the site of continuous animal sacrifices.
Inside the Holy Place, the gold-overlaid altar of incense held perpetual incense, symbolizing unceasing intercession to God.
“You shall make an altar on which to offer incense; you shall make it of acacia wood.
Aaron shall offer fragrant incense on it; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall offer it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps in the evening, he shall offer it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:1, 7-8).
The profound privilege of tending to the incense is highlighted by the biblical account of John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah. While performing his priestly duty in the Temple, offering incense to God, he encountered an angel who announced the miraculous birth of his son.
Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside (Luke 1:10).
The Psalmist recognized the gift of daily prayer as similar to the privilege that Zechariah was afforded.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you
And the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. (Psalm 141:2)
The Book of Revelation connects angelic activity, incense, and the prayers of the saints.
When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8).
Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel (Revelation 8:3-4).
Reflections
You may be like me. In the past 12 months not a single governmental leader has reached out to me. No president, senator, representative, or lower-level official has sought my advice or a relationship with me.
The same can be said for CEO’s of major corporations. Not one has an interest in my opinions about business decisions. I won’t surprise you that major sports figures have failed to contact me.
Even though they all want my money, support, and fandom, they don’t have the capacity or interest to relate to me personally.
The altar of incense and all other references to incense in the Bible reveal that God is different from the minor-league heroes of Earth. God, the Ultimate Hero of the Universe, has both the capacity and interest to meet with us and hear what we think.
To emphasize His gift of prayer, communion, and intercession, God commanded the Israelites to build a Tabernacle for the express purpose of forgiving sins and establishing a relationship with Him.
If one of the minor-league heroes of the world were to call me today, I’d take their call. True confession: I’d probably brag about my call with so-and-so important human. Real talk alert: They’re not going to call.
Absolute truth: God, the Ultimate Hero of the Universe, called me today. Through the Holy Spirit and the direction of the Bible, He invited me to converse with Him.
Like the incense altar’s continual activity, God has called me to commune with Him throughout the day.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
To fail to answer God’s gracious call is to miss the greatest privilege a human can have.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed Exodus 30 today on YouTube.
Real Voices 