Altar Of Incense Thoughts

[Stewart]

The Altar of Incense. (Exodus 30.)

The Altar of Incense required heat to operate -- it required heat to be effective.

 

This was to show, I suggest, that without heat – without fervency – prayer cannot be effective.

Without fervency, prayer will not, cannot, ascend. But the heat, the fervency connected with the Altar of Incense, was to come from a certain place, a certain source. It was not to be common enthusiasm or fervency. The fervency (heat) of prayer is to be a fervency drawn from another holy place -- another altar connected with the service of God.

 

When Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, brought “strange fire” (i.e. common fire) to burn incense on, the young men died as a direct result. Every Christian may take warning from this. Common, worldly enthusiasm, if brought into the time of prayer, will bring immediate death to true spirituality.

It is important to have the right kind of heat, the right kind of fervency, in prayer. (Babylonians can be seen winding themselves up into highly animated states, thinking that this kind of fervency is necessary for effective prayer, but we must not model ourselves on them.)

Where did the "holy" fire come from? The only "holy" fire associated with the Sanctuary came from the Altar of burnt offerings in the Sanctuary Courtyard. This fire was lit by God Himself on the day that the ministration in the Sanctuary began... and from that point onward the fire was maintained by the Levites. Let us note that this was the source of the fire upon which the incense was to be burnt in the Holy Place.

___________________________

"That which is called praying morning and evening, according to custom, is not always fervent and effectual. It is with many a sleepy, dull, and heartless repetition of words, and does not reach the ear of the Lord." (In Heavenly Places p.87)

Edited May 16, 2015 by Stewart

[Stewart]

“A Crown of Gold”.

The Altar of Incense had a crown of Gold. This, to me, is an interesting feature. The altar itself was constructed of Acacia wood. Almost everything (including the four horns) on the altar was constructed of wood (Ex 30:2), and the wood was to be overlaid with Gold.

You shall “overlay it with pure Gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof...” (Ex 30:3). An exception to this was the raised border (or crown) on the top of the altar.

“...you shall make unto it a crown of Gold round about.” (Ex 30:3)

This crown, skirting the edge of the top panel on the altar, was made entirely of Gold.

It is not surprising to find that the “crown” is commonly understood to point to the royalty of Christ. But the Hebrew word translated “crown” in this instance (i.e. #2213), is a very different word to that which is used when-ever Scripture speaks about crowns of royalty (i.e. #5850 and #5145). In fact there appears to be no linguistic link allowing us to say that the “crowns” on the Altar of Incense, the Table of Shewbread, and the Ark of the Covenant, portray, in any sense, the concept of royalty. Unfortunately, English renderings tend to misrepresent the actual sense of the wording.

The Jewish Tanakh puts it, “make a gold molding for it round about”. This is a significant rendering in my view, because the Jews [above all others] held that the Messiah's rank would be that of a conquering King. And yet, with regards to the Sanctuary furniture the Jews make no inference that the moldings (i.e. the raised borders) point to the Messiah's royalty.

The Moffatt Version has it – “and run a golden moulding round it” (30:3).

And Fenton – “and round its top make battlements of gold.”

Now this is not to say that the royalty of Christ is doubted. The Sanctuary service certainly teaches the Messiah's royalty, but this lesson is not taught by the borders (#2213) upon the Sanctuary furniture. It is the Golden crown (#5145) worn by the High Priest, and inscribed with the words, “Holiness unto the Lord” (Ex 29:6), that points us, explicitly, to His royal status.

What did the “molding” (the raised border) on the Altar of Incense do? It served a practical purpose, and I suggest that this is where the lesson is to be drawn. The live coals and the incense were brought and placed on its top surface. (Bear in mind that this surface was about 18 inches by 18 inches square.) The raised border effectively guaranteed that the incense and the coals, once placed upon the altar, would not fall off and be lost. This simple, perhaps obvious, function teaches a significant lesson. No heart-felt prayer is wasted, or lost.

(Perhaps it is worth remembering though, that in order for a grain of incense to fulfill its purpose, it needed to come in contact with a live coal.)

[Stewart]

Ashes.

The ashes of the burnt offerings (primarily the daily, or continual, offerings,) were gathered up, and the priest was to “put them beside the [Brass] altar” (Lev 6:10) in the Courtyard. When these had accumulated, the priest would change his clothes, and the ashes were taken to a “clean place” outside the camp. (Lev 6:11).

I suggest that the ashes taken from the Altar of Incense were treated the same way.

After being kept in the same staging area beside the Altar of Brass, they were taken together with the ashes of the burnt offering, and put in that same “clean place” outside the camp. Here again we find the two Altars closely linked. And before the ashes were removed from the Courtyard, the people would have had opportunity to see the two distinct kinds of ash mingled together. From beginning to end the Altars work in unison.

[8thdaypriest]

Thanks Stewart.  Good imagery.