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Thursday, 23 October 2008 08:57 |
…for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. Isaiah 56:7
In the Old Testament, the incense that was offered by the priest upon the golden altar symbolically represented the interceding prayers of all Israel going up before God for him to smell and to be moved upon his throne. God loves it when his people agree in prayer, according to his will.
Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:19-20
But there is a right way to present our prayers together, and a wrong way. In the Old Testament, this was also true.
The golden altar was a special altar that was where they would regularly, every morning and evening, offer incense before the Lord, as the congregation of Israel gathered together to pray.
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 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. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. Exodus 30:1-3 & 7-9
The coals for burning the incense were to come from the altar of sacrifice, but no remains of any sacrifice were to be offered. Consequently, no remains from the daily sacrifice were allowed for burning incense - only red-hot coals.
And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not Leviticus 16:12-13
If you offered strange fire (meaning coals not from the altar of sacrifice, or coals mixed with unburned flesh) with incense before the Lord, you would die.
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Leviticus 10:1-2
Consequently, today we must have our fleshly agendas and purposes consumed in the Holy Ghost fire on the altar of sacrifice, to be able to effectively intercede together in prayer before the Lord for those that are lost.
Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2
This is the lesson that is taught us by the prophesy in Revelations concerning the need for God's people to gather together in agreement in prayer so that our High Priest, Jesus Christ, can offer our prayers together as incense before his Father and fill us with the burning love for his service and to testify to and win the lost.
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. Revelations 8:3-4
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