Exodus 30:34-36; Leviticus 16:12,13; Revelation 8:1-4
The LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.
And [Aaron] 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.
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 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.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): Who is this angel-priest? I think you will agree that he can be no created angel. Scripture never speaks of any created angel offering incense with the prayers of saints to make them acceptable to God. The Church of Rome does; but nowhere in the Bible do you get anything of the kind.
MATTHEW POOLE (1624-1679): By this angel I understand Christ. Nor, indeed, can what is said of this angel agree to any other but Christ, who is called an Angel, as in Genesis 48:16; and the Angel, or “messenger of the covenant,” Malachi 3:1. Christ is here represented as “having a golden censer.” Here is a manifest allusion to the order of the Jewish worship; they had an altar of incense upon which the high priest was to burn incense every morning and evening, Exodus 30:1,7,8. In the holy of holiest was reserved the golden censer, on which the high priest put the incense when annually he entered there, that the cloud of it might cover the mercy-seat, and so was kept for that service in it, Hebrews 9:4.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN (1826-1910): Now, that symbol of incense is thus used in many places in Scripture―you remember how, when the father of John the Baptist went into the Holy Place: “According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense,” Luke 1:9,10.
WILLIAM GURNALL (1617-1679): It is the prerogative of Christ to be the only agent in heaven for His saints on earth. In the outward temple we find the whole congregation praying, but into the holy of holiest entered none but the high priest with his perfume. Every saint is a priest to offer up prayers for himself and others on earth; but Christ only as our High-priest intercedes in heaven for us. The glorious angels and saints there no doubt wish well to the church below; but it is Christ’s office to receive the incense of his militant saints’ prayers, which they send up from this outward temple here below to heaven, and to offer it with all their desires to God; so that, to employ any in heaven besides Christ to pray for us, is to put Christ out of office.
JOHN OWEN (1616-1683): That in general, by incense prayer is signified, the Scripture expressly testifieth.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): David compared his prayers to “incense”―“Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense,” Psalm 141:2.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): Prayer is that “incense,” which, according to Malachi’s prediction, “shall be offered unto the name of the Lord in every place,” Malachi 1:11.
JOHN OWEN: And there is a fourfold resemblance between in incense and prayer, in that the incense was “beaten” and pounded before it was used. So doth acceptable prayer proceed from a broken and contrite heart, Psalm 51:17.
A. W. PINK: The incense which was offered in the tabernacle and temple consisted of various spices compounded together, and it was the blending of one with another that made the perfume so fragrant and refreshing.
THOMAS COKE: Was the holy incense compounded of various sweet spices? The graces of the Holy Spirit are the precious ingredients in the effectual prayer of the righteous.
JOHN TRAPP (1601-1699): In this incense how many sweet spices are burned together by the fire of faith―as humility, hope, love, etc., all which come up for a memorial before God, Acts 10:4; and the saints (as Manoah’s angel) ascend up in the flame, and do wondrously, Judges 13:19,20―Prayer goes up without incense, when without thankfulness.
ALEXANDER MacLAREN: Remember, too, that the incense lay dead, unfragrant, and with no capacity of soaring, till it was kindled; that is to say, unless there is a flame in my heart there will be no rising of my aspirations to God. Cold prayers do not go up more than a foot or two above the ground; they have no power to soar.
THOMAS COKE: The fire which burnt the incense, may denote the fervency of spirit required in acceptable worship. But take heed of the sparks of your own kindling, and lift up holy hands without wrath: for the incense must not be kindled with fire from the kitchen, but from the altar.
JOHN OWEN: Incense was of no use until fire was put under it, and that taken from the altar. Nor is that prayer of any virtue or efficacy which is not kindled by the fire from above, the Holy Spirit of God, which we have from our altar, Christ Jesus.
A. W. PINK: Our prayers, too, are acceptable to God only because our great High Priest adds to them “much incense” and then offers them on the golden altar before the throne. Our spiritual sacrifices are “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter 2:5.
JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): Prayer is acceptable only as offered in His name—and it is the office of faith to realize this glorious fact.
EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): Through Him, all their prayers, and praises, and thanksgivings, come up for a memorial before God, being perfumed with the incense of His precious blood.
OCTAVIUS WINSLOW (1808-1878): Oh, it is the merit of our Immanuel, who “hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour,” that imparts virtue, priority, and acceptance to the incense of prayer ascending from the heart of the child of God, Ephesians 5:2. Each petition, each desire, each groan, each sigh, each glance, comes up before God with the “smoke of the incense” that ascends from the cross of Jesus and from the “golden altar which is before the throne.” All the imperfection and impurity that mingles with our devotions is separated from each Petition by the atonement of our Mediator, who presents that as sweet incense to God.
JOHN TRAPP: Their pillars of smoke are perfumed with myrrh and frankincense―that is, with the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, those sweet odours poured into the prayers of saints, for want whereof the incense of the wicked is abomination, Isaiah 1:13, as stinking of the hand that offers it.
