Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #6 of Revelation, chapter 8, and we are continuing to look at Revelation 8:3-5:

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. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

We have been looking at these verses for the last couple of studies and tonight we are going to look at the connection that God is making between the golden censer and the offering up of incense with “the prayers of the saints.” 

We mentioned it before, but it serves us well to mention it again.  The reference to another angel is a reference to Jesus Himself, who came and stood at the altar.   He is the “messenger” that has the golden censer and is given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of the saints.  So this other “messenger” is the one offering up the incense in the golden censer upon the golden altar. 

We learned from our look into the Old Testament that it was only the High Priest of Israel who was allowed to go into the Holy of Holies to offer the incense upon the golden altar on the Day of Atonement.  God made a point of putting to death other individuals (250 men at one time) that rebelled against him in the wilderness, plus Nadab and Abihu that offered “strange fire.”  God made a point of letting us know that the one who offered it must be the High Priest and, therefore, it would point to Jesus Himself, the great High Priest of His people after the order of Melchisedec and He is, without question, the other “messenger.”

Before we continue on, we want to consider why God is associating the offering of incense with the prayers of the saints.  He does not just do it here, but we find similar language in Psalm 141:1-2:

A Psalm of David. JEHOVAH, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

Here, we see that God is moving David to write that his cries unto Him (which are his prayers) be “set forth before thee as incense.”  David is a type of Christ, so we can see the spiritual significance of this; that David, King of Israel, is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is that High Priest that offers the incense.  It is also the Lord Jesus Christ that prays for the sakes of His people: He prays not for the world, but He prays for His people.  He is the one that intercedes on their behalves before God:  “He ever liveth,” the Bible tells us, to make intercession for His chosen people on behalf of those whom He has redeemed.  So, here, God is connecting prayers and incense.

Also, it says in the Book of Revelation, in Revelation 5:7-8:

And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Do you see how God, here, is not leaving out the prayers of His people, but He is remembering them?  They are with the Lord Jesus Christ, with the “four living creatures” that are a representation of Eternal God Himself and with the twenty four elders, which typify all of God’s elect from the Old Testament and the New Testament.  They have golden vials of odors.  We can almost “see” a golden vial full of odours of the prayers of the saints being put into the “firepan” or into the “censer,” as the smoke of the incense is rising up with the prayers of the saints.

You know, we can see the similarity with that kind of idea: the smoke of incense ascends up and prayers also ascend up to the ears of God.  We read of that in Acts 10:1-4:

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

Cornelius had been praying and now it was as though his prayers had “come up,” or as if they had “ascended” before God.  The implication is that God was hearing them and God was acting upon those prayers.  This is true of the people of God all through history.  If we go back to the Book of Exodus, I think we will find something interesting concerning the prayers of the children of Israel.  We are going to look at a couple of different verses in Exodus.  God is speaking to Moses and it says in Exodus 3:5-7:

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And JEHOVAH said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

God has heard their cries and that would be their prayers.  In this same chapter, it says in Exodus 3:9-10:

Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

God heard the prayers of His people that were suffering cruel bondage, as they were greatly grieved and troubled and sorely tried; and they cried unto God and God heard their prayers.  We read in Exodus 6:5-8:

And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am JEHOVAH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am JEHOVAH your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am JEHOVAH.

That name “JEHOVAH” means “Saviour.”  God is the “Saviour” and, here, He states that He heard the groanings of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians had kept in bondage.  Why is that significant?  It is significant because in Revelation, chapter 8, God is, once again, emphasizing the prayers of His people and we are about to read of God’s judgment beginning at the house of God, as He pours out His wrath on the “third part,” which typifies the churches and congregations; so that judgment begins the time of end, the time of the final judgment of God and the final program of God’s end-time plan, which would also include His salvation plan.

Notice, again, the Lord says in Exodus 6:5: “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel.”  Now that leads us to think of another verse and another place in the Bible where God speaks of “groaning” in relationship to prayer, and that is in the Book of Romans.  I am going to read Romans 8:23-27:

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of * God.

Here, God is telling something amazing about prayer and that is that we really do not know what we should pray for.  We do not know perfectly what is the wisest and best thing or the thing that we need the most or even what we should be praying for.  We often end up praying for things that are not the best or wisest or most needful for us, but God says, “Do not worry about that.  Do not be overly concerned that you do not know what you should pray for, because you have my Spirit dwelling within you.”  The Holy Spirit indwells each child of God and that Spirit of God knows exactly what you need, what you require and for what you ought to pray.  So “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  Remember, God said that He had heard “the groanings” of Israel; He heard the Spirit of God that interceded on their behalves, or, at least, that is the spiritual picture that God is painting which resulted in God taking action to send a deliverer, Moses, to free His people Israel.

Likewise, God has heard the cries of His Spirit concerning His elect, so we find in Revelation, chapter 8, the Lord Jesus (this other 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 that would be the prayer that was assisted, or helped, by God’s Spirit Himself who perfects the prayer and knows perfectly what the prayer ought to be.  It is as though the Lord Jesus Christ is offering up the atonement for the sake of all of His elect and then the prayers of all saints (the intercession of the Spirit of God) is taking place for each one that Jesus died for from the foundation of the world, for each one whose name was recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  It is especially important at this time of the end when judgment began at the house of God, when the Bible would be unsealed and God would soon (after the 2,300 evening mornings) send forth the “latter rain” and recover the remnant of His people through this second Jubilee; He will gather together in one all the elect from the four corners of the earth and they will experience the salvation of God.  This is the prayer; this is why the judgment of God must begin.  It is why judgment must take place upon the house of God. 

Vengeance, also, must be exacted, as God pours out His wrath on the churches and congregations that were unfaithful and as a result of their unfaithfulness, it caused His sheep to wander upon every hill because the churches did not perform their duty in feeding and caring for the sheep, or even in finding the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  So God is also answering that prayer of His people, the souls of those that are “under the altar,” and under the blood of Christ and the saving work of the Lord Jesus.  So that is the beautiful picture that God is painting for us in these verses.  As it says in Revelation 8:4-5:

And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

It was time now, finally, for the long-awaited end to come.  Judgment would now shortly commence and God would complete His program – His final judgment of bringing His wrath upon the unsaved.  His program of salvation would soon be complete, by the time this Great Tribulation period would come to a close.