Bible Questions Answered:
“...how is it our prayers be like
smoke?”
Trishul/ Bangalore (Kamataka) India
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Revelation 5:6-14 NLT
(Incense burnt at the throne of God.)
6 Then I saw a Lamb that looked as
if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the
throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders.
He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold
Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.
7 He stepped forward and took the
scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.
8 And when He took the scroll, the
four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with
incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
9 And they sang a new song with
these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals
and open it.
For you were slaughtered, and your
blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and
people and nation.
10 And you have caused them to
become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the
earth.”
11 Then I looked again, and I heard
the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and
of the living beings and the elders.
12 And they sang in a mighty chorus:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
13 And then I heard every creature
in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting
on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
14 And the four living beings said,
“Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the
Lamb.
Incense was burnt in the temple.
Luke 1:8-10 NLT
8 One day Zechariah was serving God
in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week.
9 As was the custom of the priests,
he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn
incense.
10 While the incense was being
burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.
The word incense, is taken from the
Latin, meaning to burn.
Instructions concerning the burning of
incense, and its recipe, came from God.
Exodus 30:1-10, 34-38 NLT (God
gives Moses the Plans for the Incense Altar, in the desert
tabernacle.)
1 “Then make another altar of
acacia wood for burning incense*.
2 Make it 18 inches square and 36
inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of
wood as the altar itself.
3 Overlay the top, sides, and horns
of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire
altar.
4 Make two gold rings, and attach
them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold molding to hold
the carrying poles.
5 Make the poles of acacia wood and
overlay them with gold.
6 Place the incense altar just
outside the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant, in
front of the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that covers the
tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. I will meet with
you there.
7 “Every morning when Aaron
maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar.
8 And each evening when he lights
the lamps, he must again burn incense* in the Lord’s presence. This
must be done from generation to generation.
9 Do not offer any unholy incense on
this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid
offerings.
10 “Once a year Aaron must purify
the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to
purify the people from their sin. This will be a regular, annual
event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord’s most
holy altar.”
Incense recipe.
34 Then the Lord said to Moses,
“Gather fragrant spices—resin droplets, mollusk shell, and
galbanum—and mix these fragrant spices with pure frankincense,
weighed out in equal amounts.
35 Using the usual techniques of the
incense maker, blend the spices together and sprinkle them with salt
to produce a pure and holy incense.
36 Grind some of the mixture into a
very fine powder and put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant,
where I will meet with you in the Tabernacle. You must treat this
incense as most holy.
37 Never use this formula to make
this incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the Lord, and you
must treat it as holy.
38 Anyone who makes incense like
this for personal use will be cut off from the community.”
*Incense (verse 1) Hebrew: Qetoreth
(Ket-o-reth): Sweet incense, perfume.
*Incense (verse 8) Hebrew: Qatar
(Kaw-tar): To smoke, i.e. turn into fragrance by fire (especially
as an act of worship): burn (incense, sacrifice) (upon), (altar for)
incense offer (incense , a sacrifice).
What was the purpose of an altar of
incense?
Incense was a sweet smelling odor, that
ascended up to the sky.
It stood as an ever living reminder of
“prayer.”
The prayers of God's people, ascend up
to Him, as a sweet smelling perfume.
I Peter 5:7 KJV
Casting all your care upon Him
(Prayer); for He careth for you.
Our prayers arise as a sweet aroma to
God, when we as a people pray “non-selfishly, and according to His Word.
Psalm 141:1,2 NLT A psalm of
David.
1 O Lord, I am calling to you.
Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help!
2 Accept my prayer as incense
offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.
Revelation 8:1-5 NLT (The Lamb
of God, breaks the 7th seal.)
1 When the Lamb broke the seventh
seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about
half an hour.
2 I saw the seven angels who stand
before God, and they were given seven trumpets.
3 Then another angel with a gold
incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of
incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as
an offering on the gold altar before the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, mixed
with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the
altar where the angel had poured them out.
5 Then the angel filled the incense
burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and
thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible
earthquake.
Moses was told that Aaron, the high
priest, was to offer incense upon the altar of incense once in the
morning and again at evening.
Exodus 30:7,8 NLT
7 “Every morning when Aaron
maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar.
8 And each evening when he lights
the lamps, he must again burn incense* in the Lord’s presence. This
must be done from generation to generation.
Psalm 55:17 KJV
Evening, and morning, and at noon,
will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.
Daniel 6:10 KJV
Now when Daniel knew that the
writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being
open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three
times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did
aforetime.
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 KJV
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
