As
John the apostle continued to share about the “tribulation” that
was to come upon the earth, he shared concerning the first six seals
Jesus removed from the “scroll” in God's right hand. He began to
write about what happened when Jesus,
“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.” In
chapter eight and verse four John saw “the
smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints”
where
we read:
ascended
up before God out of the angel's hand.
The
verse reads, “And
the smoke of the incense, which
came
with the prayers of the saints, ...”
John
began with the words, “and
the smoke”
which means “the smoke as from burning” “of
the incense” or
“the odor, fragrant powder and aromatic substance burnt”, “which
came” which
means “that appeared, arose and showed itself” “with
the prayers”
or “alongside the orations and worship” “of
the saints”which
refers to “the
pure, morally blameless and religiously and ceremonially
consecrated”.
John saw the “smoke”
of the burning “aromatic substance” that was alongside the
“prayers”
of God's “saints”.
The
verse continues, “... ascended
up before God out of the angel's hand.” John
added the word, “ascended
up”
which means “rose, mounted, was borne and sprung up” “before”
which means “the front and in the presence of” “God”
or “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised of God the
Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “out
of the angel's hand”
or “away from the hand of the angel which was seen by John”. John
saw how the “smoke”
of the “incense
in the
golden censer”
rose toward God from the “angel's
hand”.
When
we consider John's words in this verse, we might imagine the
“aromatic substance” rising toward God alongside the prayers and
worship of God's saints. God hears the prayers of people,
particularly His “saints”.
God also hears the prayer of the person who turns to Jesus Christ His
Son, repents of their sins and asks Jesus to be their personal
“Savior and Lord”. The scene before John concerned the angel who
presented the “prayers
of saints”
to God, and when Jesus is received by a person, their prayers shall
join with the “saints”
which were presented with “incense”.
Next
time
John shares how “the
angel takes the censer and cast it in the earth”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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