Hebrews Chapter Nine, The Prayers Of The Saints

 

Hebrews 9:3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, [4a] which had the golden censer

 

The first veil permitted the priesthood entrance into the tabernacle to officiate at God’s altar. The second veil was different, however. That veil remained largely untouched but for once a year, which we will delve into in more detail a little later. The first compartment is the holy place or the sanctuary. The inner part of the tabernacle is the Holiest of All: the inner chamber where the famous Ark of the Covenant resided.

The Holiest of All also possessed the golden censer. The NASB renders the word, “censer” as “altar.” The incense altar is described in Exodus 30:1-10. Overlaid with gold, Aaron and his descendants were to burn sweet incense on it every morning and every night throughout their generations, Exodus 30:7, 8.

 

The symbolism of the incense appears to be the prayers the saints offer to God. Since the tabernacle is a shadow of the genuine article in Heaven, we turn to Revelation for a clearer depiction of the incense altar. We read, “[the angel] was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne,” Revelation 8:3. Here in Heaven we have God’s actual throne, represented on earth by the mercy seat, and the golden altar of incense before it, with the prayers of the saints reaching God’s throne, as it were. The censers carried by the priests on earth took their fire from the altar; it is written that the censers in Heaven carried by the glorified saints were, “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints,” Revelation 5:8.

 

We read in the Psalms, “May my prayer be counted as incense before You,” Psalm 141:2, NASB. As Aaron in the OT was commanded to always burn incense upon the golden altar to perpetuate the cloud of incense in the Holiest of All, in the NT we have Paul’s command to, “pray without ceasing,” 1 Thessalonians 5:17. The priest was to offer up much incense; the saints are to always pray, so the smoke of our incense rises before the Lord on His throne in Heaven.

 

We know that not all prayer is accepted, just as not all incense was accepted. In Leviticus chapter 10, Nadab and Abihu offered profane fire before God and died for their act. In Numbers chapter 16, Korah and his fellow rebels suffered a similar fate. We know that God does not hear sinners, John 9:31. That is, the unsaved OR a saint taken in a lifestyle of unconfessed sin. Peter warns that a man’s prayers may be hindered if we mistreat our wives, 1 Peter 3:7. In other words, God won’t listen to a man not right with his family.

 

We are commanded not to use “vain repetitions” as the heathen nations do, Matthew 6:7. Jesus warns that simply spewing words mechanically avails nothing. Roman Catholic (and Eastern Orthodox) catechisms certainly fall into this category.

 

Prayer is not supposed to be systematized; it is an organic expression of the soul’s communion with God, given to change as the pray-er changes what he or she wishes to share with, or ask of, God. My wife’s family has a prayer that goes like this: “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for this food. Amen.” This by rote memorization and regurgitation permits no freedom of conversation with the Lord and one can and does (I’ve witnessed it) speak it without bothering to consider what they’re saying. Prayer is conversation with God. Paul writes, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,” Romans 8:26.

 

There is much to say about prayer, but sufficed to say that the golden altar before God’s throne is alight with the prayers of saints speaking to their Lord, each prayer different, personal, and precious to Him. In the Holiest of All, the incense is needed to approach God’s throne.

 

“Then [Aaron] shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die,” Leviticus 16:12, 13.

 

The Christian is commanded to pray. We are to be found, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,” Ephesians 6:18. Our Lord commended prayer highly. He spoke the parable of the widow and the unjust judge to teach men that we, “always ought to pray and not to lose heart,” Luke 18:1. The Lord taught us how to pray what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Rather, this is a disciple’s prayer, not to be taken verbatim (because vain repetition is rejected) but to be modeled.

 

In it we acknowledge that our Father, an intimate term for God, is in Heaven, connoting His majesty. He is our Father, but He is still God Most High, so we may speak intimately but not irreverently. We should desire God’s will done on earth, by praying it alluding to our own personal involvement in perpetuating His knowledge to the unsaved world. We pray the Lord for the blessing of what He will grant us, looking only to today, since it is only today that we can ultimately contend with. We ask forgiveness for sins committed as we likewise practice forgiving those who have wronged us. We plead a desire to escape the temptation to sin and deliverance from Satan’s power. Yes, Satan still has power, and it is directed at the saints. He remains the accuser of the brethren. Finally we acknowledge that the kingdom is God’s, and its attendant attributes. There is a glory that belongs only to God the King and Creator.