Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.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 another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
4 sermons cite this verse
… John sees, and that is the angel with the gold censer. Now, this is so interesting to me. Look at verse three. Another angel, not one with a trumpet, but another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer. I'll explain what that is in just a moment. And much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all of the saints on the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. You probably wonder what in the world is this talking about? Remember in the Old Testament temple, there were two altars. One was called the altar of sacrifice, the brazen altar. And it was busy day and night. Priests were continually offering animal sacrifices on that brazen altar. But there was a second altar, a golden altar. It was called the altar of incense. It was in the holy place. In fact, it stood right before the veil that separated the holy place from the holy of holies. That was the altar of incense. And the priest would go up and to the burning coals on the altar of incense, he would add incense that would waft its way to heaven, signifying how pleasing the sacrifices were, like a pleasing aroma in the nostrils of God. Now, what John sees in heaven is an angel standing before that first altar, the altar of sacrifice. And like the priest would do, using some tongs to remove the burning coals …
… But first, let's just walk through Revelation 8 through 11. Revelation 8, 1 opens by telling us that at the opening of the seventh seal judgment, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Up until now, the scenes in heaven have been quite boisterous. People falling on their faces, worshiping around the throne, proclaiming Christ's worthiness, casting their crowns at his feet. But here, at the beginning of chapter 8, all the praises stop, and not a word is spoken. There's complete silence in heaven for about half an hour, and that's because the last of the seven seal judgments has been opened, which introduced us to a new round of judgments called the trumpet judgments. All in all, there are three different sets of judgments presented in the tribulation. There are the seal judgments. That was Revelation 6 and 7, which we've already covered. Then there are the trumpet judgments. That's what we'll look at today. And later we'll cover the bowl judgments, which will be in Revelation 15 through 18. Each of these series of judgments consists of seven judgments each, so 21 in all, and all of them take place during this seven-year period that we call the Great Tribulation. Now, remember, there are a couple different ways to read the book of Revelation. …
… on those who dwell on the earth? So now we find this altar, which is the golden altar before the throne of God in chapter 6 is an altar of vengeance. It's an altar where the saints who have been martyred cry for vengeance. Now look back at the beginning of chapter 8. It appears again there. Verse 3, another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer. And much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of the saints from back in chapter 6, on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth, and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake and then the seven trumpets. In chapter 6, it's an altar of vengeance, and in chapter 8, it's an altar of judgment. …
… an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and threw it to the earth. And there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Now, a little bit of background. The climactic final judgment that takes Satan out of his place of dominion in the world and restores that dominion to the Lord Jesus Christ is taking place in these visions that the Holy Spirit gives to the apostle John. The end of human control, the end of satanic control, it all comes to its conclusion as the seventh seal is opened. …