And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.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 smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.
4 sermons cite this verse
… 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 of the altar of sacrifice and placing them in a gold receptacle. It was called a censer. It was just a golden receptacle you would carry on a chain. And he would use the tongs and he would put those coals in that golden censer and take them to the altar of incense. And he would mix …
… as standing before the golden incense altar in heaven, an incense altar which represents the prayers of the saints. We learned that from the tabernacle. And get this, listen, John presents the trumpet judgments as God's answer to prayers the saints have prayed for years. Look at verse five. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, which represents the prayers of the saints, and he threw it on the earth. In other words, these trumpet judgments are God's answer to all the prayers the church has prayed for years. You're like, whoa, I never prayed for any of that. Yeah, but you prayed for healing for the world. And see, without justice, there's no healing. You see, ultimately, what causes all the pain in the world is sin. What causes family trauma and physical sickness and natural disasters and betrayals is the curse of sin. And unless God brings sin to an end, suffering and injustice will only continue. See, if God allows sin into heaven, sinners would just turn heaven into hell again. God is judging sin. He's removing it because that's the only way to peace. It's the only way to the world as we've always wanted it. It's the only way to the world that we've prayed for. Y'all, the great biblical dilemma is how God could exact perfect justice on the earth and still save sinful people whom he loves. It's like I've told you before. We're like, God, why don't you stop all evil? God, just remove evil from the world. God, …
… 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. But what is it referring to? What is this golden altar in verse 13? Well, this is a visionary replica of the golden altar in Exodus chapter 30. The opening few verses of Exodus, we are introduced to this piece of furniture in the temple and the tabernacle, a golden altar. …
… 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. And one way to understand this seventh seal is to understand the judgment the Bible calls the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord. …