Search
“You shall put it [the incense altar] before the veil that is over the Ark of the Testimony...where I will meet with you” (Exo. 30:6). The incense altar was put before the Ark. The cover upon the Ark was called the expiation cover, and upon the expiation cover the redeeming blood was sprinkled. It was here that the Lord met with His people.
“Aaron shall burn on it fragrant incense; every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it. And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations” (vv. 7-8). The incense was called the perpetual incense because it was burnt on the incense altar all day, all year, and all the time from morning to evening.
Now we must read Leviticus 4:7: “The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense before Jehovah, which is in the Tent of Meeting; and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” After the blood was shed from the offering on the bronze altar in the outer court, it was brought into the Holy Place to be sprinkled on the four corners of the incense altar.
From the above verse we see that there were two altars with the tabernacle. The tabernacle was composed of the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, and the outer court, which was outside the tent itself. The incense altar was in the Holy Place before the Ark, but in the Old Testament, it was separated from the Ark by the veil. The first thing in the outer court was the bronze altar. This was the altar for the offerings. So we must keep in mind that the tabernacle had two altars: the bronze altar and the golden altar. The bronze altar was for the priests to offer all the sacrifices to God, and the blood of those offerings was shed upon this altar. This may be called the outer altar, for it was in the outer court. The golden altar was the altar within the tabernacle, and it was for the burning of the incense. This altar may be called the inner altar.
The sin offering was slain upon the outer altar, and some of the blood was brought to the inner altar to be put on its four corners. Then the rest of the blood was poured out at the base of the outer altar.
“Then fire came forth from before Jehovah and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they gave a ringing shout and fell on their faces” (9:24). On the day of the inauguration of Aaron and the other priests, they offered many offerings. Then fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and fell upon all the offerings and consumed them. It was not earthly fire but heavenly fire. It was not fire made by human hands but fire sent by the divine hand. It was the heavenly, divine fire.
“Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in them and laid incense on it, and they presented strange fire before Jehovah, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from before Jehovah and consumed them, and they died before Jehovah” (10:1-2). It is quite serious and solemn to present strange fire before the Lord.
Then let us read Leviticus 16:12: “He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before Jehovah, with his hands full of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil.” Here we see that the priest was to burn the incense with the fire from the offering altar. This means that he used the heavenly fire, not the strange fire.
Now we must read three verses from the New Testament. “While he [Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist] served as priest in the order of his course before God, according to the custom of the priestly service, the lot fell to him to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And all the multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of the burning of incense” (Luke 1:8-10). We see here that the interpretation of burning the incense is to pray. While the priest was burning the incense, the multitude of the people were praying. Therefore, to burn the incense really means to pray.
As we have seen, priests are those who open themselves to the Lord, who go into the presence of the Lord, and who contact Him and fellowship with Him until He fills and saturates them to make them one with Him. They always enjoy Christ as their food and as their nourishment. Eventually, He becomes their very content, their inner element. Then they express Christ. He is not only their inward nourishment but also their outward expression. Because He is their inward nourishment, spontaneously He becomes their outward expression, and in this outward expression of the priesthood there is the building up of the Body of Christ, which is the house of God, the dwelling place of God in spirit.
In this chapter we need to see that the main commission of the priesthood is to burn the incense before God. God is in the Holy of Holies. Upon the expiation cover, which is the covering of the Ark, God meets with man. How can man get into the Holy of Holies to meet God at the expiation cover? First, he must pass the outer, bronze altar, upon which the offerings are sacrificed. Why does man have to pass through this altar? It is because he is sinful and fallen. Sinful and fallen man can never enter the presence of God, for God is holy. The Ten Commandments within the Ark demand and require man to be this and to do that. But man has failed in all these things, so the Ten Commandments condemn man.
Upon the expiation cover there are also the two cherubim of God’s glory. This means that not only the righteousness and holiness of God (shown through the Ten Commandments) demand and require something of man, but the glory of God does also. If a sinful person were to get into the Holy of Holies without the redeeming blood, immediately he would die before the righteousness, holiness, and glory of God. Therefore, if man is to enter the Holy of Holies to meet God at the expiation cover, he must first pass through the process of redemption. He must offer the sin offering at the altar so that he might be redeemed.
At the altar, sin is dealt with, and redemption is accomplished. Then the redeeming blood from the sin offering must be brought into the tabernacle to be sprinkled in two places. The first place for it to be sprinkled is the incense altar, because when we commune and fellowship with God, we must do so through the redeeming blood. This is why the redeeming blood must be applied to the four corners of the incense altar. Without the redeeming blood, sinful man cannot converse with the holy God. Man needs the redeeming blood in order that his conduct may be acceptable to God.
The blood was also brought into the Holy of Holies to be sprinkled upon the expiation cover. It was first shed upon the offering altar, then it was brought into the tabernacle and put on the corners of the incense altar, and finally it was brought into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled upon the expiation cover. If we desire to contact God, we must do so through the redemption of Christ. Without the redeeming blood of Christ, we can never fellowship with God, and our prayers will never be acceptable to Him.
We can never go into the Holy of Holies to meet God at the expiation cover without the blood. Every time we meet God, we need the blood. By the redeeming blood the priests can go into the tabernacle; through the blood the priests can offer incense to God; and by this blood the priests can enter the Holy of Holies to contact God at the expiation cover.
The office of the priest is not primarily for offering the sacrifices. Of course, the priests do offer the offerings, but that is not their main function. The main commission of the priesthood is to burn the incense. All the offerings are for the purpose of burning the incense, which means to pray.
Praying is not so simple; it means very much. The incense offered at the golden altar is something coming forth and going back, and this something is Christ. The incense offered is Christ mingled with the priests; it is Christ going forth and coming back.
We know that Christ is the reality of all the offerings at the altar. He is the sin offering, the trespass offering, the peace offering, the meal offering, and the burnt offering. He is every kind of offering. Christ is the offerings, and the blood shed on the altar signifies the blood of Christ. We know that the priests not only offer the offerings on the altar, but they also partake of them. They take the offerings into themselves by eating them. After this, they bring the blood of the offerings into the tabernacle. When they bring the blood into the Holy Place, within them is the offering, and without is the blood of the offering. This means that Christ is within them, and His blood is without. Then they offer the incense. What and who is the incense? Christ! It is all Christ.
But what is the difference between Christ at the offering altar and Christ at the incense altar? The answer is this: Christ on the offering altar is quite coarse, but Christ on the incense altar is very fine. Do we realize the difference between the offerings and the incense? The offerings are very coarse, including the shedding of blood, but the incense is very fine. It is a sweeter and finer way of expressing Christ.
Christ as the offerings satisfies all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. He also satisfies the hunger of the priests. The offerings satisfy both God and the priests. Then the satisfied priests go into the tabernacle with the blood to offer the incense. The incense is also Christ, but in a finer form. This incense, spiritually speaking, is the prayer from within us as the very sweetness of Christ. Our prayer must be the expression of the sweetness of Christ. It must be Christ uttered and expressed in a finer and sweeter way.
Furthermore, on the bronze altar the heavenly fire burned all the offerings. The fire came down from heaven, representing and signifying God Himself as the consuming fire. God is the holy fire that consumes all the offerings. It is this same fire which consumes the offerings on the bronze altar that must burn the incense on the incense altar. The fire is first on the outer altar; then second, it is used on the inner altar. This is the heavenly fire of redemption. Any other fire will be strange fire.
The offerings bring heaven down; that is, they join heaven to earth. The offerings are on the earth, but they bring the fire down from heaven. The fire, representing the God of heaven, becomes one with the offering. Eventually, a heap of coals is left burning on the altar. This is the joining of earth with heaven. This is the mingling of God with redeemed humanity.
The priests first enjoy this offering, and then they go into the tabernacle to offer the incense. This expresses something of Christ from within as incense to God. But even this incense must be burnt by the fire from the offering altar. The odor of the incense will then go up to God. It is in this sweet odor, this sweet fragrance of the incense, that the priest can commune and fellowship with God.
Do we see that all these aspects are Christ Himself? Christ is coming down, and Christ is going up. This is why I say that Christ is going forth and coming back.
Today, if we are going to be the real priests, we must burn the incense. This means that we must pray. But to pray does not mean that we go to God and ask Him to do something for us. Prayer means so much more than this. It means, first of all, to apply Christ as our offerings. When we pray to God, we must apply Christ as our sin offering, as our trespass offering, and as so many other offerings. Then we must feed on Christ to enjoy Him and take Him in. It is by this Christ with His redeeming blood that we can go into the presence of God. Then we will utter something from within—not from our mind or mentality but something of Christ from deep within our spirit. This is prayer, and this is the way to pray.
To pray means to apply Christ as all the offerings, to enjoy Christ as nourishment, and then to utter something of Christ from deep within. This expression of Christ is the sweet incense ascending to God. It brings us into God and God into us. As a result, we will not only be mingled with Christ but also mingled with God.
All Christians know that they should pray. However, although they always say that they ought to pray, it is regrettable that very few Christians know the proper meaning of prayer. The proper way to pray is to apply Christ as all the offerings, to feed upon and take in Christ as our full nourishment, and then to utter something of Christ from deep within. These three items are the three stages of real prayer.
Suppose we rise in the morning to pray. First of all, we must apply Christ as all the offerings. When we begin to pray, we may have the deep conviction that we are sinful. Immediately, we must apply Christ as our trespass offering or as our sin offering. We must pray, “O Father, I am so sinful, but how I thank You that Christ today is my sin offering, and Christ this very moment is my trespass offering. I simply come to You with Christ as my sin offering and trespass offering.” If we do not pray in this way, we can never get into the Holy of Holies. This is why so many Christians are praying outside the spirit. They can never get into the spirit, which is the Holy of Holies, because they do not apply Christ as all the different offerings.
In contacting God, we must learn to apply Christ as the various offerings. This includes our confessions to God. We must confess that we are short in this matter and that matter, wrong in this and that. We also need to confess all our weak points. It is when we confess all these things that we apply Christ as the sin offering and trespass offering, the peace offering, the meal offering, and the burnt offering.
Second, we need to enjoy Christ in the presence of God. Sometimes we may enjoy Christ by reading His Word. We take Christ in through the Word by prayer, through pray-reading the Word, and we enjoy Him before God.
Third, from within we utter and express something of Christ. When we pray in this way, it is not only we who are praying but Christ who is praying within us. We and Christ, Christ and we, become one by praying. Then our prayer to God is the sweet incense ascending to Him. The more we pray by offering the ascending incense in this way, the more the glory of God will come down. The incense goes forth, and the glory comes down. This is the real communication, the real communion, and the real fellowship. Prayer as the incense ascends to God, and the glory, the light of God, shines down into us. Eventually, we will be full of Christ and saturated with the shekinah glory of God.
To pray properly is not just to ask the Lord to do this or to do that for us. We have to go to the Lord, applying Christ as the different offerings, enjoying Christ as our full nourishment, and then uttering something of Christ from within as a sweet-smelling fragrance that ascends to God. Only this kind of prayer will bring the shekinah glory of God into us. Then we will enjoy Christ in the presence of God.
This kind of prayer needs time. We must spend time in the presence of the Lord to offer the offerings and to burn the incense. It really takes time to burn the incense, but my deep feeling is that Christians today do not need anything else. What we need is the priesthood with the priestly function, that is, to burn the incense through all the offerings. If all the brothers and sisters reading this chapter would practice this priestly office daily, the whole situation of the church today would be changed. We must convert our times of discussion into the burning of the incense. Merely to say that we must pray is not good enough. It is not just to pray but to burn the incense. We must learn to apply Christ, to enjoy Christ, and to utter something of Christ. This is the proper prayer of the priesthood.
There is a certain connection between the altar in the outer court and the altar in the tabernacle. The blood shed on the outer altar must be brought into the tabernacle to be put on the inner altar. The connection between these two altars is the redeeming blood. Also, the fire which comes down from heaven to burn the offerings on the altar in the outer court must be the fire that burns the incense on the altar in the tabernacle. Therefore, another connection between the two altars is the burning fire.
The connection between these two altars is the redeeming blood and the burning fire. What does this mean? It means, first of all, that before we spend time in the presence of God to burn the incense, we must always apply the blood. We can never do without the blood. Any time spent in the presence of God must be under the covering of the blood. We must always apply the blood in our fellowship with God.
Second, it means that we can never spend time in the presence of God with strange fire. Strange fire is our natural emotion, our natural enthusiasm, our natural energy, or our natural effort in prayer. Our natural emotion and strength have to be put aside. We must never be on fire with anything natural. Instead, we must be burned by the heavenly fire. It is true that we must be on fire and fervent in our spirit, but not by anything natural. Our natural effort and energy must be consumed by the heavenly fire. We must be in the spirit by the burning of the heavenly fire, not by our emotions or our enthusiasm. All that is natural must be burned away so that only the heavenly fire remains.
Sometimes we may sense that we are so much on fire for the Lord, but if we check ourselves, we see that we are not on “heavenly” fire, but on “strange” fire. We may have enthusiasm, but it is not heavenly; rather, it is natural. We are fervent within, but we are fervent naturally, not spiritually. We are fervent in an earthly way, not in a heavenly way.
This kind of fervency brings death. The more we are fervent naturally, the more we are dead in the spirit. Natural fervency brings in spiritual death. The more we try to touch the Lord with natural fervency, the more we are dead in the spirit. However, the more we are fervent with the heavenly fire, the more we are living in the spirit. When we are fervent with natural fire, strange fire, we have nothing but death. We cannot continue praying for a long time because we are dead in the spirit; we have used the strange fire.
Today the church’s urgent need is for all believers to practice the priestly office of burning the incense in the presence of God. We must spend time in the presence of God to apply Christ in many ways and to enjoy Him in many ways. Then we will express something of Christ from within to God, which will bring us into the presence of God and bring back the glory of God. This is the real communion going forth and coming back. Something of Christ is ascending to God, and something of God is descending into us. By such spiritual fellowship we will become one with God and be fully saturated with Him to have the real expression of Christ. This requires much time spent practicing such spiritual fellowship.
If we love the Lord and mean business for His recovery in these last days, there is no other way. The only way to realize the Lord’s recovery is to spend time—at least thirty minutes daily—to apply Christ, to enjoy Christ, and to express Christ. In this expression of Christ, we will commune and converse with God so as to bring us into God and God into us. Something very sweet ascending to God and something very glorious descending into us will saturate us and make us the real priesthood. Then among us there will be the proper expression of Christ, which is the church life. The recovery of the church life depends on this priestly office.
We should not only attend to this priestly office individually, but more often, corporately. If we would come together with some brothers or sisters every day for half an hour to an hour’s time to apply Christ, enjoy Christ, and express Christ corporately in our prayer to God, it would help the building up of the church very much. There is no need to talk or discuss. We must forget about all the talking and discussion and simply spend time in the presence of God to burn the incense. If we would just attend to this kind of priestly office individually and corporately, there would be a great change in life and expression among us. May the Lord be merciful to us so that we may carry out this commission.
