In the book of Revelation the incense altar is directly in front of the throne of God’s authority. According to Revelation 8, Christ as another Angel comes and adds His incense to the prayers of the saints. This incense then ascends to God at the throne of administration, and God answers the saints’ prayers. As a result, fire comes down to earth to execute the divine judgments recorded in the remainder of the book of Revelation. This is a picture of the incense altar being the administrating throne of God for Him to execute His judgments in His administration. It is important for us to see that the execution of God’s administration is motivated by the prayers offered to Him from the incense altar.
On the Ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies there was a lid, a cover, called the propitiatory cover. That cover, made of gold, was the place where God met with His people. The King James Version describes this lid, this cover, as the mercy seat. Eventually, the mercy seat in the tabernacle in Exodus becomes the throne of grace spoken of in Hebrews 4:16. This means that the throne of grace is the propitiatory cover, the lid covering the Ark of the Testimony. On the one hand, with respect to propitiation, this lid is the propitiatory cover. On the other hand, with respect to God’s dispensing, it is the throne of grace, the place where God dispenses His grace to people. Furthermore, according to the book of Revelation, it is also the throne of authority, the throne of divine administration. Therefore, one item is the mercy seat, the throne of grace, and the throne of administration. Revelation 2 and 3 present the church, and chapters 4 and 5 portray the throne of God. The throne in Revelation 4 and 5 is the throne of authority, the throne of the divine administration over the entire universe. Therefore, to the universe as a whole, this is the throne of God’s authority, but to us, it is the throne of grace. It is the place, the propitiatory cover, where we may contact God and receive grace.
Christ’s interceding life, signified by the incense altar, is the center of the divine practice, the divine administration. In the universe there is something that may be called God’s economy, God’s administration, God’s practice. God is not idle; He is a God of purpose. He has a purpose, and He is moving, working, acting, dispensing, and administrating. When we study the incense altar, we are studying the greatest matter in the universe. There is nothing more central than this. We may say that the Ark in the Holy of Holies is the central government, our heavenly Washington, D.C. The incense altar may be regarded as the heavenly White House. This means that everything is executed, motivated, and carried out from this divine center. The intercession of Christ is God’s White House. Christ’s interceding life, His prayer life, is the center of God’s administration (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34). The incense altar is the center of God’s operation in the universe.
The book of Revelation is a book of God’s administration, a book of divine execution. This book reveals the throne of God and the administration of God throughout the universe. However, the executing center actually is not the throne; the executing center is the incense altar in Revelation 8. On this altar the prayers of the saints are offered to God, and Christ’s incense is added to these prayers. When the prayers of the saints ascend to God with the incense of Christ, God executes the policies of His administration.
According to Luke 1:8-10, while the priest was burning the incense, the multitude of the people were praying. The burning of incense before God is the prayer of the saints ascending to God. Therefore, to burn the incense really means to pray. However, strictly speaking, the incense altar does not refer to our prayer; rather, it refers to the prayer of Christ, because the altar itself is a type of the person of Christ. The incense altar signifies Christ praying, Christ interceding.
The individual Christ, after His resurrection and especially after His ascension, has become corporate. Thus, today before God, not only is the individual Christ interceding, but the corporate Christ, the Head with the Body, is interceding as well (1 Cor. 12:12; Acts 12:5, 12). Christ the Head is interceding in the heavens, and the church the Body is interceding on earth. The intercessor, therefore, is not merely Christ Himself but Christ with His Body.
The prayer life of Christ is the center of God’s execution of His government on earth. In Revelation 8 we need to see not only the prayers of the saints but also the prayers of Christ. The prayers in Revelation 8 are no longer merely the prayers of the individual Christ but the prayers of the corporate Christ. In the matter of the execution that takes place at the incense altar, the saints truly are one with Christ. Here we see the prayer life of the corporate Christ.
We need to realize that whenever we pray in the spirit, Christ is praying in our praying. The New Testament speaks of praying in the Lord’s name (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24). To pray in the name of the Lord Jesus is to pray in Christ. When we pray in this way, Christ is actually the one praying. He prays in us; He prays in our prayer. In the sight of God, all the proper prayers of the saints and of the churches are prayers of Christ and are included as part of Christ’s intercession.
The prayer we offer at the incense altar will be intercessory prayers, not private or personal prayers. Whenever we open our mouth to pray at the incense altar, the prayer that will issue forth will not be personal, individual prayer. It will be intercessory prayer. Here we no longer have any interest in ourselves or in our welfare. Instead of considering ourselves and praying for ourselves, we intercede for others. At that time we will be, in our experience, a real member of Christ, a genuine part of the Body-Christ, the corporate Christ. Furthermore, that will be the time when we cooperate with Christ in His ministry of intercession. He intercedes in a particular way, and we cooperate with Him in His way of interceding. This means that we carry out His intercession in our prayers of intercession. Here we are truly one with the Lord.
We can see this matter in the book of Romans. It is possible to regard the book of Romans as representing the Bible as a whole. In the first few chapters of Romans we have the altar of burnt offering, and in chapter 8 we have the Ark, for this chapter is the Holy of Holies. Furthermore, in chapter 8 we also have the incense altar, Christ as the Intercessor. Verse 34 says, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” According to this verse, the One who died for our sins, who has been raised from the dead, and who has ascended to the right hand of God in the heavens is the One who is interceding for us. Only this One can condemn us, but instead of condemning us, He is interceding for us. This One will never condemn us. Now, after His death, resurrection, and ascension, He is interceding for us.
If it were not for Christ’s intercession, no one would accept His death, experience His resurrection, or be one with Him in His ascension. In order for people to be motivated to experience Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension, His intercession is necessary. Without the interceding of Christ and the church, sinners will not receive the death of Christ. Moreover, those who have received Christ’s death will not go on to experience His resurrection, much less know what it means to be with Christ in ascension, sitting with Him in the heavenlies. All these experiences are dependent on the motivation that comes from the interceding Christ and the interceding church. This is the significance of the incense altar.
The Bible first shows us the altar, which signifies the cross of Christ, and then the laver, which signifies the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Following this, we have Christ in the Holy Place as the life supply, signified by the bread of the Presence; Christ as the light, signified by the lampstand; and Christ in the Holy of Holies as the embodiment of God, signified by the Ark. Finally, in the book of Revelation, a book of God’s executing, we see that the divine administration, the divine executing, is always carried out by the incense altar.
If we consider the diagram of the tabernacle and the outer court, we will see that the incense altar is the center. If there were no incense altar in the tabernacle, the tabernacle would not have a center. The executing center of God’s administration is not the Ark; the executing center is the incense altar. If we do not have the center, the incense altar, none of the aspects of the tabernacle and the outer court will be effective in our experience. We must have the prayer life, signified by the incense altar. The prayer life motivates us to experience the altar, the laver, the table, the lampstand, and the Ark. If we pray even a little, we will find, in our experience, that the table of the bread of the Presence is precious, that the lampstand is prevailing, and that the Ark is attractive.
In our experience we need to come to the altar, the laver, the table of the bread of the Presence, the lampstand, and the Ark. After we come to the Ark in the Holy of Holies, we need to come back to the incense altar. The incense altar is not simply one of the items on the passageway through the tabernacle. On the contrary, it can be compared to a motor which causes everything to operate. Hence, the incense altar stands by itself as a turning point. Again and again we must come back to this turning point. This means that in order to experience any aspect of the outer court or the tabernacle, we need to pray. When we pray, everything works. When we pray, in our experience the altar, the laver, the table, the lampstand, and the Ark are all effective. However, when the motor stops, everything else stops also. When the motor operates, everything else operates. This is the reason that we need to have a motor—the interceding Christ—operating within us. We need to have a prayer life, a life of prayer.
The motor in our being is the prayer life. Christ is the incense altar. This means that He is the motivator and even the motor. Therefore, we need to let Him pray in us, allowing Him to guide us into prayer and into the enjoyment of Him as our prayer.
May we all be stirred up to seek such an interceding life so that we may enjoy Christ as the incense altar. This incense altar is the turning point of our Christian life. It motivates every aspect of the Christian life to positive action. The prayer of intercession also motivates others to come to Christ at the altar of burnt offering, at the laver, at the table, at the lampstand, and at the Ark in the Holy of Holies. It will motivate a great many saints to seek the riches of Christ until they come to maturity. Therefore, it is extremely important that we intercede with Christ at the incense altar.
The incense altar signifies Christ as the Intercessor to maintain the relationship between God and His people (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:34). We need to participate in Christ’s interceding life (vv. 26-27; 1 Tim. 2:1; Eph. 6:18-19; Col. 4:3; 1 Thes. 5:25; 2 Thes. 3:1; Heb. 13:18). If we have a clear view of the incense altar, our prayer life will be revolutionized. Instead of being occupied in prayer with material needs or personal concerns, we will pray for the executing of God’s purpose, for the carrying out of the divine administration, and for the dispensing of God’s supplying grace (1 Tim. 2:1; Rom. 8:26-27). At the incense altar as the center of the divine administration, we will become intercessors, interceding for others and for the Lord’s interests.
Who today is praying that God would dispense His grace into people? Who is praying in such a way as to motivate God’s throne of authority to judge this age? Christ has a great deal of incense, but where are the prayers that are qualified to receive the incense of Christ? Is Christ able to add His incense to our prayers? Therefore, it is very important for us to see this concerning our prayer life.
What God desires is the prayer at the incense altar. This kind of prayer is intercessory prayer. Whenever we open our mouths to pray at the incense altar, our prayers will not be for ourselves. Instead, our prayers will be for God’s eternal plan, for His recovery, for His move, and for all His churches. Our prayer will indicate where we are and who we are.
As those who are seeking the Lord, we in the recovery, both individually and corporately, must learn one thing—to pray. We need a praying life. The real praying life is always a life of interceding. Genuine prayer is not mainly to pray for ourselves; it is to pray continually for others. To pray for ourselves is not intercession. To pray for others is to intercede for them. The proper prayer life is a life of praying for others, of interceding for them. We need to pray for the churches throughout the earth and for all the saints. We need to pray for the older ones, the younger ones, and the opposers. We need such an interceding life. The intercession offered at the incense altar should daily be increasing.
Thousands and thousands of prayers are offered to God by Christians, but there is very little execution of God’s purpose. Christians pray again and again, yet there is very little dispensing of the supplying grace of God. Today we need to learn to pray in such a way as to motivate the throne of grace to dispense God’s life supply as grace to all the needy ones. We need to learn how to pray to motivate the throne of authority to execute the divine administration. If we have this view concerning prayer, our prayer life will be revolutionized. May we all see this view and experience such a revolution.
We all need to put these truths into practice. It may help us to pray more if we realize that we do not need to pray in a formal way; we do not need to offer natural, religious prayers. On the contrary, at the incense altar we should become intercessors. All day long we need to intercede for others and for the Lord’s interests. As we pray in this way, we know that we are truly one with the Lord. By our prayers of intercession we are one with Him at the incense altar. This kind of prayer is a fragrant incense to God. This prayer fulfills God’s purpose, satisfies His hunger, and delights His heart.