At this point we need another insertion to see how in our praises we need Christ as our incense. Christ must be the incense of our praise.
Two chapters in the book of Revelation speak of incense in our prayer. In Revelation chapter five, verse 8, we are told that the living creatures and elders in the heavens have every one of them harps. Harps, of course, are for praising. They also hold golden bowls full of incense, which bowls are the prayers of the saints. (Note that the word “odours” in the King James Version of this verse should be translated as “incense.”) We must be clear here that the bowls, not the incense, are the prayers of the saints. Our prayers are the containers, the golden bowls, to be filled with incense. Then in chapter eight, verse 3, we read: “Another angel came and stood at 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...” We need much incense to be added unto our prayers. The King James rendering of this verse is not so adequate: it says that the incense should be offered with the prayers. The word “offer” is not accurate; it should be “add unto” or “give to.” It does not mean that we offer the prayer and he offers the incense or we both offer together, but that the incense has been added unto or given to our prayers. Our prayers are the bowls, and the incense is the content. Many times we have merely the bowls with no content; we have only the prayers without the incense.
What is the incense? The New Testament is a book of statements and definitions; to see the pictures we must go back to the Old Testament. It is indeed interesting that in Exodus chapter thirty we have firstly a picture of the ointment; then immediately following is another picture showing us the incense. I’m sorry that in the King James Version of this passage the word for incense is translated as “perfume.” The Holy Spirit has no intention of saying anything concerning perfume. The concept of the Holy Spirit is that of incense, which typifies Christ. Christ is not a perfume or an odor, but an incense which we must burn to God. Have you ever noticed these two pictures, the one of the ointment and the other of the incense? The significance here is tremendous. It is that of two way traffic, the coming and the going: the ointment is coming to us, and the incense is going to God. Christ as the Spirit coming to us is the ointment; Christ ascending from us to God is the incense. The ointment is toward us; the incense is toward God. The ointment is for us to enjoy, while the incense is for God’s enjoyment. We should not enjoy the incense; if we do, we will be cut off. Incense is absolutely and entirely for God. But there is an enjoyment for us—the ointment. With the ointment the priests and all the parts of the tabernacle were anointed. This is our portion. The incense is God’s portion. The ointment is Christ for us; the incense is Christ for God. We should not only have one way traffic: we should not only have Christ coming to us without Christ going back to God. We must complete the circuit by burning the incense. We need the anointing ointment, and we need the burning of the incense as well. God anoints us with the ointment, and we burn the incense to God.
Now let us see the ingredients or components of this incense. The revelation given us concerning them in Exodus chapter thirty is exceedingly marvelous. In the incense are three kinds of spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum—with pure frankincense (v. 34). In other words, according to the numbers and items of the ingredients, there are three in one—three kinds of spices with one kind of pure frankincense. According to the grammatical construction, we must realize that the first three form one group, while the fourth, the pure frankincense, forms another. This means three plus one, which equals four. Three is always the number of the triune God, and four, the number of creature, the human being, in a good sense. So the meaning here is that the triune God becomes a human being; divinity is brought into humanity. What is this and who is this? Of course, this is Jesus Christ: He is the very God becoming a man, divinity brought into humanity. All four ingredients are compounded and mingled into one incense. It is God mingled with man, God compounded with man, divinity mingled and compounded with humanity to produce the incense.