Mankind, Divine Revelation and “the Evening Hour of Prayer”
by Ed Nelson
A curious and revealing account of the creation of Adam, the first human, is found in the Talmud, Tractate Sanhedrin 38a: “Our Rabbis taught: Adam was created [last of all beings] on the eve of the Sabbath.”
The biblical account in the first book of the Bible—Genesis (Bereishith)—shows that on the sixth day of creation two major events occurred: first, the creation of the animals, presumably in the morning, and, last, the creation of Man (Adam). From oral tradition, the rabbis added a specified time of day—“on the eve of the Sabbath.”
Due to the close proximity of the creation of Man (Adam) in the evening—between noon and sunset—prior to the beginning of the first Sabbath at sundown, discussions of the relationship of man to the Sabbath and the Sabbath to man were common for the Hebrew people, especially the teachers of the Torah.
Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) enjoined the discussion about the purpose of the relationship of man to the Sabbath. In summary, He taught that “the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27), countering those who taught opposite.
His teaching explained that man was created to enter into the Sabbath rest for his own sake. It also lent support to the prevailing oral tradition that Man (Adam) was created “on the eve of the Sabbath,” i.e. in the middle of the afternoon of the sixth day.
Created in the middle of the afternoon with awe and wonder for his Creator, God blessed him (cf. Genesis 1:28). The blessing was man’s first act of worship—learning from the Creator who explained his earthly purpose. Study of God’s Word has always remained among the Hebrew people the pinnacle of the worship process. Upon instruction, at sunset Man (Adam)—male and female—entered into the Sabbath to rest and enjoy fellowship with God before work for them began on the first day of the week. The divine order was rest, then work, then rest—not the opposite.
The time of Man’s creation in mid-afternoon was not missed later on in the biblical stories concerning the purpose of mankind. With man’s sin in the Garden and later expulsion, Yahweh always had a redemptive plan to restore mankind to his proper place in the divine relationship. Within his redemptive plan since the beginning, mid-afternoon has played prominently in the biblical narrative to advance Yahweh’s redemptive work in the Messiah.
According to the biblical narrative, prophetic visions and angelic visitations often occurred in mid-afternoon. Demonstrations of God’s redemptive love often occurred at this time in remembrance of Man’s time of creation and purpose. It became for the people of God through history the time of the evening hour of prayer half-way between noon and sunset. At this time of day, Israel was reassured that God remembers man.
When the Gentile-averse apostle (shaliach) Peter visited the house of the Roman centurion, Cornelius, to bring him the message of the Messiah Jesus (Yeshua), Cornelius explained:
Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during
the ninth hour, and behold, a man stood before me in shining
garments, and he said, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard
and your alms have been remembered before God”
(Acts 10:30-31).
Such an occasion for an angelic visitation and answer to prayer at the hour of prayer in mid-afternoon—“the evening hour of incense and prayer”—was not uncommon in the Bible.
In light of Man’s (Adam’s) creation in mid-afternoon—“on the eve of the Sabbath”—we better understand the redemptive timeliness of the daily, mid-afternoon hour of sacrifice, incense and prayer. This auspicious hour commemorates the hour of Man’s (Adam’s) creation, blessing and instruction by God just before he—male and female—entered into the Sabbath rest.
Of course, what we call “afternoon” today was typically referred to as “evening” in the Bible. Halfway between noon and sunset was the middle of evening, the ninth hour of twelve hours of daylight—approximately 3:00 PM.
The Hebrew people had a particular phrase to describe this halfway moment in the afternoon—the time “between the evenings” (beyn ha-arbayim). It became the appointed time for the afternoon, or the evening sacrifice.
“Between the Evenings”
The phrase “between the evenings” (beyn ha-arbayim) is an appointed time for specific divinely administered events to take place. The first occasion of this phrase is in the preparation of the Passover lamb for sacrifice at time of Israel’s deliverance from Pharaoh of Egypt.
Exodus 12:6 “You shall keep it [a lamb] until the fourteenth day
of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation
of Israel is to kill it between the evenings.”
Other instances of the phrase as an appointed time are found in the following passages:
• Exodus 30:8 “When Aaron trims the lamps between the evenings, he shall burn incense—a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations.”
• Leviticus 23:5 “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month between the evenings is the Passover of Yahweh.”
• Numbers 9:3 “On the fourteenth day of this month between the evenings you shall observe it at its appointed time. You shall observe it according to all its statutes and according to all its ordinances.”
• Numbers 9:5 “They observed the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month between the evenings in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did.”
• Numbers 28:4 “You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer between the evenings.”
In the Book of Revelation we are informed of an event in heaven when incense is offered before Yahweh by four living creatures and twenty-four elders—all which are angelic beings. In explanation of the offering of incense, the text says that the incense offered up in a smoky aroma before God is “the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8).
This “hour of incense,” also called “the time of sacrifice” and “the hour of prayer,” occurred “between the evenings” at 3:00 PM during the weekly cycle of sacrifices and incense offerings.
Actually two offerings of incense occurred daily. The first was at dawn—“the first hour,” or about 6:00 AM. It followed an animal sacrifice for sin. The morning sacrifice likely corresponded to the time of day that Man (Adam) sinned in the Garden. Biblical justification is found in Genesis 3:8 for this view where “the cool of the day” is often considered early after daybreak.
They heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
Of course, the word for “cool” is ruach, meaning “wind, breeze, spirit.” Translators tend to associate the word with its application—the coolest time of the day when the breeze brings the greatest chill—hence, the hour of daybreak when work begins.
For certain, the afternoon sacrifice corresponded to the time that Man (Adam)—male and female—was created.
The afternoon hour of sacrifice and incense was most often called “the hour of prayer.” The sin sacrifice was offered first at 3:00 PM—the ninth hour of the twelve daylight hours. Then a priest from one of the twenty-four divisions was selected by lot to enter the temple’s Holy Place to the altar of incense to prepare and offer incense to Yahweh as representative of the prayers of God’s covenant people.
Meanwhile, Israelites gathered outside the temple during this auspicious hour, standing in prayer. The “standing prayer” (amidah) characterized the people’s sense of standing in judgment before Yahweh, utterly dependent upon his mercy and forgiveness for their sins. The sacrifice for sin at the brazen altar outside the temple proper was essential to be done first to atone for their sins. A substitute, innocent animal was offered to show the due justice of God for mankind’s sin. Without the shedding of blood there was no remission for sin (Hebrews 9:22; Matthew 26:28).
After the sacrifice, the priest entered into the temple to prepare and offer incense before Yahweh as representative of the collective prayers of God’s people. According to footnotes in the Soncino edition of the Talmud (cf. Tractate Pessachim 58a, footnote 21), “removing, replacing and burning of the incense took an hour.”
During the first half-hour of prayer the people stood in silence, utterly dependent of the mercy and favor of God to judge them in light of the blood sacrifice as the propitiation for their sins. They were keenly aware that the shedding of the blood of the animal sacrifice somehow atoned for their sins and opened the way for prayer—the privilege of those who are restored to divine fellowship. Thus, the first half-hour of the hour of prayer was somber and sobering.
Awe of God’s holiness and forgiveness was a constant during the hour of prayer. The people’s prayers of self-examination and self-judgment yielded to the mercy of God. In unworthiness they stood before Yahweh in awe for forgiving them, and in gratitude for justifying them in his sight with his divine favor in lovingkindness (chesed) and faithfulness (emeth).
The emergence of the priest from the temple about an hour later after preparing and offering the incense gave them hope that their prayers were heard, a cause of rejoicing and thanksgiving. Confession of sin was followed by praise and rejoicing.
Following the sacrifice for sins on the brazen altar at 3:00 PM, a priest entered the Holy Place of the Temple to the golden altar of incense. With live coals burning the incense, the temple filled with the smoke and balsamic aroma. Outside, the repentant worshipers humbled themselves in silent prayer. They were silent in awe of God’s justice and mercy.
After the first half of prayer ended, their prayers shifted for the next half hour to thanksgiving and praise.
In light of the two daily prayer times at 6:00 AM and 3:00 PM, we do well to reconsider the ancient biblical Hebraic understanding of prayer.
Prayer is for Favorable Justice
By reviewing the root meaning of the Hebrew word for prayer—tefillah—we better understand the nature and purpose of prayer as understood by the Hebrew people who practiced daily prayer at the temple.
A related word to prayer is the Hebrew word tefillin (Greek, “phylacteries”)—a set of small, black leather boxes attached with black leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Bible. They are still worn by devout Orthodox Jews during weekday prayers (cf. Exodus 13:9, 16; Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18).
Important for understanding the nature and essence of prayer is its root meaning. The root word for prayer comes from palal (“to intervene,” “to interpose,” “to intercede,” “to make a favorable judgment), spelled in Hebrew letters as peh-lamed-lamed. The noun for prayer—tefillah-–is formed from the verb palal by adding the letter tav as a prefix, the Hebrew letter with the “t” sound. The letter tav placed before any Hebrew verb converts the verb into a noun that serves as an object or thing. Note that in Hebrew pronunciation the softer “f” sound comes from the same Hebrew letter peh as does the harder “p” sound.
The word tefillah shows us that prayer is a verb-based noun. It is a spoken act before God our Father asking Him to intervene in justice for some purpose or cause where injustice occurs as in persecution, oppression, mistreatment, abuse, injury, weakness or illness.
Such prayer, properly done, requires a two-fold judgment in our own decision-making. First, we are required to judge our own thoughts, words, motives and actions against the standard of truth given in the Torah. Second, it requires the decision to personally depend upon God to act mercifully and favorably in correcting or avenging the injustice.
What is the standard in the Torah by which prayer is made? It is to offer prayer in the Name of Yahweh. Prayer is grounded in the revelation of God’s Name—his will and ways according to the attributes of his Name. Specifically, when we pray, our prayers should be rooted in the rule of God, in his kingship, and shaped properly by judging our attitudes and will against the holy attributes of his Name as explained in Exodus 34:6-7 of the Torah:
Yahweh, Yahweh, El, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger,
and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness who keeps
lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression
and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,
visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grand-
children to the third and fourth generations.
When you study prayer through the Bible, especially in the Prophets, Psalms and prayers of Paul, you frequently see that this description of Yahweh’s Name is the basis for intercession and praise.
The Efficacy of Incense and Prayer
The offering of incense on the golden altar before the veil in the Tent of Meeting, and later the temple, are directly associated with the act of prayer. Burning, smoking incense from a golden censer is the divine pattern. The prayers of God’s people are the reality.
The smoking incense with its fragrant cloud of smoke was a sign of the reality of the efficacy of prayer. Yahweh hears our prayers in the same way He smells the pleasing fragrance from burning incense offered before Him according to the divine pattern (cf. Exodus 30:34-38).
Luke’s Gospel connects the time of the incense offering on the golden altar in the temple with the time “between the evenings,” i.e., the evening prayer at three o’clock in the afternoon:
Now it happened that while he [Zechariah] was performing his
priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division
[course], according to the custom of the priestly office, he was
chosen by lot to enter the temple of Yahweh and burn incense.
And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at
the [three o’clock] hour of the incense offering.
Luke helps us understand the time of the offering of incense continued after the death and resurrection of Jesus (Yeshua). He describes in Acts 2 the outpouring of the Holy Spirit from heaven upon about 120 disciples gathered in Jerusalem during the appointed time (festival) of Shavuoth (Pentecost). In Acts 3, he tells the story of the healing of a forty-old lame man, timing it moments before the afternoon time of prayer, the ninth hour. Listen to how he framed the story: “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.”
In the Talmud, Tractate Berachoth 6b, rabbinic teachings associated prayer with the offering of incense at the time of the afternoon prayer in the temple. Though a morning prayer was also included in the daily schedule, the afternoon prayer, usually called the evening prayer, was done with incense between 3:00 to 4:00 PM following the afternoon sacrifice:
R. Helbo further said in the name of R. Huna: “A man should
always take special care about the afternoon prayer. For
even Elijah was favorably heard only while offering his after-
noon prayer. For it is said: ‘And it came to pass at the time of
the offering of the evening offering, that Elijah the prophet
came near and said ... Hear me, O Lord, hear me.’ ‘Hear me’,
that the fire may descend from heaven, and ‘hear me’, that they
may not say it is the work of sorcery.”
R. Jochanan says: “[Special care should be taken] also about the
evening-prayer. For it is said: ‘Let my prayer be set forth as
incense before you, the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice.’”
Rabbi Jochanan echoed from Psalm 141:1-2 the words of David:
Yahweh, I call upon you. Hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
May my prayer be counted as incense before you,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
When we trace the ninth hour through the Bible, i.e., the three o’clock hour in the afternoon, an appointed time fixed as “between the evenings,” we find amazing circumstances in the story of Israel. Observe the frequency of divine or angelic appearances.
1. The covenant Yahweh made with Abraham for his faith (Genesis 15:6) was followed up by Abraham building an altar and preparing a sacrifice in the mid-afternoon. We know this by looking at verse 12: “As the sun was setting, Abraham fell into a deep sleep.” After sunset, God visited him in a vision as a smoking firepot and blazing torch (v. 17) in which he cut a covenant (berith) with him. A divine visitation occurred.
2. Likely, the time of the offering of Abraham’s sacrifice of the ram at Mt. Moriah was three o’clock in the afternoon (cf. Genesis 22:1-19)—the time specified in Hebrew as “between the evenings” (beyn ha-arbayim). Every indication in the text shows that it occurred in the afternoon when the angel appeared to Abraham telling him to offer as a substitute sacrifice a ram instead of his son. Yahweh, true to his covenant, always offers a substitute offering for the sins of man, ultimately and grandly in his only Son, the Messiah Jesus (Yeshua).
3. For certain, the offering of the original Passover lamb was at 3:00 PM (beyn ha•arbayim) (Exodus 12:6).
4. The typical daily sacrifice of a lamb at the Tent of Meeting, and later the temple, for atonement for sins occurred at the appointed time “between the evenings” followed by the hour of incense, or prayer.
5. Likely, the time was 3:00 PM when King David saw an angel standing between heaven and earth sending a plague upon Jerusalem that he offered a burnt offering at the threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite, the place where the temple would be built. The plague was stopped. Why is it likely 3:00 PM? Because it appears the time coincided with the time of the burnt offering offered at the hour of sacrifice at the Tent of Meeting housed at the time in Gibeon (cf. 1 Chronicles 21:28-30).
6. Elijah prayed to Yahweh to answer him with fire upon his altar “at the time of sacrifice,” or 3:00 PM when the sacrifice was offered in Jerusalem and the offering of incense began (1 Kings 18:36). Meanwhile, the text says that the prophets of Baal “raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. And there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention” (18:29).
7. Isaiah’s call to be a prophet “in the year king Uzziah died” (Isaiah 6:1) was a heavenly vision of his exalted reign from the temple with the angelic seraphim crying, “Holy, holy, holy” around his throne. “The temple was filled with smoke” (6:4), indicating the hour of incense, of prayer, at 3:00 PM when live coals remained on the brazen altar at the entrance with smoke of incense ascending within the temple. The immediate response by Isaiah is that he is “ruined”—decimated by self-judgment in the sight of God’s holiness. This was the character of Hebrew prayer—self-judgment in repentance—at least for the first half-hour when silence prevailed otherwise.
8. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel during “the time of the evening sacrifice,” or at 3:00 PM (Daniel 9:21) with these words for him, “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed” (9:23).
9. The angel Gabriel appeared to the priest Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, as he offered incense at the golden altar of incense at the time of the afternoon sacrifice when incense and prayer were offered by Israel (Luke 1:8-22).
10. Jesus (Yeshua) was killed on a cross of crucifixion, dying at the beginning of the evening sacrifice in concert with the Passover lamb being offered simultaneously by the High Priest at the temple. Those who mourned around the cross—his mother Mary, the other women, John the apostle, and a few followers—mourned during the hour of prayer.
11. The lame man at the temple gate who was healed in the Name of Jesus (Yeshua). Acts 3:1 tells us that the healing took place at the time “Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.”
What is different about the story in Acts 3 is its setting, and the impact it will have on the hour of prayer about to begin within the temple grounds. The man was unclean, rendering him disqualified to enter the temple grounds. This was a life-time condition. Using Isaiah’s terms, he was “ruined” without having a vision of God’s holiness. His physical malady left him spiritually bankrupt as far as participating in the temple and synagogue rituals.
His healing was disruptive of the half-hour of silence that followed the 3:00 PM hour. He went running, leaping and dancing into the temple grounds amidst the otherwise somber and sober people gathered in prayer. His healing was a sign to believers that standing in self-judgment after an animal sacrifice was no longer appropriate. The final sacrifice was offered already in Jesus (Yeshua), no longer to be repeated daily.
A new feature of relationship with Yahweh had occurred. Fellowship (chaver) with God was attained through the sacrifice of Jesus (Yeshua), something never achievable through the Levitical sacrifice system. Rejoicing and praising Yahweh was appropriate. His sacrifice as the final atoning offering for all time becomes the stimulus on our part for prayers of repentance, confession, intercession and praise offered to Yahweh.
12. In Acts 10:1-5, Cornelius, the Roman centurion and devout seeker of the God of Israel, “about the ninth hour of the day [3:00 PM] … clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who said to him, ‘Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter …” (cf. 10:30-31).
13. The revelation of the Messiah as the Lion of Judah and risen Lamb of God in John’s vision in Revelation 5 occurred at the time angelic beings—four living beings and twenty-four elders according to their twenty-four divisions—offer incense to Yahweh according to the time of the evening hour of prayer. The picture we get from Revelation 5-8 is that the final judgment of the nations of the earth commences at the very time of the offering of incense, i.e., the offering of prayers of the saints at 3:00 PM in heaven. “Vengeance is mine,” Yahweh says. In this passage the prayers of the saints throughout all the generations are answered in whole—injustices of the nations shall be judged and shall cease.
Does heaven keep time? What we see in the Book of Revelation is a synchronization between Yahweh’s receiving the prayers of the saints, like incense offered before Him, with catastrophic events of judgment unleashed on the nations of the earth by dispatched angels.
Worth noting is that John’s vision of the revelation of Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) at the hour of incense also puts heaven in the midst of the festival of Sukkoth during the afternoon hour of prayer.
What does the Three o’Clock Hour Suggest?
The three o’clock hour (the ninth hour of the day)—“between the evenings’—should not be overlooked in our study of the Scriptures. In light of the Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) what does this time of the day suggest to us?
First, we should take under consideration the fact that the temple in Jerusalem where incense was offered daily was destroyed in AD 70. The commandment to keep the pattern of sacrifice and incense “between the evenings” is no longer followed because of its attachment to the temple. The activity ceased on earth where the divine pattern was administered.
But as we learn from John’s vision after the destruction of the Temple, the fullness of this activity remains in heaven in the presence of Yahweh. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus (Yeshua) is characterized as both the Lion of Judah and the slain Lamb of God risen from the dead and alive forevermore. The sacrifice He offered of Himself for the sins of the world still stands, eliminating forever the need for another sacrifice. It is done. The temple does not need rebuilding to reinstitute sacrifice for sins.
What we may learn from the Book of Revelation is that through faith in Messiah Jesus (Yeshua) as the atoning sacrifice offered by God for our sins, we live just on the other side of 3:00 PM—but not far. Jesus (Yeshua) remains the Lamb of God forever. In sacrifice should silence us in awe for his holiness, evoking our confession and repentance. Further, his justification of us in his sight through forgiveness should cause us to praise Him, exulting in his holy, redemptive work.
In Him, through faith in Him, we are guaranteed that our sorrow and mourning in this life shall not last forever. And we are guaranteed in this life that we are more than overcomers now through faith in Him. He is worthy of our confession and our praise.
Second, the vision the apostle had of Jesus (Yeshua), what we call the Book of Revelation, describes the temple of God in heaven according to the festival of Sukkoth at the time of the evening hour of incense (Revelation 5). Sukkoth, the seventh and last festival on God’s calendar is to be celebrated even today as the season of greatest joy. The evening hour of incense tells us that prayer of mourning and weakness in this life, indeed, shall turn into great joy through faith in Yahweh’s Son Jesus (Yeshua). The importance of this season and time of greatest joy remains forever.
Third, because heaven seems to be perpetually the hour of prayer and praise, we can find no greater, more rewarding relationship than to cultivate a life of prayer and praise.
Why is Incense the Divine Pattern for Prayer?
To appreciate the direct connection between incense and prayer, we do well to understand the making and composition of incense.
In Exodus 30:34-38 we read:
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices, stacte and
onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall
be an equal part of each. With it you shall make incense, a perfume,
the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. You shall beat some
of it very fine, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of
meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
The incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same
proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for Yahweh.
Whoever shall make any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off
from his people.”
The four spices
Stacte: Different interpretations abound about what plant or tree Stacte is. It may be Storax or Styrax, a gum resin, but it can also be obtained periodically in a powder from the bark of the tree. The gum resin has a chemical type smell. Typically, it is used as a fixative in a fragrance compound or formula. When blended correctly it will create an interesting balsamic aroma.
Onycha: Onycha is the operculum of a mollusk found in the Red Sea. It was used in ancient incense and perfume formulas as a fixative to help amplify the overall fragrance of a compound or formula. This needs to be ground into very fine powder and be used in proper ratios to have the desired affect.
Onycha, according to the Mishnah, the ancient collection of oral traditions, is described as an aromatic root that is smooth and shiny like a fingernail. In the language of the Mishnah it is literally called, “fingernail” (tufra).
Galbanum: Galbanum is a gum resin obtained from a large perennial herb that contains resin ducts. The resin is collected by making incisions at the base of the plant. Galbanum resin often has plant particles, stems and twigs in it. It has a very strong green, turpentine scent. Again it is used mainly as a fixative.
The great medieval Jewish commentator, Rashi, differed as to what Galbunum was. He taught that it was a spice whose smell is foul, and they call it galbana as a result. He believed Scripture regards it among the ingredients of the holy incense to teach that we should not consider it insignificant to include the sinners of Israel within the congregation.
Frankincense: Frankincense is a resin that comes from making an incision in the tree and comes in many different grades. It has a deep, balsamic scent.
The commonality of the spices
What all the spices have in common to make up the incense is that they are all the result of deep incisions—inflicted wounds on a plant or animal. Prayer has the same characteristic. Its aroma is a result of the inflictions, afflictions and wounds of the praying person, metaphorically and/or physically speaking.
Observations
The Catholic and Orthodox traditions of the church still use censers filled with incense to represent the prayers of God’s people. The Protestant tradition discarded the censer and the smoking incense after the Reformation, but not prayer. In the Reformed and especially the Wesleyan traditions, “vesper services” were held into the twentieth century. The English word “vesper” is derived from the Greek word hespera, meaning “evening.” One of the great hymns of the Protestant tradition is “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” recalling the aroma of incense offered unto God in the temple at the evening hour of prayer.
Incense has to do with suffering, afflictions, wounds, pains and death. When Jesus (Yeshua) reigns supreme over the earth from Jerusalem at his next appearing, He will wipe away all tears, remove all pain and end all suffering. Incense, the very idea of being cut, wounded and crushed, shall no longer apply to our current situation. Like the Lord’s Supper, it will remain only as a reminder of who we were once in a world of sin and sinners, including our own sins and sorrows.
In eternity after the return of Messiah Jesus (Yeshua), the significance of incense remains forever as a memorial fragrance where the prayers offered of the saints have already been answered, where God’s people have already overcome, where God’s people remember the evil that once was but is no more.
Meanwhile, our prayers are like incense because we hurt, anguish and suffer, because injustice dominates our world, because the true and faithful are in the world but are not really part of the world’s systems today. We are kingdom people, and we cry out, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This cry for justice will be answered, not in part, but the whole when our Lord and Savior returns to earth.
Meanwhile, we wait. But we wait with a fruitful understanding and appreciation of what was, is and is to come.
Our attitude when we pray is important. Our first attitude in prayer should be that awesome overwhelming sense that God is holy. The foremost attitude we should have in prayer is that God is altogether holy.
The second attitude we should have in prayer is that our prayers are like the sweet smell of incense to Him. He likes them.
From Psalm 141:1-2 the words of David:
Yahweh, I call upon you. Hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
May my prayer be counted as incense before you,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
The third attitude we should have is to appreciate the way incense is made—through incisions, wounds and crushings.
The fourth attitude we should have in prayer is that He hears us.
The fifth attitude we should have in prayer is that He answers us according to his plan, and this is more than enough.
The sixth attitude we should have in prayer is that our High Priest, Messiah Jesus, who was wounded Himself for us, intercedes on our behalf before Father. Nothing is sweeter smelling than his intercession for us, and nothing more compelling for us than to completely trust Him with the sufferings and hurts of our lives and those about us.
May our prayers, too, be as incense offered at the time of the evening sacrifice.
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