Theology: Our Doctrine on Incense
Theology:
Our Doctrine on Incense
The Protestants do not use incense, nor censers. They consider that to be among the Old Testament worships that ended, because in their belief it was merely a symbol. Here we would like to review the history of incense, ancient and modern, and see whether it was a symbol or a spiritual act in itself.
1- The Lord said to Moses: “You shall make an altar to burn incense on it” (Ex 30:1).
And the Lord gives us here a very beautiful remark, which is that incense was considered in itself a sacrifice that they offered on an altar called the altar of incense.
2- And the Lord paid great attention to the altar of incense, commanding that it be overlaid with gold on every side, with a crown of gold, carried on two rings overlaid with gold, and placed before the veil that is before the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 30:3–6), where God met Moses.
3- It was required of the incense that it be “fragrant incense,” and the Lord says concerning this: “Aaron shall burn on it fragrant incense every morning” (Ex 30:7), and likewise in the evening: “a continual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” (Ex 30:8).
The aromatic materials of the incense were mentioned in (Ex 30:34). And it was said of this incense: “It shall be holy to the Lord” (Ex 30:37), and even more than this: “It shall be to you most holy” (Ex 30:36), and no one shall make any like it for himself.
The phrase “fragrant incense” was repeated in many places of Scripture, such as (Ex 25; 37:29; Lev 16:12). Thus the incense represented a sweet-smelling aroma ascending to the Lord.
4- Some said mistakenly that incense was offered with the burnt offerings to remove their odor, and that since the animal sacrifices were abolished, incense was abolished accordingly.
This understanding is not correct. For incense was a form of worship independent in itself, having its own altar separate from the altar of burnt offerings. It had its own rite in offering it. It was intended in itself as prayer, not as a symbol of something else, as we shall see.
5- We notice that when the Lord struck the people with plague, Aaron the high priest burned incense by Moses’ command to intercede for the people before God. When he entered among them and offered incense, the plague stopped, and God accepted this incense from him as prayer (Num 16:44–48).
We notice here that no sacrifice was offered for them, but incense alone was offered, not for the smell of burnt offerings, but for atonement for the people, as though it were a sacrifice (Num 16:46–47).
6- From the importance of incense, no one offered it except the priests. Here it appears in a rank higher than prayer, for prayer is offered to God by any person of the people. We notice that when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram dared to offer incense, the earth split open and swallowed them alive, they and all their households (Num 16:31–32). And this was not because they offered a sacrifice, but because they offered incense while they were of the tribe of Levi.
7- From the importance of incense, it was offered in golden censers as stated in (Heb 9:4), and as said of the twenty-four elders, that they had “golden bowls full of incense” (Rev 5:8).
8- A prophecy in the Book of Malachi spoke of the continuation of incense and that it would not be limited to the Jewish era, as the Lord said: “For from the rising of the sun to its setting, My name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to My name and a pure offering” (Mal 1:11). Worship among the nations (in every place) did not occur except in the Christian era. Therefore the Lord made incense one of the elements of Christian worship.
9- From the Lord’s concern for incense in the New Testament, two examples appear in the Book of Revelation (Rev 5:8 and Rev 8:3):
A- It was said of the twenty-four elders (priests) that they have “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Rev 5:8).
B- Saint John the Seer says: “Another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and much incense was given to him, that he might offer it with 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, ascended before God from the angel’s hand” (Rev 8:3–4).
10- Commenting on the phrase “the smoke of the incense ascended with the prayers of the saints,” we say that the whole life of the Church is incense. Indeed, the Church was likened in the Song of Songs to incense, when the divine inspiration said of her:
“Who is this coming up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and all powders of the merchant?” (Song 3:6).
11- Among the beautiful moments in the story of incense in the lives of the saints is that the angel of the Lord appeared to Zachariah the priest, standing at the right side of the altar of incense while he was offering incense in his priestly turn (Lk 1:8–11), showing the holiness of this place and the sanctity of the act of censing, and the worthiness of this sacred occasion to be accompanied by divine revelations.
It is clear from the story of Zachariah’s turn in offering incense that the raising of incense was an act in itself, not connected with offering a sacrifice or burnt offering.
12- From the importance of incense in Christianity, frankincense (the incense material) was one of the gifts the Magi offered to the Lord Christ. It was a symbol of His priesthood, or a confession from the Magi of His priesthood, just as gold symbolized His kingship and myrrh His sufferings.
13- Incense carries many meanings that satisfy the senses and nourish the soul. And not all who come to church are of the level that requires depth of spirit and depth of thought. Children, for example, who do not grasp much of what is said in sermons, or what they hear in readings, or even in prayers—these are spiritually affected through their senses by incense, candles, and icons. These serve as spiritual lessons for them that transport them to a spiritual atmosphere. And likewise many of the common people and the ordinary believers not well-versed in knowledge or in theological studies.
So what spiritual meanings and meditations are in incense?
14- The first lesson they receive from incense is the Lord’s saying: “He who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Mt 10:39). The example of this is the grain of incense that burns and burns until it becomes fragrant pillars of smoke. You look for it in the censer as a grain of incense and do not find it, for it has offered itself as burnt offerings to God. Burnt offerings are not only from animal sacrifices but from incense also, which Scripture considered a sacrifice offered on the altar of incense, giving us a great lesson indeed.
How beautiful that a person offers himself as a burnt offering to the Lord. Every other offering is outside the self, but the offering of the self is the greatest of offerings.
This offering of the self is represented by placing the incense grain in the fire. It was said of our God that He is a consuming fire (Deut 4:24). The saints were grains of incense placed in the divine censer and burned with the love of God.
15- The second lesson in incense is continuous ascent upward:
Incense never accepts to remain below. It rises upward into the heavens and extends and spreads, never stopping in its ascent and diffusion. If you look at incense and follow it, you must lift your eyes upward to heaven, whether you want to or not. Thus incense constantly draws the senses of people upward, like an arrow pointing always toward heaven.
16- Another lesson of incense: it represents the sweet aroma:
Therefore Scripture required it to be fragrant incense. Whoever smells this incense remembers that a person’s life must be a sweet aroma before God.
As Scripture says: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ… He manifests through us the aroma of His knowledge in every place” (2 Cor 2:15,14).
17- Among the most beautiful meditations on incense is that it reminds us of the cloud or mist in which God appeared:
As the Lord said: “For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat (the cover of the Ark of the Covenant)” (Lev 16:2). Thus in Leviticus appeared the phrase “cloud of incense” (Lev 16:13). It was said of Aaron the high priest: “He shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die” (Lev 16:12–13).
God, in guiding His people in the Old Testament—whether in the Tent of Meeting, or in the Temple, or in the wilderness of Sinai—appeared to the people in cloud or mist. His guidance in the wilderness of Sinai was through a cloud overshadowing them by day, representing God overshadowing them. When the cloud moved, they knew God was moving them, so they moved. If the cloud stopped, they stopped (Num 9:17). Thus it was said: “The cloud of the Lord was upon them by day when they set out from the camp” (Num 10:34).
18- In Christ’s coming to Egypt, it was said that He came on a cloud (Isa 19:1). The cloud symbolized the Virgin, and the Virgin was a fragrance of incense rising upward. In Christ’s second coming He will also come on the clouds (Mt 24:30). Thus the cloud represented the presence of God in both the Old and New Testaments.
19- In the story of the Transfiguration we find an example of God’s presence in the cloud:
It was said that while the Lord Christ was speaking with His three disciples: “A cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: This is My beloved Son. Hear Him” (Lk 9:34–35).
Continuation of “Our Doctrine on Incense”
20- Thus the Lord spoke to Moses from the clouds. And when the Lord called Moses, Scripture says: “Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud” (Ex 24:15–16).
Similarly when He spoke to them from the Tent of Meeting, it was covered with cloud or mist.
21- The same occurred in the dedication of Solomon’s temple. Scripture says: “And when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon spoke: ‘The Lord said He would dwell in the thick cloud…’” (1 Kgs 8:10–12).
22- Thus incense represents cloud or mist reminding of the presence of God or the glory of God. In (Ps 97:2), from the Ninth Hour Psalms, it says: “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him. He rode on the clouds and flew. He flew on the wings of the wind.”
Incense therefore contains many spiritual meanings for those who wish to benefit from it. It is a form of worship in itself, not connected with sacrifices in such a way that it would disappear if they disappeared.
23- Finally, we say that there is not a single text in the New Testament that commands the abolishing of incense. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev 2,7).
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