In the tabernacle there were two altars, the altar in the outer court, the bronze altar for burnt offering, and the other in the Holy Place, the golden altar for burning the incense. At the first altar all the negative things and problems are dealt with, and at the second altar we fellowship with God being accepted by Him through Christ and in Christ for God’s satisfaction and for the fulfillment of His purpose.
We need to daily live a life of the two altars, and we need to experience these two altars as part of our daily living. We need to realize that on the cross Christ dealt with anything negative, and He destroyed the devil with all the problems he causes and has.
When the enemy harasses us, we can simply contact the Christ who destroyed the devil through His death on the cross, and the One who came to cast out the ruler of this world will defeat the enemy.
Also, we need to realise that the altar in the outer court is for the incense altar, that is, God’s judicial redemption is for His organic salvation, in particular for God’s satisfaction and the fulfillment of His purpose.
We begin at the cross, with the Lord’s precious blood and His all-inclusive death, enjoying Christ as the reality of all the offerings who solved all our problems and enables God to have fellowship with us, and we go on to the incense altar to be one with Christ and offer Christ to God for His satisfaction and for the fulfillment of His purpose.
Today we want to see how the two altars, the bronze altar and the golden altar, are connected by the anointing, the blood of the sin offering, and by the fire that burned the offerings.
God’s move, the anointing, connects the bronze altar and the incense altar
In Exo. 30:26-28 we clearly see how the anointing connects the two altars. The holy anointing oil was to be applied to the tabernacle, the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering.
The anointing signifies God’s move; according to God’s move, the altar of burnt offering is connected to the incense altar. If we want to be in God’s move and we want to enjoy the anointing, we need to be daily experience the two altars.
The two altars are connected by the blood of the sin offering
On the day of Expiation, the most important sin offering was offered; after the blood was shed, the blood was brought from the bronze altar and was applied to the four horns of the incense altar. In this way, the blood connected the two altars.
In our experience, even though we yearn to pray at the incense altar, the enemy may tempt us and we may fail, and he accuses us saying, How can you pray now that you failed? You’re finished! Our response should be, No, Satan, you are finished, because the Lord overcame you on the cross, and now I can apply the blood of the Lamb that overcomes you!
When we confess our sins, God is bound by His righteousness to forgive us, and the blood which Jesus shed on the altar in the outer court is applied to the horns of the incense altar, giving us the right to enter into God’s presence, be blessed with the tree of life, and enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus!
Now by the Lord’s blood we not only have redemption but also the boldness to come forward to the throne of grace, in the holy of Holies, to pray one with Christ and offer Christ to God for His satisfaction.
Thank You Lord for Your precious, redeeming, and overcoming blood which was shed on the cross and which we can apply today! Lord, by Your blood we have the boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies and be one with Christ, enjoy Christ, and pray Christ to God for His satisfaction! Praise the Lord, we are blessed by having the blood of the Lamb shed for our redemption and for our entrance into the presence of God, and this blood makes us overcomers over the enemy!
The two altars are connected by the fire that burned the offerings
Based on Exo. 6:13 and Exo. 16:12, the law concerning the fire burning on the altar of burnt offering was that it came from God (from heaven), it must never go out, and it was this fire that was brought to the incense altar to burn the incense for God’s satisfaction. The priests had to bring the fire from the altar of burnt offering to the altar of incense, and this fire was from God.
The two altars are connected by the fire that burned the offerings. However this fire was not a strange fire, that is, it wasn’t anything of the natural enthusiasm, excitement, emotions, or affections, but it was a fire from God. We need to learn the difference between the holy fire and the strange fire, and we need to learn to pray at the incense altar, having the divine fire burning in our prayer.
No strange fire was allowed to be on the incense altar for the burning of the incense (Exo. 10:1-11); the only fire that could be used to burn the incense was the fire from the bronze altar, the fire from the heavens.
Sometimes we may pray for the Lord’s move and for other things on the Lord’s heart, but we may feel dead in our spirit…. The more we pray and are excited, the more death comes in. In such situations we need to learn to pray not with the fire of our natural emotion and enthusiasm but with the fire coming from God.
The two kinds of burnings were also different, one way for judgement while the other was of acceptance. The fire on the burnt offering ascended to God as a sweet savor, while the fire on the incense altar ascended to Him for His satisfaction.
These two kinds of burning reflect each other, and in these two burnings we have the sweetness of Christ in His death and in His resurrection and ascension.
Lord Jesus, we want to learn to pray at the incense altar with the fire that comes down from the heavens and not with any fire of our natural enthusiasm, emotion, or affection. Lord, may Your divine fire burn in us and through us as we pray one with You at the incense altar for God’s purpose, His testimony, and his economy. Oh Lord, may we learn to avoid any natural excitement and just come to You to be burning with Your fire. We want to offer You to God in the sweetness of Your death, resurrection, and ascension!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and life study of Exodus pp. 1620-1621 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 12 (week 36), The Incense.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
The message on the altar is very profound