We have seen the seventh seal opened and now stand ready to find out what the contents hidden with it are, here goes hang on.
Revelation 8:3-5 "And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the Saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake." (KJV)
Revelation 8:3-5 "And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the Saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the Saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake." (ESV)
Revelation 8:3-5 "Then another Shepherd-Messenger arrived with a golden [1]censer for frankincense and [2]took charge of the [3]altar in priestly fashion. Much [4]perfume was given to him and this would be burned as a sweet smelling fragrance upon the golden altar before the Throne to represent the [5]prayers of every single Saint. (The word, [1, G3031 from G3030 libanos, of foreign origin [H3828 לְבֹנָה lebônâh] libanotos, refers to the gum exuding from a frankincense tree; also the censer for burning the frankincense with the coals from the brazen altar. The verb [2] estathe, is the ingressive first Aorist Passive of histemi (intransitive), "took his place."- was positioned; (G1909) epi tou [3, G2379 derivative of G2378 thusia, sacrifice] thusiasteriou - took up his priestly position over the altar. This was a preparation peculiar to the day of expiation. "On other days it was the custom of the priest to take fire from the brazen altar in a silver censer, but on this great Day of Atonement the high priest took the fire from the great altar in a golden censer; and when he was come down from the great altar, he took [4, G2386 thumiama] incense from one of the priests, who brought it to him, and went with it to the golden altar; and while he offered the incense the people prayed without in silence." Quoted from Sir Isaac Newton.
The following words are all connected to the idea of sacrifice (G2379) - thusiasterion - the place of sacrifice - altar (for us this is the cross) - from (G2378) thusia, sacrifice , from (G2380) thuo, to slay and burn the sacrifice; thumiama, the smoke or in the Greek mind, the soul of the sacrifice; (Acts 1:3, G2372) thumos passion. All the Romansch language derive their word for smoke, or smoking, fumar from thumos. Also the word perfume originates from the same idea. Much perfume was given him, [4] thumiamata, again the sweet smelling, favorable fumes from the sacrifice is implied.
The word translated prayer is [3, G4336 from G4314 and G2172] proseuchomai , is from (G4314) pros, to face to face and eu , well done, good and possibly echo, to hold or echo - thus, face to face resonance of that which is good!) And thus the smoke of the fragrant perfume infused with the silent prayers of the entire community of Saints, rose before GOD out of the hand of the priestly ministry of the Shepherd-Messenger. Then the Shepherd-Messengers took the golden censer for frankincense and filled it with burning coals from the altar and cast it upon the earth. And the burning coals became thunder and voices and lighting shaking the earth like an earthquake! ( The altar is central in this vision of the Lamb that was slain - the triumph of the cross is unveiled, in the redeeming of humanity's innocence. This reminds us of Isaiah 6:6-7, when one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, snatched with tongs from the altar. Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven."
The fire from the altar is the source to all the symbolic fiery pictures of the extent of the judgment that the Lamb faced as scapegoat of the human race. In the following scenes where the seven trumpets are sounded, every known sphere of the universe is pictured: the earth with its green trees and fields of grass; then the ocean both with its hidden life within as well as the trade ships upon the seas. Then the burning star falling from heaven upon the rivers and their sources - from where their waters gush forth - [waters gushing from innermost being!]. Then the sun moon and stars in the heavenly sphere are struck and darkness ensues upon the earth. Every external source of light is taken away in order to usher in the new day dawning within humanity. Rev. 21:23, "The city doesn't need any sun or moon to give it light because the glory of GOD gives it light. The Lamb is its lamp." Even the smoke rising from the bottomless pit [under-world] clearly reveals that the fire from this altar has its effects there! The Lamb descended into the lowest parts of the earth when He set the captives free (Mat. 27:51-54 bears this witness as does Paul's witness as recorded in Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians) and lead them as His trophies in His triumphant procession on high! Ephesians 4:8-10. The entire known world is addressed in the slain and risen of the Lamb. The old things having passed away, behold all things have become new! "An earthquake takes place because of fault lines - a great shifting is taking place along the fault-lines of people's thinking," says Kay Fairchild. Now look at Isaiah 55:9-11.) (The Mirror, with editing.)
Until our next visit the LORD willing, when we shall dig deeper into this hot topic that causes many to be confused and bewildered by its language, herein defused.
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