Altar and Incense

When Jesus Christ took the scroll from the hand of God, John observes incense, for the first time, being held by the twenty four elders in golden bowls and identified as the prayers of the saints (Rev 5:8).

Burnt on the altar outside of the earthly Temple (Ex 20:24-26; 27:1-5), incense produced an appeasing aroma to the Lord and soothed His wrath (Gen 8:20-21). Functioning in a similar fashion, the psalmist portrays incense as symbolic of the prayers of Believers (Ps 141:2).

The altar is mentioned for the first time when the Fifth Seal is broken, (Rev 6:9). The only altar in front of God is described as the four horned golden altar (Rev 8:3; 9:13).

The earthly Temple had two altars, one inside and the other outside of the Temple. Inside the Temple, in the Holy Place, was the Altar of Incense, which was overlaid with gold and known as the Golden Altar (Ex 39:38; 40:5; Num 4:11). It was considered "most holy to the Lord" (Ex 30:1-10), and, like the heavenly alter, the Altar of Incense was shaped in a square with four horns at each corner.

After the seven angels receive their trumpets, an angel is seen standing at the golden altar upon which are the prayers of all the saints. It is not clear if this is the prayers of all the saints on earth and heaven, or if it means all of the Great Tribulation martyrs. With a golden censer with much incense, the smoke produced with the prayers of the saints went up before God (Rev 8:2-4).

With the smoke of the incense and prayers of all the saints, God's wrath is temporarily halted – until the incense and prayers are all burned up. Refilling the censer with fire from the altar, the angel throws it down to earth, and God's wrath is set to resume.

From Revelation: An Explication © Helpmewithbiblestudy.org: A resource for learning how to read the Bible.