“Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die” Leviticus 16:12-13
Old Testament Shadow
New Testament Reality in Jesus and the Church
On the Day of Atonement the High Priest brought a golden censer full of fire and a handful of incense into the Most Holy Place. He put the incense on the fire in front of the Ark so that the cloud of incense covered the mercy seat. He then sprinkled the blood of the sin offering upon the mercy seat.
The mercy seat is a picture of Christ Himself. The sprinkled blood points to Christ’s shed blood. The censer of incense is significant of Christ taking the prayers of His people within the veil to God’s presence, on the basis of His shed blood. Read also Revelation 8:1-5
Incense is simply an Old Testament shadow or type of prayer and intercession. God is no longer interested in the shadows or types, but rather in the eternal realities to which these shadows point.
He is extremely interested in the prayer and intercession of His Church. For the life of a believer to be truly saturated in prayer is well-pleasing to God.
“Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” Ephesians 6:18
Strange incense – speaks of false worship, ie trying to come to God in a way other than through Christ.
Strange fire – speaks of self-effort, works of the flesh. Holy fire comes from the Holy Spirit, it is from Him and initiated by Him – all other fire comes through the flesh. God Himself lit the fire on the altar in the Tabernacle of Moses.
“And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” Leviticus 9:23, 24
This fire on the altar was kept burning at all times and this was the fire that was used in the Golden Lampstand, the Golden Altar and the Golden Censer. Any other fire than the fire from the altar was “profane fire” and spoke of man’s efforts, something that man initiated rather than God.
Our prayer life and our work for God must come from the fire of the altar – that is it is through the power of the Holy Spirit as we put our faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. We do not want to offer God profane fire. Lord we ask for a fresh revelation of the cross of Christ.
Lord we repent if we have ever offered You profane fire. Forgive us Lord. Help us to be led by Your Spirit and to pray in the power of the Spirit only. We love You Lord and want to lay down our lives on the altar as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable for this is our reasonable worship.
“You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there’s a fire. Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it.” Leonard Ravenhill
May we be filled with the fire of the Holy Ghost !
He’s gone up against the spirit of this age. He’s broken the rules of the religion of political correctness by telling the truth. In doing so he’s exposed that “tolerance” is only tolerant of it’s own.
Now he must either recant and bow down to the god of this age or he must pay The Price. And he must be seen to pay the price to deter any others from trying to challenge this god.
It’s the new statue of Nebuchadnezzar. Bow down when the music plays, dance to our tune, or be thrown in to the fire.
And he is being thrown in to the fire. People are literally saying to him “your career is in tatters, where is your God to help you now?”
Thrown to the fire by the public, thrown to the fire by the Christian leaders… Our Christian PM has issued a carefully worded statement about being sensitive to others. Neither has Brian Houston (head of the biggest church in Australia Hillsong), supported his persecuted brother. Rather Houston openly condemned Izzy on Twitter, then deleted his comment and has written a more sugar-coated condemnation of him for a left-leaning publication.
To me, it comes down to this: who are we sold out for? Izzy is sold out for Jesus, to the detriment of his career and a $4 million contract. Sadly it seems our Christian leaders sold out to this world long ago.
Meanwhile as the world chants for Izzy to be thrown to the fire, the great cathedral of Notre Dame burns…
Jesus compared the days we are living in to the days of Noah. He said:
“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:37-39
Just as in Noah’s day, there was a day appointed for judgment, so it is today. This time however, it will not be by flood, rather it will be by fire.
“For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.… But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? “ 2 Peter 3:3-12
The day when the door will be shut on the Ark is fast approaching. There is not much time left. So what I say to one I say to all:
Get on board the Ark now! Take your friends and your family with you. Make sure you are safely within the place of refuge and flee from the wrath that is to come!
Of which Ark do I speak of nowadays? This Ark is not made of gopher wood, no it is Jesus Christ Himself. The Ark of Noah is a picture of Christ and points to Him as the refuge from God’s coming judgment.
The New is in the Old Concealed, the Old is in the New Revealed.
The Shadow of the Ark
The Light of Jesus Christ
There was only one Ark. One boat. One way to escape the coming judgment.
Likewise there is only one way of salvation.Jesus said “I am the Way….no man comes to the Father but through me.” Forget religion, Christ is the only place of refuge from the coming Day of the Lord.
The Ark was planned by God not by Noah
The plan of redemption was foreordained by God to meet the judgment of sin and to make provision for the safety of the elect
Whilst God planned and designed the Ark, He commissioned man to build it.
This is a picure of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Saviour must have a human body and nature as well as the divine. God came in the flesh of man through the virgin birth.
Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord”
We are saved by grace through faith in Christ
Noah believed God’s Word that there would be a flood on the earth, even though there was no evidence of this. Previously the earth had been watered by a mist coming up. Noah received God’s Word of a coming deluge by faith.
We also received Jesus Christ by faith in God’s word. “…Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls”. 1 Peter 1:8
The Ark had only one door. There was only one way in.
Jesus is the only way in to the Father. Jesus said “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved….” John 10:9
The door had no dimensions given
No matter how great a sinner may be, there is room for him through the door – Jesus Christ
The Ark had three levels
This could be a picture of the Tri-unity of the Godhead.
There was only one window in the Ark. It was in the flat roof of the boat and about 18”x18” and covered by a hatch. Noah and his family could only look Heaven-ward out of the window
God wants us to be looking upwards to Him, rather than being overwhelmed by difficult circumstances.
God told Noah to “pitch (the Ark) within and without withpitch” Genesis 6:14. This is the only place in the Bible where “pitch”, a bituminous substance, is translated as “kapher”. “Kapher” everywhere else in the Bible translates as “atonement”. It means a covering. Lev 17:11 says “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls”. This word atonement in this verse is the same as the word translated as “pitch” in Genesis 6:14
It is because of Jesus Christ’s atonement for our sins at the cross, that we have a way of escape from what is coming upon this world. He took our place on the cross and shed His precious blood in order to make atonement for us. Once we are in Him His blood covers us and keeps us safe. In Him there is perfect peace and safety which is apart from this world.
God invited Noah and His family into the safety and refuge of the Ark. “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark…” Genesis 7:1
God still invites us today into the safety of Christ, “Come unto me all who labour and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest…”
God told Noah to make rooms in the ark (Genesis 6:14). Rooms here is translated as “a nest”. God provided comfort as well as safety within the Ark.
Jesus said: “In My Father’s house are many mansions:….I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2
God Himself shut the door to the Ark“And the Lord shut him in” before the judgment began.
Whilst the door is open all may enter in. However one day soon the door will be shut and the age of grace will finish. Then the time of judgment will begin.
“By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” Hebrews 11:7
Today we drove through the Dadswell Bridge area which was on fire just two days ago. I got out of the car and walked around a little. Even though I was wearing thongs (flip flops) on my feet they are still stained black from the ash.
The trees were blackened, ash was in the air and the acrid smell was unbelievable. Another bushfire about 20 kilometers (12miles) away was still raging out of control, and it made the sky appear pink.
The most eerie thing was the trees and stumps that were still smouldering and smoking as I watched them.
Fire-trucks, police and emergency vehicles were everywhere (we definitely felt secure at our hotel!)
This week I have experienced my first 46 degree (Celsius) day. (I am in no hurry to experience another.)
On Thursday I was in Adelaide, and on Thursday Adelaide was officially the hottest city on earth. It was so hot that as soon as I stepped outside my skin felt like it was burning, even in the shade. The hotel we stayed in became uncomfortable as the air conditioning struggled to cope with four consecutive days of over 40 degrees.
Extreme heat and a thirsty land are, of course, a recipe for bush fire in Australia, and, as of this morning, 100 bush fires were burning across South Australia and Victoria. The smoke from the fires drifted over the beach where we were bathing, initiating many questions from our children. As my husband and I tried to downplay the severity of the fires to them, internally we were wondering whether we’d even be able to get home, as the main road into Victoria had been closed by the authorities.
With all this talk of fire it has got me to thinking about the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. In the Bible the Holy Ghost is both symbolized by fire, and also directly referred to as fire. In the Old Testament the pillar of fire which the Israelites followed in the wilderness was the Holy Ghost. In the New Testament John the Baptist said of Jesus:
“I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” Matthew 3:11
And then in Acts 2:2-4 :
“. . . suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one set upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”
The thing about fire is that it is HOT. It is intense. All it takes is one little spark and a wild bushfire is ignited in a dry and thirsty land.
Leonard Ravenhill said : “Again, the symbol of the church is fire…..The cross is no symbol of Christianity. The symbol of Christianity is the tongue of fire that sat on the head of each of them….Our God is a consuming fire.”
Oh and we are in a dry and thirsty land here in Australia. Not just physically, but more so spiritually. As I sat on the balcony of our accommodation each night this week, I wept for the people, for my country. Yes, I could hear them drinking and laughing and singing drunken songs and I wept for them, for their state of barren-ness. It is oh so dry.
We went into the city of Adelaide last night and there were two old men there, handing out tracts and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. They’ve been there for 30 years. One of them preached, standing there shaking, in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, and we helped them to hand out the tracts to passers-by, but hardly anyone took one. As he preached, warning that there is an eternal hell, I could tell his heart was broken for this people, these people walking past him laughing at him, smiling with the smile of those in the presence of a fool. Afterwards I commented on the hardness of people’s hearts and he answered sadly: “Oh aren’t they? They don’t understand that the consequences are eternal.”
How dry! How barren and hard is the landscape here in Australia!
But also how ripe and ready this land is for fire….. After all – the drier the land, the easier a fire is kindled. And a fire is powerful enough to change a landscape. Australia is a land of fire; but may we become a land of Holy Ghost fire!
All it takes is one spark. As followers of Jesus Christ, because He lives within us, we are to be that spark to a dry and barren world. But we cannot be that spark if we are not full of the fire of the Holy Ghost.
Paul says to: “…. be filled with the Spirit, speaking toyourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Ephesians 5:18,19. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and fire. This verse in the original actually says: “Be being filled with the Spirit…” It is a continual process. Like in the Pilgrim’s Progress, there needs to be oil constantly poured onto the fire to keep it burning, because, just as surely, the devil is always seeking to put it out.
I love Leviticus 6:12: “The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it.” (Emphasis mine). This verse is such a wonderful picture of what the life of the believer, of Christ’s church, should be. No, it’s what we need to be. We have a responsibility to this generation as the church of Jesus to carry this fire wherever we go. If we don’t, who will?
As priests we are to keep the fire burning. God sends the divine fire, but it is our responsibility to keep it burning. Just like a bushfire, once it has started it requires ongoing fuel.
I don’t know about you but I know when the fire is burning bright within me and I also know when it is burning low. When I am full of the Spirit I walk in the supernatural – amazing things happen. When the fire is low I find I am walking more in the flesh than the Spirit and the things of God become a struggle.
Wesley wrote a hymn, which goes like this:
See how a great a flame aspires, kindled by a spark of grace. Jesus love the nations fires; sets the kingdoms all ablaze.
To bring fire on earth He came, kindled in some hearts it is. Oh that all might catch the flame; all partake the glorious bliss.
When He first the work began, small and feeble was its flame. Now the word doeth swiftly run; now it wins its widening way.
More and more it spreads and grows, ever mighty to prevail. Sin’s strongholds it now o’throws and shakes the trembling gates of hell.
Sons of God, your Savior praise; He the door hath opened wide. He hath given the word of grace; Jesus’ word is glorified.
Saw you not the cloud arise, little as a human hand? Now it spreads along the skies, hangs o’er all the thirsty land.
May you be inspired to be the spark of Holy Ghost fire in your land in this dry and thirsty generation!
” A fire shall always be burning on the altar, it shall never go out.” Leviticus 6:13
This verse jumped out at me the other day as I was reading that most mis-understood of books, Leviticus. I’d like to share with you what God brought to my heart.
Leviticus 6:8-13 is the record of the law of the burnt offering. This is Old Covenant stuff yes, but the principle presented here is eternal, and is recorded for our benefit.
God is here setting forth His commands to the priest, Aaron and his sons. All believers are now priests unto God under the New Covenant, so there is something here for us.
“And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, is shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.” Leviticus 6:12
Two points here:
1. God requires that the fire on the altar never goes out
2. God requires that the priest shall keep the fire burning by bring wood every morning
Where does the fire come from? It is a divine fire, lit by God Himself.
“…Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.” Leviticus 9:23, 24
The fire must be lit by God to be holy. God will never accept our self-effort, it is a “profane fire” to Him. The fire must be initiated by Him and comes from Him alone. We see on the Day of Pentecost the fire of God settling upon each of those in the Upper Room (Acts 2:3). This was fire sent by God, as John the Baptist had prophesied “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but He who is coming after me is mightier than I… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Matthew 3:11.
All of our fleshly works must be consumed. Look at what happened to Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu when they offered the “fire” of their own self-effort…
“Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Leviticus 10:1, 2
So we see that God will never accept fire, or works, initiated by man. However God does require man to play his part too.
Whilst the fire is initiated by God, God gives the responsibility to maintain the fire to man. God will never do for us what He expects us to do ourselves. So He commands the priests to keep the fire burning, to not let it die out.
How do we keep it burning continually? Well God even tells us how to do that…
“And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning…” Leviticus 6:13
Praying and spending time with the Lord, in His Word daily keeps the fire burning.
“…and lay the burnt offering in order on it…” Leviticus 6:14. How?
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” Romans 12:1
“You never have to advertise a fire. Everyone comes running when there’s a fire.
Likewise, if your church is on fire, you will not have to advertise it. The community will already know it.” Leonard Ravenhill
Hosea 6:5: "Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth."
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My hands were burning
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