Web Bonus - Indiana Jones Altar of Incense

As promised, here are some further notes from the message Sunday that I either didn't get to or I ended up having to axe due to time.

I loved this topic.  The illustration of the Golden Altar of Incense being Christ as our intercessor along with the incense itself picturing the prayer of saints is awesome.  The text was Exodus 30:1-10, 34-38.  Here are some additional thoughts:

• The Gold used to create the actual altar represents divinity. A picture of Christ Himself. (Exo 30:3)
• The acachia wood used to create the the altar as well represents the earthen part of Christ. He was completely divine...yet completely flesh. (Exo 30:1)
• The horns made with pure gold = the power of Christ (Exo 30:3).  Horns represent power and since the altar pictures Jesus Christ doctrinally (that is foreshadowing the nature of who He is) and the horns were covered by sacrificial blood by Aaron the priest once a year for the covering of the sins of Israel.  You can see the parallels. Christ shed His blood for the covering of our sins. Pretty cool picture there if you dive deeper.
• If the above is correct...then the golden altar itself is a picture of Jesus Christ, then that means He is our intercessor continually praying on our behalf as well. Jesus prayed for and interceded on behalf of His disciples and followers before the crucifixion. (John 14:13-14) This would mean since the prayers of the saints - the incense (Rev 8:3)is burned on the altar, our prayer life and ability to pray to God Himself is thru Jesus Christ...nothing/nobody else.
• We talked briefly about how the incense was to be set apart for the strict purpose of perpetually burning before the Lord on the golden altar. If you did, you were cut off from your people.  Check out this passage that I didn't have any time to spend in on Sunday.  Here's a specific story of what happened to a group of people in the Old Testament who did just that. (Num 16:31-40)

I enjoyed Sunday and appreciate greatly the opportunity to teach this important topic.  It was extremely refreshing for me to be reminded of the importance of having a real, genuine, fervent and consistent prayer life with God.