From MP’s reading in Hebrews 9 …
Hebrews 9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. 2 For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. 3 Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4 having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
In an epistle written to persuade Hebrew converts that Jesus is worthy of their faith and confidence, Hebrews 9 presents a confounding difficulty: the golden altar of incense is placed in the Holy of Holies where the ark of the covenant was located. How could this be? The OT tabernacle’s tent of meeting had two rooms, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The Holy Place had three pieces of furniture, the Lampstand, the Table of Shewbread … and … the Golden Altar of Incense. The location of the Golden Altar of Incense in the Holy Place is given in Exodus 30:
Exodus 30 1 “Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood … 6 You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you.7 Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. 8 When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.
The Altar of Incense is placed before the veil that separates the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
Incense was to be burned every morning and evening coincident with the daily morning and evening sacrifice … Exodus 29:38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;
the daily burning of incense was to be a perpetual offering before the Lord
On the Day of Atonement Aaron took incense into the Holy of Holies, filling the Holy of Holies with smoke:
Leviticus 16 1 “Then Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. 12 He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. 13 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 ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die.
Aaron was not allowed to gaze directly on the Mercy Seat where God would meet and commune with the High Priest on the Day of Atonement
Aaron looked upon God’s presence on the Mercy Seat only through the cloud of incense
How could the writer of Hebrews make such an obvious mistake? Or did he? The primary focus of the discussion here is an exposition of the Day of Atonement and the fulfillment of the OT ceremonial in the perfect high priestly work of Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews is making a theological argument.
The smoke from the incense is symbolic of the mystery of God Himself, conveying in its imagery and smell the very sweetness of the presence of Jesus. Moving the Altar of Incense within the veil represents Jesus’ entry into the Holy of Holies. Incense is the ‘fragrance of Christ,” the sweet aroma of Christ. All our worship and prayers are acceptable to God because offered up in the pleasing aroma of Christ (cf II Cor 2:14ff). It is the smell of holiness. Consider:
Aaron could not gaze directly upon God’s presence on the Mercy Seat but may look upon God’s presence through the cloud of incense, signifying that we look upon God in the person of Jesus Christ
When the daily sacrifices are offered the smoke rises to the visible heavens but reaches the heaven of heavens (the tent of meeting) as the pure smoke of incense burned on the Altar of Incense, the sweet aroma of Christ
The first NT intimation of the advent of Jesus Christ is Zechariahs burning incense in the Temple, St Luke 1.
One of the gifts the wisemen brought to the Christ Child was incense, “own[ing] a Deity nigh.”
Revelation 3:8f where in Heaven incense is offered with the prayers of the saints, signifying the prayers that are offered in Jesus’ Name.
Now I must admit I love the use of incense, especially in all its Christological significance. And I often remind our parish that the smoke of incense should fill the house of God (Isaiah 6:4). It is the smell of Christ, an appeal to us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ engaging us through the sense of smell … In worship the Gospel of Jesus Christ is made known to us in all five senses: the Gospel is heard, seen (in worship and sacrament), touched (the sacrament), tasted and, yes, even smelled.
The use of incense is also evangelistic. A few years ago, after Sunday Mass at St John’s, our daughter, Kara, flew home to Dallas that Sunday afternoon, the smell of incense still lingered in her clothing. As Kara was stowing her luggage and finding her seat, a young man in the aisle behind her began saying, “I smell incense; someone here has the smell of incense!” He then told Kara that he remembered the smell of incense from when he attended church when he was younger and he had been seeking a sign from God to return to his faith. God spoke to him through his sense of smell. … For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved, an aroma from life to life!
JSH+