Scripture Daily

Context No. 2598 of 4322 · Revelation

Context · Reflection

Revelation 8:1-5: in context

1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3Another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer. Much incense was given to him, that he should add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. 4The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. 5The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, then threw it on the earth. Thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake followed.

When the seventh seal is opened, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour, a hush over the whole court of God. Then an angel takes a golden censer and, with much incense, offers the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mingled with those prayers, rises up before God. And then the angel fills the censer with fire from the altar and casts it to the earth, and thunder and lightning and earthquake follow.

Heaven falls silent, and what fills the silence is the prayers of the saints, gathered and offered like fragrant incense before the very throne of God. Our prayers, which so often feel like they vanish into the air, are pictured here rising, collected, honored, reaching God. And more: the same fire from that altar is then flung to the earth, tying the prayers of God's people to God's action in the world. Prayer is not a private murmur lost in the void. It ascends before the throne, and it is bound up with what God does below. The saints pray, and the earth shakes.

Do I believe my prayers actually rise before God's throne, gathered and honored, and are bound up with what he does in the world?

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