The Altar of Incense should be of particular interest to Christians of the Pentecostal experience because the Altar of Incense is a type of the aspect of redemption that follows the Pentecostal expression of speaking in tongues and other manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

The Altar of Incense is the fifth of the seven furnishings. You may recall that the number five appears to symbolize entrance into the things of God. The bronze Altar of Burnt Offering was five cubits square and typifies our entrance into the plan of redemption in Christ. There were five pillars at the entrance to the Holy Place, representing our entrance into the Body of Christ. The Altar of Incense was the fifth furnishing, and it typifies our entrance into the rest of God.

On the fifth day animal life first appeared in the creation—fish in the waters, and birds in the firmament. The fifth episode of the wilderness wandering was the first organization of Israel into a fighting force, preparing the way for entrance into the land of promise (Numbers 10).

The march toward the land of promise was directed by the priests blowing silver trumpets The fifth Levitical feast was the Blowing of Trumpets. Trumpets signaled New Year's day (Rosh Hoshanah) of the civil, or agricultural year of the Hebrews; and also called attention to the nearness of the Day of Atonement and the feast of Tabernacles.

The Blowing of Trumpets typifies the establishing of the rule of God on the earth.

It is at the fifth stage of the plan of redemption that the Christian matures past the place of being a saved human being waiting to go to Paradise, and is formed into a servant of the Lord. It is then that we enter the purposes of God. Prior to this, the grace of God toward us is perceived by us as being primarily for our benefit. From the Lampstand forward we understand that we are being prepared for the war of God against the Kingdom of darkness, against the rebellious lords of the heavenlies who have set their will against the will of the Father.

It may be difficult for us to conceive of something that exists for God's purposes and not just for us. We have for so long tried to use God as a means of our salvation, of our health, of problem solving, and of getting whatever it is we need or want, that we may never have grasped the fact that God has some purposes of His own and that we have been called according to those purposes.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

During the beginning stages of our redemption we are quite self-centered. As we move past the golden Lampstand we pass from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. What becomes important to us is God Himself and the eternal plan of God to rid the creation of evil.

Proceeding past the Lampstand means death to self, to our purposes, to our plans to use God to help us pursue our own desires. For the first time, perhaps, we become conscious of the eternal plan of God. We groan, as did the Apostle Paul, for the fullness of victory, the redemption of our body, that we may be able to move ahead with Christ in bringing justice and peace to the nations of the earth.

To be continued.