Rabbi Schneider - The Tabernacle: The Altar of Incense
What he's saying is that if we want to walk in victory, if we want to walk in communion with him, we need to be walking, Beloved, in a constant state of prayer. at the end of the broadcast today. We are now, Beloved, studying the altar of incense inside the tabernacle. In the Book of Exodus, chapter number 30, verse 1, the Lord instructs Moses, moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense. We read also, concerning this altar of incense, Beloved, that it was to burn continually.
In Exodus, chapter 30, verse number 8, the Lord tells us here: And when Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense, there shall be, listen now, perpetual, this means ongoing, everlasting, there shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. That's a strong word when the Lord tells us that that this incense needs to be burning perpetually as he's referring, Beloved, to the tabernacle representing his love for us and how to have a relationship with him. What he's saying is that if we want to walk in victory, if we want to walk in communion with him, we need to be walking, Beloved, in a constant state of prayer.
That's what the Scripture says, we need to pray ceaselessly. The problem is that some of us have this model of prayer when we, where we think that the only time that we're praying is when we're talking out loud with words. No, Beloved, prayer is simply an awareness of God. That's why Yeshua, right before he raised Lazarus from the dead, he said, Father, I thank you that you hear me. I know you hear me always but because of these people standing around, I'm saying it out loud and then he cried forth, Lazarus, come forth! Yeshua lived, Beloved, in a perpetual state of prayer. To him prayer was just walking in an awareness of his relationship with God. That's how simple prayer is but we need to cultivate that.
We need to remember the Lord. We need to constantly be remembering his presence, calling ourselves back, Beloved, to remembering him, calling ourselves back to be conscious of him, and I do believe that praying out loud is an effective tool, Beloved, to develop this constant state of awareness but walking in a ceaseless state of prayer is more than praying out loud and it's unfortunate that too oftentimes when people are praying out loud, they're praying for superficial things, and I'm not saying that the things that people pray for are not important but what I am saying is that they're not the deeper things.
We should be praying for traveling mercies, we should be praying for health issues, but I remember years ago when I used to pastor a traditional church and every Wednesday they would have their prayer meeting, and you know how that is some of you that have partaken of these types of ministry times, the same people would come every Wednesday and we'd say well what should we pray for today, and you know, people would raise their hand, well you know Aunt Sally's going to be having a gallbladder surgery, Tim's going to be traveling down, Tim will be traveling down to Wisconsin, let's, let's pray for traveling mercies and, you know, someone else would say, you know, sister so and so is going to be going to the dentist and she's having a lot of pain in her tooth, let's, let's pray for them.
By the way, so and so's got a hang toenail that's, that's really, I mean all these things we should bring before the Lord but, Beloved, those are superficial things, when it gets down to the affairs of the kingdom. What I want to do now is I want to go into the Scripture and show you the types of things that we should be concentrating on when we're praying, not that we shouldn't be praying about our health, we should, not that we shouldn't be praying about our finances, or traveling mercies, everything is important to bring to the Lord in prayer, but Beloved, those things aren't the deepest things. The deepest things are things, Beloved, in the inside. They're the things of the Spirit, they're the things of the kingdom, and when we pray the things that Yeshua taught us to pray, Beloved, prayer is going to yield results. You're going to be strengthening your walk with God, you're going to be strengthened in unity with him, you're going to be strengthened, Beloved, to have authority over darkness and a power over the enemy.
So let's look at some of the prayers we have in Scripture. Let's look at some of the things that Paul prayed about. Let's look at what Yeshua told us to be praying about, and I believe if you'll concentrate on praying these things, Beloved, and be reminded of these things, continually be asking the Lord to strengthen you in these things. Your walk with the Lord is going to ascend. Remember now, we're talking about the mishkan; we're talking about the tabernacle. It's a pattern for having intimacy with the Lord. The Lord said in Exodus, chapter 25, I want you to build me this tabernacle; I want you to build me this mishkan that I might, listen now, dwell with you. God's desire is relationship with us. He loves us. He'll never love you anymore than he loves you right now so every piece of furniture in the tabernacle is a prophetic shadow for how we can add this relationship of love with the Lord that he wants for us.
We're studying now then the Altar of Incense which represents prayer. How do we know that the Altar of Incense represents prayer before we look at specific prayers? Well we find several examples in Scripture. For example, in the Book of Revelation we find there in chapter number 8 that there's this golden censer, Revelation 8:3, and another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer and much incense was given to him that he might add to it, listen now, the prayers of the saints. In verse number 4, And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of angel's hand. In Psalm 141, verse 2, David says this: May my prayer be as incense before you.
And so the Altar of Incense represents prayer. What we're going to do now is we're going to study some of the types of prayers Scripture has reported for us and we know if we'll pray these types of prayers, that we'll be praying according to his will, and the Scripture says if we pray anything according to his will, that we could be assured that we know that the things that we're asking for have been granted to us. I want to start out going to the Book of Ephesians, chapter number 1, the Book of Ephesians, chapter number 1, again, the grass withers, the flowers fade, the word of God abides forever. I'm going to begin here in the 15th verse, this is the prayer the Apostle Paul prayed. This is a prayer that's recorded in Scripture. It's a prayer that if you pray it, you can know that God's going to answer it.
You see, you can pray, Beloved, for a new house, but we don't know for sure, Beloved, that God's will is to give everybody a new house. I mean, I don't believe it's God's will to give everybody a new house. I mean, maybe for you it is his will to give you a new house, I don't know, but I don't, you know, that's not a prayer that everybody can ask for knowing that it's been granted for them, I don't think. You know, I can ask the Lord for a, for a Rolls Royce. Well I don't, I don't think it's God's will to give me a Rolls Royce. The prayers that we know, Beloved, that are going to be answered, are the prayers that we pray that are according to his will so let's look at the prayers that are in Scripture because we know that these prayers are according to his will and if you pray these prayers, you can know that he's going to do these things and the mystery of the Gospel is Messiah in you, the hope of glory.
When you believe in him, rivers of living water flow from your innermost being. You'll hunger no more, you'll thirst no more. The prayer that God wants to answer, Beloved, is the prayer of knowing him inside. So here we go, the Book of Ephesians, chapter 1, beginning in verse number 15, "For this reason I too", Paul says, "having heard of the faith in Yeshua Ha Mashiach, which exist among you and your love for all the saints", here we go, "did not cease giving thanks for you", here we go, "while making mention of you in my prayers". And so Paul's saying that he's praying now, and here he begins to tell us what he's praying, and here's what his prayer is, verse 17, that the God of Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the Father of Glory may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
So the first thing that Paul was praying for the saints is not that they'd have a bigger house, not that they'd have a bigger car, we don't see those types of prayers being prayed in Scripture, we see the Apostle Paul, the Apostle John one time saying I pray that as your soul prospers that you'll also prosper and be in good health but that isn't the crux of scriptural prayer life, it's more about knowing God, so Paul prays, I pray that the Father of Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the Father of Glory will give you a spirit, listen now, of wisdom, verse 17, of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. You see, you might think that a bigger house is your answer, you might think that, that there's something in this world that's your answer but that's not what is going to make you happy. The only people, Beloved, that think money's the answer are people that have never had money. Anybody that has money knows that it's not the answer.
Now it's true if you don't have enough money to pay your bills and, and you know, put your lights on, and have food in your stomach, you got problems but it's not the answer. The only people that think fame or some ministry position is the answer and that's what going to make them happy are people that have never had fame, or people that have never had a strong ministry position because, you know what, that doesn't do anything and I'm preaching before millions of people through this broadcast but it doesn't, really Beloved, it doesn't faze me. What satisfies, Beloved, is knowing him and so Paul prays, I pray that you would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. We need to ask God, let me know you, let me understand your ways, let me know your heart Lord; let me see Yeshua Father God. Father, let me understand your kingdom.
Remember Yeshua said, seek ye first the kingdom of God. Well did you ever ask what is the kingdom of God? What do you mean by your kingdom? The Lord said, I will build my kingdom and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Well, what is your kingdom? So Paul prays here, I pray that the Father would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. Listen, we're in the tabernacle, we're talking about walking with God, we're talking about knowing the love of God. Prayer is key but we need to be praying the type of prayers that are going to bring us into this intimacy, that are going to bring us into peace.
You see, the Lord wants to bring you and I into peace. Yeshua said, shalom, my peace I give to you. Well this peace, Beloved, is going to be received largely through prayer. It's going to be received, Beloved, through a knowledge of the truth. You shall know the truth, Yeshua said, and the truth shall set you free. See, we're not praying for the surface things, we're praying for the inner realities, Beloved, of the heart, and so we see here that the Lord would give us, Paul said, I pray that the Father would give you. Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 17, that the God of Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the Father of Glory may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
So right now, Father God, we ask you to forgive us Lord for our hard headedness, God, and for not asking, and we ask to receive now, Father God, a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of you. We ask, Father God, that you'll come now by your Spirit and enlighten us, Father God, in what we need to be enlightened. Give us a spirit, Father, of wisdom and revelation to know you and to understand your ways.
And then Paul goes on to pray in the 18th verse here, I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened. Again, it's the same thing, Father God, help me to see in my heart what I need to see. Many times all we see is the flesh, Beloved, all we see is what's going on on the surface. We need to understand, Beloved, who we are in him. I pray that eyes of your heart might be enlightened. You might find yourself continually being offended by people. You know what, if you knew who you were in the Lord, if you knew how much the Lord loved you, if you understood your calling, listen what Paul says here in verse 18, I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened, you might know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.
You know what, if you knew who you were in Messiah, if you knew were a king and priest in Messiah, if you knew who you were in God, if you had the identity in your own mind as to how he sees you, Beloved, you wouldn't be offended when people, you wouldn't be being offended with people all the time because the way that they treat you wouldn't be defining who you are. If we know who are, Beloved, through revelation from him, then we're not going to be offended by people because we're going to know who they are. That's why Yeshua said that we're going to know we are rather.
That's why Yeshua can look at the people that were spitting on him, and stoned him, and you know, and he could look at them and say as he was on the Cross, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. How could he show such love to these people that plucked out his beard and spit on him? How could he do that? Because his identity, Beloved, wasn't determined by who they were. They were saying, they were saying, you know, you're a false Messiah, you've got a demon in you, you're a liar, you're a lunatic, but you know what, he wasn't offended, excuse me Beloved, because he knew who he was, who they thought he was wasn't determining who he thought he was because his eyes were enlightened.
Listen again, verse number 18, Paul prays, I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened so that you might know what is the hope of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. What does that mean? I pray that you'll understand who's inside you, and what your destiny is, and that the Father chose you before the foundation of the world to be his. You know, we see a really interesting example of this principle in John, chapter 13 where Yeshua girds himself with a towel there and he begins to wash the disciples feet, and the Scripture says right before Jesus began to serve by washing the disciples feet, right before that the Scripture says, and Jesus, knowing, listen now, that he had come from God, knowing that he was going back to God and knowing that the Father had given him all things, he girded himself with a towel and began to wash his disciples feet.
What's going on there? Jesus, Beloved, knew who he was. He knew he had come from God. He knew the Father loved him. He knew that the Father had given him all things. He knew his destiny. He knew he was going back to God. He didn't need anything from anybody. He already had everything so he was free to concentrate on the needs of others. He didn't come to be served but to serve because he already was full. He already had everything he could ever want because he knew who he was, that's why in the wilderness when the devil came and tempted him, the first thing the devil said was if you're the Son.
See, the devil was trying to steal his identity saying, if you're the Son of God but Yeshua knew who he was and we need to be praying that God would give us eyes to understand the Lord, Beloved, who we are, the destiny that we have, the identity that he's given us, and where we're going, and when we have this, Beloved, we're going to be able to function the way the Lord wants us to function in this world but we need to pray for this, we need to labor for it, we need to take it, Beloved, by faith and by force in Yeshua's name. By force, I mean we need to say... we need to mean it when we pray. Lord, show me who I am in Messiah by faith, really lay a hold of it.
It's like you're putting a demand on God to do, Beloved, what he said he would do and that's faith, and so every day when we walk around and we're tempted to be offended by the way somebody treated us, the way that they talked to us, they didn't show us enough respect, we felt that they slighted us, you know what we need to do? We need to say, Lord, show me who I am in you. Let me know who I am in you. Let me have your identity, Father God, the way that you see me and the way that you want me to see myself in you, and as we begin to get clarity on that, Beloved, people aren't going to be able to offend us because we're going to see them as so much beneath us they don't define who we are. I don't mean we're over them in such a way that, you know, we're better than them, but I mean we're over them in a way, in a sense that what they think about us in no way determines how we think about ourselves because we have received enlightenment from the Father to know the reality of who we are.
The Apostle Paul continues there in the 19th verse, he says, I pray that also that you would understand, listen now, what is the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe. This power, he says, is in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Messiah when he raised him from the dead. And so Paul is saying, you need to be praying to understand the power that's at work in your life. We're talking, Beloved, about the tabernacle, about the mishkan, we're talking about the Altar of Incense that represents the prayers of the saints, and we're talking about the things that we should be laboring for in prayer, not all the superficial things only, Beloved, but more importantly, these deeper issues of the heart is what's going to lead us into truth, empower us, and set us free, and the Apostle says, you need to be praying for understanding of the power that's at work in your life.
Many of you that are watching right now don't really even have a fathom of the sense that God's Spirit is in you, that the spirit of life is in you, that the Spirit that raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead, that conquered death, lives in you, and so the Apostle Paul prays, I pray that you begin to understand the power that's at work in your life. Let's read this verse again, verse number 19, Ephesians chapter 1, that you would understand what is the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe. This power, he says, is in accordance with the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Messiah when he raised him from the dead. We need to understand, Beloved, that we are empowered. Yeshua told the disciples to go wait in Jerusalem, what? Until they had received the baptism of Ruach Ha Ko'desh of the Holy Spirit, they were baptized with the Spirit, listen, and power, fire and power.
So Father God, we pray that you'll help us to understand the power of your Spirit that's at work in our life. We pray that you'll help us Lord to feel empowered by your zoe life, Lord, by your divine life that's at work within us. I pray, Father, that you'll give us ability to perceive that your Spirit lives in us, that you'll help us, Holy Spirit, to understand that you're a spirit of life, that you're a spirit of light, that you live in us, Lord, and help us learn how, Father God, to walk in your Spirit, and to abide in your life, and to walk, hallelujah, in your power.