By Dr. John A. Looper
"Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant. Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar: for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people" (Isaiah 56:1-7).
Speaking of God's house of prayer for all people, King David prophesied in Psalm 87 that the day would come when the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Philistine, the Tyrenian, and the Ethiopian would be born in Zion-unto God and unto the truth and practice of His Word through the Messiah.
Isaiah foresaw through the Spirit the restoration of God's house or temple, not just the historical return of Israel from seventy years of Babylonian captivity and the building of Zerubbabel's temple, but an even greater miracle, the restoration in the last days of both Jews (verse 4-"eunuchs") and Gentiles (verse 6-"strangers") to God and to His eternal system of praise, worship, and service
These two peoples that were to be reconciled into one temple by the cross of Christ were first to take hold of the Sabbath-not just the day, but the grace which is the true rest through Christ our Sabbath. Secondly, they would take hold of the sabbaths (plural, verse 4), which are God's holidays-not just for commemoration, but as principles of revelation concerning God's will to man. But the final, climactic point in this passage is God's statement that his house will be a house of prayer for all people. This was not intended to be the official name of God's house, but rather its reputation among all people.
SYMBOLISM IN THE TABERNACLE
To understand the importance of prayer in our relationship to God and why God's house was and still must be the house of prayer for all people, we must look back to the first physical manifestation of God's tabernacle and the typology revealed therein.
Many times we think of our relationship to God only in terms of forgiveness. But, what boundless riches the Father has prepared for those who receive a revelation of communion with the Lord through prayer and worship! The diagram of the tabernacle at right will show what we mean
1. From without, from the world, we are drawn by the spirit of truth to enter into the court of the Lord.
2. When we enter God's court, we first go to the brazen altar of sacrifice for sin, where we are forgiven when we acknowledge that Christ was the perfect sin offering and Passover Lamb who brought us eternal redemption.
3. Now that our past sins have been forgiven, we must progress in God's court to the laver full of water, the symbol of the washing of regeneration and sanctification demonstrated by baptism and the daily washing of ourselves through obedience to the Word of God (Ephesians 5:26
4. Having been regenerated, our hearts are now ready to enter into a relationship with God. We cannot afford to be content with only justification. We must now enter into His sanctuary to be instructed of the Lord. We first come to the table with the twelve loaves of shewbread (which symbolize the apostles' doctrine) that we might be sustained, learn God's order, and receive our daily bread. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled
5. It is not enough, though, just to eat God's bread. We must also come t the candlestick to the seven-fold Spirit of Christ, the light of the world. Herein, we learn how to rightly divide the word of truth that it might give light through the oil of the Spirit to all that are in the house. The candlestick is also God's pattern of government for our individual lives as well as for His body, the church.
6. Now we come to the central object in God's sanctuary-the altar of incense which stands before the holy of holies and the mercy seat. Here we offer up ourselves to God through prayer and obedience as living sacrifices worthy to come boldly to the throne of grace that our petitions might be heard and that our every action might be directed of God to His praise and glory. Here we enter a communion beyond description for those who press in.
7. The veil between the sanctuary and the holy of holies was rent at Calvary. Now for those who press in, we finally find ourselves in God's throne room with a vision of the Lord high and lifted up and His train filling our temple. We cannot help but fall prostrate, crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The earth is full of His glory." Then, and only then, can we be anointed with a coal of fire from the altar in heaven to become the Lord's love slaves.
THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER
Prayer was of such great importance that in Exodus 30:1-10 God commanded Aaron to offer up incense twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening. These two occasions became known as the hours of prayer, from 9 until l0 a.m. and from 3 until 4 p.m. In the days of King David (Psalm 55: 17) and in the days of Daniel the prophet (Daniel 6: 10), we find that God actually gave Israel three hours of prayer-morning, noon, and evening.
Many great events took place during these hours of incense. In I Kings 18:42-44 it was during the evening oblation that Elijah offered an acceptable sacrifice that Israel from Baal worship to God and ended a 3 1/2 year draught. When Zacharias was offering incense in the temple at the hour of prayer, the angel Gabriel appeared and informed him of the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:8-17). When Jesus had fulfilled His ministry and it was time for Him to be offered, Mark 15:25-37 reveals that Christ was crucified during the morning oblation and died six hours later during the evening oblation. Acts 2:1-4,14-18 reveals that the Holy Ghost was poured out during the morning oblation, or hour of prayer. Peter and John were going to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer in Acts 3:1-15 when the lame man was healed and Peter preached to 5,000 people at Solomon's porch. Acts 10:30-47 shows at Cornelius, a devout Gentile believer ("God fearer") from Caesarea, was praying about the ninth hour (3 p.m) when an angel appeared to him instructing him to send for Peter to open the door of salvation to the Gentiles.
Prayer is communication not with men but with God. The gross error against which Jesus lashed out in the Sermon on the Mount was the superficial worship and prayer which many Jews had developed that sought more to impress men than to commune with God. Jesus was not against public prayer; however, He knew if we did not maintain our prayer closet in private fasting and communing with the Father, our public worship would be nothing more than an effort to maintain a spiritual image with our peers which can lead to spiritual blindness and hypocrisy.
The present international awakening is a witness that all has not been well in the kingdom of God. People want a deeper relationship with God. If a husband and wife never communicated, their relationship would not survive. Many Christians are trying to maintain a relationship with God without the communication of prayer. That is what prayer is - simply a talk with the Father. It is impossible to be spiritual without daily prayer. The Bible teaches us that the spiritual man is renewed day by day. It also teaches us to pray without ceasing.
In Revelation 8:1-5 John saw the altar of incense in heaven. The angel of the Lord had a golden censer full of the prayers of the saints to be offered up on the altar with much incense that it might ascend up before the throne of God. The incense symbolized both the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8) and the sweet smelling elements that accompanied those prayers and made them acceptable to God.
he incense employed in the service of the tabernacle was compounded of the perfumes stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense. All incense which was not made of these ingredients was forbidden to be offered. These four ingredients reveal the humility, sincerity, sobriety, and fervency in the Spirit that cause our prayers to become effective and to move the heart of God.
PRAYING WITH UNDERSTANDING AND WITH SPIRIT
Two forms of prayer are mentioned in the New Testament. One is praying with the understanding; the other is praying with the Spirit. Notice that I Corinthians 14:14,15 does not say "in the Spirit" but praying "with the Spirit." Everything we do should be in the Spirit, but praying with the Spirit takes place when the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. This called intercessory Prayer. Paul reveals this beautifully in Romans 8:26,27: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercessory for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God " Praying with the Spirit is a marvelous experience awaiting those who will press in.
Prayer is a barometer of our spiritual fortitude. Our zeal where prayer is concerned will help everyone of us evaluate where our first love or priority lies. Isaiah 60:7 says that God will glorify the house of His glory only when we (from the least to the greatest) come up with acceptance on the altar of God. The hours of prayer are not the only times we should pray, for we can pray any time; however, if we would just use God's daily system of prayer, how much greater our lives would be. This is just one more example of the Christian church's great treasure of spiritual blessings to be discovered in its Biblical Judaeo-Christian roots and heritage.
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