Hi Pastor John,
Am I reading this right, that the incense altar was in the Most Holy place?
Hebrews 9 (your translation.)
- Then, behind the second veil, was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies,
- having the golden incense altar, and the ark of the covenant, completely covered with gold and in which was the golden pot containing manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant,
- and above which, overshadowing the mercy seat, were the cherubim of glory — of which things there is not now time to speak in detail.
I believed and thought I read in the O.T., where the incense altar was in the holy place before the veil, and not in the Most Holy Place???
Thanks,
Billy
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Hi Billy,
Yes, you are reading that rightly, but notice that the author of Hebrews does not actually say that the incense altar was inside the veil; he only says that (1) the Most Holy itself was “behind” the second veil and that (2) the Most Holy “had” certain things, including the incense altar. In other words, as I read it, the incense altar properly belonged to the Most Holy room; however, if God had placed the incense altar inside the Most Holy, the priests could not have burned incense on it every day as God demanded. So, He commanded Moses to place it just outside the Most Holy, in front of the veil.
Pastor John