Why Did They Light Incense in the Temple in Bible Times?

 Q:  In Sunday school someone asked, "Why did they light incense in the temple in Bible times?" and not even the teacher knew.  Do you know?

A:  Most sources will tell you something along these lines:

"The smoke from burnt offerings rose into the heavens, representing our dedication to God. The incense represented people’s prayers rising up to God" (“Then Will I Go unto the Altar of God,” Ensign, February 2014, 66).

This is the symbolism that is used in Psalms 141:2 and Revelation 8:3-4:

"Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.  Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice."

"And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand."

The symbolism whereby the smoke of the incense represents the prayers of the saints is a powerful one, and should help us to understand the importance of prayer in our relationship with God, but there is deeper symbolism which should not be ignored.  The burning of the incense to accompany an offering in the temple also had an important symbolic function that relates to the Savior and the cleansing and purifying effect (sanctification) of His atonement.

In Leviticus, the Israelites were commanded to add incense (along with salt and some other things) to their burnt offerings in order that their offerings might be "of a sweet savour unto the Lord" (see Leviticus Ch. 2).  This had the symbolic effect of sanctifying the offering and making it acceptable to God.

This symbolism was understood by the people anciently, as it was part of the prayer which was offered by the priests and the people during the portion of the service in which the incense was lit.

"Be graciously pleased, Jehovah our God, with Thy people Israel, and with their prayer.  Restore the service to the oracle of Thy house; and the burnt-offerings of Israel and their prayer accept graciously and in love; and let the service of Thy people Israel be ever well-pleasing unto Thee" (Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, 129).

Why Gethsemane is as Important as Calvary

Q:  Do you really think Jesus bled from every pore, or do you think it’s symbolic?

A:  I believe that Christ DID, in fact, literally bleed from every pore. The reality of this event has been confirmed by the Book of Mormon and other Latter-day scriptures, and modern prophets have also borne witness to the truth of Christ’s bleeding from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Mosiah 3:7  And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

Even Christ himself is recorded bearing witness to the reality of His suffering in the garden:

D&C 19:17-19  For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;  Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

It has also been demonstrated scientifically that the human body can indeed bleed from the pores when subjected to enough stress, as evidenced by these medical references:

"Those who assert that it is impossible for a body to sweat blood are not acquainted with the facts. The possibility of this phenomenon was known to the ancients...And if one will take the trouble to consult a modern medical dictionary under hemathidrosis or hematidrosis, reference will be found to the phenomenon. Thus in The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary (1947, Phila.) we find this entry:  'Hematidrosis—The sweating of blood or of fluid mixed with blood. In Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (1955, Phila.) occurs this reference:  Hemathidrosis, hematidrosis—Condition of sweating blood.'  In a much older medical work we find this interesting note: 'Haematidrosis is a functional disturbance of the sweat apparatus whereby blood, through diapedesis into the coils and ducts from their surrounding vascular plexus, becomes mingled with the sweat and appears with it upon the normal skin, producing the phenomenon of so-called "bloody sweat." It is an exceedingly rare occurrence, ....' (C. T. Dade in Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences, IV, 466. 1902.)  Thus it is clear that the sweating of blood can occur, even if rarely" (Dr. Sydney B. Sperry, Answers to Book of Mormon Questions, 139-140).

However, physical suffering was only part of what the Savior experienced during His sojourn in Gethsemane.

“It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused Him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing. No other man, however great his powers of physical or mental endurance, could have suffered so; for his human organism would have succumbed, [producing] unconsciousness and welcome oblivion. In that hour of anguish Christ met and overcame all the horrors that Satan, ‘the prince of this world’ could inflict…In some manner, actual and terribly real though to man incomprehensible, the Savior took upon Himself the burden of the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world” (James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 613).

Did the Holy Ghost Function Differently During Christ's Mortal Ministry? And Other New Testament Questions.

Question #1:  I read that Jesus never baptized people, only his disciples did. John 3:22 & 4:1-2. Why?

Answer:  KJV John 4:1-2  When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

This passage in its current form (as it is preserved in the King James Translation and other subsequent English translations of the Bible) is somewhat obscure, but fortunately the Joseph Smith translation of this section of text sheds a bit more light on the subject.

JST John 4:1-4  When therefore the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, They sought more diligently some means that they might put him to death; for many received John as a prophet, but they believed not on Jesus.  Now the Lord knew this, though he himself baptized not so many as his disciples; For he suffered them for an example, preferring one another.

According to Joseph Smith's inspired translation Christ did indeed perform baptismal ordinances personally, therefore the current form of the scripture as we read it in modern Bibles is likely the result of an error or deliberate change in scribal transcription, or an error in subsequent translation.  Elder Bruce R. McConkie is emphatic in affirming this truth:

“Contrary to the false teachings and traditions of sectarianism, Jesus personally performed water baptisms so that in all things he might be the great Exemplar. Without question he also performed all other ordinances essential to salvation and exaltation.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:148.)

Note however that even in the JST passage Christ did not baptize "so many as his disciples."  Aside from being busy, Christ may have had some more interesting reasons for personally performing less actual baptismal ordinances than his disciples did.  Matthew Henry (1622-1714) speculates that this is: "Because...He would honour his disciples, and so train them up to further services.  He would teach us that what is done by his ministers, according to His direction, He acknowledges as done by Himself" (Matthew Henry (Ed. Rev. Dr. Leslie F. Church), The NIV Matthew Henry Commentary, 327).

What happens to us when we die? Part IV: Judgement

Follow these links to go to a previous installment:

Part III: Resurrection

Part II: The Spirit World

Part I: Death


IV. JUDGMENT

a. Jesus Christ performed the atonement in order to bring mankind back into the presence of God. All mankind will be brought to stand before Christ so that they might be judged.
Helaman 14:17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.

3 Nephi 27: 14-15 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.

b. We will be brought to stand before the Savior to be judged.
John 5:22-23 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Is the atonement of Jesus Christ enough for all of us?

A friend of mine sent me this question, and I responded, quite a while ago. I happened to re-read my response to her question this morning, and I decided that I had not covered all of the points that should properly be covered in addressing a subject such as this. In light of the things that I have learned since I wrote this, I thought that I could add some new insights to an old question.

Q: Why was the suffering and death of Jesus Christ ENOUGH to atone for the sins of all of us?

A: In the Book of Mormon, the great teacher Amulek taught that "there can be nothing which is short of an infinite atonement which will suffice for the sins of the world" (Alma 34:12).  That means that only a sacrifice which endures for eternity, and which is infinite in capacity, can satisfy the debt which each of us has incurred through our transgressions. What is it about Christ, and the atonement which He performed, that made his sacrifice sufficiently infinite to atone for the sins of the world?

Christ kept the whole law (see 1 Peter 2 :21-25 and 1 John 3:4-5 and James 2:10) so he could intercede for us based on his own merits, a claim that no other can make. (See Hebrews 5:8-10)  Also, Christ (in concert with God) was acting in accordance with the lawfully prescribed method for expiating sins (by offering himself). (I deliberately chose not to use the term "legally" though one might make the argument that it applies in this instance.) He did so namely by complying with the ordinance that called for the sacrifice of blood to atone for sins (see Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 17:11). Alma 34:11-16 explains this rather well. I refer you also to Hebrews 8:18-22, and Hebrews 9:13-14. Hebrews 10 explains in great detail the ways in which animal sacrifice was only a precursor to and ultimately an inferior shadow of that great and last sacrifice wherein "we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all". Christ’s sacrifice not only surpasses the power and effectiveness of the old law of sacrifice, but it is also in perfect harmony with (and in fact fulfills the requirements of) that same Law, as Paul explains in Hebrews. Paul goes on to explain that the demands of the Law required Christ to make that final redeeming sacrifice by “ the offering of [his] body…once for all” (see Hebrews 10:10) and he declares further that “… by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (See Hebrews 10:14).

The Atonement Defined II: Sanctification

Click here to see also: The Atonement Defined I: Justification

Sanctification:  Sanctification represents the actual cleansing of one’s soul from sin through the shedding of the blood of Christ. We are sanctified by the blood of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the process through which we are made holy as our natures become truly changed (or converted)