Censer
Summary
A small portable metal vessel used to hold burning coals upon which incense was sprinkled during worship in the tabernacle and temple.
☩Types and Construction
Two Hebrew words describe censers: machtah, meaning 'fire-pan' or 'something to take fire with,' and miqtereth, derived from the word for incense. The daily censers used in regular worship were made of brass, while the censer used on the Day of Atonement was of gold. Solomon prepared 'censers of pure gold' for the temple. The shape was likely a bowl-like vessel with a handle, unlike the perforated swinging censers used in later church tradition.
☩Use in Worship
The priest would fill the censer with live coals from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt offering, then sprinkle incense upon the coals to produce a fragrant cloud. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest carried the golden censer into the Holy of Holies, where he put incense on the fire 'before the Lord.' The daily censers were placed upon the altar of incense, but the yearly censer was held in the priest's hand while the incense burned.
☩Korah's Rebellion
When Korah and his company challenged Moses and Aaron's leadership, they were commanded to take censers and offer incense before the Lord. Two hundred fifty men participated in this unauthorized priestly act, and divine judgment fell upon them. Their censers, having been consecrated by being presented before the Lord, were afterward beaten into plates to cover the altar as a memorial warning against unauthorized priestly service.
☩Symbolic Significance
In Revelation, the censer becomes a powerful symbol of prayer and divine judgment. An angel is depicted with a golden censer, adding incense to the prayers of the saints so they ascend as a sweet-smelling savor before God. The same censer later holds the fire of God's vengeance, which is cast upon the earth. This imagery connects the censer to both intercession and judgment.
Related Verses19 mentions
References
- 1.James Hastings (ed.), "Censer," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Censer," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Censer," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.James Orr (ed.), "Censer," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 5.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Censer," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).