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Revelation 5:8<\/strong> (RSV) . . . the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;<\/p>\n
Revelation 8:3-4<\/strong> And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; [4] and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Older Protestant commentaries tended to interpret these prayers or presentation of prayers in heaven to God as merely symbolic, with some exceptions; for example, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary<\/a><\/em> almost begrudgingly conceded that the elders are \u201cemployed by God in some way unknown to us to present our prayers.\u201d Newer commentaries, however, usually don\u2019t offer a knee-jerk \u201cpolemically contra-Catholic\u201d interpretation:<\/p>\n
1) New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Book of Revelation (Revised)<\/em><\/a> (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1998), by Robert H. Mounce<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
Dr. Mounce<\/a> (1921-2019), a Reformed evangelical, earned a ThM in New Testament from\u00a0Fuller Theological Seminary<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and a PhD from the\u00a0University of Aberdeen.<\/sup> He taught at Bethel College and Seminary<\/a> and was later president of\u00a0Whitworth College<\/a>. Dr. Mounce was an author of many commentaries and other books<\/a>, and was a member of the translation teams for the New International Version<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0English Standard Version<\/a>. Dr. David Hubbard<\/a>, author of 36 books and former president of Fuller Theological Seminary, referred to him<\/a> as \u201cone of our generation\u2019s most able expositors.\u201d<\/p>\n
[5:8] The prayers of the saints are now brought before God in golden bowls. The golden bowls are full of incense symbolizing the prayers of the saints. . . . (cf. Ps 141:2, \u201cMay my prayer be set before you like incense\u201d). . . .<\/p>\n
The idea of angels acting as intermediaries and presenting the prayers of saints to God is common in later Jewish thought. In Tob[it]<\/a> 12:15 [part of Catholic deuterocanonical Scripture<\/a>] an angel says, \u201cI am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, who present the prayers of the saints, and who go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.\u201d [cf. 12:12: \u201cwhen you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer before the Holy One\u201d]. In 3 Baruch<\/em> 11<\/a> [pseudepigrapha<\/a>] it is Michael the archangel who descends to the fifth heaven to receive the prayers of the people [\u201cMichael, the commander\u00a0of the angels,\u00a0<\/i>comes down to receive the prayers of men\u201d]. It was the increasing emphasis in Jewish thought on the transcendence of God that made such intermediaries appropriate. In Revelation the twenty-four elders perform this function. (pp. 134-135)<\/p>\n
[8:3-4] The angel is pictured as offering the prayers of the saints in much the same way as the priests in the temple at Jerusalem would daily take hot coals from the altar of sacrifice and carry them into the holy place to the golden altar of incense (cf. Luke 1:9). . . .<\/p>\n
Either the incense is mingled with the prayers of the saints or the incense is the prayers. . . . It is preferable . . . to follow the second option, which is . . . to translate, \u201che was given much incense to offer, consisting of the prayers of all the saints.\u201d This interpretation harmonizes with 5:8, where the bowls of incense are definitely identified with the prayers of the saints. . . .<\/p>\n
The angel of 8:3-5 is a heavenly priest who presents the prayers of all the saints . . . before God. (pp. 174-175)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As for the translation that he suggests, Mounce cites the great biblical scholar F. F. Bruce<\/strong>, from his section, \u201cThe Revelation to John\u201d: part of A New Testament Commentary<\/em>, ed. G. C. D. Howley, London: Pickering & Inglis, 1969, 629-666 (p. 646 cited).<\/p>\n
2) Revelation<\/em><\/a> (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2002), by Grant R. Osborne<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
Grant R. Osborne<\/a> (1942-2018), an Arminian evangelical, received his PhD from the University of Aberdeen.\u00a0He also did\u00a0postdoctoral research at Cambridge university and the University of Marburg. He taught at Winnipeg Theological Seminary and the university of Aberdeen and from 1977 to 2016 was professor of New Testament at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Dr. Osborne\u00a0was a member of the\u00a0Society of Biblical Literature<\/a>, the\u00a0Evangelical Theological Society<\/a>, and the Institute of Biblical Research, and authored many books<\/a>.<\/p>\n
[8:3-4] The prayers here most likely refer specifically to the imprecatory prayers for vengeance and justice in Rev. 6:9-11, although the presence of \u201call the saints\u201d here specifically may refer to all prayers in general. (p. 345)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
3)\u00a0A Commentary on the Revelation of John<\/em><\/a> (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1972), by George Eldon Ladd<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
George Eldon Ladd<\/a> <\/span><\/span>(1911-1982<\/sup>),<\/a> a Baptist, was professor of New Testament theology\u00a0and\u00a0exegesis\u00a0at\u00a0Fuller Theological Seminary. He received his doctorate from Harvard University, and authored many books<\/a>. Robert Mounce called his commentary on Revelation \u201creadable and sane . . . a careful interpretation.\u201d<\/p>\n
[5:8] . . . the elders are angelic beings. . . . In some way, angelic beings are thought of as assisting the prayers of the saints to rise to God. (p. 89)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
4)\u00a0Exploring Revelation<\/span><\/span>:\u00a0<\/em><\/a>An Expository Commentary<\/em> (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Academic, 1987 version), by John Phillips<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
John Phillips received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary<\/a> (Baptist). He served as Director of the Emmaus Correspondence School, one of the world\u2019s largest correspondence ministries.<\/p>\n
[5:8] These mighty creatures take the feeble prayers of God\u2019s people on earth and pour them out as a sweet fragrance before God. (p. 90)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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The \u201ctwenty-four elders\u201d are usually regarded by commentators as either dead human beings or angels. They appear to have other people\u2019s prayers, to present to God. All of the above commentaries hold to that view. So the obvious question \u2014 that the commentaries don\u2019t really delve into \u2014\u00a0 is: what are they doing<\/i> with them? Why does Revelation describe dead saints and\/or angels presenting the prayers of \u201call the saints\u201d to God? Why do they have<\/i> them in the first place? If all these went right to God only, why would this scene be mentioned at all?<\/p>\n
How does it fit in, under Protestant assumptions about prayer and its hostility to the invocation of saints? They are somehow\u00a0involved<\/em> in the process of these prayers \u201cgetting to God.\u201d How can this be, if prayer is supposed to be\u00a0solely<\/em> between a Christian believer and his or her God, with no intermediary? It stands to reason, as a rather straightforward deduction or at least a plausible surmise, that these heavenly beings heard\u00a0<\/i>the initial prayers as well, or at least were granted\u00a0knowledge<\/i> of them in some fashion, ultimately through the knowledge of God. \u00a0It stands to reason that they would\u00a0 be offering the prayers of the saints if they were asked<\/em> to \u2013 otherwise those prayers would not be, in a sense, theirs to offer.<\/p>\n
It would be the difference between God receiving direct prayers from people o earth and then giving them to the dead saints and angels to present to Him, which seems distinctly less plausible to me compared to a scenario where people ask an angel or a saint to pray (intercede) for them to God, and they do so as described in these passages.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s also striking to note is the phrase \u201cthe prayers of all<\/em> the saints\u201d in Revelation 8:3 which might reasonably suggest that such \u201cintercessory mediation\u201d may be undertaken by angels in the case of all prayers offered<\/em> (which approaches even the \u201ccontroversial\u201d Catholic doctrine of Mary Mediatrix). Or it might be seen as a general statement, meaning in context, \u201cthe prayers of many many or a great variety of saints.\u201d Either way, there is massive involvement of creatures in heaven with our prayers, which is a striking confirmation of the traditional Catholic doctrines of the invocation and intercession of saints.<\/p>\n
Angels are extremely intelligent beings. We know that they rejoice when a sinner repents. They have knowledge in ways that we do not; above our comprehension.<\/p>\n
The fact that Christ is mediator is not questioned by anyone. Asking a saint in heaven to pray for us no more interferes with the unique mediation of Christ than does asking a person on earth to pray for us. We always pray in Christ, through His power, and to Him, whether it is directly to Him, or by means of another person or angel, in heaven or on earth. Nor do we pray to angels and saints as if they were the ones who granted<\/em> or denied<\/em> our prayers, and had the power to do so (the ultimate recipients).<\/p>\n
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