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Adventistische Schriften über: "In Luke 1:9 it is reported that Zacharias performed the temple service to incense before the Lord. Was the incense service assigned by lot, and how was it carried out?"
Answer
The incense service was a highly esteemed duty, determined by lot to avoid disputes arising from human zeal. About fifty priests served in the temple each day, and the lot decided four times daily on the assignment of the various functions. Service at the incense altar was considered the highest mediating act, which a priest was generally permitted to perform only once in his lifetime.
The Assignment of the Incense Service by Lot
»To prevent disputes of fleshly jealousy, the lot should assign each his function. It was drawn four times: twice before and twice after the opening of the temple gates. ... Again the lot (the third) was cast to determine the one who should be honored with this highest mediating act. One could enjoy this privilege only once in a lifetime. From then on he was called 'rich' and had to leave his brothers the hope of the honor that had been granted to him. It was appropriate that such a lot, as was the custom, was preceded by prayer and a profession of faith by the assembled priests.«
Zacharias and the Exercise of His Office
»Zacharias lived in the “mountain region of Judah”, but he had gone up to Jerusalem to serve in the temple for a week, a service that was required twice a year of the priests of each division. “And it happened that when he performed the priesthood before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priestly office, the lot fell on him to bring the incense when he entered the Lord’s temple.”«
The Preparation and Conduct of the Service
»On that bright autumn morning in the temple... the lot had chosen him for the incense service for the first and last time in his life, and every thought must have been focused on what lay before him. ... First he had to select two of his close friends or relatives to assist him in his holy service. Their tasks were comparatively simple. One reverently removed what remained on the altar from the previous evening’s worship... The second assistant then stepped forward and, after he had spread the glowing coals taken from the burnt offering altar to the outer edge of the golden altar, prayed and withdrew. ... But the officiating priest who carried the golden incense vessel stood alone in the Holy Place, illuminated by the brilliance of the seven‑branched lamp.«
Original Sources (English)
Stephan Krol
Founder of EGW Vision
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