II KINGS 17:11

Q:  In the Daily Bible section titled "Reason's For Israel's Fall," it says that "at every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done." How come many Christian churches today burn incense when at one time it was considered sacrilegious to do so? Thanks for any insight you might offer.

There are several main points to make in regard to this question. The first one concerns the wording of the NIV translation. Other modern translations render the phrase “burned incense” as “made offerings” (AB), “burned sacrifices” (NEB) or “worshiped” (NRSV). These translations are possible because the Hebrew word for incense comes from the root verb “to go up in smoke.” It can also refer to burnt offerings which may or may not contain incense (Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, Vol. 3, 913-15). So this particular verse may not even refer to burning incense at all.

Secondly, the vast majority of the 60+ unambiguous references to the burning of incense in the Bible are positive in nature and refer to practices described in Leviticus for tabernacle or temple worship of God. In those contexts, burning of incense was not only tolerated by God, but actually specified as part of the worship service. The New Bible Dictionary (p. 561) explains that “incense was a costly offering and a sign essentially of the acknowledgment of deity...Incense is also used in Scripture as a symbol of prayer.”

There is one negative reference to incense in Isaiah 1:13 which is easily misunderstood outside of its context: “Incense is an abomination to me (says the LORD).” In its context, it refers to God's disgust with all of Israel's worship practices, not because there was anything wrong with the practices themselves, but because they were carried out by a sinful people who refused to repent.

In a similar manner, the II Kings passage must be taken in its whole context. Even if the translation “burned incense” is correct, the author is not concerned with incense burning per se any more than he is commenting negatively on the idea of “worship” found in verse 7. The overwhelming emphasis in verses 7-12 is on the people's disobedience to God's commands, setting up idols and worshiping other gods through incense and sacrifices. So the phrase “as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done” in verse 11 does not refer to the practice of incense burning alone, but to the whole paragraph that precedes it. This interpretation is confirmed by the fact that practically the same phrase appears in verse 8. These two similar statements act as brackets to comment on the list of sins in between.

So the only remaining question concerns the use of incense in Christian worship today. It was certainly an accepted part of worship in Old Testament times, but is not mentioned in the New Testament as an integral part of Christian practices. This is perhaps because of its close association with the animal sacrifices associated with the Old Covenant. John is given a heavenly vision of a golden censer with incense mingled with the prayers of the saints, described in Revelation 8:3-4. This is perhaps the “proof-text” used for some high church practices today, which usually associate the burning of incense with prayers.

The important take-away point is that it is not so much the mode in which we worship, but Whom we worship and whether we have the proper attitude during worship.