We’re going to look at Exodus chapter 10, passages that Catholic apologists will use to prove you can pray to saints. We condemn praying to saints because we condemn praying to men. Not only that, we condemn praying to saints because we believe Christ is the only intercessor of our prayers.
Exodus 10:17 “Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat Jehovah your God, that he may take away from me this death only.” Pharaoh was praying to Moses? That’s not what it means. They use this logic to debunk the argument. “It’s okay, you can pray to men. Even Pharaoh did that.” Praying also means beseeching, pleading but this is beseeching men in a physical world. Everybody does that. “I pray thee, have me excused.” Everyone does that kind of stuff in a physical world but this is what we condemn: when you pray to someone in a spirit world. When you’re making a request, a prayer to someone in a spirit world, that’s something dangerous. There is one spirit that we pray to in the spirit world and that’s God but here in this physical world, it’s obvious and everyone prays beseeches requests to somebody in the physical world.
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” That’s a powerful verse that we use to condemn praying to saints. That there’s only one person mediating between God and men and that’s Jesus Christ. But they’re gonna say look at 1 Timothy 2:1. People can do intercession. “I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men…” Look at that men – interceding for men so there are people who can intercede on our behalf. That’s their logic. But they misread the text. They’re not interceding our prayers so thus we are not praying to them. They’re interceding for us by praying. It’s not that we’re praying to them, they’re praying for us. Don’t we do that? “Pastor so-and-so, sister so-and-so, brother so-and-so, can you pray for me about this problem so I will intercede on your behalf by praying for you.” Are you going down on your knees in front of me and saying “Brother and sister so and so, please take care of this problem for me” and then I’m interceding that prayer? No, only one person intercedes that prayer and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 5:9 “And they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.” Revelation 8:3-4 “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.” These passages are not referring to Christians praying to saints, it’s the saints praying to God. These saints are down on earth, they’re not up in heaven. They’re praying to God for vengeance on the world and those prayers are simply held by the angels and the 24 elders to dump on the altar for God’s vengeance to be poured out on the world. Revelation 6:9-10 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. They cried with a loud voice saying ‘How long, O Lord holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth.’” Were they praying to Saint so-and-so here? No, they were praying to God and the saints simply held them on the altar. Revelation 8:4-5 “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand and the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake.” This is going on in the tribulation, this is not happening every single day. If you think this happens every single day, then those prayers which are on the altar and then God’s vengeance poured upon the earth should be happening every single day. That’s not what’s going on. Not only that, what are these particular prayers of the saints? “Avenge our blood”. That’s not happening right now. This is a tribulation time period where tribulation saints, not saints up in heaven, are praying to the Lord.