Monday, August 20, 2007

Exodus 30

Plans for the Incense Altar - for Christ our Intercessor and His continual intercession for us


Psalm 141:2: Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.


Luke 1: 8-11: One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week. As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.


Revelation 5:8: And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.


Revelation 8:3-4: Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out.


   When we look at Exodus chapter 30:1-10 and see the altar of incense, we see it pointing to the intercession of the saints, and the prayers of the saints being offered up to God. But of course, ultimately it points to the intercession of Christ and therein we see the distinction between the altar of sacrifice and the altar of incense. The altar of sacrifice manifests Christ’s work of atonement on the cross, in which He offered His own body on the tree as a sacrifice for our sins. But the altar of incense manifests His ongoing intercession for His people, just as the New Testament says He is at the right hand of God ever living to intercede. And so the sacrifice prepares the way for Him to serve as our effectual interceding mediator and high priest. - www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%205%20&%206/37aexo.htm


(1) “Then make another altar of acacia wood for burning incense.



(2) Make it 18 inches square and 36 inches high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself.


(3) Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure *gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar.


*gold: The altar of incense is sometimes called the "golden altar". It's gold because it's in the Holy of Holies within the Tabernacle. The Altar of Sacrifice is made of brass because it's outside in the courtyard. You have to go through Christ through His death for you before you can bring your prayers to Him and be accepted by Him.


(4) Make two gold rings, and attach them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold molding to hold the carrying poles.


(5) Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.


(6) Place the incense altar *just outside the inner curtain that shields the **Ark of the Covenant, in front of the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that covers the tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant. ***I will meet with you there.


*just outside the inner curtain: The altar of incense stood outside the veil, in the holy place (not in the most holy place). Therefore, it was fairly close to the Ark of the Covenant. The point of the little golden altar of incense is normally for intercessory prayer, and then at the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the Jewish day of repentance, for blood applied atonement. The instructions for making it show that God wanted his people to make a place for prayer. The instructions for its use show that God expects that the requests of his people will be pleasing to him.


**Ark of the Covenant: Or "Ark of the Testimony"



***I will meet with you there: Sprinkled throughout this description of the tabernacle and the furnishings are reminders of the purpose of the tabernacle. It is a place for man to meet with God.


   The incense was burnt on pieces of hot coal, which the priest removed in a censer or fire pan from the altar of burnt offering in the courtyard. A censer apparently was a shallow bowl or pan with a handle on it. It could be also be used for removing the ashes from the altar or gathering up the burnt parts of the wick from the lampstand. Poured out on burning coals the incense produced a delightful aroma in the Holy Place. It was the offering of the person whose sins had been forgiven by blood and who then went on to express the fragrance of love and worship, which was most pleasing to God. The Golden Altar speaks to us of the worship of Jesus Christ and God's people through him as our high priest and mediator. It was only on the basis of His one sacrifice on the altar of the cross that worship is made possible. The coals, which lit the incense, were carried from the altar of sacrifice to the altar of incense. Although the common priest would burn these holy spices on the altar over 700 times in a year, he knew that no priest other than the High Priest could go beyond that point, and only on the Day of Atonement.

Leviticus 16:12: he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain.
The sweet incense was to be kept burning at all times. It was before the veil, and the throne of God. - www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Golden_Altar_of_Incense.htm


(7) “Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar.


(8) And each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn incense in the Lord’s presence. This must be done from generation to generation.


(9) Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid offerings.


Leviticus 10:1-2: Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before him the wrong kind of fire (strange fire), different than he had commanded. So fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the Lord.


   Most likely, these sons of Aaron were consumed by Divine judgment because they "offered strange fire before the Lord," that is, the incense in their censers was not burned on fire taken from off the brazen altar, but was of their own kindling. Some believe they were drunk and others think that they used a different incense and still others believe they entered the Holy of Holies.


(10) “*Once a year Aaron must **purify the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to purify the people from their sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the ***Lord’s most holy altar.”


*Once a year: On the day of atonement (Yom Kippur)


**purify: Or make atonement for.


***The phrase Lord’s most holy altar or most holy to the Lord means that the altar cannot be used for any other purpose than what is stated here.


Ransom Money for the Tabernacle


(11) Then the Lord said to Moses,


(12) “Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them.


(13) Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the Lord. (This payment is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty gerahs.)


1 Peter 1:18-20: For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.


   A census communicated the idea that a king or a human leader “owned” Israel, when God alone did. This was David’s problem in 2 Samuel 24:1-25, when David took a census without the ransom money and God plagued Israel. Notice that everyone paid the same - whether rich or poor - we're all equally in need of redemption.


(14) All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this sacred offering to the Lord.


(15) When this offering is given to the Lord to* purify your lives, making you right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must not give less.


*purify your lives: Or to make atonement for your lives



(16) Receive this ransom money from the Israelites, and use it for the care of the *Tabernacle. It will bring the Israelites to the Lord’s attention, and it will purify your lives.”


*Tabernacle: Hebrew Tent of Meeting.


Plans for the Washbasin (Laver):



   The laver, a large vessel which appears like a kettle,
is actually the first vessel which the priests have
contact with every day, for they must sanctify their
hands and feet from its waters before commencing any
sacred task in the Holy Temple. The original laver, which was constructed for the
desert tabernacle in Moses' time, included 2 spigots
for releasing the water. In the era of the Second
Temple, the High Priest Ben Katin, who fashioned the
muchni, also fashioned 12 faucets for the laver, so
that the entire shift who participate in the offering
of the daily sacrifice may sanctify themselves at
once. - www.templeinstitute.org/laver.htm


   It was here at the bronze laver that the priests washed their hands and feet before entering into and coming out of the holy place. The laver was made from the bronze mirrors of the women and filled with water for the continual cleansing of the priests as they ministered in the work of the Lord. The laver was placed between the door of the Holy Place and the altar. The appointed priest, as he entered the gate of the outer court, faced the altar, where he made a sacrifice for himself like any other Israelite. Once beyond the altar he was ready to act as a serving priest and so at the laver he prepared himself for the further service of God. He could then minister at the altar or in the Holy Place because he washed at the laver. The altar always came first for the priest. Salvation and then service. God was approached by way of the blood and the water. In the outer court everything was bronze. Inside the Holy Place everything was gold. As the priest came out of God's Presence and back into service he washed at the laver. No measurements or instructions are given as to the shape and size of the laver. The only thing mentioned is that it had a stand, which made it easier to wash, and it was made of solid bronze, no wood at all. How the laver was carried we are not told. The altar and other vessels had staves and rings by which they were carried but nothing is mentioned about the laver. The laver served one great purpose, the washing and cleansing of the priest from all defilement. As the altar points to the death of Jesus, so the laver points to the life of Jesus. Blood speaks of a life taken and water speaks of life given. The water in the laver speaks of Jesus, the living Word of God that enters us and gives us eternal life. Jesus said that we are clean because of His Word and that the knowledge of God that comes through His Word is eternal life and is described with the exact same terminology in the Hebrew as the sexual union of a man with his wife. As the priest would wash his hands and his feet while coming into the Presence of God (gold) and back out into the world (bronze), so we are continually being cleansed from the corruption of this world by the Word of God. When the Jewish leader named Nicodemus came to Jesus to inquire from Him about the kingdom of God Jesus replied, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit (Hebrew idiom - "born from above") he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Water brings life to the physical world and so spiritual water (the Word of God) brings God's spiritual life to us. When Jesus met the woman at the well he said to her, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. When Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst let him come to Me and drink, it was on the great day of the feast of tabernacles when the Jewish leaders were pouring the water from the pool of Siloam (Hebrew "Sent") onto the pavement of the temple symbolizing that someday God will pour out the real water from heaven on His people as promised through the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

Ephesians 5:25-26 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word., NOTE: The Greek word for "washing" here means a laver. - www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Bronze_Laver.htm


   In Malachi 3:1-4, Malachi is longing for a day when God will purify the priesthood, when He will make them to be like they ought to be, shepherds to the people of God, serving the people of God faithfully, doing the sacrifices of God. And so he speaks of a day when the messenger of the covenant will come and He will purify the priests, the sons of Levi, so that they can offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. But when Jesus comes He purifies the sons of Levi in a way that perhaps none of the Old Testament saints could have guessed. And that is this: He brings an end to the offerings of the sons of Levi in offering the perfect sacrifice - Himself. And He extends efficacy to the hundreds and hundreds of years of offerings that they have offered through the real offering and sacrifice which He renders up to God. He makes all those offerings pure and acceptable before God, as well as offering up a sacrifice that will never, ever have to be repeated again. And so the Lord Jesus fulfills even the picture and symbolism of the bronze laver, because, He is the clean priest who needs no cleansing Himself, who takes us within the veil. - www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/exodus/Exodus%20Vol%205%20&%206/37aexo.htm


Psalm 26:6: I wash my hands to declare my innocence.
I come to your altar, O Lord,


John 7:38: Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.


Titus 3:5: Greek - He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.


Hebrews 9:10: For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.


Hebrews 10:22: let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.


James 4:8: Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.


(17) Then the Lord said to Moses,


(18) “Make a *bronze washbasin with a bronze stand. Place it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water.


*bronze is a copper and tin alloy; brass is copper and zinc alloy.


(19) Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there.


(20) They must wash with water whenever they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord and when they approach the altar to burn up their special gifts to the Lord—or they will die!


   Their hands - all their works, their feet - all their goings, must be washed - must be holiness unto the Lord. And this washing must be repeated every time they entered into the tabernacle, or when they came near to the altar to minister. This washing was needful because the priests all ministered barefoot; but it was also because of the guilt they might have contracted, for the washing was emblematical of the putting away of sin.


(21) They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be observed from generation to generation.”


The Anointing Oil


(22) Then the Lord said to Moses,


(23) “Collect choice spices—12½ pounds of pure myrrh, 6¼ pounds of fragrant cinnamon, 6¼ pounds of fragrant calamus,


(24) and 12½ pounds of cassia—as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. Also get one gallon of olive oil.


(25) Like a skilled incense maker, blend these ingredients to make a holy anointing oil.


(26) Use this sacred oil to anoint the Tabernacle, the *Ark of the Covenant,


*Ark of the Covenant: Or Ark of the Testimony


(27) the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and all its accessories, the incense altar,


(28) the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the washbasin with its stand.


(29) Consecrate them to make them absolutely holy. After this, whatever touches them will also become *holy.


*holy, meaning set apart for God's purpose or to be dealt with by God, as the case may be.


(30) “Anoint Aaron and his sons also, consecrating them to serve me as priests.


(31) And say to the people of Israel, ‘This holy anointing oil is reserved for me from generation to generation.


(32) It must never be used to anoint anyone else, and you must never make any blend like it for yourselves. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy.


(33) Anyone who makes a blend like it or anoints someone other than a priest will be cut off from the community.’”


The Incense


(34) Then the Lord
said to Moses, “Gather fragrant spices—resin
droplets, mollusk shell, and galbanum—and mix
these fragrant spices with pure frankincense, weighed
out in equal amounts.


   The incense which was offered in the Holy Temple
was made from eleven different ingredients, only four
of which are mentioned by name in the verse above.
The identity of the other seven spices has been passed
down in the Oral Tradition As is the case with regard
to many other areas of Temple study, the exact classification
of these ingredients is the subject of serious research
and scholarship. Many of these are rare.
The method, or recipe, for preparing the special incense
offering from these ingredients was a closely-guarded
secret, passed down from generation to generation
within the ranks of one particular family known as
Avtinas. In addition to the identity of the spices
and the exact amounts and manner in which they are
prepared, the clan protected another important secret
of their trade: The identity of an herb known in Hebrew
as ma'aleh ashan, literally "that which causes
smoke to rise." This herb has a quality which
enabled the smoke from the incense to rise up to heaven
in a straight column. In our own time, some have speculated
that this may be the plant Leptadenia pyrotechnica,
which contains nitric acid. - www.templeinstitute.org/incense.htm


Ephesians 5:2: Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.


2 Corinthians 2:15-16: Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this? - www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4Preparing_for_the_Tabernacle.htm


(35) Using the usual techniques of the incense maker, blend the spices together and sprinkle them with salt to produce a pure and holy incense.


(36) Grind some of the mixture into a very fine powder and put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant, where I will meet with you in the Tabernacle. You must treat this incense as most holy.


(37) Never use this formula to make this incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the Lord, and you must treat it as holy.


(38) Anyone who makes incense like this for personal use will be cut off from the community.”



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