30:1.
“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt
thou make it.”
30:2.
“A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof;
foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the
horns thereof shall be of the same.”
While
undoubtedly there were four horns, and probably also four rings, the absence
of direct mention of the number four (number of earth and testing)
conveys a lesson relative to the worship of which this altar speaks.
Worship is spiritual, not earthly, as the Lord Himself declared, "God is a
Spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth,"
John 4:24.
As Ritchie has
pointed out, "Earthly priests and vestments, earthly altars and temples, are
suited to the world. It must have a religion suited to its senses
(emphasis added): requiring no spiritual life or Holy Ghost energy; but why
the living heavenly saints should seek the living Christ among these dead
forms we do not know." (The Tabernacle in the Wilderness, p.87).
Incidentally,
the intrusion of instrumental music into the assembly worship is
unscriptural, and simply declares that the spirit of true worship is
becoming adulterated with the form and ritual which passes in Christendom
for the reverent honor and homage due to God.
Since one
is the number of God, the one-cubit length and breadth remind us that He
Whom this altar portrays, never ceased to be perfect God even while He
walked the earth as perfect man, the two-cubit height (number of witness or
testimony) reminding us that as He was God's perfect Witness on earth, so is
He now our perfect Witness in heaven, He being there as our Forerunner, our
Advocate, our Great High Priest.
This was the
tallest article of Tabernacle furniture, a fact which teaches symbolically
that worship transcends work, and is the highest privilege that God has
extended to men.
30:.3.
“And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides
thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a
crown of gold round about.”
Like every
other article of Tabernacle furniture, it is a figure of Christ, but whereas
the Brazen altar is associated with His sufferings and death in connection
with sin, the Golden altar portrays Him in resurrection glory as our Great
High Priest in heaven. The application of the blood of the Sin offering
however, links the two, and reminds us that the blood and death associated
with the Brazen altar are the basis of the worship portrayed by the incense
burnt on this Golden altar. Apart from Christ's death there could be no
worship.
Its golden
crown reminds us that He Whom men crowned with thorns, sits today at God's
right hand on the throne of heaven, crowned with glory and honor, as it is
written, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for
the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor," Hebrews 2:9, for "God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,"
Philippians 2:9-11.
30:4.
“And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the
two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they
shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.”
30:5.
“And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with
gold.”
Since the ring
- having neither beginning nor ending - represents what is eternal, these
two golden rings seem to represent the Old and New Testaments; and their
being under the crown of it points to the fact that the function of
Scripture is to present the Lord Jesus Christ as the Eternal Word, the One
Who is the everlasting King of kings, and Lord of lords.
The two
(number of testimony or witness) gold-sheathed staves may represent
believers, it being their privilege and everlasting glory to be His
witnesses here on earth.
30:6.
“And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony,
before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with
thee.”
Its being
placed, not in the outer court, but inside the first compartment of the
Tabernacle, teaches the truth that worship is an activity which is entirely
divorced from the things of the world, being produced in the heart of
only obedient believers, and only by the power of the ungrieved and
unquenched Holy Spirit. The humanly contrived ritual that passes for
worship in most of Christendom is as far from the Scriptural reality as is
the east from the west.
30:7.
“And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth
(trims the wicks of) the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.”
30:8.
“And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a
perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.”
The trimming
of the lamps corresponds to the need for us to submit ourselves to the knife
of the Word at the beginning and end of each day, submitting our lives to
careful examination under its all-revealing light, confessing and forsaking
every sin thus revealed.
The burning of
the incense during that trimming process reminds us that the morning and
evening are to be not only times of study, but also of worship, for incense
is a Scriptural symbol of worship, e.g., "Let my prayer be set forth before
thee as incense: and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice,"
Psalm 141:2. "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God," Philippians 4:6. "By Him
therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name," Hebrews 13:15.
The incense
burnt on the Golden altar is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
ingredients of which it was composed setting before us attributes of Him,
for worship is nothing less than the presentation to God of our appreciation
of Christ, and consists, not only of the words of our lips, but also the
living of Christ-like lives.
Aaron’s
lighting the lamps “at even” is not to be understood as teaching that the
lamps didn’t burn during the day: they did. The trimming of the wicks
involved the momentary extinguishing of the lights, and therefore the need
of relighting them when the trimming was complete. The result of our
morning and evening reading and meditation should be a brighter and more
effective testimony, it being written concerning us, “Ye are the light of
the world,” Matthew 5:14, the Lord’s command to us being “Let your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven,“ Matthew 5:16, Paul’s exhortation being, “Do all things
without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless,
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among which ye shine as lights in the world,” Philippians 2:14-15.
30:9.
“Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat
(meal) offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.”
“... strange”
is also translated improper, unhallowed, unprescribed. Worship must
be, not according to the vagary of man’s own intelligence, but as prescribed
in Scripture. The brazen altar was the place where the burnt, meal, and
drink offerings were to be presented, but what speaks of our spiritual
worship was to be offered only at the golden altar. The type is fulfilled
when believers assemble as a corporate body, on the first day of the week,
around the Lord’s table, to remember his death in the eating of the Lord’s
Supper, and to present their worship.
The travesty
which passes for worship in Christendom today however, is as different from
the scriptural order as night is from day, and is as reprehensible to God as
was that of the Jews of whom the Lord declared, “This people draweth near
unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart
is far from me,” Matthew 15:8.
30:10.
“And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with
the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make
atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the
Lord.”
This annual
application of the blood upon the horns of the altar seems to be the
typological declaration of the fact that the Lord’s death was a once, not to
be repeated sacrifice, which is efficacious to cleanse for ever the sins of
every believer. Its being “most holy unto the Lord,” tells us of the value
God sets upon the blood of His Son, Peter having declared, “Because it is
written, Be ye holy; for I am holy .... forasmuch as ye know that ye were
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation (manner of living) received by tradition from your fathers; But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot,” 1 Peter 1:16-19.
30:11.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
30:12.
“When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then
shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou
numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest
them.”
This
pronouncement foreshadows the NT command given to every man, Jew and Gentile
alike, “Except a man be born again he cannot see (enter) the kingdom of God
.... Ye must be born again,” John 3:3-7. Disobedience brought the plague,
i.e., death, the NT counterpart being also death, spiritual as well as
physical, spiritual death being the ultimate consignment of body, soul, and
spirit to the eternal torment of the unquenchable flame of the lake of fire.
30:13.
“This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered,
half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:)
an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord.”
Half a shekel
was approximately fifty cents, an amount that was within reach of even the
poorest; but inasmuch as it represents the redemption of a soul, the lesson
being taught is that salvation is also within the reach of every man: one
has but to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Nothing could be
easier, yet its very simplicity stumbles multitudes. Like Naaman, see 2
Kings 5:11-14, they feel that they must “do some great thing,” but salvation
can’t be earned: it must be accepted as God’s priceless, but free gift, as
declared in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man
should boast.”
It’s being a
half shekel may be to emphasize that it was only a symbol of redemption, a
token of that precious blood which alone can cleanse sin, as it is written,
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers; but with the precious blood of of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot,” 1 Peter 1:18-19.
Its having to
be “after the shekel of the sanctuary” declares that only God can properly
measure the deadly character of sin, and the preciousness of the blood which
alone can make atonement.
30:14.
“Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old
and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord.”
This
requirement teaches that the sinner’s personal discernment is involved in
his salvation. He must be able to grasp the fact that one who dies without
having trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior is doomed to eternal
torment in the lake of fire. The equivalent of an Israelite’s giving “an
offering unto the Lord” is a sinner’s trusting in Christ as his Savior,
i.e., he must through faith offer to the Father the Lord Jesus Christ as his
sin offering, the One Whose death has made complete atonement for all his
sin.
The factors of
twenty are two multiplied by ten; or four
multiplied by five, the lesson taught in the two (number of
witness or testimony),and ten (the number of Divine government),
being that God’s law testifies against the sinner; while the four
(number of testing),and the five (number of responsibility), testify
to his failure to meet his responsibility as measured by God’s law.
30:15.
“The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a
shekel, when they give an offering unto the Lord, to make an atonement for
your souls.”
Universal
equality of guilt and condemnation is taught in this. No man is so rich
that he can buy redemption, nor is any man so poor that it is beyond his
reach, for it is measured, not in the currency of earth, but of heaven, as
it is written, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as sivlver and gold ... but with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” 1 Peter 1:18-19.
30:16.
“And thou shalt take
the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the
service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial
unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your
souls.”
“...service”
is also rendered work, needs, so that the atonement money seems to
have been used for the maintenance or repair of the Tabernacle; and
undoubtedly a deeper spiritual meaning attaches to this provision, but that
meaning eludes me, so that I regret having to leave this verse without
further comment.
30:17.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
30:18.
“Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash
withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and
the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.”
The laver is a
type of the Scriptures, see Ephesians 5:26, “That he might sanctify and
cleanse it (the Church) with the washing of water by the word.” The
omission of dimensions is the symbolic announcement of the truth that the
Word, like its Author, is measureless, not in regard to the literal number
of words - they have been counted - but relative to its depth of meaning.
That depth has never been plumbed.
Since brass is
the biblical emblem of judgment, the laver’s being made of brass teaches
that the Word, of which it is the symbol, is that by which all things are to
be judged.
Most scholars
agree that the “foot” was the base of the laver, there being disagreement
however, as to whether it was an integral part of it, or a separate section
forming a foundation upon which the basin rested; but settlement of that
question is relatively unimportant. The lesson being taught is of the need
for us to keep ourselves morally clean by obeying the written Word.
Some
understand “the foot” to have been a separate brass bason into which water
from the laver was poured for the cleansing of each individual priest, and
this has much merit since it would point symbolically to each believer’s
using a portion of Scripture daily for maintaining purity in his life.
Its being
placed “between the tabernacle of the congregation and the (brazen) altar”
teaches the imperative of purity if we would hope to offer acceptable
worship, for the golden incense altar stood within the tabernacle building,
while the brazen altar stood outside in the court exposed to the elements,
being symbolically associated with our coming first to God as sinners, and
through faith presenting Christ as our sin offering for the remission of our
sins. The incense altar is associated with our coming to God to present our
worship, the type being fulfilled when believers assemble around the Lord’s
Table on the first day of each week, to remember His sin-atoning death.
30:19.
“And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:”
Since the hand
speaks of our works or deeds; and the foot, of our walk or manner of life,
the lesson here is of the need to ensure that both are according to the
written Word.
30:20.
“When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with
water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister,
to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord:”
As discussed
already, their going into the tabernacle to serve at the golden altar,
represents the believer’s presenting his worship at the celebration of the
Lord’s Supper; but their approaching the brazen altar to serve in connection
with the presentation of the offerings burnt there, symbolizes our work.
The need for
the Aaronic priests to wash themselves with water prior to their activities
at both altars declares the imperative of our ensuring that our worship and
our service are both according to Scripture. The travesty which passes
today in Christendom for both, demonstrates the extent to which the Divine
order has been superseded by the product of man’s fertile, but corrupt,
mind.
Their being
described as offerings “made by fire” continues to emphasize the need of
complete submission to the leading of the Holy Spirit, of Whom, as already
noted, fire is a biblical symbol.
“... that they
die not.” The severity of the penalty for infraction declares the enormity
of the offence in God’s sight. That He doesn’t continue to strike offenders
dead, as He did Annanias and Sapphira, should never be construed as
indifference on His part. The time a believer spends in sin is time in
which he might as well be dead, for it will bring no reward at the Bema, the
judgment seat of Christ.
30:21.
“So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it
shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout
their generations.”
The repetition
of the injunction emphasizes the imperative of obeying it; and its
application to future generations is the reminder that the principle it
embodies applies for all time.
30:22.
“Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,”
30:23.
“Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred
shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty
shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,”
30:24.
“And of Cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and
of oil olive an hin:”
30:25.
“And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after
the art of the apothecary; it shall be an holy anointing oil.”
As with
everything else connected with the Tabernacle, these spices represent
attributes of Christ; but they are in addition, a figure of worship, for
worship is nothing less than the presentation to the Father of our
appreciation of Christ. There being four of them (the number of earth and
testing) reminds us that it was amid the testings of earth that the
fragrance of His life was manifested, those testings being but the catalyst
which revealed His perfection.
Myrrh is a
fragrant but bitter gum obtained by spontaneous exudation, or from
incisions. It is mentioned in Scripture in connection with embalming the
dead, e.g., Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, and the women who also loved
the Lord, brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to embalm His body, see John
19:38-42.
It speaks
therefore primarily of the Lord’s death, but the fact that it exuded, and
was also obtained by incising the tree, reminds us that while the Lord’s
body was pierced, not only with the nails, but also with the crown of
thorns, by the lashing of His back, and the soldier’s spear, He voluntarily
yielded Himself to death, as He Himself declared, “... I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again,”
John 10:17-18.
Cinnamon is
obtained by grinding the bark of a small evergreen tree, thus killing it.
Its being an evergreen speaks of the Lord’s eternality; and its pleasant
taste and fragrance point to the love and gentleness displayed in His speech
and conduct; but its dying following removal of its bark speaks of the
Lord’s voluntary death for the expiation of our sins.
Calamus is
derived from a root word meaning “to stand upright,” and as such it points
to the uprightness of the Lord’s life. The fact that it grows in miry
ground directs attention to the truth that in the thirty-three years of His
human life here amid the moral mire of earth He contracted none of its
defilement, but rather manifested the fragrance of heaven in His every
thought, word, and deed. The aroma of calamus is produced by crushing, and
the redolence of the Lord’s nature was never more apparent than during the
hours of terrible abuse suffered in the halls of Caiaphas, Herod, and
Pilate, and on the cross, His cry to heaven being, “Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do,” Luke 23:34.
Cassia is
mentioned in Psalm 45:7-8 in what is clearly a description of the Lord Jesus
Christ, “Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God,
thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All
thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia ....”
It is related
to a root word meaning “to scrape” so as to manifest the aroma of the plant,
and in this it points to the fact that it was by the contradictions and
hatred of sinners against Him that the Lord’s perfections were the more
clearly displayed.
“... and of
oil olive an hin (about six quarts).” It was by admixture with the pure
olive oil - symbol of the Holy Spirit - that the spices were blended
together into an aromatic ointment; and it was by His complete submission to
the leading of the Holy Spirit that the fragrance of the Lord’s life was
manifested to the world, causing God to open the heavens and declare, “This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” Matthew 3:17. It is only as
we are obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit that Christlikeness will
be discernible in our lives.
We should note
also that five is the factor common to all the weights of these
spices, and inasmuch as five is the number of responsibility, it
reminds us that it is our duty to manifest the equivalent of these fragrant
spices in our daily lives.
30:26.
“And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the
ark of the testimony,”
30:27.
“And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and
the altar of incense,”
30:28.
“And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his
foot.”
30:29.
“And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy:”
This command
to anoint every article of furniture and every vessel within the precincts
of the Tabernacle, with the fragrant oil or ointment, declares symbolically
that those who comprise the Church, and everything pertaining to their
worship and service, are to have about them the spiritual fragrance of
Christ. Holiness is to mark their lives, see 1 Peter 1:15-16, “But as he
which hath called your is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation
(living); because it is written, Be holy; for I am holy.”
30:30.
“And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they
may minister unto me in the priest’s office.”
The spiritual
counterpart of this ordinance is the believer’s being indwelt by the Holy
Spirit at the moment of conversion; and as our great High Priest was
submissive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all things, so are we also
to be simply instruments in His hand. In this connection it is necessary to
distinguish between being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and being filled with
Him. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the moment of
conversion, a state which continues without interruption until the
believer’s death. Being filled with the Spirit however, is a different
matter, the degree of filling being governed by the measure of the
believer’s obedience to the Spirit’s leading. As we grieve Him by doing
what He forbids, or quench Him by refusing to do what He commands, the
filling fluctuates in proportion to the degree and duration of our
disobedience.
30:31.
“And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an
holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.”
This fragrant
oil was to be set apart exclusively for God, and was to be used only as and
when He directed.
30:32.
“Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other
like it, after the composition of it; it is holy, and it shall be holy unto
you.”
It was to be a
once-only anointing of the priests at the beginning of their ministry, nor
was the oil ever to be used cosmetically; a proscription which warns
symbolically against a believer’s seeking glory for himself by the exercise
of the spiritual gift given him by God. The need of this warning is all too
apparent in the degree to which some of those claiming to be God’s
ministers, do very obviously seek glory for themselves.
30:33.
“Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a
stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.”
For anyone,
other than those designated by God, to prepare the oil or ointment, or
anything similar to it; or to use it to anoint a stranger, i.e., one who
wasn’t a priest, would result in his being excommunicated from the nation
Israel.
The offence
which is symbolized here is rampant in the clerical system which rules
Christendom today, for the seminaries, Roman Catholic and Protestant alike,
are doing the very thing which is symbolically forbidden here: they are
graduating men - and now also women - as those who alone are qualified to
preach or teach; those lacking a theological education being classified as
“lay people,” and therefore unfit to engage in such work.
There are
unquestionably amongst these seminary graduates some genuinely born-again
believers, but many - the majority it is to be feared - are unbelievers who
have chosen religion as a profession similar to law, medicine, engineering,
etc. It is they, God warns, who “shall even be cut off....” They are those
referred to in Matthew 7:20-23, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know
them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in they name done
many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” See also Matthew 25:46, “And these
shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal.”
30:34.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and
onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each
shall there be a like weight:”
30:35.
“And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the
apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:”
“... stacte”
is the translation of the Hebrew word nataph, which means to ooze:
distil: fall in drops, and is used figuratively in Scripture to describe
speech, particularly inspired speech, and very appropriately so, since
speech is simply the distillation of thought. This aromatic gum therefore
points particularly to the perfection of Christ as manifested in His speech,
e.g., "And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which
proceeded out of his mouth," Luke 4:22, the testimony of the officers being,
"Never man spake like this man" John 7:46.
Since worship
is simply the spiritual distillation of our appreciation of Christ, what
"drops" from our lips being the result of our occupation with Him, and being
a sweet fragrance to God, it is easy to see the stacte both as a
figure of Christ, and also of the words which express our appreciation of
Him.
Onycha,
meaning a scale or shell, is generally understood to have
reference to a Red Sea shell-fish, which when dried and ground, yielded a
perfume. No spiritual mind will have any difficulty seeing in the onycha
a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ being "ground" between the upper and
nether millstones of Divine wrath at Calvary when He hung on the cross as
our Substitute, as the prophet has written, "He was bruised for our
iniquities," Isaiah 53:5, the hymnist expressing the same thought very
beautifully in the words, "Dying, crushed beneath the load, Of the wrath and
curse of God."
The third
ingredient galbanum, is the transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning
to be fat, with lamentation suggested by some scholars as an
additional meaning. It is a resinous gum having a bitter taste and
unpleasant musty odor, but having the ability to enhance the aroma of other
spices with which it is mixed.
The combined
meanings fat and lamentation therefore, make galbanum a
very fitting figure of Christ, in Whom were combined transcendent fatness or
richness of soul, and sorrow surpassing that of any other, He being
described by the prophet as, "a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,"
and as the One Who "hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," Isaiah
53:3-4, it being recognized that the lament of a stricken Jerusalem has its
ultimate application to Christ, "Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like
unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me
in the day of his fierce anger," Lamentations 1:12. Nor should we forget
His words to His disciples in Gethsemane’s garden on the night before He
went to Calvary, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death....” Mark 14:34.
The bitter
taste and unpleasant odor of this gum declares the truth that He Who is
represented by the galbanum is He of Whom the prophet has declared, "He hath
no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that
we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men," Isaiah 53:2-3.
The bitter taste announces the further truth relative to Christ, that His
words were too bitter for the palates of the self-righteous Jewish leaders.
They, as it were, spat them out, they rejected His teaching which called for
genuine repentance and faith in Him as Savior.
This gum is
also reported to have medicinal properties, a fact which points to Christ as
the One Who alone can heal the deadly effects of sin.
And finally
there is the frankincense, meaning white or whiteness.
A white resinous gum obtained by making incisions in the tree, it burns with
a clear white flame, emits a fragrant aroma, and is believed by many to
have medicinal properties, one of which is its ability to counteract some
poisons. This plant, of which there are five species, whose flowers have
five petals, and whose fruit is five-sided, grows on barren rocky ground
where virtually nothing else will survive.
As a symbol of
Christ its propriety is readily apparent. The whiteness speaks of His
holiness, while its fragrance speaks of the redolence of His life Godward
and manward; and since five is the Scriptural number of
responsibility, the recurring association of five with the plant
reminds us that He is the only man Who has ever perfectly fulfilled man's
responsibility to God and to his fellows.
The plant's
growing in barren rocky soil points to Him as the One of Whom Isaiah wrote,
"He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry
ground" (Isaiah 53:2).
The fragrance
produced by burning reminds us that the fire of earthly testing simply
called forth the fragrance of a life totally devoted to God, that fragrance
never being sweeter to His Father than during those hours at Calvary when
the fire of Divine wrath against sin enveloped our sinless Substitute.
Nor should
anyone have any difficulty seeing in the incisions which produce the gum, a
figure of what He endured in the course of making atonement for our sin.
Beginning with the buffeting in the judgment hall, the plucking of the beard
from His cheeks, the lash tearing the flesh from His back, the punctures
produced by the crown of thorns, the nails piercing His hands and feet, and
finally the thrust of the spear in His side, are all set forth symbolically
in the incisions which produce the literal frankincense. Those incisions
remind us that, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
Those
"incisions" associated with Calvary brought forth the blood that cleanses
sin. The contemplation of those wounds ought to call forth the worship of
every redeemed heart.
The fact that
the weights of the four spices were to be the same, is the symbolic
announcement of the truth that in Christ, unlike all other men, every
attribute exists in equal measure, in perfect balance, none eclipsing
another. This is the same truth as is set forth in the fine flour of the
Meal offering.
The absence of
any reference to either weight or measure declares the impossibility of
bringing within the bounds of finite comprehension that which constitutes
Him Who is infinite and eternal.
It is
instructive to note that the frankincense was placed on the Meal offering
and on the shewbread (made from meal), for since meal is a Biblical symbol
of the Lord's humanity, the lesson being taught is that the fragrance of
obedience rested on all of His life. There was never a thought, word, or
deed that wasn't pleasing to the Father.
An obvious
practical lesson taught by the perfumed confection produced by the blending
of these four spices is that we who have been redeemed by His precious
blood, and who now possess His life and nature, are responsible to live so
that God and men will perceive the fragrance of Christ in our lives, as it
is written, "For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ," 2 Corinthians
2:15.
A further
lesson is connected with the fact that it was the fire which made manifest
the fragrance of the blended spices. Inasmuch as fire is not only a symbol
of the Holy Spirit, but also of testing, God would remind us that apart from
submission to the Holy Spirit's control, our lives will emit nothing of the
fragrance of Christ; nor will that fragrance be manifest apart from the fire
of testing, for it is testing that reveals the reality of our faith, and the
extent of our obedience, obedience being the counterpart of the fragrance
which ascended from the Golden altar and delighted the heart of God long
ago.
30:36.
“And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the
testimony (the Ark) in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet
with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.”
This study of
the spices for the Golden altar would be lacking an essential element were
we to pass over the significance of the command, "And thou shalt beat some
of it very small, and put it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the
congregation, where I will meet with thee: and it shall be unto you most
holy."
In this
context the confection from which the part was to be taken and beaten very
small, represents the whole of the written Word, which is itself the
revelation of Him Who is the Living Word. It is in that written Word that
we find the material of worship; and the "beating very small" of the part
taken, declares the necessity of carefully examining every word of
Scripture, for it is only by such meticulous scrutiny that the perfections
of Christ will be discovered in the symbolic language which constitutes the
greater part of the written Word. To see the Bible as simply a textbook for
living the Christian life, is a great mistake. It is first, and above all
else, the presentation of Christ, and unless we approach it from that
perspective, we will have little incense to offer at the Golden altar, i.e.,
little of Christ to present to the Father in worship when we sit at the
Lord’s Table on the first day of the week to eat the Lord’s Supper.
30:37.
“And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, Ye shall not make to
yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy
for the Lord.”
In Romans 13:7
we are commanded, “Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom
tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom
honor,” but this stops very far short of according worship to anyone except
God. The proscription we are now considering however, was prompted by God’s
knowing that there would be men who would seek the worship of their fellows;
and anyone foolish enough to doubt such a possibility has only to consider
Roman Catholicism: the adulation accorded the Pope goes far beyond mere
admiration and honor: it is worship; nor does the evil end there: Mary too
is worshiped, as are multitudes of other so-called “saints.” (It is to be
noted incidentally that “saint” is the term used in Scripture to designate
believing men and women, and not those whom a false religious system has
“elevated to sainthood”).
30:38.
“Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut
off from his people.”
“... to smell
thereto” is also translated to enjoy its fragrance: to use as perfume:
for his own pleasure: for his toilet.
What God had
appointed to portray the perfections of His Son, was a unique compound which
He would not permit to be prostituted to any other purpose. A man’s
appropriation of it for personal use would have been the symbolic
declaration that his righteousness was equal to Christ’s; and while God is
graciously pleased to impute His Son’s righteousness to all believers, that
comes very far short of being their actual state as those still here on
earth in mortal bodies. The perfection which God imputes to believers here
on earth will become reality only when we are home in heaven.
The cutting
off of every such false claimant is the solemn warning to every man who
expects to enter heaven on the basis of his imagined good works. It is
addressed specifically to the multitudes of self-righteous churchgoers who
have been deluded by Satan into believing that church membership and moral
living are all they need to take them to heaven. The terrible truth is that
the road to hell is crowded by multitudes of such dupes.