FRAMEWORKS:
Exodus 30
v.1-10
The Altar of Incense
v.11-16
Atonement Money
v.17-21
Basin for Washing
v.22-33
The Anointing Oil
v.34-38
Incense
v.1-10
The Altar of Incense (a second altar)
v.1-3
The altar
v.1
“Make
an altar of acacia wood for burning
incense .
v.2
It
is to be square, 1.5 feet (50cm) long and wide, and 3 feet (90cm)
high—its horns of one piece with it.
v.3
Overlay
the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make
a gold molding around it.
v.4,5
The means of transporting it
v.4
Make
two gold rings for the altar below the molding—two on each of
the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it.
v.5
Make
the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
v.6
It's location in front of the Most Holy Place
v.6
Put
the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the
covenant law—before the atonement cover that is over the tablets
of the covenant law—where I will meet with you.
v.7-9
Its use
v.7
“Aaron
must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he
tends the lamps.
v.8
He
must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so
incense will burn regularly before the Lord
for
the generations to come.
v.9
Do
not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering
or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.
v.10
Its annual consecration
v.10
Once
a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement
must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the
generations to come. It is most holy to the Lord
.”
[Notes:
This is a second altar NOT for burning animals but for
burning incense only. It is essentially a table with a rim, just
eighteen inches square and three feet high. As with other ‘furniture'
it has rings for carrying poles. It stood before the curtain separating
off the Most Holy Place and incense was to be burned on it morning
and night. It was to be consecrated for holy use once a year.]
v.11-16
Atonement Money
v.11
Then
the Lord
said
to Moses,
v.12
“When
you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must
pay the Lord
a
ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague
will come on them when you number them.
v.13
Each
one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half
shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs 1/5
ounce or about 5.8 grams.
This half shekel is an offering to the Lord.
v.14
All
who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an
offering to the Lord
.
v.15
The
rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are
not to give less when you make the offering to the Lord
to
atone for your lives.
v.16
Receive
the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service
of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites
before the Lord
,
making atonement for your lives.”
[Notes:
Whenever there was a census it was to be seen in the
light of the Exodus and the Passover with a realization that they
only existed courtesy of God and the fact that a lamb (prefiguring
Jesus) had died in their place. As a reminder of these facts,
every person, rich or poor, is to give a half shekel offering
to the Lord to acknowledge this. It was to act as a reminder and
as an additional support for caring for the Tabernacle.]
v.17-21
Basin for Washing
v.17
Then
the Lord
said
to Moses,
v.18
“Make
a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between
the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
v.19
Aaron
and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from
it.
v.20
Whenever
they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so
that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to
minister by presenting a food offering to the Lord
,
v.21
they
shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This
is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for
the generations to come.”
[Notes:
Handling meat etc. and burning it on an altar must have
been messy from time to time, but the priest was to wash both
hands and feet whenever they entered the Tent as well
as when they went to offer sacrifices. It was more a matter of
‘holy' cleanliness.]
v.22-33
The Anointing Oil
v.22
Then
the Lord
said
to Moses,
v.23,24
“Take
the following fine spices: about
12.5 pounds or about 5.8 kilograms of
liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 6
1/4 pounds or about 2.9 kilograms )
of fragrant cinnamon, 6
1/4 pounds or about 2.9 kilograms
of fragrant calamus, 24 500
shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and about
1 gallon or about 3.8 litres
of
olive oil.
v.25
Make
these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work
of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.
v.26
Then
use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant
law,
v.27
the
table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories,
the altar of incense,
v.28
the
altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with
its stand.
v.29
You
shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever
touches them will be holy.
v.30
“Anoint
Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as
priests.
v.31
Say
to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for
the generations to come.
v.32
Do
not pour it on anyone else's body and do not make any other oil
using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider
it sacred.
v.33
Whoever
makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest
must be cut off from their people.'”
[Notes:
A carefully prescribed oil was to be made, used for
anointing the tent and all its contents as well as the priest.
Oil in scripture is often a symbol for the Holy Spirit and so
the picture is that everything to do with the Tabernacle is to
be seen as having a ‘God-touch' so to speak.]
v.34-38
Incense
v.34
Then
the Lord
said
to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and
pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,
v.35
and
make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is
to be salted and pure and sacred.
v.36
Grind
some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant
law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall
be most holy to you.
v.37
Do
not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider
it holy to the Lord
.
v.38
Whoever
makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from
their people.”
[Notes:
Likewise the incense to be burned on the altar inside
the Tabernacle was carefully prescribed and was not to be used
for anything else except burning in the Tabernacle.]
Continue to Chapter 31