भाष्य सध्या फक्त इंग्रजीत उपलब्ध आहे. मराठी भाषांतर प्रगतीपथावर आहे.
Exodus 30 — The Altar of Incense
The pattern for the altar of incense, set before the veil. Aaron must burn sweet incense morning and evening. The atonement money — half a shekel for every man, rich and poor alike. The brazen laver for washing. The holy anointing oil — not to be imitated. The holy incense — not to be made for common use.
“Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning... and at even, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.”
— Exodus 30:7-8
- v.1-10 The altar of incense
- v.11-16 The atonement money — half a shekel for every man
- v.17-21 The brazen laver
- v.22-33 The holy anointing oil
- v.34-38 The holy incense
Morning and evening, daily, without break. The smoke of the incense never ceased while the lamps burned. The picture is unbroken prayer.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 — Pray without ceasing. The Old Testament priest tended the incense altar twice daily; the New Testament priesthood of believers prays continually. The principle is the same: prayer is not occasional but constant in the life of God's servant.
No strange incense. The recipe in verses 34-38 was exact. To offer anything else on the incense altar was death (Leviticus 10:1-2 — Nadab and Abihu).
For prayer, the parallel is uncomfortable. Prayer offered to God on terms God did not appoint — through false mediators, with insincere hearts, mixed with idolatry — is strange incense. God receives only what is offered His way.
A ransom for every man's soul — half a shekel. The rich could not give more, the poor not less (verse 15). All souls were valued equally before God; all needed the same redemption price.
The principle anticipates the gospel. No man buys his soul's redemption with greater wealth than another. The price is the same — and the same price has been paid for every soul by Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).
The laver — between altar of sacrifice and the tabernacle. After the priest had offered sacrifice (atonement), he washed (sanctification). Then he could enter the Holy Place.
The order matters. Justification (the altar) is followed by sanctification (the laver). The believer who has been atoned for is now washed daily — Ephesians 5:26, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
The anointing oil contained four spices in olive oil base. Myrrh — used at Christ's birth (Matthew 2:11) and at His burial (John 19:39). Cinnamon, calamus, cassia — fragrant in His ministry. The oil itself — the Holy Spirit.
Christ is the anointed One in person; the spices in the oil are the graces of His character. The Spirit poured on Him at Jordan (Matthew 3:16) was the substance of the oil that Aaron only received in figure.
The holy anointing oil was not to be replicated for common use, nor used on ordinary men. It was reserved for consecration — kings, priests, prophets.
The Holy Spirit cannot be counterfeited. Simon Magus tried to buy Him with money (Acts 8:18-23) and was rebuked. Pseudo-anointings, manufactured manifestations, are strange incense and strange oil. The real anointing comes only from God.
Twice daily, morning and evening, the incense burned. When was the last time you prayed at both ends of a day, deliberately, on schedule? The pattern of morning and evening prayer is built into the worship of God's people from this chapter. The fragrance of your prayers fills the throne room. Do not let the fire on your altar go cold.
The altar of incense is Christ in His intercessory ministry. Hebrews 7:25 — he ever liveth to make intercession for them. The fragrance that rises continually before God is the merit of His finished work, applied to every prayer His people offer. We come boldly to the throne (Hebrews 4:16) because the incense altar is burning continually.
The altar of incense stood inside the Holy Place, directly before the veil that separated the Most Holy. Its smoke rose continually toward the mercy seat behind the veil.
Revelation 5:8 — golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. The incense altar pictures the prayers of God's people, rising as a sweet savor before His throne. Psalm 141:2 makes the parallel explicit: let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense.