1 “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high –its horns of one piece with it. 3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. 4 Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding–two on opposite sides–to hold the poles used to carry it. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
1. What does the altar of incense represent?
The burnt altar is where God deals with a sinner. It speaks of the earth and the sin of man. The altar of incense speaks of heaven and holiness. The burnt altar speaks of what Christ did for us on earth. The incense altar speaks of what Christ is doing for us in heaven today. It also speaks of our prayers and our part in worship. It speaks of Christ who prays for us. He is the one who truly praises God and prays for us. He is the one who genuinely worships God for us. He is our intercessor.
Its fragrant smoke symbolized the prayers of God’s people altar … incense. The design for this piece of furniture for the Holy Place was not given with the other two (25:23–40) but follows the instructions about the priesthood perhaps because it was the last piece to which the High-Priest came before he entered the Holy of Holies once a year. Right after Aaron’s consecration ceremony had been noted, his duties of 1) ensuring proper incense was offered continually upon this altar and that 2) he was also once a year to cleanse it with blood from the atonement offering (v. 10) received attention. This is the great worship chapter. In looking at the first compartment of the tabernacle proper, the Holy Place, we see three articles of furniture. All speak of worship. The altar of incense is the place of prayer.
The instructions tell us that this was a small altar. Made of incorruptible wood.
Even this small piece of furniture had rings so that staves could be put through them and it could be carried upon the shoulders of the priest. In the Book of Numbers we are told that on the wilderness march the Levites carried the articles of furniture.
6 Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony–before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony–where I will meet with you. 7 “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.
2. Why is it important for the altar of incense to be positioned where it was?
This places the altar outside of the Holy of Holies in the Holy Place. Heb 9:3, 4 speaks of the altar in the Holy of Holies in the sense of its proximity to the ark and in relation to its cleansing on the Day of Atonement. The priests could not go beyond it on any other day. The altar was in the middle between the table of showbread and the candlestick next the holy of holies, at equal distances from the north and south walls; in other words, it occupied a spot on the outside of the great partition veil, but directly in front of the mercy seat, which was within that sacred enclosure; so that although the priest who ministered at this altar could not behold the mercy seat, he was to look towards it, and present his incense in that direction. This was a special arrangement, and it was designed to teach the important lesson that, though we cannot with the eye of sense, see the throne of grace, we must “direct our prayer to it and look up”
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 (NKJV)
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)
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. 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. 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.”
3. Why is God so fussy about the incense?
This was not an altar of sacrifice. Only incense, and only a certain kind of incense, was to be placed upon this altar. The priests would go in and burn incense every time they would light the lamps of the lampstand. This altar speaks of prayer, and we know this because the Bible uses incense as a symbol of prayer and praise in many place. In Hebrews 9 we find a strange thing — the altar of incense is placed in the Holy of Holies. It looks as if the writer of Hebrews didn’t know where it belonged! Why did he locate it in the Holy of Holies rather than in the Holy Place as it is in Exodus? Because when he wrote, the veil had been rent in two. Christ had offered Himself down here. His flesh had been rent, and He had died upon the Cross. But He ascended back to heaven, and the altar of incense is in heaven today. We come to God through Jesus Christ. He is our great Intercessor. Christ is in heaven, and the altar speaks of the place where He stands. When we come to God in prayer, we have to come through the Lord Jesus Christ
No strange incense—None made in any other way.
Nor burnt-sacrifice—It should be an altar for incense, and for no other use
An atonement—once in a year—On the tenth day of the seventh month.
No blood was ever sprinkled on this altar, except on the day of general expiation, which happened only once in the year. But the perfume was necessary in every part of the tabernacle.
Burning incense actually was a privilege, for it was restricted to those who were allowed to approach God.
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 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. 13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the Lord. 14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the Lord. 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. 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
4. Why would God want to tax the people, does He need the money?
Perhaps such censuses were taken on various occasions (and at stated intervals) to enter the Israelites into an official roll for public duties in the Lord’s service pay … a ransom for his life. An extension of the principle stated in. Jesus gave “his life as a ransom for many ” just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matt 20:28 (NKJV)
This is the second requirement of worship. There will be no plague among them because they are going to be redeemed. They were to be ransomed with silver. Silver is the metal of redemption and a type of redemption. Everyone that worshiped had to be redeemed. We hear a great deal today about public worship. Actually there is no such thing. Only
the redeemed can worship, but the way is open to “whosoever will” for redemption.
The tax was not levied from women, minors, old men, and the Levites, they being not numbered. Assuming the shekel of the sanctuary to be about half an ounce troy, though nothing certain is known about it, the sum payable by each individual was fifty cents. This was not a voluntary contribution, but a ransom for the soul or lives of the people. It was required from all classes alike, and a refusal to pay implied a willful exclusion from the privileges of the sanctuary, as well as exposure to divine judgments. It was usually devoted to repairs and other purposes connected with the services of the sanctuary.
A shekel weighed about .4 oz. The term ransom is related to the words for atonement and propitiation. The idea is to pay a price for one’s life. The Israelites had to acknowledge that their lives were from God and governed by Him by giving Him an offering of money. A half-shekel was about one-fifth of an ounce
17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 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. 19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. 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 an offering made to the Lord by fire, 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.”
5. You mean if the priest doesn’t wash, he dies?
That brings us to the laver. The laver is located in the outer court and is made of brass, along with the brazen altar. This is where God settles the sin questions and where He deals with our sin. The brazen laver is where God deals with our sins as saints. Saints sometimes sin. This idea that saints are heavenly is just not true.
We get dirty in this world, and we cannot worship until we are cleansed. That is why the Lord washed the disciples’ feet. He is still doing that today. That is the first thing the priest did. If they were going to the brazen altar, they washed before and after. If they were going into the Holy Place, they washed before they came in and washed when they came out. The priests were to wash in the brazen laver. We are to come to Him in confession.
1John 1:9 tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This laver of brass pictures our sanctification. We must wash if we are going to serve God. We must wash if we are going to be used by God. We must be clean. Not only should our garments smell like sweet incense, but our bodies should be washed with pure water. The pure water is the Word of God. The laver was made out of brass. The women brought their highly polished brass mirrors to make the laver. They did not have glass mirrors then. The mirrors revealed dirt and that was the purpose of the laver. The laver cleansed the priest, and the laver pictures the Word of God. The Bible is a mirror and when we look into it, our sin is revealed. We then need to confess that sin and be cleansed. God does not accept worship until it comes from a cleansed heart nor will He accept service except from a cleansed heart.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 24 500 shekels of cassia–all according to the sanctuary shekel–and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 26 Then use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy. 30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. 32 Do not pour it on men’s bodies and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. 33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.'”
6. What were the components of this anointing oil mixture?
Oil is frequently mentioned in Scripture as an emblem of sanctification, and anointing with it a means of designating objects as well as persons to the service of God. Here it is prescribed by divine authority, and the various ingredients in their several proportions described which were to compose the oil used in consecrating the furniture of the tabernacle.
myrrh — a fragrant and medicinal gum from a little known tree in Arabia.
sweet cinnamon — produced from a species of laurel or sweet bay, found chiefly in Ceylon, growing to a height of twenty feet: this spice is extracted from the inner bark, but it is not certain whether that mentioned by Moses is the same as that with which we are familiar.
sweet calamus — or sweet cane, a product of Arabia and India, of a tawny color in appearance; it is like the common cane and strongly odoriferous.
cassia — from the same species of tree as the cinnamon — some think the outer bark of that tree. All these together would amount to one hundred twenty pounds, troy weight.
hin — a word of Egyptian origin, equal to ten pints. Being mixed with the olive oil — no doubt of the purest kind — this composition probably remained always in a liquid state, and the strictest prohibition issued against using it for any other purpose than anointing the tabernacle and its furniture.
Nothing was left to chance or to human ingenuity. The ingredients for making the anointing oil were carefully spelled out. Anything different was totally unacceptable and brought with it the penalty of death (v. 33). This was to be a unique blend! Using it for any other purpose also erased its holy status as set apart for use in the tabernacle and made it no different from the ordinary and the mundane.
The skill of the perfumer was obviously already well known in Israel, a trade which they undoubtedly observed in Egypt.
500 shekels of the first and last, make 48 lbs. 4 oz. 12 dwts. 21 21/31 grs.
250 of the cinnamon and calamus. 24 lbs. 2 oz. 6 dwts.10 26/31 grs.
The oil was reserved exclusively for the consecration of the tabernacle and all its furnishings. Any other use would result in divine judgment.
Cut off means put to death.
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices–gum resin, onycha and galbanum–and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people.
7. Were these special incense?
Now the incense, as we are told in verse 34, was made of sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, along with pure frankincense. Stacte was a resinous gum that oozed from trees on Mount Gilead. It was called the balm of Gilead. The onycha came from a species of shell fish that resembled a crab. The galbanum was taken from the leaves of a Syrian plant. These were blended with pure frankincense. It was a secret formula, long since lost. The mixture of these spices gave off a sweet incense, and it was not to be duplicated nor replaced.
No one was to use this formula for himself. Neither would God accept any counterfeit.
ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes
- MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
- NIVSN…..NIV Study Notes.
- JVM ……………..J Vernon McGee,
- ACC ……………. Adam Clarke’s Commentary
- BN ……………..Barnes Notes
- WBC……………. Wycliffe Bible Commentary
- CN …… …………..Constables Notes
- IC………………….Ironside Commentary
- NET……………….Net Bible Study Notes.
- JFB…………..Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
- VWS……………..Vincent Word Studies
- CMM………….Commentary on Matthew and Mark
- BDB………….. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)
- Darby………..John Darby’s Synopsis of the OT and NT
- Johnson………Johnson’s Notes on the New Testament.
- NTCMM…………..The New Testament Commentary: Matthew and Mark.
- EHS………………….Expositions of the Holy Scriptures
- CPP…………………The Complete Pulpit Commentary
- SBC…………………Sermon Bible Commentary
- K&D……………….Keil and Deilitzsch Commentary on the OT
- EBC…………………Expositors Bible Commentary
- CBSC……………….Cambridge Bible for Schools and College
- GC……………………Guzik Commentary
- RD……………………. Robert Deffinbaugh
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