Verse for the Day, 8 October 2014.

Exodus 30:22-38  The LORD said to Moses,  (23)  "Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane,  (24)  and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.  (25)  And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.  (26)  With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,  (27)  and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,  (28)  and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand.  (29)  You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy.  (30)  You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.  (31)  And you shall say to the people of Israel, 'This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.  (32)  It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you.  (33)  Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.'"  (34)  The LORD said to Moses, "Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part),  (35)  and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.  (36)  You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you.  (37)  And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD.  (38)  Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people."

The instructions for the tabernacle that God gives to Moses are intricate, specific and go right down to the last detail. There is nothing vague, such as make some incense, or make some anointing oil. Moses is told exactly how the incense and anointing oil is to be made, what its composition is to be. Why does God give such detailed instructions to Moses and the people, and why are they prohibited from making this same incense or anointing oil for themselves?

The reasons for this, is that everything about the tabernacle was to be unique, it was to be one of a kind, as unique as God is unique. Secondly, the manner in which God was to be worshipped was also to be unique. It was not uncommon for people who worshipped idols to make incense, perfumes or oils that were all used in the worship of their idols. The people of Israel were not to take of such incenses or oils and then use them for the worship of God. Thirdly, this incense and anointing oil was to be made in a unique manner and was only to be used in the and for the tabernacle, because it would be regarded as holy. Everything used to worship God had to be holy and used exclusively for the worship of God. This incense and oil was only to be made for use in the tabernacle or by the priests, and was only ever to be used worship and service of God. When they smelt the incense, it would remind them of God and how they were to worship Him with their lives and the joy they had in being able to approach God in prayer, through the priesthood and the tabernacle. Every time they saw the anointing oil being used it served to show them that the object or the person being anointed had been set apart by God for a specific reason and purpose, and was therefore considered to be holy to the Lord. The incense and the oil was to be exclusively for God, for the glory of God, and to move man to worship God, it was not to be used for the glory of man.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we don’t need to use incense and oil in our worship of God, but we should be a diligent and careful in the manner that we approach God in worship. These items were designed to instil in the people of Israel a reverence for God, to help them understand that God could not be approach nonchalantly. We must prepare ourselves, our hearts, minds and lives, we must think about who we are approaching and how we are to approach God in worship. We are to seek to offer our best to God and we are to offer our worship and our lives exclusively to God. We should want our lives to be a fragrant and pleasing aroma to God, and it should be our desire to set ourselves apart to serve God in holiness.

Most importantly, this incense and oil point to Christ, as Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:2, “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ was set apart, anointed by God the Father for the work of being our great High Priest. (See Psalm 2, and Isaiah 61.) Jesus comes as the one set apart, anointed by the Father, Jesus comes as the holy one, and then offers up His own life. This sacrifice is a pleasing aroma to the Father, because Christ offers up His life in obedience to and love for the Father, for the glory of the Father, so as to satisfy the justice of the Father against sin and to then pour out the love and grace of salvation upon all who would believe. For those who believe, every time we approach God in worship we come “covered” as it were with the fragrance of Christ and are therefore pleasing and acceptable in God’s sight. We no longer need the incense and the oil, we have something far better and greater, Jesus Christ!

Heavenly Father, thank You that You in eternity past set aside, anointed God the Son to come and offer up His life on our behalf. Thank You, that You accepted that offering, that You were pleased by it and now offer grace and salvation to us. Lord Jesus Christ, we worship You today, for Your willing obedience to the Father, Your love for Him and for us. Thank You that You have made us pleasing in the sight of God through Your sacrificial work. Holy Spirit, we pray that today You will enable us to rejoice in our unique position, and to live lives that show, that give off the fragrance of Christ, so that God may be glorified all the more. Amen.