Exodus 30

CHAPTER 30THEME: The altar of incense; the ransomed may worship; the cleansed may worship; the anointed may worship; the incense

Exodus 30:1

THE ALTAR OF INCENSEThis 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. We have already considered the lampstand and the table of showbread, but there is also an altar here. It is the altar of incense. The table of showbread and the golden lampstand typify God’s people meeting and fellowshiping together. (This is not where you meet together and gossip, but where you feed on the person of Jesus Christ. It is a banquet.) The altar of incense is the place of prayer. The instructions tell us that this was a small altar.

Exodus 30:3

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.

Exodus 30:6

This altar was placed right by the veil, and the ark and mercy seat were on the other side of the veil. It stood in the Holy Place, the place of worship.

Exodus 30:7

This was not an altar of sacrifice.

Exodus 30:9

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 places. David, for example, in Psa_141:2 says, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense….” The Book of Revelation gives us this picture of incense: “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne” (Rev_8:3). Luk_1:9 tells us that “According to the custom of the priest’s office, his [Zacharias’] lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.” Zacharias was a member of the tribe of Levi and he served in the temple. He was serving at the altar of incense, according to this verse, and it was at the time of prayer.

Dr. Luke opens the New Testamentchronologicallywith Zacharias at the altar of incense. In other words, God broke His silence of four hundred years at the altar of incense by giving a message to Zacharias there. Incense, therefore, is a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Intercessor. Aaron ministered in the place of worship and Aaron is a figure of Christ in this particular sense, although Christ is actually a priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 7). In Hebrews 9 we find a strange thingthe 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. I have heard lots of people say, “Now that I am saved, I can go directly to God.” No, you cannot! You go to God through Christ. He is the One who brings us into the presence of God. Christ is in heaven praying for us. It was wonderful for the children of Israel to know that their high priest was in the tabernacle, at the altar of incense, praying for them. It is wonderful for us to know that Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, is praying for us. Christ does not pray for the world. Did you know that? In His high priestly prayer He says, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine” (Joh_17:9). You say, “Why doesn’t He pray for the world?” Jesus Christ died for the world. And the Holy Spirit is down here to make the offer of Christ real to those who will receive Him. Christ could do no more than die for the sins of the world. He is in heaven praying for those who have received Him as Savior. I am glad that He is doing this because if He were not, we could not accomplish very much on earth. What a precious thing it is to have a great High Priest who prays for us. God hears our prayers because of who Christ is and what He did for us on the Cross. Eph_1:6 says, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Because of Jesus Christ, God the Father accepts us in the Beloved. In Mat_17:5, Mar_9:7, and Luk_9:35 God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.” We are not only to hear Him, we are to pray through Him. Jesus Christ told us in Joh_14:14: “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” This is what it means to pray in the Spirit. You will notice that this altar is separated from the other articles of furniture. Only the priest could worship here. Even King Uzziah was smitten with leprosy when he tried to intrude here (2Ch_26:16-21). Only priests can pray todayand every true believer in Christ is a priest. There is a great deal of sentimental rubbish told around today that a person can lead any sort of sinful life he pleases, reject Christ, and then in time of trouble, perhaps when his mother is in the hospital, this reprobate can get on his knees before God and expect an answer. Motion pictures have shown scenes like this, and some sentimental preachers talk about such things happening, but God says He will not answer prayers like this.

Let us be very careful about this, friends. The altar of incense is where priests go. The only prayer a sinner can pray is “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” God will hear and answer that prayer when it is offered to Him. Exo_30:8 tells us that there is to be “a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.” There is to be continual praise to God. In 1 Thessalonians we are told to “pray without ceasing.” The incense was to be upon the altar in the morning and the evening. When the high priest went inside and offered incense on the altar, he spent some time in the tabernacle. That incense stayed upon his garments and when he came outside, the people could smell him. You might say that he was wearing the right kind of fragrance. When the great high priest walked by, people caught the fragrance. They said, “My, doesn’t he smell good!” The trouble with most saints today is that they are not wearing the right kind of cologne. The right cologne is prayer. Let your prayers ascend before God as sweet incense, and it will permeate your garmentsif you spend time in prayer.

Exodus 30:12

THE RANSOMED MAY WORSHIPThis 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.

Exodus 30:17

THE CLEANSED MAY WORSHIPNot only must worshipers be redeemed, they must also be cleansed. 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. As one anonymous poet has said: To dwell above With saints in love O that will be glory! But to stay below With saints I know That is another story! The priest could not come into the tabernacle to serve unless he had first washed. The priest got contaminated when he was on the outside. When you go to church and do not enjoy the service, maybe it is not just because the preacher is dull. Maybe you are a dirty saint. When you have the combination of a dull preacher and a dirty saint, you do not have a very exciting service. 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. We need to go to the laver, friends. 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. I am of the opinion that the matter of washing was very important. It was so important, in fact, that I can imagine one priest saying to another priest at the laver, “How many times have you been here today?” The other priest might reply, “Nearly a dozen times.” And the first priest would say, “Well, I’ve been up here over a dozen times. And look at my handsI have dishpan hands because I have washed so much. I wonder why God wants us to do this so often?” And Aaron, standing in the background, might have said, “The Lord wants you to wash and wash and wash so that you will know that you have to be holy. You cannot worship Him, serve Him, or be of use to Him unless you have been cleaned up.” The idea that a dirty saint can serve God acceptably simply is not true. Every now and then you hear of some man getting involved with a woman, and folk say, “My, I do not understand how a thing like that can happen to one who is doing a great work for God.” The man might have been a preacher or a fine Christian worker, but if you check his work, you will find out that it is wood, hay, and stubble. In 1Co_3:12-15 we learn that “…if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” His “great work” amounts to nothing in God’s sight. God wants us to be clean. The priests were to wash in the brazen laver. We are to come to Him in confession. 1Jn_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. Now you are not to confess your sin publicly; you go to Jesus Christ in private. That laver is in heaven. I think that every Sunday, before we ever go inside the church, we should confess our sins for the week. Do not tell me that you don’t get dirty. Your eyes get dirty. Your mind gets dirty. Your hands get dirty. Your feet get dirty. You get dirty all right. One of the big troubles in our churches today is that there is too much spiritual B.O. We need to confess our sins to Him and wash before we go in to worship. God does not accept worship until it comes from a cleansed heart nor will He accept service except from a cleansed heart.

Exodus 30:25

THE ANOINTED MAY WORSHIPWhat is the anointing for us today? It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We have an anointing that enables us to understand the Word of God. That is the reason the Bible is being made real to so many today. It is not the teacher nor the preacher; it is the Spirit of God using the Word of God. Only the Spirit can anoint you. You do not have to go to some man and have him pour oil on you. You can go to God right now and say, “God, open my heart and mind and life to understand Your Word.” 1Jn_2:20 says, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” The word “unction” means anointing and it is ours. 1Jn_2:27 goes on to say, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” The Holy Spirit is the one who can open your mind and heart when you go to work with God to understand His Word. What a blessing He will bring to your heart! There are so many people today who are asking the questions, “What is life all about? What shall I do today? How shall I communicate my needs?” Oh my dear friends, ask God to let the Holy Spirit of God make real His Word to your hearts, and true joy will be yours.

Exodus 30:34

THE INCENSENow the incense, as we are told in verse Exo_30:34, 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.

Exodus 30:37

No one was to use this formula for himself. Neither would God accept any counterfeit. The altar speaks to us of prayer and worship. It is a place where we are to offer our praise, thanksgiving, and our requests. It is not to be duplicated. This formula was not to be used in an attempt to try and make the incense or worship pleasing to the natural man. You cannot make worship pleasing to the natural man. We are to worship God in spirit and in truth. All sorts of things are used to try and trap people into going to church. Nothing but the Word of God should be used to accomplish this. Make sure that the Word of God is foremost, and that everything centers around the Word of God. In closing, I want to mention again that there were two altars. 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. How are we to learn to worship? Well, not at the bloody altar where you go as a sinner and take Christ as your Savior. You enter the Holy Place and come to the golden altar. There is no sacrifice there because the question was settled outside. When you worship God, the sin question has to be settled. The very basis rests upon the fact that this altar once a year was consecrated with blood. As believers, we are accepted in the Beloved before God. God hears our prayers because of what Christ has done.