In The Word
Read: Exodus 30-31
The Altar of Incense
30 “Now you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit; it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 You shall also make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two sides—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 And you shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the atoning cover that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. 8 And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering, or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 However, Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
11 The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “When you take a census of the sons of Israel to count them, then each one of them shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you count them, so that there will be no plague among them when you count them. 13 This is what everyone who is counted shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as a contribution to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is counted, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the Lord. 15 The rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less, than the half shekel, when you give the contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves. 16 And you shall take the atonement money from the sons of Israel and give it for the service of the tent of meeting, so that it may be a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”
17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet from it; 20 when they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, so that they do not die; or when they approach the altar to minister, by offering up in smoke a fire sacrifice to the Lord. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they do not die; and it shall be a permanent statute for them, for Aaron and his descendants throughout their generations.”
The Anointing Oil
22 Moreover, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, 250, and of fragrant cane 250, 24 and of cassia 500, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. 25 You shall make from these a holy anointing oil, a fragrant mixture of ointments, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 And you shall anoint the tent of meeting with it, 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 and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand. 29 You shall also consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them shall be holy. 30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, so that they may serve as priests to Me. 31 Furthermore, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on anyone’s body, nor shall you make any like it in the same proportions; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever mixes any like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.’”
The Incense
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each. 35 You shall make incense from it all, a skillful mixture, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall crush some of it very fine, and put part of 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 And the incense which you shall make, you shall not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his people.”
The Skilled Craftsmen
31 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 4 to create artistic designs for work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 5 and in the cutting of stones for settings, and in the carving of wood, so that he may work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 6 And behold, I Myself have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill, so that they may make everything that I have commanded you: 7 the tent of meeting, the ark of testimony, the atoning cover that is on it, and all the furniture of the tent, 8 the table and its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, and the altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, 10 the woven garments as well: the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, with which to carry out their priesthood; 11 the anointing oil also, and the fragrant incense for the Holy Place, they are to make them according to everything that I have commanded you.”
The Sign of the Sabbath
12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Now as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You must keep My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it must be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a permanent covenant.’ 17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
18 When He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
As we continue studying through the book of Exodus, the Bible goes on to offer additional details concerning the tabernacle. Today we read about the furniture, atonement money, lavers of brass, anointing oil, holy incense, anointed workers, and Sabbath day; finally, God gave Moses two tablets of testimony written with His very hand.
Concerning the Sabbath, God reminded Israel of its importance. He told them it is a sign between Him and all Israel. He also reminded them that He made the heavens and the earth in six days but rested and was refreshed on the seventh day. God expressed the importance of balance to Israel here. You can probably imagine how eager Israel was to set out as its own nation after 400 years of bondage. But no matter how eager they were, God knew balance is more important than abuse.
Sometimes, we as Christians, especially those who have come out of bondage, can be very eager to build a new life in Christ. Usually we do this by serving in our local church or building a ministry. While God does want us to work and be productive, our Creator understands that if we do not balance, we will eventually burn out. If we are to stay healthy and consistent, we have to be able to balance our service and our rest. Equally important is our physical exercise, family time, and friends. A healthy life is a balanced life!