Exodus 29&30

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Exodus 29:1-46

“And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. 3 And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. 4 And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water. 5 And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod: 6 And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre. 7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him. 8 And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. 9 And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. 10 And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. 11 And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. 13 And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering. 15 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 16 And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about the altar. 17 And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and wash his inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. 18 And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 19 And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. 20 Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. 22 Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration: 23 and one loaf of bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD: 24 and thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25 And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 26 And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: it shall be thy part. 27 And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: 28 and it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD. 29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. 30 And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. 31 And thou shalt take the ram of consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. 32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy. 34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. 35 And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. 36 And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. 37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. 38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat [grain] offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED561]

“Exodus chapter 29 is far as we have come. We are going to look at the priests being consecrated, set aside for God’s work. Remember that we’re told in 1^st Peter chapter 2, ‘Ye also as living stones are built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.’ Again, ‘Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.’…‘That the things that are written in the past, that are told to us, are for our learning, upon whom the ends of the age are come.’ for our instruction. So as we look at this picture of the Tabernacle, all of the details, all of the measurements, the description of the priests, the detail of the clothing, all of these things, again, in the heart of God, none of that ever monotonous, none of it ever mundane, every detail, every measurement, every cubit, everything he gives to Moses is a reflection of the glory of Heaven, and it’s at the center of the heart of God, the thing that he would communicate to his people through every age, of his love, of the shedding of blood of innocent substitutes, looking towards his Son, the ultimate sacrifice that no human parent could ever imagine yielding, because God gave his Son, and all the while had the sovereignty and omnipotence to stop it, and let if go forward because he loved us, laying on him the iniquity of us all. And in all of these details, the heart of God is being offered, with so many different angles, with so many different facets. So we look at this this evening, and just pray that God will meet us and give us our portion. Chapter 29 is as far as we have come, we have looked at the Ark of the Covenant, we’ve looked at the Menorah, we have looked at the Table of Showbread, we have looked at the Tabernacle itself, we’ve looked at the wall [curtained courtyard] around the Tabernacle, we’ve looked at the bronze altar, we’ve come to the priest’s garments, we looked at those. And here in chapter 29 we begin to look at the consecration, the setting aside, the consecration of the priests.

The Consecration Of Aaron & His Sons--The Levitical Priesthood

It says “And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them,” to make them holy, to set them aside, “to minister unto me in the priest’s office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water.” (verses 1-4) a picture of cleansing, obviously, after this there is only the washing of their hands and their feet at the bronze laver, here at the installation of Aaron and his sons, they are washed completely, and certainly a picture of Salvation. Jesus said to Peter ‘That you only need that I wash your feet, your walk after this, not every wit,’ as Peter would say. “And thou shalt take the garments, and put upon Aaron the coat, and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and gird him with the curious girdle of the ephod:” the sash that goes around the waist, “And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and put the holy crown upon the mitre.” that says “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” “Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.” (verses 5-7) Now of course this is before, this, part of it is a picture of Christ, who is anointed before the blood was shed, he was anointed by God, ‘Thou hast anointed me to preach the Good News, to bind up the brokenhearted, the Spirit of the LORD is upon me,’ (Luke 4:16) and so forth. So he is a picture, ultimately, of Christ, the true High Priest. But in his functions, in the way he is treated, there is also instruction for us as we look at these things. Please remember this, and this is remarkable to me as I think about it. Moses is on the mountain, 40 days, 40 nights, God is showing him these things. It didn’t take 40 days and 40 nights to give him the Ten Commandments, but it took 40 days and 40 nights to give him all of the details, showing him all of the things of the priesthood, of the Tabernacle, of the furniture, of the vessels, of the instruments, all of that. And while that’s going on, Aaron is down below making a golden calf, and will have the hutzpah to tell Moses when he comes down ‘Hey, I’m as surprised as you are, I threw the gold into the fire and this calf jumped out, you never would have thought anything like that could happen.’ And God [up on the mountain] is setting aside Aaron and his line to serve in the priesthood, knowing, that the first remarkable lesson that Aaron will learn is that sacrifices first have to be offered for himself, and for his sons. That it will all be of grace, that no one can serve the LORD, no one can step up to any position in the Kingdom to serve in any capacity without God’s grace, without the washing of the blood of his Son. And while God is giving these remarkable things to Moses, Aaron is down below, blowing it bigtime, and making a major mistake. He’s pictured here anointed. Imagine him now, dressed in his garb, his robe, his ephod, the breastplate, the names of the tribes engraved on the green gems on his shoulders, the turban, the mitre with HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD, dressed in this clothing that God said he had to anoint those that were doing the work, the tailors to produce this, so that it would be produced in a remarkable way. And then the oil [the holy oil] is taken and poured upon him and it runs down, Psalm 133 says ‘How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,’ and part of the description, it says it was like the oil poured upon Aaron that ran down upon his beard and down to the hem of his robe, and you have this picture of him standing there and the oil is running down over the mitre, running down over the gold crown, running down over his face, down his beard, the oil of God running over the names of the tribes of Israel on the breastplate, all the way down to the hem of his garment and dripping off, a picture of the anointing of God, certainly of the Holy Spirit and of God setting him aside and consecrating him. What a remarkable scene this is here, just gone over in this verse, in verse 7 [see: https://unityinchrist.com/Psalms/psalms_133_135.html]. And certainly, the need that you and I have, I’ll speak for myself, Lord, let me have a fresh filling of your Spirit, Lord, and again, it’s not enough to say I’m a Spirit-filled Christian, a Spirit-filled pastor, that’s not a title it’s a condition that I should be in. I’ve a lot of people that say ‘I’m a Spirit-filled Christian,’ and I don’t see the fruit of that in their lives. It has to be a condition, and certainly I personally want a filling of the Holy Spirit that is in keeping with June 2007, not the one I received in 1972, you know, I want what’s necessary now. It’s interesting, Wiersby talking about this scene says that when Moody was first coming to England there were a group of pastors that met, and one of the pastors was just pushing to have Moody come, pushing for Moody to come, and one of the other guys stood up and said ‘What’s the deal, does he have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?’ and the guy who was trying to bring this about said ‘No, the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on him.’ And certainly that’s what we want, interesting picture here, of Aaron, with the oil running down. Verse 8, “And thou shalt bring his sons, and put coats upon them. And thou shalt gird them with girdles, Aaron and his sons, and put the bonnets on them: and the priest’s office shall be theirs for a perpetual statute: and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons.” (verses 8-9)

The Bull Of Consecration, Its Blood--Symbolizing Christ’s Sacrifice Which Consecrates Us & Our Ministries

“And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.” (verse 10-12) and then we’re going to read over in verse 20, if you’ll see there, “Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.” (verse 20) You know, here we come to this scene now, Moses in heaven [he says “in heaven,” but he means he’s really on the mount, seeing a vision of heaven], getting the pattern, the description for all these things, and we’ve read about the fine linen, pure and white, the embroidery of purple and of scarlet and of gold [I believe when it says “of gold” it means they were weaving with gold thread], and the intricacy overlaid on pure gold on the structure of the Tabernacle, then overlaid with a dark cloth, overlaid with skins, this whole description, and then all the way around the edge of the Tabernacle these stands of brass and sockets of silver and white fine linen with things embroidered, the beauty of it and the majesty of the high priest with his garments as he comes, this description of divine things, beautiful things. When we read ahead, workmen that were set aside, filled with the Holy Spirit to do these things, and incredible detail, and then all of a sudden as we come to this chapter, it says ‘Get him and his sons, and let them put their hands on the head of a bull, and cut the throat of that bull.’ It’s a picture of them transferring their sin to an innocent substitute, it was to be without spot or blemish. And they would catch the blood of that bull in bowls, you can imagine that blood in golden bowls, the colours. And they would hold their hands there as that animal began to quake and collapse. Then the blood was taken, and sprinkled on the altar, sprinkled on the Tabernacle, sprinkled on the priest and his sons, put upon their ears, blood going everywhere. You think ‘Wait a minute, all of this beautiful stuff, all of this detail, all of this work, everything everybody’s done, now blood’s getting splattered all over everything, what is this?’ And there’s people in the Church [greater Body of Christ] today, they don’t want to hear anything about this, ‘What do you mean, blood? What is this bloody Christian religion, if you talk like that, Jesus is the only way to be saved, the cross and repentance and atonement and sacrifice and sin and hell, if you do that stuff you’re not going along with the other religions in the world, you gotta cool it, you gotta be politically correct, you gotta be inclusive, you gotta get along with everybody else so we can be one big happy family.’ Wait a second, that’s not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that’s not what heaven has given to us to communicate to a lost world. This picture of blood is not one of killing, it’s one of giving, a life, it’s one of atonement, it’s one of a picture so that we can live, it’s the blood of an innocent substitute being shed to give life to someone else, it’s the giving of life. And we look at so much in the Church today ‘Oh we can’t say that, it’s not cool, it’s not inclusive, people won’t feel comfortable if they come in and they have to hear about this stuff.’ It’s like when Louis came here a couple weeks ago, he said ‘I don’t think it’s love to make people who are going to hell, come into church and feel comfortable. I think it’s love to have them come in and tell them the truth, that Jesus died for their sins, and shed his blood, and paid the price, and that if they believe and they accept that, they can have eternal life,’ and there’s power in that, there’s power in the blood of Jesus Christ. You know, it’s God’s testimony, it’s God’s message. And we can be fancy, we can have this whole setup, with gold and silver and scarlet and brass, and it can be religion and incense, it can be the most complicated tapestry and upholstery on the planet and send everybody to hell. This whole scene meant nothing till blood started to be shed. All of the garments, all of the embroidery, all of the scenes meant nothing until blood began to be poured out. And the world that we live in, and a large part of the Church [greater Body of Christ] that we live in would have the Tabernacle, they’d have the embroidery, they’d have the fancy garments, they’ll have the music of the priests and they’d have the incense, and they’d have all that, ‘But just keep the blood stuff out of here, will you.’ I don’t know. When I sit alone with him in the morning, I’m so thankful he shed his blood for me. By the time I finish living a day, I’m thankful, I can look back over that day and say ‘Thank you Lord, you shed your blood for this day, because I didn’t do this one perfect, Lord. And I probably won’t do tomorrow perfect, but you shed your blood.’ It’s like Spurgeon said “I ain’t what I should be, but I ain’t what I used to be, and I ain’t what I’m gonna be.” And I’m under the blood of Jesus Christ, and how wonderful a thing. And all of a sudden all of this detail, all of a sudden the blood now begins to be shed, and this remarkable scene begins to come before us. And it’s hard for you and I to sit here tonight and imagine the impression, not only on the priests now, but on the worshippers as they would come, to take a lamb from their flock, one the children knew. These weren’t cattle ranchers in these days, these were tribes and families. You didn’t have 50,000 sheep on the side of the hill, you had sheep and goats for your family, you knew them. It says a shepherd would call them by name. And when they had a lamb, you knew that lamb. When you had one with a broken leg or had one eye, God said ‘Don’t bring that one to me to sacrifice that one, I know how you’re going to be if don’t tell you this. Bring the nicest one, bring the one without spot or blemish,’ and to bring that lamb to the door of the Tabernacle, and you as the worshipper, you as the worshipper, the priest would put your hand on the head, the priest would hold your hand with the knife, and you would be part of cutting that throat, and feeling that animal then stagger and shake and collapse, and realizing an innocent substitute was dying to pay a sin offering for you. It was staggering for the worshipper, it made the impression, it was the message of Jesus Christ, it was the message of Jesus Christ. What would it have been like for us to stand at the cross, and watch that? [In the Sabbath-keeping Churches of God, at Passover, we’re meant to experience that by looking carefully into the Scriptures detailing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which occurred on a Passover day around 30AD or 31AD, and to then observe the New Testament Passover (see https://unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm) .] It begins to be introduced here. ‘Take of the blood, sprinkle it.’ “And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards,” this sounds like a fun job, “and the caul that is above the liver,” thy layer of fat above the liver, against the diaphragm, “and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar.” this is a chipper little job… “But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp: it is a sin offering.” (verses 13-14) So this first offering is a picture of a sin offering. Isn’t it interesting, it’s the inwards that are taken, that are burned on the altar. And certainly, the sin offering, our flesh, the skin, the dung, all that they are going to burn without the camp, it means nothing, you could burn the flesh in the sin offering, it wouldn’t correct anything on the inside, it’s when the inward parts were taken and put on the fire. Outward religion doesn’t do anything. It’s being changed from the inside-out. So this first sin offering, the inward parts were taken and consumed on the altar by fire, the rest taken without the camp.

The Two Rams Of Consecration--Picturing Christ’s Sacrifice & Our Consecrated Walk

“Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. And thou shalt slay the ram, and thou shalt take his blood, and sprinkle it round about the altar. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces,” here we go again, “and wash his inwards of him, and his legs, and put them unto his pieces, and unto his head. And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the LORD: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” (verses 15-18) Now the interesting picture, of course with the burnt offering, when you get to Leviticus there’s more detail, this is the offering of consecration. The sin offering was there first. And then the offering of consecration is giving everything to the LORD. Now first, the sin offering, for you and I, certainly we were cleansed from within, our outward stuff meant nothing, God got to our heart, the inward things were consumed and brought to life. In the burnt offering, it’s a picture of our entire life being given to him, whatever we do, our hands, our feet, our eyes, all of it yielded to him. So this is an interesting picture, of course it’s a picture of Christ, who gave everything, and this animal’s cut in pieces, it’s inward parts are laid on the altar, the head is laid on, the legs, by the time this thing is there it’s a monstrosity, it’s not the way it’s supposed to be, it’s terribly wrong. And of course it’s a picture of Jesus Christ on the cross, brutalized, beaten, and then the sin of the world upon him, it’s a monstrosity, it’s totally wrong, it should never look that way, it’s dismembered. But it’s a picture of Christ, sacrificed for us, the burnt offering then offered here. “it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD.” The Hebrew for sweet savour is “a savour of rest.” not for the offerer, for God. It was the smell of his Son rising up before him, it was a savour of rest, that one day he would hear his Son say ‘Tutelisti, it is finished, paid in full,’ a savour of rest, ascending before the LORD. Amazing. “And thou shalt take the other ram;” whose probably pretty nervous by now, this last one, “and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.” (verses 19-20) This is a, it says down in verse 22, it is a ram of consecration, their lives being consecrated to the LORD now. The blood being applied to the ear, it’s not rocket science, the blood of Jesus Christ should determine what we listen to, our attitude towards hearing the Word of God. You put your hands on the sacrifice and watched it die in your place, and his blood was placed upon your ear, it was a great sense, ‘LORD let me hear you, let me hear your Word, during the day let me hear the things you want me to hear. Lord, don’t let the foolish and stupid things of this world have access, Lord, to this gate into my mind, my soul and my heart, Lord, let the blood of Christ determine what I hear.’ On the thumb of his right hand, ‘Lord, my work, my energy, my labour, what I do, let it be determined by the blood of Jesus Christ.’ On the great toe of his right foot, ‘Lord, my walk, my walk, Lord, don’t let it just be all talk, let it be a walk.’ Again, not a talkie-talkie, a walkie-talkie, that’s what you want it to be, you don’t want to be all talk, you want your walk to match that, Lord, let Jesus determine my walk, where I go, my journey, my walk, the way I behave myself. Interesting picture. Now, as we go through this, we get more detail later, then the oil, which is a picture of the Spirit, is applied to the ear, the thumb and the great toe of the right foot of the high priest. The interesting thing, as we study this in detail, the only other place that takes place, and Jesus knew it, when he cleansed the leper, and he said ‘Tell no man, but go unto the priest,’ to Jerusalem, to the Temple, ‘and offer the sacrifice Moses prescribed in the Law,’ which no priest there had ever offered, because they had never seen a leper cleansed. And it made them go back to Leviticus, the two longest chapters in Leviticus, only two chapters given to a disease, remarkable. And it says the leper, in the day he’s cleansed, this is the offering you should offer, and of course it’s a beautiful picture of Christ and his sacrifice, and then it says ‘Take the blood of the ram and put it on his right ear, on his right thumb, on his right toe, and take the oil.’ The only other person that was consecrated like the high priest is the leper that was cleansed from his leprosy, which is a picture of all of our lives, it’s a picture of all of us, we are cleansed lepers, all of us, cleansed, not healed, cleansed. So it’s a very interesting picture as we look at this. “And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.” (verse 21) So all of this beautiful weaving and everything, they’re sprinkling blood on it, and oil on it.

The Priest’s & Levite’s Consecrated Food

“Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration: and one loaf of bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD: and thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD.” (verses 22-24) the priest’s food, he would partake now of this, and it wasn’t waved sideways it was waved towards the altar, acknowledging, that it was something that the LORD had given to him, and the priest’s and sustenance of the Levites came from the offerings of the people, they were portions of the heave offering they were allowed to take to themselves to eat and partake of. [Comment: If the priests and Levites were really doing their jobs, spiritually educating the people of Israel, offerings would flow in, they’d have plenty to eat, as tithes and offerings flowed in from an educated and obedient people. If the priests were slack in their jobs, they’d start to go hungry, as a result of a populace that no longer cared for the laws and Word of God.] “And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: it shall be thy part.” (verses 25-26) So they got the breast of the ram. “And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: and it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’ by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.” (verses 27-28) So the priesthood would be able to live off of those things, because they didn’t work, they didn’t partake of an inheritance like the other tribes did. “And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons’ after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them.” (verse 29) Now it’s interesting, we have Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar, the four sons, and Nadab and Abihu are going to die in Leviticus because they offer strange fire, they don’t do this the way the LORD says it’s to be done. “And that son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tabernacle of the congregation to minister in the holy place. And thou shalt take the ram of consecration, and seethe his flesh in the holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.” (verses 30-33) Now “atonement” here, “to cover,” in Hebrews 10 it will tell us “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to put away sin,” but the blood covered it is the idea, the “atonement.” “but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.” “And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.” i.e. if there’s left-overs, “And thus shalt thou do unto Aaron, and to his sons, according to all things which I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them.” (verses 34-35) When the new priest came in, for seven days he went through this same process, to be installed. “And thou shalt offer every day a bullock for a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it. Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.” (verses 36-37)

The Evening & Morning Sacrifices Instituted

“Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even:” (verses 38-39) and again, what a remarkable picture of this, Jesus, favourite name for himself in the Book of Revelation, the Lamb of God, 28 times, ah, every morning a lamb was offered, even if you weren’t there you saw the smoke rising. Every evening, a lamb offered, and as it should be in our lives, I believe, every morning, what a great way to start the day, to get alone with Jesus. Spurgeon said “Let us not see the face of man today, until we’ve seen the face of Jesus Christ.” To get up in the morning, you start your day, and I’m glad every morning that he shed his blood for me. What a way to start the day, thankful, reminded of the price that he paid, his love for us, his work finished, our inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away, heaven reserved, work done. Christianity is not do, Christianity is done, the work is done. He’s not done with you, he said the work is done. And every evening, what a wonderful thing, before you go to sleep at night, to lay in bed, in the dark, for me, just to lay there and say ‘Lord, thank you for this day, thank you for being with me, for the coincidences that were divine appointments today. Lord thank you, I blew it in certain ways, here and there, thank you for your blood, thank you that your mercies are new every morning, and Lord you’re there every night to be with me.’ I think it’s a great thing. “The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat [grain] offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.” (verses 39-46) Notice his purposes, ‘that I will be their God, that I might dwell among them, I am the LORD their God,’ the heart of God here, ‘That I might be with them,’ his conspicuous presence. We follow Adam and Eve, the fall in the Garden, we have the story of generations, then of Noah, then on to Abraham. But now for the first time, God says this is all happening so that I can come and manifest my presence right in the midst of my people, ‘I want to dwell in their midst,’ and through the blood of atonement, the sanctifying of these things, he says ‘I will dwell among the children of Israel, I will be their God, that I may dwell among them.’ Of course, the problem is sin, the problem is man. Wonderfully when we get to Revelation 21, the first thing he says “I will be their God, I will tabernacle among them, I will wipe away all the tears from their eyes, there shall be no more death, no more sighing, no more sin, no more struggle, no more pain,’ he’s going to have it all his way. When he has it all his way, we will be his sons and daughters, he will dwell among us, and there will be no pain, no death, no suffering, no tears, that’s the way, uh-huh, uh-huh I like it. Sorry, my mind got lost there for a minute, just pull that right back, I need of the memories there. You know, I played reasonable music until the ‘70s hit, then everybody was depressed for awhile, so, I don’t know how that happened. OK, just remember that, that’ll help you there. I’m almost sanctified, I’m working on it. Chapter 30.

Exodus 30:1-38

“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. 2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. 3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. 4 And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. 5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. 7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. 9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. 10 And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once a year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD. 11 And the LORD spake unto Moses saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. 19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: 20 when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD. 21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations. [cf. Exodus 38:8] 22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24 and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25 and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. 26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32 Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall be a like weight: 35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36 and thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. 38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”

The Altar of Incense: Deep Meaning For The Believer

“And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.” (verse 1) Now this is the altar of incense that would be right in front of the vail, it is 18 inches by 18 inches, a foot and a half square on the top, and is 3-foot tall, it is the tallest piece of furniture in the Tabernacle, which is an interesting picture of course of prayer. It’s a picture of that. “A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.” (verse 2) so there’s horns on the corners, “And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.” (verse 3) a rim around the top, “And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.” (verse 4) not to be touched, it’s to be borne, to be carried. “And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.” (verses 5-6) Isn’t it an interesting picture, of prayer? It’s against the vail, it’s against that place where on the other side the blood of the lamb on the Day of Atonement [it’s a goat’s blood on the Day of Atonement, look up Leviticus 16] where the presence of God would be. And of course for you and I, wonderfully, when Christ died on the cross, and said it was paid in full, the vail was torn, it says, from top to bottom, 80-foot high, woven 10-inches thick, it was torn from the top to the bottom. No wonder it says many of the priests came to believe, in the Book of Acts, the ones who were in there did, when that thing tore from the top to the bottom. But what an interesting position, here, a picture of prayer. David would say this, in the Psalms, he would say ‘Let my prayers be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.’ In the Book of Revelation, it says this, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one them harps, and golden vials full of odours,” from the odours there, are incense, “which are the prayers of saints.” (Revelation 5:8) Again, in chapter 8 it says, “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.” (verse 3) No doubt, this is what Moses is really seeing, that the Tabernacle was only a picture of. “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” (verse 4) So here this picture of the Table of Incense, and “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.” (verse 7) when he comes in to put the oil in the Menorah. “And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.” (verse 8) that we should offer prayer continually, morning and evening, in fact, praying without ceasing. It doesn’t mean your eyes should be closed while you’re in traffic, there’s too many people out there doing that already, at least when I drive. But the idea is to be in an attitude of prayer, always lifting our hearts to the Lord. Here is a beautiful picture of that. It says “Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.” (verse 9) Don’t offer anything else on this, no matter how many sacrifices you would try to offer there, it will never take the place of incense. No matter how much religious activity you would put there, it’ll never take the place of incense [prayer], no matter how much religious stuff we do, it’ll never take the place of prayer. It’ll never take the place of us coming before him, because he died on the cross, the vail was torn to open the way to the Holy of Holies, that was the whole point of his coming. It was the whole point of his coming, it’s the message of God. No matter how many sacrifices someone will try to offer there, no matter how much religious, drink offerings, whatever else they would do, it means nothing. In fact it tells us in Leviticus, and I’ll turn there, chapter 16, it says “And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail: and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:” (verses 12-13) Once a year, it says he would go in and offer incense, the rest of the year there at the Table of Incense. But the fire to burn the incense had to come from the altar of sacrifice. And the picture of course is this, we can only come in prayer in the name of Jesus Christ [Yeshua haMeschiach for our Messianic Jewish believers]. You can only come before the Father and offer our prayers. There’s lots of people out there talking about lots of kinds of prayer and mediation and all kinds of things. I remember after 9/11 everybody was offering prayer, from every angle, from UFOs to you know, the whole…you know, there’s one name given among men whereby we must be saved, and that’s the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me.” No strange incense was to be burnt thereon, there was a very specific way for this to take place, and it had a picture of genuineness, and the fire for it came from the altar, and that has to happen in our lives, as we offer prayers. And again, praying in the Spirit is not just tongues, it can be that, but it’s getting before God in brokenness. It says sometimes ‘we don’t know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit himself maketh intercession with groanings that are too deep be uttered.’ John Bunyon in Pilgrim’s Progress said “We would rather have a heart, prayer is better off being a heart without words than words without heart.” And sometimes we get before the Lord so broken, there’s no human language to articulate what we want to say, what we want to pour out in front of him, and tears begin the flow, and the Holy Spirit meets us, and there are groanings, no human language could ever bring them to the surface, the Spirit helping our infirmities. Because just sometimes the situation is so overwhelming that we have no idea what to pray as we should. And God is gracious to meet us there, and to come alongside of us. ‘He shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifices, no meat [grain] offerings, no drink offerings thereon.’ “And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once a year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.” (verse 10) So once a year on the Day of Atonement he came, and he put blood on the four corners of it.

Specifications For Numbering The Children Of Israel

“And the LORD spake unto Moses saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.” (verses 11-12) Now when you go to the Book of Numbers if you want to have the number of males, I believe it was 20 to 50 years, of fighting age, there were 603,455 or something, I can’t remember. “This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.” (verse 13) Now this was not coinage at this point, it was a weight, so they said “a shekel is twenty gerahs” just so you’re not confused. This was redemption money, once a year they would come and pay this. Remember, this translates into, when the Pharisees came to Peter and said ‘Doesn’t your master pay the Temple tax?’ the half-shekel. Peter of course, never at a loss for words, said ‘Sure,’ before he, you know. And of course the Lord sent him with the fishing hook, and the fish comes up with a full shekel, which is enough for both of them, what a wonderful experience during tax season. Many people pray during tax season. This would be equivalent to over 100 talents of silver, which is an incredible, incredible measure. “Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.” (verses 14-15) Redemption money, the poor and the rich are alike before God, they all stand on even ground. When it comes the cross of Jesus Christ, we all approach the same, redemption is the same price paid for a rich man and a poor man, no one’s more righteous, more deserving, less deserving before the Lord. “And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.” (verse 16) It becomes the Temple tax after the Tabernacle passes away and the Temple is instituted.

The Brazen Laver: Has A Huge Spiritual Significance--Defining The Purpose Of The Law & What Enables Our Spiritual Walk

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein. For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: when they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD. So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.” (verses 17-21) [cf. Exodus 38:8] Now this is the Bronze Laver or the Bronze Sea, we have no details, there’s no size here, there’s no measurement, there’s no weight, there’s no description of loops or staves, there’s no direction how to carry it. It’s very interesting, here’s this one basin of brass (or bronze) that’s to be placed between the altar where the sacrifices are made and the door of the Tabernacle, and the priests were to go there to wash their hands and to wash their feet. Now it’s very interesting, because when you go through this Scripture, drinking water is always a picture of the Holy Spirit. Come unto me all that, Jesus says, if any man thirst let him come to me, and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living waters. He says to the woman at the well ‘I’ll give you water to drink, it will be a well of water springing up to everlasting life.’ Drinking water in the Scripture is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Washing water in the Scripture is always a picture of the Word of God [except in this one instance, and I’ll explain afterwards, because Pastor Joe gets this one wrong.] Husbands are to wash their wives with the water of the Word. Lord, sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth, how shall a young man cleanse his way, by taking heed unto thy Word oh Lord. When you read through, the washing of water is always a picture of the Word of God. It’s interesting to me here, in chapter 38, verse 8 it says “And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.” They took the mirrors, mirrors were popular in Egypt, and one of the things evidently, the woman brought out of Egypt with them, besides jewels and gold, is they brought mirrors. Cosmetics were developed in Egypt, eyeliner, mascara, it’s all Egyptian. Even the Greek cosmos is a word to describe the universe, it means to bring order out of chaos, we get cosmetics from that same word. A little free information there. And it says the bronze laver, no weight, no shape, no size specified to Moses, it says it was made out of the lookingglasses, the brass. So when the priests would lean over to wash his hands, he would see himself reflected in there. [Now this is why Pastor Joe is off on his spiritual analogy of what the water symbolized here. In the Book of James, James himself refers to the Word of God, the Law of God, which he calls “the perfect law of liberty,” as being like a mirror, showing the believer where the dirt, the sin is, as he’s looking into it. James 1:22-25, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass [i.e. mirror]: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgeteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” As we have seen throughout the Old Testament, the Law of God never gave a person the ability to obey it, washing off the sin, dirt it shows the observer. Whereas it is the Holy Spirit that enables the believer to wash off the sin he or she sees in the Word, Law of God. The apostle Paul was grieved in Romans 7, about what the Law showed him of himself, but he also grieved in Romans 7 that he was helpless to remove the sin he saw in himself. In the very next chapter, Romans 8, Paul gives praise to God and Jesus Christ, because the Holy Spirit God is giving is doing what the Law could not do. A mirror does not clean the dirt off the face of the one using it, it is the water in the bronze laver, which removes the dirt the beholder sees on himself as he looks into it, and then uses the water, symbolic of the Holy Spirit, to remove the dirt. So in this instance, the water in the bronze laver is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, represents the Holy Spirit, without which no man or woman will be able to overcome sin in their lives. Enough said.] To enter God’s Tabernacle, the priests had to wash their hands and feet, just as we must to truly enter into God’s Tabernacle. And he would be reminded. It says if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us, catharize us of all unrighteousness, to drain the unrighteousness out of us, his work, if we’re faithful, if we confess, he’s faithful and just, to forgive and to cleanse. [And this is done via God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, doing the work within us. We don’t possess the spiritual energy to do it on our own by looking in a mirror.] And here this wonderful picture of this place where the priests would come and wash, not drink, wash. And James tells us, ‘Any man who looks into the perfect law of liberty,’ that God’s given us his Word. ‘Some people he says are like those [after looking into the mirror of God’s perfect law of liberty, the Word of God], they go and immediately forget the manner of man they were, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, it says, and doeth the work, is a man that shall be blessed in his deed.’ That in God’s perfect law of liberty, we see ourselves in it [see, even he’s saying that the perfect law of liberty, the Law of God is a mirror--mirrors don’t clean dirt off their users, the water does, the Holy Spirit does]. It’s alive and it’s powerful. And I don’t know about you, but I still love the Bible, after all these years. It still talks to me. [The apostle Paul brings out in Romans 8 verse 7, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Paul brings out throughout Romans 8, verses 1-17 that it is the Holy Spirit within us that gives us a love for God’s law, God’s word, but also that the carnal, unconverted mind that does not possess God’s Holy Spirit is at enmity against God and his Law. The Holy Spirit is the water that does the washing, whereas, more accurately, it is the Law of God that is a mirror. That is why the unconverted person hates the Law of God, because it is a mirror that exposes the sin on them (Romans 8:7). The Law of God is not evil, but neither can it clean sin, as Paul showed in Romans 7. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid the price for those sins, so we don’t have to suffer the death penalty, the second death (Revelation 20:6). But it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to walk out of habits of sin, and clothe ourselves in God’s righteousness. The bronze laver pictures that process, the process of overcoming sin all believers go through.] That’s your problem, I get up here, I’m neurotic, it’s been talking to me all week. And I sit alone with it, and I see my life reflected in it, and I see what needs to change [i.e. that mirror again], and I see the things that God would say to me. I see my weaknesses, my flaws, I see the things that are still not conforming to his image and likeness so easily reflected as I spend time, as it were, in his Word, washing, washing, cleansing my walk. [Again, in his Word, seeing the reflection, while the Spirit is washing, washing.] What an interesting picture, this bronze laver brings before us here.

The Holy Anointing Oil

Oh man, we can’t. I want to, but we can’t. Yes we can. Hold on, here we go. Ah, verse 22, that way we can start in chapter 31 next week, it’s easier to remember as you read ahead. “Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: and thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.” (verses 22-33) “cut off from his people,” and often that meant death. So this particular anointing oil, which was a picture of a particular anointing that was to be put on the Tabernacle, all of the instruments, and upon the priests, it had a sweet odour to it. Which is a wonderful thing, because when you worked in the Tabernacle, if it wasn’t for this incense and this sweet anointing oil, all you would have smelled is blood. And anybody whose been around a slaughterhouse or been around that much blood knows the way that smells. What a wonderful gift this was, to soak everything down with this anointing oil. And the other side of that is, you were supposed to know the way a priest smelled. You were supposed to say ‘You know, I smell a priest, look around here, I smell a priest.’ Because nobody was allowed to copy it, nobody was allowed to try to implement it, it was holy. And you should have an aura like that, it says ‘we have the savour, the smell of life to those that are saved, the savour of death to those that are perishing.’ There should be the aroma of Christ upon our lives, our tenderness, our consideration, our speech, should be holy, we serve a Holy God. The things that come out of our mouths should not be crude, and sexual, unclean, and bitter, full of cursing. And it’s hard for some of us, because I lived that way a long time, and when we get pushed to the edge, you know, if I backslide, I’m not planning on it, but I’m just saying, if I backslide I’m not gonna backslide into becoming a brain surgeon or an astronaut of something, I’ll backslide into what I was before I got saved, that’s called backsliding. And when those pressures come to have us fall back into, we’re freaking out, we tend to go right back into those old patterns, no, no, there’s supposed to be something different about us now. Your friends should say ‘You know, this Bible-thumper, there’s something different about him.’ Because if they smell that, when their mother gets cancer, when there’s a tremendous difficulty in their life, they know that smell, they’re going to come to you, when you see the look on their face they’re going to say ‘Would you pray for my family, would you pray for my dad?’ There was a certain aroma that set’s aside those things that were holy, those things that were good and upright.

The Ingredients For The Holy Incense: A Picture Of The Composition Of Prayer

Now I’m going to take a stab at these names, just for the incense, you won’t know whether I’m pronouncing them correct or not, so. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:” (verses 34-35) literally “salted together with salt,” which would set it aside and make it burn at a different temperature, “together, pure and holy: and thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.” (verses 36-38) A picture of the Incense, a particular picture of prayer. You know, prayer should have a certain composition to it. You know the ingredients, if you’re genuine, repentance, confession, brokenness, adoration, thankfulness, tears, supplication, intercession, there are ingredients to our Incense as we offer it. Read ahead, I hope the Rapture happens before next Wednesday, so that we can see the reality of all of these things. You’ll see how much I got wrong. But you won’t care because we’ll be in heaven [at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (cf. Revelation 19:7-9), before we head back down to earth to stop WWIII (cf. Revelation 19:10-21; Zechariah 14:1-15)] and you won’t be mad at me because you’re a Christian, and you’re in heaven [at the Wedding Feast on the Sea of Glass, in the New Jerusalem]. I did my best. If not, back here, chapter 31, I encourage you to read ahead, 32 brings us to the golden calf, we start to come to these remarkable scenes in Exodus, but I encourage you to read ahead so you’re familiar with these things as we head into them. Paul said the Bereans were more noble, because instead of just believing him, they went and studied the Scripture to see if those things he said were true. You need to do that. You need to never believe me, you have a Bible, you study it. And my gift as a pastor-teacher should only be confirming what God is saying to you during the week, you should be saying ‘Ya, that’s the way to do it…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Exodus 29:1-46 and Exodus 30:1-38, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]