30:1-10, THE ALTAR FOR BURNING INCENSE. The place for this altar was the Holy Place, a little in front of the veil. Here the officiating priest, twice a day (morning and evening) was to offer incense to Jehovah. INCENSE symbolized prayer - Psa 141:1-2 ("1 LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee. 2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense; [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice"); Lk 1:9-10 ("9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense"); Rev 5:8 ("And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints"); Rev 8:3-4 ("3 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. 4 And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand").
30:1 AND THOU SHALT MAKE AN ALTAR TO BURN INCENSE UPON: [OF] ACACIA WOOD SHALT THOU MAKE IT.
30:2 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.
A.This ALTAR, upon which TO BURN INCENSE to Almighty Jehovah, was to be 18 inches square and 36 inches high.
B.Each of its four corners was to stick up like a bull's horn.
C.THE HORNS THEREOF SHALL BE OF THE SAME: (ITS HORNS SHALL BE OF ONE PIECE WITH IT, NKJ) -- No projections added to it.
30:3 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.
**CROWN OF GOLD: A gold edging, a molding, or border.
30:4 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.
**Below the edging on opposite sides there were to be attached two gold rings through which they could put the poles for carrying the altar.
30:5 AND THOU SHALT MAKE THE STAVES [OF] ACACIA WOOD, AND OVERLAY THEM WITH GOLD.
30:6 AND THOU SHALT PUT IT BEFORE THE VEIL THAT [IS] BY THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY, BEFORE THE MERCY SEAT THAT [IS] OVER THE TESTIMONY, WHERE I WILL MEET WITH THEE.
A.BEFORE THE VEIL: In front of the inside curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
B.From this Verse we might not be sure which side of the cur-tain, but the next two verses show that it was inside the Holy Place, for no one could enter The Holiest every day.
30:7 AND AARON SHALL BURN THEREON SWEET INCENSE EVERY MORNING: WHEN HE DRESSETH THE LAMPS, HE SHALL BURN INCENSE UPON IT.
30:8 AND WHEN AARON LIGHTETH THE LAMPS AT EVEN, HE SHALL BURN INCENSE UPON IT, A PERPETUAL INCENSE BEFORE THE LORD THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS.
A.The officiating priest was to burn incense twice a day.
B.A PERPETUAL INCENSE: Not 24 hours a day (the language of Verses 7-8 show that is not true), but as long as the Taber-nacle service lasted this was to be a constant offering.
30:9 YE SHALL OFFER NO STRANGE INCENSE THEREON, NOR BURNT SACRIFICE, NOR MEAT OFFERING; NEITHER SHALL YE POUR DRINK OFFERING THEREON.
A.NO STRANGE INCENSE: Only the proper incense was to be burned on the altar (directions for preparation in Verse 34-38).
B.NOR MEAT OFFERING: (GRAIN OFFERING, NKJ)
30:10 AND AARON SHALL MAKE AN ATONEMENT UPON THE HORNS OF IT ONCE IN A YEAR WITH THE BLOOD OF THE SIN OFFERING OF ATONEMENTS: ONCE IN THE YEAR SHALL HE MAKE ATONEMENT UPON IT THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS: IT [IS] MOST HOLY UNTO THE LORD.
A.AN ATONEMENT: Not for the pardoning of the sins of the people (that was done at the altar of burnt offering), but to purify the altar of incense -- Compare the cleansing of the altar of burnt offering - Lev 16:18-19 ("18 And he shall go out unto the altar that [is] before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put [it] upon the horns of the altar round about. 19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel").
B.IT IS MOST HOLY UNTO THE LORD: This suggests the great value and sacredness with which the altar of incense was regarded.
30:11-16, THE MONEY FOR THE UPKEEP OF THE TABERNACLE WHICH WAS DERIVED BY A RANSOM OF SOULS.
30:11 AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING,
30:12 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.
A.WHEN THOU TAKEST THE SUM: "When you take a census to see how many grown men there are in Israel."
B.A RANSOM FOR HIS SOUL: (NKJ, A RANSOM FOR HIMSELF; Marginal reading: THE PRICE OF A LIFE)
30:13 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.
30:14 EVERY ONE THAT PASSETH AMONG THEM THAT ARE NUMBERED, FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND ABOVE, SHALL GIVE AN OFFERING UNTO THE LORD.
A.A SHEKEL was approximately equal to a current dollar, so each one was to give about fifty cents.
B.THE SHEKEL OF THE SANCTUARY: A SHEKEL which must have been kept as an official standard of measurement.
C.FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD: The age of TWENTY was the time when an Israelite entered on all the duties of citizenship.
30:15 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.
A.God considers all souls to be of equal value (Ac 10:34); THE RICH could not boast at giving a great amount, and THE POOR would not be burdened at having to give a large sum.
B.TO MAKE AN ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SOULS: This seems to have per-tained only to their admission into full covenant privileges, and not to cleansing from sin, which payment could be made only by blood.
30:16 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.
A.This was a tax to be used for the upkeep of the Tabernacle.
B.A MEMORIAL: The specific use is given at Ex 38:25-28 ("25 And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation [was] an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: 26 A bekah for every man, [that is], half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty [men]. 27 And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket. 28 And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them"). With all of this being used in the sacred Tent, it would be a continual MEMORIAL as the people saw it and were reminded of their privileges and duties.
30:17-21, THE LARGE BRONZE BOWL FOR WASHING (THE BRAZEN LAVER).
30:17 AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING,
30:18 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.
A.LAVER: (NKJ, Marginal reading: BASIN)
B.HIS FOOT: A stand or base for the LAVER.
C.This large bowl was between the altar of burnt offering and the Holy Place.
D.This washing surely was a type of New Testament baptism. Amazingly, the PULPIT COMMENTARY (written by sectarians) acknowledges this with these words:
Primarily, the brazen altar has its antitype in THE CHRISTIAN FONT. "Baptism saves us," says St. Peter (1 Pet. iii. 21). "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins," said Ananias (Acts xxii. 16). "There is one baptism for the remission of sins," said the Nicene Fathers. As the priests had to wash at the laver ere they might enter the sanctuary, so entrance into the Church, by the institution of Christ (Matt. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 5), is by baptism. To wash, of course, is by itself not enough -- each of us must "lead the rest of his life according to this beginning." So the priests, besides washing, had to observe all God's other ordinances.
E.Just as amazingly, the same writer (apparently not under-standing Rom 6:1-5,17-18, and other passages), then says:
Baptism is "generally necessary" since Christ came and instituted it; yet no one doubts that many un-baptized persons have entered heaven. But not one has entered, or will ever enter, whom the blood of Christ has not cleansed.
30:19 FOR AARON AND HIS SONS SHALL WASH THEIR HANDS AND THEIR FEET THEREAT:
30:20 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:
30:21 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.
30:22-33, THE HOLY OIL FOR DEDICATION AND ORDINATION. Every detail connected with the oil was so important that the exact weight of each spice, and the exact quantity of the olive oil are given. Then directions are given for the use of the oil, and a warning is given concerning its use for any persons except the priests and in any place except the Tabernacle.
30:22 MOREOVER THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING,
30:23 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],
30:24 AND OF CASSIA FIVE HUNDRED [SHEKELS], AFTER THE SHEKEL OF THE SANCTUARY, AND OF OIL OLIVE AN HIN:
A.PRINCIPAL SPICES: (NKJ, QUALITY SPICES) The spices which are named and which can now be identified are rare and expensive, being imported from India, Borneo, China, and perhaps other distant places. This indicates there was already an extensive system of commerce in the world.
B.CALAMUS: The NKJ and other versions have CANE.
C.The official measurements would be approximately twelve pounds of MYRRH, six pounds of CINNAMON, six pounds of CALAMUS (or CANE), and twelve pounds of CASSIA, mixed into a gallon of OLIVE OIL.
30:25 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.
A.AFTER THE ART OF THE APOTHECARY: The ingredients were not just to be mixed together, but artfully combined by a Perfumer; One who was knowledgeable and skilled in this ART or craft.
B.The first application of the holy oil was to the structure and its contents which had to do with the worship of God....
30:26 AND THOU SHALT ANOINT THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION THEREWITH, AND THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY,
30:27 AND THE TABLE AND ALL HIS VESSELS, AND THE CANDLESTICK AND HIS VESSELS, AND THE ALTAR OF INCENSE,
30:28 AND THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING WITH ALL HIS VESSELS, AND THE LAVER AND HIS FOOT.
30:29 AND THOU SHALT SANCTIFY THEM, THAT THEY MAY BE MOST HOLY: WHATSOEVER TOUCHETH THEM SHALL BE HOLY.
A.WHATSOEVER TOUCHETH THEM SHALL BE HOLY (NKJ, WHATEVER TOUCHES THEM MUST BE HOLY): We do not know if the holiness was trans-ferred by a touch, or if holiness was required before the touch; But compare Mt 23:17-19.
B.After the anointing of the Tabernacle and its furniture, then Moses was to anoint the priests....
30:30 AND THOU SHALT ANOINT AARON AND HIS SONS, AND CONSECRATE THEM, THAT [THEY] MAY MINISTER UNTO ME IN THE PRIEST'S OFFICE.
**Compare Lev 8:10-12 ("10 And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that [was] therein, and sanctified them. 11 And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. 12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him").
30:31 AND THOU SHALT SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, SAYING, THIS SHALL BE AN HOLY ANOINTING OIL UNTO ME THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS.
30:32 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.
30:33 WHOSOEVER COMPOUNDETH [ANY] LIKE IT, OR WHOSOEVER PUTTETH [ANY] OF IT UPON A STRANGER, SHALL EVEN BE CUT OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE.
A.HOLY ANOINTING OIL UNTO ME: This special oil was dedicated to the Lord, and was to be used only for Him. The special recipe was not to be used for any private everyday purpose (for example, as an ointment UPON MAN'S FLESH).
B.AFTER THE COMPOSITION OF IT: The proportions in this recipe could not be used; Which would not forbid their private use of the spices, in any combination, provided they did not make this exact oil -- This was holy oil and was to remain separate from all use except that for which it was originally made.
C.Nor was it to be used upon A STRANGER (anyone who was not of the family of Aaron).
D.CUT OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE: Would no longer belong to the Lord's people; (NKJ, Marginal reading: PUT TO DEATH)
30:34-38, THE SPECIAL HOLY INCENSE. Exact details are now given as to how it was to be composed.
30:34 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 THERE BE A LIKE [WEIGHT]:
30:35 AND THOU SHALT MAKE IT A PERFUME, A CONFECTION AFTER THE ART OF THE APOTHECARY, TEMPERED TOGETHER, PURE [AND] HOLY:
A.THESE SWEET SPICES: For an interesting discussion of the spices here named, see PULPIT COMMENTARY and other references.
B.A LIKE WEIGHT: Equal amounts of each of the four spices.
C.TEMPERED TOGETHER: Many scholars think this should be trans-lated SALTED, or WITH SALT.
30:36 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.
30:37 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.
30:38 WHOSOEVER SHALL MAKE LIKE UNTO THAT, TO SMELL THERETO, SHALL EVEN BE CUT OFF FROM HIS PEOPLE.
A.As with the anointing oil, so the incense was a special recipe and was dedicated to the exclusive use of the Lord.
B.They were not to make any of it for themselves, to use it as a personal perfume.
C.Anyone who made it just to enjoy it personally would be CUT OFF from the people (which would mean BE PUT TO DEATH).
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