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Exodus 30:1-10: The Altar of Incense
In the Hebrew this altar is known by several names:
- Mizbah ha-zahav: "the altar of gold," to distinguish it from the bronze altar of sacrifice (Mishnah: Menahot 7:1)
- Mizbah ha-ketoret: "the altar of incense," to designate its function (Lev 8:3)
- Mizbeah ha-penimi: "the inner altar," to designate its location (mostly in rabbinic literature)
The incense altar was to a square wooden column about the height of a man's waist made with a gold top rim, horns protruding from the four corners of the top and with four gold rings and two poles to transport the altar. The entire altar and its wooden poles were to be covered with gold
The golden Altar of Incense was to be placed in the Holy Place in front of the curtain that covered the entrance to the Holy of Holies, the sacred space that contained the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy-seat.
Both the Altar of Burnt Offerings and the golden Altar of Incense are mentioned in these Scripture passages on either side of the instructions for the Tamid sacrifice because both were intimately associated with that major communal sacrifice. The altar in the courtyard received the sacrifice of the Tamid lambs, and incense was burned on the incense altar before the first lamb was laid on the courtyard altar and after the second lamb was slain and laid on the courtyard altar so that the burning of the incense embraced both sacrifices. In addition to the twice daily burning of the incense on the Altar of Incense, on the Feast of Yom Kippur (Feast of Atonement) and when the sin sacrifice was offered for a High Priest, the incense altar became an altar of sacrifice, receiving the blood of the sin sacrificial victim offered for the High Priest smeared on the horns of both the incense altar (Lev 4:7; Heb 9:6-7). The instructions given for the Altar of Incense completes part I of the instructions given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Question: What are two incidences in Scripture where incense was offered improperly or by an unauthorized individual and what was the result? See Lev 10:1-2; Num 3:2-4; 2 Chr 26:1, 16-21.
Answer: Aaron's two elder sons offered incense improperly and were killed, and King Uzziah of Judah, who was not authorized, tried to offer incense in the Tabernacle but was struck with leprosy before he could desecrate the incense altar.
Question: Moses does not realize the implications of this command, but we can. What incident that happens in the future does this command presuppose, revealing God's foreknowledge of unfolding events in salvation history?
Answer: The sin of worshiping the idol of the Golden Calf in Exodus chapter 32 which makes the communal feast of atonement known as Yom Kippur necessary.
Exodus 30:11-16: The Census and Poll Tax
All males above the age of twenty are to pay the same tax amount. The payment is considered to be a ransom for the life of the individual covenant member.
This tax has an expiatory function. In Scripture a census can only be taken with God's approval, and yet every census appeared to be froth with danger. Usually a census in Scripture is associated with war and the numbers of fighting men to serve in the army (Lev 24:14, Num 8:10, Dt 34:9), but a census is also necessary in the imposition of taxes as the Romans applied the census recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke 2:1-5. In this case, the census is the prelude to a tax levee for the construction of the Tabernacle, as Exodus 38:24-28 records. The money collected will be used for the casting of the sockets of the sanctuary structure and is therefore a one-time tax.
Exodus 30:17-21: Instructions for Construction of the Bronze Basin
The bronze basin of holy water that was to be placed in the courtyard in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle and used to purify the priests in preparation for their services in the Sanctuary courtyard or before they entered the Tabernacle. It was made from polished bronze mirrors of the women.
In the ritual of the Feast of Unleavened Bread where the community of the people of God eat the Passover sacrifice in household groups there are three ritual hand washings. Jesus replaced of the the ritual hand washings by washing the Apostles' feet in John 13:3-16 to prepare them for receiving the holy food of Christ's Body and Blood, and as a kind of ritual ordination of the New Covenant priesthood.
Priests serving in the Sanctuary and later in the Jerusalem Temple were only permitted to wear the seamless white linen garment for worship services (Ez 42:14) and in the performance of those services the priests ritually washed both their hands and their feet in the Temple laver before beginning a ministerial duty (Mishnah: Tamid 2:1B), just as Catholic priests only wear their vestments for liturgical service and also ritually wash their hands before taking up the unleavened Bread just before reciting the words of Consecration during the celebration of the Mass.
Exodus 30:22-33: Instructions for Making and Using the Anointing Oil
The word "holy" is repeated seven times. The spices needed for the anointing oil were mentioned in Exodus 25:6. Spices and aromatic resins were rare commodities and highly prized in the ancient world ( Is 23:18; 33:6; Jer 20:5; Ez 22:25; Prov 15:6; 27:24). They were often given as tribute gifts and were usually stored in a country's royal treasury ( 1 Kng 10:2, 10; 2 Kng 20:13).
Question: Where is the anointing oil to be applied and why? What restrictions are stated for the use of the oil?
Answer: To the priests and to the Sanctuary altars and furniture, and to the utensils and accessories. The sacred anointing consecrates the men and the items to divine service; their holiness is contagious and the oil must not be duplicated or used or any other purpose.
Exodus 30:34-37: Instructions for Making the Holy Incense
Take sweet spices: storax, onycha, galbanum, sweet spices and pure frankincense in equal parts, 35and compound an incense, such a blend as the perfumer might make, salted, pure, and holy. 36You will grind some of this up very fine and put it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I shall meet you. 37You will regard it as especially holy. You may not make any incense of similar composition for your own use. You will regard it as holy, reserved for Yahweh. Anyone who makes up the same thing to use as perfume will be outlawed from his people.'
The priests drew lots to determine which priest had the honor of burning the sacred incense on the golden Altar of Incense that stood in front of the beautifully embroidered curtain that shielded the entrance to the Holy of Holies.
The special mixture of sweet smelling herbs and spices was a secret recipe only used in liturgical worship. It was during the daily offering of incense on the golden Altar of Incense in front of the beautiful curtain that covered the Holy of Holies that the angel Gabriel would one day announce the birth of the prophet John to his father Zachariah, the priest who had drawn the lot to burn the incense offering that day, a once in a lifetime event for most priests (Ex 30:1-10 & Lk 1:8-11).
Notice that the recipe given in verse 34 is not complete "God does not name the "sweet spices." Those secret ingredients are part of the oral tradition and are only given to the priests. According to the oral tradition of the Jews the incense was composed of the four ingredients mentioned in Ex 30:34 plus seven other secret ingredients in addition to "a small quantity of Ambra", a herb which gave out a dense white smoke" (Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, page 124).
To the thirteen different spices and herbs, salt was added to total fourteen ingredients (Josephus in Wars of the Jews 5.5.5 [218]). The burning of the incense was strictly regulated in liturgical worship. Two of Aaron's sons were executed by God for the unauthorized burning of incense (Lev 10:1-2).
It is interesting that galbanum (verse 34) was a gum resin that produced a very unpleasant odor when burned. Without this ingredient the spices and herbs produced a lovely odor, but combined with the foul smelling galbanum the aroma of the sacred incense was truly extraordinary.
Exodus 31:1-11: Selection of the Sanctuary Craftsmen
Just as God's spirit oversaw the first creation (Gen 1:2ff), so now will God's spirit direct the building of the Sanctuary and all its furnishings by indwelling and empowering two men specially selected and spiritually endowed for the task (also see Ex 28:3 and 35:30-31). In the Old Testament God's spirit usually "rests upon" or "comes upon" men selected for a special mission or service (i.e., Num 11:17, 25-26, 29; 24:2; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 1 Sam 11:6; 16:13; etc.). This is the one case in the Old Testament where God's spirit actually indwelled/filled men as His Spirit will fill men and women after the advent of Christ in the New Testament (i.e., Lk 1:15, 41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9; Eph 5:8). Bezalel's name means "in the shadow [meaning "protection"] of God" (for additional references to Bezalel see Ex 35:30; 36:1-2; 37:1; 38:22; 1 Chr 2:20; 2 Chr 1:5).
Bezalel's grandfather Hur of the tribe of Judah was first mentioned when he helped to support Moses' arms at the battle against the Amalekites. Both Aaron and Hur were appointed by Moses to lead the people when he ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the instructions for the Sanctuary and the establishment of liturgical worship ( Ex 17:12; 24:14).
Nothing else is known about Bezalel's assistant Oholiab (Aholiah), except that he was a member of the tribe of Dan (Ex 31:6; 35:4; 36:1-2; 38:23). His name either means "the tent of the father" or "the father is my tent" (meaning "my protection).
Exodus 31:11b: They will do everything as I have ordered you.'
Nothing was to be left to human initiative except the execution of the instructions. Everything was to be completed exactly as God commanded.
Exodus 31:12-18: Instructions for the Sabbath Rest and the Giving of the Tablets of the Law
Exodus 31:13: You you speak to the sons of Israel and say, "Nevertheless, you will keep my Sabbaths properly, for this is a sign between myself and you for all your generations to come, so that you will know it is I, Yahweh, who sanctify you.
Question: Like the seven-time repeated formula statement "God saw it was good/ very good" from the Creation event, what follows the seventh statement which completes the instructions for the Sanctuary? See Gen 1:31-2:4a.
Answer: The seven parts of the instructions for the earthly Sanctuary begins with the formula statement "Yahweh (then) said to Moses." At the end of the instructions there is the seventh formula statement followed by the Scripture passage about the Sabbath rest just like the Creation account has the seventh part formula statement "God saw it was good" (Gen 1:4, 10, 13, 18, 21, 25, 31), and the seventh formula statement which completes the Creation account (Gen 1:31-2:1) and which was then followed by the passage on the Sabbath rest (Gen 2:2-3).
In the last part of Moses' instructions the observance of the Sabbath rest, which became a covenant command in Exodus 20:8-11 and which was repeated in Exodus 23:12-13, is repeated a third time. To "profane" the Sabbath was to treat the Sabbath as an ordinary day; such an act ritually pollutes the offender (see Is 56:2, 6; Ez 20:13, 16, 21, 24; 22:8; 23:38; Neh 13:17-18).
Exodus 31:18: When he had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2067 - 2071)
The Lives of the Ten Commandments in the New Covenant
The Ten Commandments state what is required in the love of God and love of neighbor. The first three concern love of God, and the other seven love of neighbor.
- As charity comprises the two commandments to which the Lord related the whole Law and the prophets . . . so the Ten Commandments were themselves given on two tablets. Three were written on one tablet and seven on the other.
2068 The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians and that the justified man is still bound to keep them; the Second Vatican Council confirms: "The bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord . . . the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments."
2069 The Decalogue forms a coherent whole. Each "word" refers to each of the others and to all of them; they reciprocally condition one another. The two tables shed light on one another; they form an organic unity. To transgress one commandment is to infringe all the others. One cannot honor another person without blessing God his Creator. One cannot adore God without loving all men, his creatures. The Decalogue brings man's religious and social life into unity.
The Decalogue and the natural law
2070 The Ten Commandments belong to God's revelation. At the same time they teach us the true humanity of man. They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person. The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law:
- From the beginning, God had implanted in the heart of man the precepts of the natural law. Then he was content to remind him of them. This was the Decalogue.
2071 The commandments of the Decalogue, although accessible to reason alone, have been revealed. To attain a complete and certain understanding of the requirements of the natural law, sinful humanity needed this revelation:
- A full explanation of the commandments of the Decalogue became necessary in the state of sin because the light of reason was obscured and the will had gone astray.
- We know God's commandments through the divine revelation proposed to us in the Church, and through the voice of moral conscience.
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The Law of the Ten Commandments continues to bind all Jews and all Christians; it was not a part of the law that Christ abrogated.
St. Augustine pointed out that in the Ten Commandments there is no command to circumcise nor is there a command for animal sacrifices, Old Covenant sacraments that were fulfilled and/or transformed and no longer in effect in the New Covenant (see Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter 14.23). Instead, the moral commandments found in the Law of the Decalogue are as relevant to the covenant faithful today as when they were first given.
It is fitting that the last two sections of the instructions Moses received on Mt. Sinai concludes with Yahweh's command to remain faithful to the instructions for building the Tabernacle (Ex 31:1-11) followed by the command to observe the Sabbath (Ex 31:12-17). The Sabbath is God's vessel of sacred time as the Tabernacle is God's vessel of sacred space. To observe sacred Sabbath worship within the sacred Sanctuary is eternally incumbent upon those who participate in covenant with Yahweh.
Leviticus 22:1-9: Holiness in Consuming Sacred Food for the Priests
These instructions are addressed to Aaron and his priestly descendants. The Hebrew text reads: “Instruct Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the sacred donations of the Israelite people and that they not profane My holy name which they consecrate to Me” (The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew-English, vol. I, page 318; JPS Commentary: Leviticus, page 147).
The “holy food” included the portions of the “wave offerings” of the people’s communion sacrifices, the sin sacrifices, and the reparations sacrifices that were to be eaten either by the priests in the Sanctuary or the portions of the people’s communion offerings that could be eaten within the camp by the priests with their families.
Yahweh’s acceptance of the sacrifices offered by His ordained priests sanctified those offerings, including the wave offerings that God shared with His priests that become holy food eaten in a sacred banquet. The priests in turn are sanctified by the sacred food and therefore must be in a state of ritual purity when eating them. The focus of this part of the Holiness Code, as in the other sections, is that a holy God needs a holy Sanctuary, holy priests to serve in it, a holy people to offer worship and to eat the sacred meal in fellowship with Yahweh.
A priest who willfully disobeyed God’s laws in association with ritual purity has committed a sin that can defile the entire Sanctuary, thereby putting the entire covenant community at risk. Such an offense in defiance of the Law didn’t just defile a priest’s body but also his soul; the penalty was death.
Leviticus 22:10-16: Laws Concerning the Laity Eating Holy Food within a Priest’s Household
The conclusion holy food eaten by a ritually defiled priest or by unauthorized persons profanes the food sanctified by Yahweh.
Leviticus 22:17-25
Both the priest offering the sacrifice and the individual sacrifice must be unblemished to be acceptable to God. Compare the necessary soundness of priests to the necessary soundness of animals offered in sacrifice in the prohibitions that prevented both priests and animals from approaching God’s holy altar of sacrifice:
| Prohibitions for Priests | Prohibitions of Sacrificial Animals |
| Blindness (Lev 21:19) | Blindness (Lev 22:22) |
| Disabled arm or leg (Lev 21:19, 20) | Injured or maimed leg (Lev 22:22) |
| Ulcerous (Lev 22:4) | Ulcerous (Lev 22:22) |
| Scabby (Lev 21:20) | Scabby (Lev 22:22) |
| Deformed (Lev 21:19, 20) | Deformed (Lev 22:23) |
| Damaged testicles (Lev 21:20) | Damaged testicles (Lev 22:24) |
| Defective eyes (Lev 21:20) | |
| May not “draw near” the altar (Lev 21:17-18) | Israelites may not bring near (Lev 22:20, 24) |
| M. Hunt © copyright 2010 | |
Question: If God alone is holy and nothing else and no one else is inherently holy except God, how does He make Israel holy? How does He make the New Covenant believer holy?
Answer: The sanctity of the old Israel and the sanctity of the new Israel (the universal Church) cannot be generated internally by the individual believer; sanctification must come from outside human beings who are born in sin. The Law sanctified the Old Covenant believer and Israel, but the Holy Spirit sanctifies the New Covenant believer and the Church.
The believer can only become holy by the sanctification and consecration received through the Most Holy Trinity, who is the only holy One. In the Old Covenant, the Israelites were sanctified and consecrated through obedience to God’s Law: You will keep my laws and put them into practice, for it is I, Yahweh, who make you holy (Lev 20:8). It was in living in obedience to the Law that God sanctified and consecrated Israel in her mission to be a witness for God to the other nations of the earth and to possess the Promised Land. However, in the New Covenant the believer is redeemed in the blood of Jesus Christ, and it is the indwelling power of God the Holy Spirit who sanctifies and consecrates His people for their mission to carry the Gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth on their faith journeys to salvation in the Promised Land of heaven.
CHALLENGE: What possible reason do you have for thinking that God exists?”
DEFENSE: Here’s one: the universe had a beginning. This is known as the kalam cosmological argument.
(Kalam is an Arabic word meaning “discourse.”) It can be framed as follows: 1. Everything that has a beginning has a cause. 2. The universe has a beginning. 3. Therefore, the universe has a cause. 4. The universe is the realm of space and time. 5. A cause transcends the thing it causes. 6. Therefore, the cause of the universe transcends space and time. 7. God is the spatially and temporally transcendent cause of the universe. 8. Therefore, God exists.
The premises of this argument are lines 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. The conclusions (lines 3, 6, and 8) follow from them.
Line 1 is validated by experience. Everything we see that has a beginning also has a cause.
Line 2 is sometimes supported by philosophical arguments attempting to show that the universe could not have an infinite past. Some philosophers have found these arguments persuasive, but others, myself included, have not. I agree with St. Thomas Aquinas that, although God did create the universe with a finite history, he could have created it with an infinite history if he chose (ST I:46:2).
A more promising basis for line 2 is found in modern science, which points to the origin of the world, including space and time, in an event approximately 13.7 billion years ago known as the Big Bang.
Multiple lines of evidence point to the reality of this event. The results of science are always provisional, and so it is possible that one day the Big Bang could either be disproved or proved not to be the actual beginning of the universe.
However, the Big Bang is well supported science and our best understanding at present. Its implications therefore should be taken seriously.
Line 4 is established by observation. The universe is characterized by space and time, and, so far as we can tell, it is coextensive with space and time. Further, physics supports the idea that space and time began with the Big Bang.
Line 5 is based on the fact that nothing is its own cause. Therefore, causes must transcend their effects.
Line 7 is true by definition.
Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist
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