Exodus 30.1-10-The Lord Gives Moses Instructions Concerning The Construction And Use Of The Altar Of Incense
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday June 24, 2012
Journey Through The Bible Series: Exodus 30:1-10-The Lord Gives Moses Instructions Concerning The Construction And Use Of The Altar Of Incense
Lesson # 41
Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 30:1.
This morning we will study Exodus 30:1-10, which records the Lord giving Moses instructions concerning the construction and use of the altar of incense.
The priests would burn incense on the altar of incense and the fragrant aroma which ascended from the altar symbolized prayer or in other words it portrayed the prayers of the entire nation of Israel.
Exodus 30:1 “Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 Its length shall be a cubit, and its width a cubit, it shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits; its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding all around for it. 4 You shall make two gold rings for it under its molding; you shall make them on its two side walls—on opposite sides—and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over the ark of the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. 8 When Aaron trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.” (NASB95)
Verses 1-6 contain instructions regarding the construction of the altar of incense whereas verses 7-10 contain instructions regarding the proper use of this incense altar.
The first six verses reveal that the altar of incense was smaller than the bronze sacrifice altar or altar of burnt offering since it was eighteen inches square and thirty-six inches high.
Like the ark (25:10-20) and in particular like the table of showbread (25:23-28), the altar of incense was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
However, like the bronze altar of burnt offering (27:1-8), it had horns that extended upward from its top.
The altar of incense had a decorative molding of gold around the edge of its top, which would keep the incense on the surface of the table preventing it from sliding off.
Like the altar of burnt offering and the table of the showbread and the Ark of the Covenant, the incense altar also had gold rings through poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold, which could be inserted to carry it.
The altar of incense or incense altar stood in the holy place and specifically in front of the veil which separated the most holy place that contained the ark from the holy place, which contained the lampstand and table of showbread.
The Lord does not give Moses specific directions as to the placement of table of showbread or the golden lampstand.
In Exodus 30:6, the Lord instructs Moses that he is to put this incense altar in front of this veil that is before the Ark of the testimony, which suggests that it was front and center directly before the veil or in the middle between the table and the lampstand.
The location of the incense altar has been a cause for confusion among some expositors since Hebrews 9:4 appears to describe its location as being in the holy of holies or most holy place rather than the holy place where the lampstand and table of showbread resided.
However, Exodus 30:6, 40:3-5, 21-27 explicitly state that it was located with the golden lampstand and table of showbread.
Hebrews 9:3 Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, 4 having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant. (NASB95)
The reason Hebrews 9:3-4 describes the incense altar as being located in the holy of holies is that there was an intimate association between the altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant because the smoke of the incense burned penetrated the veil and permeated the holy of holies as it ascended before the ark.
Therefore, the writer of Hebrews to reflect this intimate association tied together the altar of incense and the ark by using the same participle ἒχω, which the NASB95 renders “having.”
The offering of incense on the altar of incense coincided with the morning and evening sacrifices, which are described in Exodus 29:38-42.
Thus, it took place when the high priest was tending to the seven lamps on the lampstand which are mentioned in Exodus 25:31-39.
He would put out these lamps in the morning and prepare them for lighting again once by the evening time.
The spacing of these offerings with one in the morning and one before sundown was intended to teach Israel that they were to pray “night” and “day” or in other words during the course of their day.
The Lord warns Moses in Exodus 30:9 that this altar of incense is to be used for nothing but burning incense.
He was not to use any incense but that which He prescribes to use.
There were to be no burnt offerings on this altar nor meal offering and nor was drink offerings to be poured out on it at any time.
In Exodus 30:10, the Lord instructs Moses to make atonement on the horns of the incense altar once a year on the Day of Atonement with some of the blood of the offering for atonement, which was to be a perpetual statute.
In Exodus 29:1, we saw that the horns of the altar of burnt offering were to be dabbed with blood at the consecration of the priests (Exodus 29:1, 10-12; Leviticus 8:14-15; 9:9).
Like the horns on the altar of burnt offering, the horns of the incense altar were protrusions, which curved upward from the flat plane of the main surface of the altar.
This contributed in holding anything on the altar from falling over the edge.
The horns on both altars portray God’s power since the horns of an animal signified its power.
In Exodus 30:10, the Lord describes the altar of incense as “most holy to the Lord” rather than the process of purifying the altar annually since the process was the means to making and keeping the altar “most holy,” i.e. belonging to God and fit for the use which He prescribed for it.
The connection between incense and prayer is alluded to in various passages of Scripture.
First of all, in Psalm 141:2, the Psalmists makes a request of God that his prayer be regarded as incense before Him.
In Luke 1:10, the angel Gabriel went to inform Zacharias that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child in their old age.
He appeared standing to the right of the altar of incense while Zacharias was performing his duties in the holy place meanwhile the whole multitude of the Israelites were outside in prayer at the hour of the incense offering.
In Revelation 5:8, the Lord Jesus Christ received the title deed to the earth from the Father and when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which were said to be the prayers of the saints.
Then, in Revelation 8:3, when the Lord Jesus Christ broke the seventh seal toward the end of the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week an angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer and much incense was given to him.
The purpose of this was so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.
Revelation 8:4 says that the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.
Now, Hebrews 8:2-5 and 9:24 make clear that the earthly tabernacle in Israel reflected God’s heavenly tabernacle.
Therefore, it is assumed that the Israelites were aware of the fact that the incense altar’s purpose was to symbolize the prayers of the Israelites as they were made during the course of the day.
Furthermore, the perpetual burning of incense was teaching the Israelites their need to pray at all times during the course of their day.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Make it your habit to pray. (My translation)
Aaron as well as the Israelites were conscious of the fact that Aaron represented the people through his actions while serving in the tabernacle, thus his offering of incense was a means of symbolizing the prayers of the Israelites.