Exodus 30:22-38 - Consecrated to be Holy

Exodus 30:22-38

The Holy Anointing Oil (Exodus 37:29)

22 Moreover the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23 “Also take for yourself quality spices—five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweet-smelling cane, 24 five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make from these a holy anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting and the ark of the Testimony; 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense; 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them must be holy. 30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

31 “And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to Me throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on man’s flesh; nor shall you make any other like it, according to its composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on an outsider, shall be cut off from his people.’”

The Incense (Exodus 37:29)

34 And the LORD said to Moses: “Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each. 35 You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy. 36 And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 But as for the incense which you shall make, you shall not make any for yourselves, according to its composition. It shall be to you holy for the LORD. 38 Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.”

Consecrated to be holy.  God specified a special blend of spices and oils to prepare the holy anointing oil to dedicate the tabernacle and its contents as holy in their use for the LORD.  Then the priests themselves were set aside and dedicated solely to the service and worship of God as the place of worship and sacrifice had been anointed as holy with the oil of that dedication.  It was to be used only on the holy place and not used anywhere or on anyone else.  For we who are in Christ, we have been anointed (Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 1 John 2:20) by God’s own Holy Spirit and no mere echo of symbolism in any physical oil.  He makes us worthy to worship as living sacrifices to God alone and for no other.  We do not misuse or misapply His Spirit to things not holy or worthy of Him, and nobody can pretend to use Him on any other application that is not from Him according to the Bible.  Those who use the name of His Spirit in unholy ways are cut off from knowing the Lord because it is most unforgivable to deny Him as divine and identity Him as only some powerful force (Acts 8:18-19) to be applied on people and things not from Him.  Likewise, the LORD instructed Moses to make dedicated incense of worship where He met with him in the temple as a holy composition used for that place and no private personal use.  It is as the prayers of the saints which are described as incense which pleases the Lord when we lift up holy hands (Psalm 134:1-2, 1 Timothy 2:8) to speak with and worship Him, something that is not available to unbelievers because only those made holy in Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit who seals and marks them as His own are able to do.  We who are called into Christ have been consecrated, set apart, to be holy (1 Peter 1:16) to be able to enter into His presence and worship Him in spirit and truth in the temples of these bodies made righteous in Christ alone.  Our prayers are as holy incense (Revelation 5:8) and we have been dedicated and consecrated to our Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit to worship in this beauty of holiness, set apart for service and worship of Him, and so we lift up holy hands in prayer and praise of thanksgiving to Him and keep ourselves from other uses.