Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 34:11-14

11 Observe thou that which I command thee this day: behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee:

13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

As part of the Lord re-extending His covenant to bring Israel into the Promised Land, He now describes all of the enemies that currently dwell in that land, whom He will drive out to make space for His chosen people. God then warns the Israelites against making any sort of liaison with those people. The Canaanites had been marked for destruction because of their perversions, and anyone that became confederate with them would be linking themselves to their doom. Instead, the Israelites were commanded to remain firmly apart, and to tear down any of the false gods that they came across.

While the Lord did not specifically bring to mind Israel’s recent offense, these instructions must have been a timely reminder for how fundamentally they had betrayed their covenant to Him with the worship of the golden calf, taking a step towards the same idolatry of the Canaanites. In that one act they had broken God’s first two commandments. Indeed, the supplanting of God with any other ideal is the first of all wickedness. If the first and great commandment is to love the Lord with all of your heart, then the first and great sin must be to replace Him with something else.

Thus, God says in verse 14 that He is a jealous God. He is necessarily an exclusive God, one that must permeate all of our lives and not be mixed with alternative beliefs. Indeed, He cannot be mixed with alternative beliefs, for once one tries to mix, they have already cast aside God.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 30:34-38

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:

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.

In addition to the anointing oil, which was already quite fragrant, God also gave the recipe for a perfume. None of the ingredients for the perfume were the same as for the oil, so I would it assume it had a completely different scent profile. It is interesting to note the presence of myrrh in the anointing oil and frankincense in the perfume. Obviously, there was also gold overlaying everything in the tabernacle. Thus, all three of the gifts that the wise men would bring to Jesus thousands of years later were also present in the ancient Israelite tabernacle.

As with the anointing oil, there is a solemn command that no one else is to take the recipe and reproduce it. In fact, God goes so far as to say they are not to make anything that smells like it, even if made from different ingredients. I think there is a lesson here of not dressing up non-spiritual things with the scent of spiritualism. I live in a culture with a strong religious base, and it has always bothered me when individuals have tried to use that religion as a leverage for worldly interests. I have seen this when individuals try to market their personal business, when they advocate for a favored political party, even when justifying their sins. They try to give these things a spiritual air, but as we learn from today’s verses, things that are temporal should not be perfumed as if they were sacred.

One final note: while it is called “perfume” in these verses, the underlying Hebrew word is the same that was translated as “incense” in the verses describing what would be burned upon the incense altar. Thus, it would seem that this is the recipe for the incense that was to be burned morning and evening for a perpetual offering to the Lord.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 30:31-33

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.

The usage of the holy anointing oil was to be exclusive to the tabernacle. It wasn’t a complicated recipe, so anyone could have recreated it, but that would result in exile. And it was to never be applied to a non-Israelite.

The path to discipleship is open to all, and was so among the ancient Israelites, but these things have to be done in the proper order. Acceptance into the fold of the church and forgiveness for sin are the first steps, and they must be taken before all of the sacraments that follow. So, too, an ancient Canaanite would first have to observe the Passover, join the Israelite nation, and bring sacrifice to the tabernacle to enjoy the blessings of those anointed vessels.

This anointing oil was also not to be placed directly upon the flesh either. The priests would be anointed by it, but so far we have only heard of that being done by sprinkling it over their clothes. There is also a historical idea of anointing oil being applied to the head, but perhaps a few drops on the hair would not be considered as being applied to the flesh.