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In warm darkness, a single thin thread of incense smoke rises and curls from a faint glow of gold low in the frame.

The Book of

Exodus 30

Incense at dawn and dusk, a ransom for every life, water to wash in, and oil that makes things holy.

38 verses≈ 6 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–6Slaves in EgyptOppression and a deliverer
  2. 7–13The plaguesThe LORD against Pharaoh
  3. 14–18Through the seaRescued and led
  4. 19–24At SinaiThe covenant and the law
  5. 25–31A place to dwellThe tabernacle plannedChapter 30
  6. 32–40Broken and renewedThe calf, mercy, the glory

The Altar of Incense

God
God

“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense. It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece. Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it. And make two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

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Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you. And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps. When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come.

On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it.

The high priest in plain white linen, seen from behind, standing alone at the entrance of the tabernacle tent at dawn, a bronze bowl in his hands.

Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”

Courtyard · 100 × 50 cubitsNGate · EastTent of MeetingBronze altarBasinThe tent, enlarged · 30 × 10 cubitsArkTableLampstandIncense altarVeilScreenMost Holy PlaceHoly Place

Plan to scale in cubits · north at the top

Where it stood

Before the veil

The incense altar stood in the Holy Place, right “in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony.” Only the curtain stood between the smoke of the incense and the mercy seat behind it. The altar was small: a cubit square and two cubits high (about 1½ feet square and 3 feet high).

Reflect

Morning and evening

Aaron burned incense “every morning when he tends the lamps,” and again at twilight, every day for generations. The psalmist asked that his prayer would rise before God like incense. Through Jesus, the way into God’s presence is open to every believer. What would it look like for you to begin and end each day with prayer? Write down a time and a place, and one thing you want to bring to God tonight.

The Census Offering

A small bronze balance on a plain table in the camp: a tiny piece of silver in one pan against a stone weight in the other, while a line of men's hands, rough and smooth, wait holding their own small pieces of silver.

The law

A ransom for every life

  1. A ransom when counted

    Then the LORD said to Moses, “When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.

  2. Half a shekel, weighed

    Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

  3. Every man twenty and older

    Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD.

  4. One price

    Rich and poor the same

    In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.

  5. A memorial

    For the Tent of Meeting

    Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD to make atonement for your lives.”

the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.

Exodus 30:15

The Bronze Basin

God
God

And the LORD said to Moses, “You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it,

with which Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die. Thus they are to wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this shall be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

Courtyard · 100 × 50 cubitsNGate · EastTent of MeetingBronze altarBasinThe tent, enlarged · 30 × 10 cubitsArkTableLampstandIncense altarVeilScreenMost Holy PlaceHoly Place

Plan to scale in cubits · north at the top

Where it stood

The basin

In the courtyard, between the bronze altar and the entrance of the tent, stood the bronze basin full of water. A priest passed the altar, washed, and only then went in. God gives no size for it: only its place, “between the Tent of Meeting and the altar.”

Pray

Washed to serve

The priests had to wash their hands and feet every time they served, “so that they will not die.” No one comes near the holy God unwashed. Jesus told Peter, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me.’ Ask Him to cleanse you today from what you have done and left undone, and thank Him that His washing makes you fit to serve.

The Anointing Oil

God

And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘This will be My sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. It must not be used to anoint an ordinary man, and you must not make anything like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

The Incense

Close on a perfumer's hands grinding pale resins and spices into fine powder in a stone mortar, a small dish of salt and a gold bowl of finished incense beside it, a thin smoke rising from a coal.

The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD. Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”

0:37

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Question

Quick question

When Israel was counted, every man paid a ransom for his life.

How much did a rich man pay as his ransom at the census?

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Exodus 30

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A verse to carry with you

In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less.

Exodus 30:15

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