Anointed Recipe

Anointed Recipe

Exodus 30: 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.’ ”

 

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GOD gave Moses instructions on purchasing the ingredients of the Holy Anointing Oil.

 

My Observations:

• GOD switched from measurements to purchase amounts when it came to the ingredients of the Anointing oil.
• The priests were expected to pay for the ingredients versus having them donated.
• The ingredients, once mixed together, would be declared holy by GOD and its use was sacred.

 

After GOD flooded the earth, Noah sent out a dove that returned with an olive branch. This represented peace between humans and GOD. The wrath was over. GOD introduced another sensory experience that the priest would experience. The aroma of the anointing oil would keep the priest focused on the task at hand, namely atonement for sins.

 

Each item in the holy of holies location was to be anointed with the special oil. Aaron and his sons would also require Moses to anoint them. The mixture needed a human touch versus being poured over the head. This symbolic touch declared the recipient as holy. GOD took the anointing process seriously.

 

Challenge:

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the anointing oil?
• Is GOD meticulously doing things in your life?
• What is GOD anointing you to do?

Basin of Motive

Basin of Motive

Exodus 30: ¹⁷ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁸ “You shall also make a laver of bronze, with its base also of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. And you shall put water in it, ¹⁹ for Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in water from it. ²⁰ When they go into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, lest they die. ²¹ So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die. And it shall be a statute forever to them—to him and his descendants throughout their generations.”

 

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GOD told Moses to make a basin for Aaron and his sons to wash their hands and their feet.

 

My Observations:

• GOD seems to be addressing clean hands, meaning righteousness.
• GOD seems to be addressing clean feet, meaning reason for being at a place.
• GOD warns the priests that their motive for being there could atone for the people or cause the priest to die.

 

Motive was addressed by JESUS when the activity of washing was done by the Pharisees. Looking clean on the outside while being corrupt on the inside was the problem GOD had with religious leaders. This symbolic cleaning would turn into a ritual that made religious leaders think they were more holy than they really were.

 

GOD seems to want our motive to be aligned with HIS. HE wants all humans to be saved while we want humans to admire us over HIM. Do you see the conflict? When we tell GOD that we don’t seem to have the right motive, HE is faithful and just to cleanse us of that unrighteousness. GOD is the only one who can clean the inside so our motives align with HIS.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about making the basin?
• What are you putting before the LORD that needs cleansing?
• Have you asked GOD to examine your motives so HE can clean them and align them to HIS purpose?

Atonement Census

Atonement Census

Exodus 30: ¹¹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹² “When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³ This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the Lord. ¹⁴ Everyone included among those who are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when you give an offering to the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves. ¹⁶ And you shall take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.”

 

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GOD told Moses to take an annual census and to collect a half a shekel for every adult.

 

My Observations:

• A half a shekel would equate to about five dollars for every adult.
• Children were excluded in the amount, so therefore there is a time in which innocence becomes a decision.
• The tabernacle was supposed to be used for the atonement of sins and needed to be kept up.

 

Once a year, a census would be taken to service the tabernacle. The same GOD that inspired Timothy to write “A workman is worth his wages,” is the same GOD who wanted the tabernacle cleaned and repaired. The money did not seem to be for the priests, rather the workers who would clean the curtains, and wash the altar.

 

It would take a lot of people to maintain the tabernacle when it was disassembled. Equal amounts would be given by the rich and the poor to maintain the tabernacle. The importance of this place was to atone for sins. Each year everyone needed to chip in to remember what GOD was doing in the forgiveness of sin.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the upkeep of the tabernacle?
• Is GOD opening your eyes to the importance of atonement to HIM?
• How do you remember and support what JESUS did for you?

Sense of Smell

Sense of Smell

Exodus 30: “You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood. ² A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ³ And you shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. ⁴ Two gold rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall place them on its two sides, and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. ⁵ You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ⁶ And you shall put it before 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.

⁷ “Aaron shall burn on it sweet incense every morning; when he tends the lamps, he shall burn incense on it. ⁸ And when Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. ⁹ You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it. ¹⁰ And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”

 

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GOD told Moses to build an altar for incense. HE would give the ingredients of the incense later. GOD gave the instructions on when to use the incense.

 

My Observations:

• GOD seems to want us to experience HIM using our five senses.
• GOD may have wanted the priest to experience the sweet aroma to put him in a mindset of worship.
• During the daily sacrifice, which could be a bit smelly, Aaron and his sons were supposed to burn incense to make the experience pleasant.

 

Animal stink. Sacrificing animals twice a day can imprint a bad experience on the priest’s mind. GOD took care of that by having the priest light enough incense to provide an aromatic experience that would be pleasant.

 

The priest could experience what GOD experienced. GOD would get the aroma of the burnt offering and the priest would get the aroma of the incense. The other senses are included in this experience. The gold would shimmer from the light of the flame of the lampstand. Part of the burnt offering would be eaten, satisfying the sense of taste. The garment bells would ring, satisfying a life sustaining sound. And the curtains made from hair were to be touched, giving a tactile experience.

 

The altar of incense was to be used as a reminder of atonement. Once a year, blood would need to be put on the horns of the altar. GOD gave an experience with all senses.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the altar of incense?
• Has GOD given you instructions to uses your senses for HIM?
• How are you experiencing GOD through your five senses?

 

When You Wake Up and Before Bed

When You Wake Up and Before Bed

Exodus 29: ³⁸ “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. ³⁹ One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight. ⁴⁰ With the one lamb shall be one-tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering. ⁴¹ And the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; and you shall offer with it the grain offering and the drink offering, as in the morning, for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord. ⁴² This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you. ⁴³ And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by My glory. ⁴⁴ So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests. ⁴⁵ I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶ And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

 

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GOD told Moses to have Aaron and his sons sacrifice young lambs every day. HE also gave special instructions of how they were to be prepared and what should accompany the offering.

 

My Observations:

• GOD wanted the children of Israel to have a mindset that all of their possessions were not theirs; rather, they were HIS.
• GOD gave special instructions of how to prepare the burnt offering to HIM.
• GOD was planning to meet with the children of Israel through the priests because HE wanted them to know that HE is GOD.

 

Short memories about who GOD is seems to be a problem. GOD set in motion a perpetual remembrance of the need for HIM. It would take everyone to participate to provide that many lambs. Several hundred lambs would be needed each year. The flour and wine needed to be made.

 

GOD was planning to stay as a houseguest and wanted the children of Israel to symbolically remember what JESUS represented. They did not know the lambs represented the Messiah. We have short memories. Every day, we are supposed to remember what JESUS did for us. When we wake up and before we go to bed, we should remember HIM.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the sacrificial lambs?
• What has GOD given you that you think is yours?
• When you wake up and before you go to bed, do you remember JESUS as your Savior and daily leader?

Seven Days of Consecration

Seven Days of Consecration

Exodus 29: ³¹ “And you shall take the ram of the consecration and boil its flesh in the holy place. ³² Then Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of meeting. ³³ They shall eat those things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them; but an outsider shall not eat them, because they are holy. ³⁴ And if any of the flesh of the consecration offerings, or of the bread, remains until the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

 

³⁵ “Thus you shall do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days you shall consecrate them. ³⁶ And you shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to sanctify it. ³⁷ Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy.

 

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GOD told Moses to have Aaron and his sons eat the second ram as prescribed. GOD also said to repeat the sin offering for seven days.

 

My Observations:

• GOD may have been paralleling the holy week or Passover week, which is the week JESUS died for the sins of the world.
• Seven days of consecration was a one-time action.
• GOD declares people as holy even though we are sinners.

 

This meal was made for the consecration of Aaron and his sons. It was meant for them and them alone. Even the scraps were to be burned.  GOD was setting up a model where sin needed to be confessed and something had to die for the atonement of the confessed sins.

 

Bulls were special. They could breed cows that would provide meat and milk. To kill one meant cutting off the possibility of breeding. It was a sacrifice indeed. JESUS would become the sin offering that was holy and acceptable to GOD.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the seven days of sin offerings used in the consecration of Aaron and his sons?
• What is GOD consecrating you for?
• Do you believe that JESUS paid for your sins, past, present and future?

Wave Heave and Peace Offerings

 Wave Heave and Peace Offerings

Exodus 29: ²² “Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the fatty lobe attached to the liver, the two kidneys and the fat on them, the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), ²³ one loaf of bread, one cake made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; ²⁴ and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵ You shall receive them back from their hands and burn them on the altar as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

 

²⁶ “Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. ²⁷ And from the ram of the consecration you shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering which is waved, and the thigh of the heave offering which is raised, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. ²⁸ It shall be from the children of Israel for Aaron and his sons by a statute forever. For it is a heave offering; it shall be a heave offering from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, that is, their heave offering to the Lord.

 

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GOD told Moses to take the second ram and use it as a wave offering. HE also mentions the heave offering and the peace offering.

 

My Observations:

• GOD seems to have multiple meanings for the wave offering, but when applied to JESUS, it could mean that HE was presented before GOD and given to humans.
• GOD could also be stating that JESUS was lifted up on the cross and the heave offering was symbolic of that action.
• GOD mentions the heave offering coming from the peace offering, but it could also mean that JESUS’s action brought peace between GOD and humans.

 

GOD cannot be paid off or bribed. HE seems to love symbolic gestures and wants to celebrate HIS SON as often as possible. When trying to make sense out of the offerings, they seem like separate activities that are unrelated. But GOD took the offerings very seriously.

 

Part of the ram was to be burned as a sweet aroma before the LORD. Anything we give to HIM is acceptable to HIM and is endeared. It doesn’t have to be money. It could be your time, art, song, building or clothing. HE accepts your ideas as you wave them in front of HIM. The heave offering could mean JESUS was lifted up to be murdered, but also HE was lifted up to be placed over all things. HE has all authority.

 

Lastly JESUS provides peace. HE is the Prince of Peace. When we offer peace to GOD, HE gives it back. The symbolic eating of the ram’s meat, shows us that we have peace between us and GOD.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD remind Moses about the wave, heave and peace offerings?
• What symbolic gestures has GOD asked you to do?
• Do you remember what JESUS has done for you and how do you celebrate the peace GOD has between you and HIM?