37:25 ¶ And he made the incense altar of
shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a
cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the height of it;
the horns thereof were of the same. 26
And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and the
sides thereof round about, and the horns of it: also he made unto it a crown of
gold round about. 27 And he made two
rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners of it, upon
the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal. 28 And he made the staves of shittim
wood, and overlaid them with gold. 29
And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet
spices, according to the work of the apothecary.
Remember that the work of the apothecary for the tabernacle and
the priests was very exclusive and protected by regulation.
Exodus 30:22 ¶ Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Take thou also unto thee principal
spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels,
and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even
two hundred and fifty shekels,
and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24 And of cassia
five hundred shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy
ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an
holy anointing oil. 26 And thou shalt
anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the
testimony, 27 And the table and all his
vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his
vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29
And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever
toucheth them shall be holy. 30 And thou
shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the
priest’s office. 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. 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.
This reinforces the earthly focus of the Hebrews’ religion. The
Law given to Moses was not only their religious law regarding ceremony and
ritual and outward obedience to God in terms of religious expression. It was
also to be their civil law. Here, this special work of the apothecary was
regulated so that it was only used for religious purposes.
Fast forward to Christianity after Christ’s resurrection. God has
not made anything that we cannot use. If there is something like a church
building for instance that is set apart or sanctified, something that God did
not require but we have done, then we must remember that we set it apart for
worship, not God. There were no buildings set apart solely for the meeting of
Christians until later in the second century. Churches met in individuals’
homes and then sometimes together in a city according to Paul’s letters. It is
good to live in a country where we can set a building apart for worship. But,
do not take that too far and make the building we meet in like the temple in
Jerusalem when I have shown you the verses that insist that we, our bodies, are
the temple of the Holy Ghost, not a physical building.
You might set apart a room in your house for prayer or think of
yourself as coming to church to meet with God. But, when you think in such ways
you can deny one thing that the Bible stresses for Christians, that God is
always present in us in the form of His Spirit and that everywhere we are and
in every situation we encounter God through His will. It is good to have a
building set apart for worship, a room or closet where you feel safe and
uninterrupted to pray. But, don’t forget that there are no God-ordained sacred
spaces in Christianity outside of the believer’s own heart.
Do not make the pagan mistake of putting God in a box, in a
closet, in a building, in a special ritual, or in a mantra of certain chosen
words that must be repeated. That is not Biblical Christianity while it is
representative of institutional Christianity throughout history.
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