Exodus 30.22-38

The Altar of Incense / The Half Shekel for the Sanctuary / The Bronze Basin / The Anointing Oil and Incense

The Altar of Incense: Exodus 30.1-10

This is a separate altar than the one in the courtyard, but is located closer to the Holy of Holies and so has more gold!

Made of acacia wood, it measures 1 cubit wide by 1 cubit long by 2 cubits high and should have horns at the corners. The entire altar should be overlaid with pure gold, and there should be a molding of gold around it.

Under the molding on two opposite sides there should be a golden ring, through which poles of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, will fit to transport the altar.

The altar should be placed in front of the curtain containing the ark of the covenant, where God will meet with the priests.

Aaron is to offer the incense on it every morning when he dresses the lamps and every evening when he sets up the lamps.

Offerings of unholy incense, grain, drink, and burnt offerings should not be offered on it.

Once a year Aaron is to perform a right of atonement on its horns, in order to atone for the Israelites.

The Half Shekel for the Sanctuary: Exodus 30.11-16

Here we get into governance. Ah, it reminds me of my days as a small-town government reporter...Which actually means it reminds me of my life right now.

Moses is to register the Israelites with a head count. (Or "census," the term the NRSV uses, which comes from Latin for "estimate" and was carried out every five years on Roman citizens). A ransom of one-half shekel is to be given by every citizen age 20 and over. The ransom protects their lives "so that no plague may come upon them for being registered."

Everyone is to pay one-half shekel, poor and rich. The funds will be used to service the tent of meeting.

[Issues of social justice aside, it is remarkable that God would have every person pay the same amount. God provided exactly one omer of manna per day to every Israelite escaping Egypt (Ex. 16). If an individual collected less or more, the amount still came out to an omer. Here everyone gives, rather than receives, equal wages. It seems that every Israelite has an equal "value" in God's eyes. Each receives the same amount of food, each must pay the same amount in taxes.]

The Bronze Basin: Exodus 30.17-21

A perpetual ordinance: a bronze basin filled with water shall stand between the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron and his sons should wash their ands and feet in it before approaching the altar, "so that they may not die" (a point so important is it expressed twice: Ex. 30.20, 21).

The Anointing Oil and Incense: Exodus 30.22-38

Anointing Oil
Here is the recipe for the anointing oil mentioned in yesterday's entry:

Ingredients:
1 hin olive oil (1 gallon)
500 shekels liquid myrrh (12.5 pounds)
500 shekels cassia
250 shekels sweet-smelling cinnamon (6.25 pounds)
250 shekels aromatic cane

Blend.

Things to anoint:
Tent of meeting
Ark of the Covenant,
Table and its utensils
Lampstand and its utensils
Altar of incense
Altar of burnt offering and its utensils
Aaron and his sons

The holy anointing oil should only be used for holy anointing. It should only be made as described above. Anyone who makes an imitation or puts it on an unqualified person shall be cut off from God's people.

Incense

Ingredients:
Sweet spices
Stacte
Onycha
Galbanum
Pure frankincense
(the above in equal parts)

Mix.
Season mixture with salt.
Beat part of it into a powder and place before the covenant in the tent of meeting.

This mixture is holy, and not for personal use. Using it as a personal perfume is cause for being cut off from God's people.