Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Let's get our bible turned to the Book of Exodus, chapter 30.
[00:00:06] The Book of Exodus, chapter 30.
[00:00:10] We will look at verses one through ten.
[00:00:14] Exodus, chapter 30. Now, in our study, we have been going through the law and looking at the various aspects of the law. And right now we are on the subject of the various furniture of the Tabernacle. And so last week we talked about the Ark of the Covenant and how that the whole purpose of the Tabernacle and of the temple later was for the Ark of the Covenant. Because the ArK of the Covenant is in typology, it represents Jesus, his presence among us. And the whole purpose of that tabernacle is for that ark. And so we looked at that and looked at all the details of that. And so as you. As you move out from what is called the holiest place, the holiest of all, and you move outward toward the exit of this tent, the next item, the next furnishing that you come to is the altar of incense. So that's what we're going to read about here. Exodus 31, the Bible says, and thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon. Of shittim wood shalt thou make it a cubit shall be the length thereof and a cubit the breadth thereof. Four square shall it be, and two cubits shall be the height thereof. The horns thereof shall be of the same. So this is about 18 a foot and a half by a foot and a half by two and a half cubits, which would be like three 3ft and change almost 4ft tall. Okay.
[00:01:45] Verse four says, and two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it. And they shall be four places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shatim wood and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the veil that is in front of the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony where I will meet with thee.
[00:02:19] And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps, at even he shall burn incense upon it. A perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering, neither shall you pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy unto the Lord. Let's pray together.
[00:03:06] Our father, thank you for the opportunity to meet and to pray together, to hear requests, to have the opportunity to serve one another by prayer. And thank you for our missionaries. Thank you for your word. And, Lord, we commit this time to you as we look in your word. Would you please bless it and help me to say the things that would encourage and help and strengthen your people and their faith? And, Lord, help your people as they listen, to. Listen with open hearts. Lord, we ask you to be our teacher here tonight. In Jesus name. Amen.
[00:03:36] So as you leave the Ark of the Covenant, you come further out. The first thing you run into is the altar of incense. Now, you'll notice that the altar of incense is made with the same materials and in the same fashion as the ark of the covenant. That is, it's made with shatim wood, acacia wood, overlaid with gold. And we looked at that last week, how that the wood is representative, being a wood that is nearly indestructible. It is a wood that is impervious to all kinds of rot and insects and all these things. This shatim wood, this acacia wood, represents the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw that in the ark. And then the exterior, which is what it's covered in, in gold. In scripture we already have seen, is representative in the Bible of the deity of ChrIst. And so in the aRk, you have a combination of the deity and the humanity of ChrIsT put together in one furnishing, one instrument. Okay, we already have seen that. But notice the altar, Vincent, is also made in the same way. So what I want to posit to you is this, that the ark of the covenant also represents Jesus, but just in a different function. In fact, most everything in the ark, most everything in the tabernacle represents Jesus in some way, fashion or form. But here's why I say that, besides the way it's built. And so what we need to do is we need to look at a couple of verses, and I'll show you in what way this represents the Lord Jesus. So I want to look at three or four verses. Look at psalm 141, if you would. We're coming back to Exodus in just a minute. In psalm 141, verse number two.
[00:05:22] Psalm 141.
[00:05:25] Because this, this furnishing, this altar of incense is not a standard altar where sacrifices are made. This is basically a pedestal, sort of like this. It's actually would be similar to that. This pedestal on top is where incense would be burned. Now, incense in the scripture has a particular meaning, and it's very clear. Psalm 141, verse two. The Bible says this, let my prayer be set before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. So he's referring to the twice a day, what we just read, twice a day. The incense was burned twice a day. And this is what he's saying. But he is saying, david in this psalm is comparing the burning of the incense twice a day to prayer. Okay, his prayer go to Luke chapter one, if you would. Luke chapter one, verse number ten. This is when Zechariah goes into the temple.
[00:06:32] Zechariah, before he's given the announcement about John the Baptist's birth, Luke, chapter one, verse ten. He goes into the temple and he's offering incense. It says in verse number nine, to burn incense, he went into the temple of the Lord, verse ten. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time, incense.
[00:06:55] There's another connection between prayer and incense. One more. Revelation, chapter eight.
[00:07:01] Revelation, chapter eight.
[00:07:05] Revelation, chapter eight. Now, this picture is in heaven. This is a future event.
[00:07:12] But you see the same truth. Revelation, chapter eight, verse three.
[00:07:18] And another angels came and stood at the altar having a golden sensor. Now, what is a sensor? A sensor is simply a sensor is a container. And basically coals from a fire would be put into the sensor, right? It's just a container. Sometimes it would have a handle. Coals would be put into the sensor and then incense, which in our case, you'll see in a minute, which is powder, it's ground up materials, would be put on top of the coals.
[00:07:53] And when they burn like leaves burn, it produces a lot of smoke, which is the smoke of the incense.
[00:07:59] And so a sensor is where that is done. Now, the altar is a little bit different because the altar from the study I did, the altar is the coals, and the incense is put directly on the altar. But in this case, the sensor is one way to make it mobile. Okay, so here's what it says. In heaven, an angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it. Notice, with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. You see that this is a picture in heaven. So what I'm putting forth to you is this, number one, that the altar of incense is. It represents the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:08:55] But the fact that incense, not a sacrifice, is offered on it shows us the Lord Jesus Christ in his intercessory ministry for us.
[00:09:13] Jesus is praying for us.
[00:09:17] This is the truth that's being conveyed here.
[00:09:20] Now, let's look at a couple of things. We've already looked at the construction of the altar of incense. Notice it's the wood and the gold. So that speaks of Christ's deity and humanity. Okay?
[00:09:33] And one thing we do know is that the intercessory, and I'm going to talk about this in more detail in just a minute. But the intercessory work of Christ began after Jesus was born, died upon the cross, rose again and then ascended. And he sat at the right hand of God. Right?
[00:09:54] And the Bible says he ever liveth to make intercession for us. So that's why you have this deity and humanity. Because even right now, the Lord Jesus Christ, even at this moment in heaven, has a human nature and a divine nature in one. He is 100% man, 100% God. Even where he's at at this moment, he didn't become an angel or a spirit or anything. He is as he was upon earth, just glorified. And yet that man, if we could say that our Lord is at this moment interceding, praying on our behalf to the Father.
[00:10:36] And so you have. That's why you have, I believe, the wood and the gold combined. But look at the placement of the altar of incense.
[00:10:43] What instrument, rather what furnishing, is closest to the altar of incense?
[00:10:49] The ark of the covenant. So you have the altar of incense right here, then the veil. And then right behind the veil is the ark of the covenant. So if you see the placement of it, the placement of the altar of incense is so close to the Ark of the covenant. And the ark of the covenant represents God's very throne, where God himself dwells. And so you have this beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus in his intercessory prayer right next to the Almighty. And that incense billows up, that smoke billows up, representing his prayer for us. Okay? But look at the ingredients of the incense. Look at chapter 30.
[00:11:33] Look at verse number nine. To start, look what it says.
[00:11:37] Ye shall offer no strange incense. That's an interesting thing, strange incense. You know what that means? It just simply means any incense other than the incense that God prescribed, you couldn't just mix up some, you know, whatever you thought smelled good and put it on there? No, that wouldn't work. That wouldn't work. That would be a bad day for you. Short day, but a bad day.
[00:12:03] So let's look at what it says in verse number.
[00:12:07] Verse number 34.
[00:12:10] And the Lord said unto Moses, take unto these sweet spices, stacked tea, and I'm going to get these names wrong, but just bear with me. Ancscha and galbanum, these sweet spices, with pure frankincense of each shall there be like weight, and thou shalt make it a perfume and a confection that's like a mixture after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy. And thou shalt beat some of it very small and put it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee. And it shall be unto you most holy. 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. Whosoever shall make like unto that to smell thereto shall even be cut off from his people. So even the recipe for the incense was something that it was clearly spelled out, and it was that that recipe was not allowed. The Lord forbid anyone else from making this incense in this recipe. So that means that what was in that tabernacle, that incense, was the only place where it could be found.
[00:13:23] It was unique.
[00:13:25] It was unique.
[00:13:27] And of course, you know, the smell and the smell of the incense when it's burned, the ratio and the composition of the ingredients is what determined the smell.
[00:13:37] And I thought about, you know, the Lord Jesus and his prayer ministry. Think about, we're going somewhere with this. Hang with me all the characteristics and the virtues of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that are all present in him, in who he is, all of his goodness and grace and mercy. And we could just on and on, all those things combine into this mixture, into this mixture that is unique.
[00:14:08] No one else has this.
[00:14:11] But it is such a mixture that when the father hears his prayer, he. If you compare it to smelling, there's a certain smell, a certain savor that comes from the prayers of the Lord Jesus. That is unlike any other person's prayer. Here's the point I'm making.
[00:14:33] See, I can pray for you and others can pray for you, but that is not the same as Jesus interceding for you.
[00:14:44] When jesus intercedes, you know, we could have our church praying all for one another, and that's all great and good and fine, and we should do all of that. But you cannot substitute that for Jesus praying for us. His prayer for us is unique.
[00:15:03] What would it profit you? If I prayed for you but jesus did not, that would be a bad day.
[00:15:14] So this, even this incense and the smoke it produces from its recipe is unique and it's built up. It's made from the various characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ. That, that is what makes it unique. Only he has those things.
[00:15:30] Now if you're going to burn incense, what do you need? You can have the, you can have the. You can beat the ingredients of the incense in a mortar and pestle and you can get it as fine as powder. But if you don't have any, if you don't have any coals, you can't burn it. Now where do they get the coals? Anybody know off the top of your head where they get the coals?
[00:15:52] The altar. The brazen altar outside. We hadn't gotten to that yet. But you remember we did talk about all the sacrifices, right? The peace offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering and the burnt offering and the meat offering. We talked about all those. Where are all those done on the brazen altar? All right, stop. All right. All of those, with the exception of one. What do they all represent?
[00:16:16] They all represent the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. How he died on the cross for sinners in the place of sinners. That's everyone that we went through those. And it's good that we cover those first because those coals came of those sacrifices. You see, those coals are then representative of Christ and his sacrifice. So the priest goes and brings the coals from off of the altar of burnt offering, which were made of the sacrifices, right? And which speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ and the cross work, we might say, of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he bore God's wrath in our place. That's the fire. We already talked about that.
[00:17:04] And then they take the coals and they put it in the sensor and they bring it into the altar. Events altar. I'm going to move this so I can use this as an example because this is just about the same. So the priest brings the.
[00:17:17] He brings the altar, the. He brings the coals in the senser and he dumps the coals onto the altar of incense. And then he takes a prescribed amount of that incense and he sprinkles it on top of the. The coals.
[00:17:37] What comes up is prayer, right? But the prayer is intermingled with and affected by and actually produced by the cross.
[00:17:48] You see, the connection with the altar, the altar where Jesus died is connected to his prayers.
[00:17:57] Now I'm going somewhere with this. Just hang tight. All right.
[00:18:04] Exodus chapter 30, verse seven says this.
[00:18:11] It says, aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
[00:18:21] And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even he shall burn incense upon it. Notice a perpetual incense. In other words, this was every day, twice a day, all the time, forever.
[00:18:31] This prayer without ceasing of the Lord for us, for sinners, as he stands between us and God praying for us.
[00:18:47] Now let's look at a few verses to kind of apply this. Let's look at Romans chapter eight, if you would, verse number 33.
[00:19:06] So this altar of incense represents the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry of intercession. But what does the Bible say about the ministry of intercession that Jesus has, that Jesus performs for us?
[00:19:21] Romans 830. Look at verse number 31.
[00:19:26] What shall we then say to these things?
[00:19:29] If God be for us, who can be against us?
[00:19:34] He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? You notice that three times you had this negative word. In verse 31, there's a someone is against us. In verse number 33, someone is charging us. In verse number 34, someone is condemning us. You know, listen now. Sometimes people's charge, people's condemnation, people's accusation of us is true.
[00:20:22] In other words, we did the thing.
[00:20:25] None of us in this room are faultless.
[00:20:29] You wouldn't have to look far in my life to find something to condemn me for.
[00:20:37] That's what you see here. You picture a courtroom where you have an accuser, right? Someone bringing a charge. Verse 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again. Notice that who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So we have people in these several verses. We have someone condemning us. We have someone charging us. We have someone that is against us. And the answer to that is an intercessor.
[00:21:19] But it's not just someone. It's not just the Lord Jesus who's standing between us, the accused and the father, saying, father, please be nice to them and show them your grace. Oh, no, no, no. That's why it says.
[00:21:37] That's why, going back to our picture here in Exodus, that's why there is a coal off of the altar.
[00:21:44] And there was a time where, if you remember, where Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron offered strange fire. How many of you remember that story? Strange. What does that mean? That means they brought a coal that wasn't from that altar.
[00:22:02] That represents the sacrifice. The blood of Christ shed his death upon the cross. They brought some other coal.
[00:22:13] And God, God killed them for it. Now, but here you have Jesus interceding between us and the father. When we are accused, and we are justly accused, because we did the deal, we did the sin, we transgressed God's law. And here you had the Lord Jesus Christ not saying, father, be nice to them. Oh, no, no, no. He's saying, father, I died for them.
[00:22:40] I shed my blood for their sins.
[00:22:46] Withhold your wrath. I bore it in their place.
[00:22:51] This is what Jesus. This is what Jesus is saying. That's why there's in all three of these verses we're gonna see. This is why the cross is mentioned in each one. Next one is in Hebrews chapter seven. Look at that.
[00:23:11] Hebrews chapter seven.
[00:23:21] So you have again, you have this picture of this accusation. Someone is against us. Someone is condemning us.
[00:23:29] But as long as there's an intercessor, right? Who is praying, who is interceding, who is standing between us and the father, as long as he is interceding. And it must be the same intercessor whose blood was shed for us. The just penalty of our sin was paid. No. Listen now, please. No accusation, no charge against one of God's people can stick. No charge can turn God against us.
[00:24:03] Think about that.
[00:24:07] Hebrews seven, verse 24 or verse 23.
[00:24:14] And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death. But this man, because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood that speaks of. Remember, they offered it every day, twice a day, a perpetual offering, right?
[00:24:34] Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him. Jesus, now, seeing he ever liveth, that's his resurrection.
[00:24:48] Jesus is alive. He rose from the dead. He is alive. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. Just like that incense was burned morning and evening, perpetually. So the Lord Jesus, his incense, if you want to call it that, his intercession is continual, never without intercession, without any kind of, any gap or any intermission.
[00:25:19] But notice, don't get hung up on the word uttermost. It doesn't say uppermost. We're not talking about going to heaven here.
[00:25:26] We're talking about this salvation that God provides for us, because Jesus is interceding in our behalf, reminding and witnessing to the fact that he bore our sins and took our place.
[00:25:40] It saves us to the uttermost.
[00:25:43] That is a complete and total salvation.
[00:25:49] Nothing lacks whatsoever to the furthest extent. That's what that word means.
[00:25:58] He provided a complete salvation because he lives forever, so his intercession never stops. Right.
[00:26:06] And he himself provided the sacrifice necessary. That speaks of the coal.
[00:26:13] His ceaseless intercession for us is on that basis. One more verse before I give you one example. First, John, chapter two.
[00:26:28] You know, the end of one. John, chapter one talks about if we say we have no sin, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. That tips us off. You know what that means? That means christians sin, believing children of God sin. Look at verse, chapter two, verse one.
[00:26:48] My little children, these things have I written unto you that ye sin not. Now let's stop here a second. I'm about to say some things that some people have a problem with. Probably nobody here, but some people do have a problem with it.
[00:27:02] But let nothing be construed to say that God's okay with us sinning. God's not. He's not.
[00:27:10] Verse, verse two, the middle of the verse. And if any man sin, you see that?
[00:27:16] If any man sin, know what that tells us?
[00:27:22] It is a reality that christians sin.
[00:27:25] All christians sin. Even the ones who claim they don't do all christians sin. Now listen to me, please.
[00:27:34] The security of our salvation cannot and does not depend on our not sinning.
[00:27:46] Because if it depended on our not sinning, we would have lost our salvation in about five minutes.
[00:27:52] That's the truth of it. It doesn't depend upon that. Now that's not to say that God is okay with us sinning. No, no. It's just that. Look, look, the Lord does not deal with his children in such a way that he constantly threatens them with hellfire if they sin. He has other ways to rid them of sin. He gives them a new heart and new desires. He puts his holy spirit within them. And if they rebel against him, what does he do? He takes them out to the woodshed and wears them out to the point that they turn from their sin.
[00:28:28] But God's not in the business of threatening us. Say, oh, if you sin, I'm gonna throw you straight into hell. I know you believed in Jesus, but I'm just throwing you straight into hell. It's too many. He doesn't do that. Look at this verse. If any man sin, what is it followed with.
[00:28:48] We have an advocate. You know what an advocate is?
[00:28:53] There's a charge we send. How many of you have been in the place where you said I was guilty?
[00:29:01] All of us have, as a believer, as a child of God, guilty of sin. The Lord says, when that's you, when that's you, you have an advocate at that point. Not when you're a good christian, but when you're a faulty christian. You have an advocate. You have one who is standing beside you speaking on your behalf to the father. That's called intercession.
[00:29:29] But notice it's not just intercession. Judge, go easy on him. Oh, no, no.
[00:29:35] We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Notice it says the righteous. Think about that.
[00:29:44] We don't have an advocate. We're not safe from condemnation because we are righteous, but because he is righteous.
[00:29:54] Verse number two. And he, Jesus, is the propitiation, the full satisfaction for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Again, you see the intercession. The advocate comes and stands and speaks to the judge, speaks to the father and says, father, I don't know exactly what. I'm just kind of filling in here.
[00:30:18] Yes, he sinned, but I.
[00:30:24] I took his place. I bore his penalty, and the father is satisfied. Propitiate. That's what that means. Satisfied.
[00:30:35] Listen, now. Listen.
[00:30:37] So no matter what, a child of God, under no circumstances can be condemned.
[00:30:46] Nothing. That's what Romans chapter eight is talking about, is it not? There is nothing that can possibly happen to turn God against you. You, because you have an intercessor that stands. He ever lives, he lives forever standing as your advocate, speaking to the father. But not just as your advocate, but as the advocate who bore your penalty.
[00:31:13] Listen, people that people that people that describe salvation and losing one's salvation when you sin. First of all, they never describe exactly what sins you have to do to lose it. It's always kind of. It's used as a billy club, basically, right? They whack upside the head when they need you to come in line, right? But people that describe salvation in those terms have about a quarter inch deep understanding of the truths of scripture, like this.
[00:31:46] This is a profound truth.
[00:31:49] We have an advocate. Even if we sin, he is still interceding.
[00:31:59] He hasn't changed. He ever lives to be there and be. Okay, let me conclude with this. Look at number 16.
[00:32:07] Numbers. Chapter 16.
[00:32:17] In number 16, you have the account of Korah's rebellion. It actually references them offering incense as well. But I won't cover all of that. I'll just drop down to verse number 41.
[00:32:32] So Korah and all his company died.
[00:32:36] Korah and all his company died because of their sin. Verse 41. But on the morrow, all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord. Moses didn't do. Aaron didn't do that.
[00:32:54] You see, they're blaming Moses and Aaron in place of God. You see that? So they're complaining. That's actually to God. This is a grave sin in God's sight. This is laying sin upon God. That's what they're doing. Verse 42. And it came to pass when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation, and behold, the cloud covered it. And the glory of the Lord appeared.
[00:33:21] And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, get you up from among this congregation that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. Do you see this? God is angry.
[00:33:38] God is justly angry because they have sinned. The congregation has sinned grievously. God has judgment on his mind. You see this is everybody with me. He's thinking of judgment right now. He's intent on judging their wickedness right now.
[00:34:00] And Moses said unto Aaron, take a censer. Remember what that is now. And put fire therein from off the altar and put on incense and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them. For there is wrath gone out from the Lord. The plague is begun.
[00:34:18] And Aaron took it, as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation. And behold, the plague was begun among the people. And he put on incense and made an atonement for the people. Now, notice that. Remember, the incense represents prayer. Aaron, he's the high priest. He also represents Jesus. And this is multilayered here.
[00:34:40] So this picture of Jesus praying, right, this is what you have this in this with the incense.
[00:34:47] For he's verse 48. For he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed.
[00:34:58] So over here you have people dying, and over here they're alive. And what is the difference? What is in the middle? What is in the middle? You have the Lord Jesus Christ interceding in prayer with the coals from the altar of sacrifice. His cross being sent up in prayer in the smoke to the father.
[00:35:23] Now, listen, that is the only difference between the wrath of God.
[00:35:29] It's the difference between eternal death and eternal life. Is that intercessor. That's what you see here.
[00:35:37] That's the only difference. Now imagine if Aaron hadn't been there, what would have happened?
[00:35:44] God would have wiped them out. Rightly, justly. Because God is always right, just and righteous.
[00:35:57] Where would the people of Israel had been?
[00:36:00] They would have perished, all of them, and it would have been right. But what was the difference? The difference was an intercessor standing in the middle.
[00:36:14] That is no different than you and me.
[00:36:17] Every one of us is guilty of sin. Not once, not twice, many, many, many, countless numbers of times.
[00:36:26] We have a nature that longs for sin. That's us. That's a human being.
[00:36:33] And if God's wrath was just let loose on us, there's not a person here who would have a chance.
[00:36:40] The only difference is an intercessor.
[00:36:45] And that person is Jesus, who stands between us and the wrath of God.
[00:36:53] Isn't that amazing? And as long as he is there, we live.
[00:37:01] And the good news is he'll be there forever.
[00:37:06] Let's pray.
