Exodus 37:25 – 29 “He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. (The altar was approximately 1.5 feet in length and width, and 3 feet high (45.7 centimeters in length and width, and 91.4 centimeters high) Its horns were of one piece. And he overlaid with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns. Then he made a molding of gold around it. He made two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.”
The altar of incense was to stand very close to the thick curtain that separated the holy place from the holy of holies. Aaron was instructed to burn incense on the altar each morning and at twilight, every day, as a regular offering to the Lord (Exodus 30:7–8). God gave the recipe for making the incense and stipulated that no other incense ever be burned on the altar (verses 34–38). The fire used to burn the incense was always taken from the altar of burnt offering outside the sanctuary (Leviticus 16:12). Never was the altar of incense to be used for a burnt offering, a grain offering, or a drink offering (Exodus 30:9). Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest was to put blood on the horns of the altar of incense to cleanse it. The altar of incense was called “most holy to the Lord”. (Information from What was the significance of the altar of incense? | GotQuestions.org)
APPLICATION:
“Incense, peppermints
Incense, peppermints”
Who cares what games we choose
Little to win, but nothing to lose
The year was 1967, and this refrain from a popular song was one of the anthems of disgruntled youth. Why were we disgruntled? We were young and afraid. The Vietnam War was heating up, and many of us were being jerked out of our daily lives, handed guns, and dumped in Southeast Asian rice paddies. Why the mention of incense and peppermints together? Perhaps it was because of the rhyme, but it might also have been because people who were smoking pot would burn incense to cover the smell and suck on peppermints afterwards to sweeten their breath. Many of us danced to this tune and felt B*A*A*D!!! but really, we were only S*A*A*D!!!! (P.S. I learned that I was actually allergic to the scent of marijuana; I never smoked the stuff. It was my neighbors down the dormitory corridor who were burning the incense!)
While many of us have had little exposure to the use of incense, incense actually has a long and honorable history. Throughout the Bible, incense is associated with worship and with prayer. King David said in Psalm 141:2 “May my prayer be set before You like incense, my uplifted hands like the evening offering.” The idea was that our prayers would give God just as much pleasure as would the scent of the incense specially compounded for use only on the altar of incense.
Why were Aaron and the other priests commanded to burn incense twice a day? There is a great deal of value in repetition of worship. While many people feel that worship should always be spontaneous, a framework is still a good idea. Throughout our lives we have worshiped in churches with set forms of worship and churches that claim not to have any form. But even those churches claiming to eschew set forms of worship continue to follow some kind of pattern.
When God spoke the world into existence, He spoke it out of chaos, not into chaos. Seasons change, the earth revolves around the sun, and plants and animals grow, produce, and live according to internal time clocks. There is nothing wrong with order so long as it does not become a stranglehold to free will.
We all need sacred spaces in our lives, times and places where we can be alone with God. Your sacred space might be your office or your recliner or even just a corner of one room. Perhaps you live in such crowded conditions that you must copy Susanna Wesley. Susanna was not only the mother of Charles and John Wesley, but also of seventeen more children. (Yes, she had 19 kids in a small house!) Susanna retreated to be with God by sitting and throwing her long apron over her head, covering her face. The children knew that when their mother had her head covered, she was speaking with God and they should leave her alone.
Does God value your prayers? Oh yes! A thousand times yes! “But,” you say, ” I can’t pray long eloquent prayers.” No worries! God loves plain language and hates phonies. One Christian comedian described his frantic attempts to appear holy just after he got saved. This young man adapted as many mannerisms of the popular evangelists of that time as he could. The results were so ridiculous that God told him to stop, that He did not call this man to be an imitation Billy Graham. (Mr. Graham himself never forgot that he was the son of a dairy farmer from rural North Carolina. Graham never tried to be anything apart from what he was: a sinner saved by grace.)
Find a quiet place and then ask God to join you. In the stillness you will feel His pleasure.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us so much that you honor our prayers, even the short stammering ones. Thank You that You have promised to be with us forever. Help us to offer sincere prayers from the depths of our hearts, knowing that You will hear and respond. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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