Why Church? Part 9—Altar of Incense

This is the second of the last 3 parts of my sermon series from July and August (see prior blog posts for parts 1-7)

This item on the surface doesn’t seem to have the depth as some of the rest, but we’ll discover that it has a significant purpose.  Exodus 30:1 and on give the instructions for the creation of the altar.  Incense is burnt on the altar, and nothing else is burned there.  In verse 34 it talks about the incense that was burned there.  There was a ritual the priest would go through when ministering in the holy of holies.  Burning incense was a picture of intercession and prayer for the needs of the people.  The priest wore a breastplate with pieces representing the twelve tribes of Israel, so he was coming to make intercession for all God’s people.  Jesus now does this for us as our high priest as it says in Revelation 8.  Jesus put our sin on Himself at the cross, and now we have a breastplate of righteousness as part of the armor of God.

So then prayer is a sweet smell to God.  The smell of a burning offering stinks, but we need it.  What were the ingredients of the incense?  There were four equal parts of: 

1) nataf or stacte--came from myrrh (brought to Jesus at His birth), the Hebrew paints a picture of a droplet or getting the sap out of a balsam tree, which is where myrrh comes from.

2) shehelet or onycha—it is believed by some to come from grinding up mollusk shells (but shellfish were unclean to Jews), but others believe it to come from a bush called a rock rose bush because it can grow in very rocky places.  Onycha is the Greek word.  Shehelet, the Hebrew version, means ”to roar like a lion” (Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah).   Also, the Israelites had just escaped from Egypt, and the pharaohs were known to make beards ou of goat hair.  They were put the onycha/shehelet on the goat hair to make it smell better.  The pharaohs were referred to by the Hebrews as the roaring lion.

3) helbenah or galbanum—this is still around today.  It is actually used in Chanel perfume.  It’s a spice taken from a plant and is initially bitter smelling.  After refinement, it becomes very sweet smelling (just like our refining in Christ)

4) lebonah or frankincense (also brought to Jesus at His birth)—it comes from a Boswellia tree, another one that can grow in rocky places (these are actually known to literally grow out of rocks).

The incense is symbolic of intercession and the people going up to God as a sweet-smelling fragrance.  God’s house is to be a house of prayer, a place for people to go and pray together.  God relates prayer to a sweet smell, but sometimes our prayer stinks. How do we make our prayer effective and sweet-smelling prayer?  2 Corinthians 2:14 and 17 say the sweet-smelling aroma has to do with us having knowledge of God and sharing that knowledge.  One thing that will make prayer stink is prayer with false motives.  Do we seek healing so we can go back to the unhealthy lifestyle that made us sick or in order to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives?  Do we seek prosperity for our own gain or the sake of God’s house? 

In Exodus 30:34-38, it says the incense can’t be used as perfume or in any use outside God’s house.  Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesians 1:17 and forward echoes this as well.  When we get a sense of who God is and the power we really have, it changes how we pray.  Two main things that limit prayer are doubt and unbelief and false humility.  James 1 tells us we are like a wave tossed by the ocean if we have doubt and unbelief.  False humility keeps us from boldly coming to Him and standing on the Word.  It seems right but it keeps us from seeing God’s power.  We quote Isaiah 64:4, but in 1 Corinthians where it is quoted, the next verse, verse 10, it says the Spirit has revealed it all to us.  We are not demanding our own selfish wants from God, but instead we are boldly going before the throne to see His will come to pass.  We must roar like a lion sometimes to see God;s will come to pass. In Revelation 8, it promises that Jesus then agrees with us. 

Why did ingredients 1 and 4 get brought as gifts to Jesus, but not the other two?  The two given to Jesus both come from trees.  Jesus is the tree of life.  The other two represent us.  They are from plants, and, for instance, galbanum doesn’t smell sweet until refined.  It is when we pray God’s Word and combine it with knowledge of Christ, that makes the sweet smell.  When we don’t know what to pray, we should just pray the Word.  Find yourself a resource to help you pray truth in every circumstance.

To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.