Exodus 30:1-16 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Exodus 30:1-16. Let’s go!
Exodus 30:1-10 (NIV)
1 “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense.
2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high–its horns of one piece with it.
3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.
4 Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding–two on opposite sides–to hold the poles used to carry it.
5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
6 Put the altar in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the Testimony–before the atonement cover that is over the Testimony–where I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.
8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come.
9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.
10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.”
On verses 1-10: In the tabernacle where the Israelites would worship the LORD, out in the courtyard there would be a bronze altar for offering animal sacrifices. But in addition to that bronze altar, there would inside the Tent of Meeting itself a smaller golden altar for burning incense. It is this second, smaller, golden altar that verses 1-10 are describing. This golden altar would be located (most likely) in the Holy Place, together with the lampstand and the bread.
Incense would burn on this golden altar and the smoke of the incense would travel from the altar of incense in the Holy Place past the curtain into the Most Holy Place. Likewise, as priests in God’s kingdom, when we pray, we can have confidence that our prayers reach the Most Holy Place where God is. It is interesting that in the book of Revelation, the prayers of Christians are described like incense going before the LORD (for example, see Revelation 5:8).
Also, why would this altar for burning incense inside the Tent of Meeting be overlaid in gold whereas the altar for offering sacrifices in the courtyard was overlaid in bronze (Exodus 27:2)? One interpretation is that, in Moses’ time, bronze symbolized judgment whereas gold symbolized heaven. Since animals were being sacrificed in the courtyard as a way to judge the sins of the people offering them, it was fitting that such altar would be bronze. In contrast, it was fitting that the altar in the Holy Place which was closer to the ark of God’s presence should be gold. What’s a lesson here? The closer we get to God’s presence through Jesus Christ, the more we are refined like gold. As Job says in Job 23:10, “…when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold”.
Finally, notice that the priest was to burn incense in the morning and at twilight (v7-8) so that incense would “burn regularly before the LORD” (v8). Likewise, since now we are God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16), let it be a reminder that, like the incense on that golden altar, we want to keep on praying. Whether morning or night, look to God. As 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Exodus 30:11-16 (NIV)
11 Then the LORD said to Moses,
12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.
13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD.
15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives.
16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives.”
On verses 11-16: Here the LORD gives Moses instructions on what to do when taking a census to count how many Israelites there are. The LORD required that to be counted as part of the Israelite people each Israelite, whether they were rich or poor, must pay a ransom of a half shekel. This ransom was also called the “atonement money” (v16).
It’s a reminder for us that, whether we’re rich or poor or whatever our background, for you and me to be counted among God’s people for eternity, a price needed to be paid. But that is far more than a half shekel of silver. As Psalm 49:7-9 says,
7 No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him–
8 the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough–
9 that he should live on forever and not see decay.
In other words, there is no amount of money that could pay our ransom. The price to be paid for our ransom was nothing less than a perfect life. That is why no person can redeem the life of another, because no person is perfect. So when none of us sinners could pay the atonement money required to be with God forever, God sent His Son Jesus Christ – the only perfect One – to pay our ransom with His perfect life. God paid the highest price so that you and I could be with Him forever.
Father, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to pay my ransom so that I could be counted among Your people and be with You forever. And thank You that the closer I get to You, the more I am refined like gold. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
