Marsha Gupton
19th January 2006, 07:21 PM (19:21)
Last week some posts were on the board regarding incense and the Old Testament. Not being well-versed in the OT and admittedly not very well learned in OT either. Now this is really sad having been in the COTN all my life and also having taken OT under Dr. Ray Dunning at TNU my freshman year. Anyway, the posts from last week took me to the OT and to my former sunday school teacher, Joann Glover, who loves the OT.
Concerning incense, when people are picking up the command to burn incense from the Old Testament, then they must follow the law of burnt incense. First, it was to be made by Moses, then Aaron and his sons, for a burnt fragrance to the Lord. It was to be put on the altar of incense every morning and night. None was to be made for use outside the temple. If any was made outside the temple, it was a sin and the person who made it or used it was to be cut off from the people. There were rules in making the altar of incense and the placement of it and those rules must be followed exactly (made of wood, overlaid with gold, etc., set immediately outside the Holy of Holies). It was to be for a sweet aroma to the Lord at all times representing the sin and other burnt offerings. Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, burned incense before the Lord, which He had not commanded (they were not authorized). So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. God took it very seriously and only those designated were allowed to even mix the incense ingredients to be placed on the altar.
Now, when Jesus shed his blood on the cross, the veil of the temple was split in two, putting an end not to the law, but to the worship dictated by the Law. Jesus is now that sweet aroma to God. So, a Biblical guideline about burning incense, the guideline would be (1) if practicing the command of the Old Testament, don’t do it! You are not authorized to burn fire before the Lord. It is never to be burned outside the Temple because it is holy to God. And, since you are not authorized to burn it before the Lord, according to Scripture, you will be cut off from your people (which in the Old Testament was the Israelites, which meant cut off from God because the Israelites were the only people that had God as their God, so in our day it would be from Christ.) (2) If you are discounting all the laws about burning incense because we are no longer under the Law, then the New Testament tells us that Jesus is our incense in that He is our sweet aroma before God. There is no need for any other.
14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
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.
34 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people."
There was an altar of incense outside the Holy of Holies where a fragrant incense was offered to the Lord. Exodus 30:1-10. The altar of incense had to be very exact…made of wood, covered with gold, exact measurements, rings, etc. and horns on the corner. The purpose was to offer a fragrance to the Lord.
Concerning incense, when people are picking up the command to burn incense from the Old Testament, then they must follow the law of burnt incense. First, it was to be made by Moses, then Aaron and his sons, for a burnt fragrance to the Lord. It was to be put on the altar of incense every morning and night. None was to be made for use outside the temple. If any was made outside the temple, it was a sin and the person who made it or used it was to be cut off from the people. There were rules in making the altar of incense and the placement of it and those rules must be followed exactly (made of wood, overlaid with gold, etc., set immediately outside the Holy of Holies). It was to be for a sweet aroma to the Lord at all times representing the sin and other burnt offerings. Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, burned incense before the Lord, which He had not commanded (they were not authorized). So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. God took it very seriously and only those designated were allowed to even mix the incense ingredients to be placed on the altar.
Now, when Jesus shed his blood on the cross, the veil of the temple was split in two, putting an end not to the law, but to the worship dictated by the Law. Jesus is now that sweet aroma to God. So, a Biblical guideline about burning incense, the guideline would be (1) if practicing the command of the Old Testament, don’t do it! You are not authorized to burn fire before the Lord. It is never to be burned outside the Temple because it is holy to God. And, since you are not authorized to burn it before the Lord, according to Scripture, you will be cut off from your people (which in the Old Testament was the Israelites, which meant cut off from God because the Israelites were the only people that had God as their God, so in our day it would be from Christ.) (2) If you are discounting all the laws about burning incense because we are no longer under the Law, then the New Testament tells us that Jesus is our incense in that He is our sweet aroma before God. There is no need for any other.
14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
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.
34 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people."
There was an altar of incense outside the Holy of Holies where a fragrant incense was offered to the Lord. Exodus 30:1-10. The altar of incense had to be very exact…made of wood, covered with gold, exact measurements, rings, etc. and horns on the corner. The purpose was to offer a fragrance to the Lord.