Exodus 30:26-3826And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. 31And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37And 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. 38Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people. (Exodus 30:26‑38)
We remarked last week that the holy anointing oil was never to be put upon man’s flesh, but it is beautiful to notice that Aaron’s sons were anointed with it after the blood had been applied to them first. In this we see that a man must be cleansed in the precious blood of Christ before he can be indwelt by the Spirit. of God and bear fruit for God. We find many today who are trying to do something for God and yet they are still unsaved. Their hearts are still defiled by sin, and the Word of God tells us that in this state they “cannot please God.” The very first thing a sinner can do to please God is to own his guilt and be cleansed from it in the precious blood of Christ.
All the vessels and furniture of the tabernacle were to be anointed with this precious anointing oil for they all spoke of Christ in the varied aspects of His Person and work. How lovely to connect this with the verse in Psalm 45:8,8All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. (Psalm 45:8) “All Thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.” There we see Christ, as it were, fragrant with all these lovely spices; and. surely if we are near to Him and are filled with the Spirit, we shall be enjoying this, and something of His loveliness will be seen in us too. This ointment Was “most holy,” telling us that if we are to bear any fruit for God there must be the judgment of any and every failure in our lives. Holiness becomes God’s house and is particularly connected with worship in all these types.
There was to be no imitation of this ointment and the one who attempted to make any imitation of it was to be cut off from his people. What a warning to those who would attempt to imitate the work of the Spirit of God by excitement and other means. It is a very solemn thing to try to imitate the work of God— such attempts are the work of the enemy. Then we find unsaved people who are trying to imitate the life of Christ apart from new birth, and this too is hateful to God. Dear reader, have you accepted Christ as your own personal Saviour? If not, why not do so today?
Next there was the sweet perfume, and although we are told the kinds of spices which were to be used, we are not told how much of each was to be used in this wonderful perfume. There was, however, an equal quantity of each, for there was a perfect evenness in every grace in Christ, and yet each was infinite it could not be measured. Some of this perfume was to “beaten very small” and put before the testimony where God met with them. When we think of it being beaten very small, we think of the blessed Lord Jesus being “beaten” for its on the cross. Into those three hours were compressed all the suffering which our sins deserved, and yet we can surely say that there was never a time when the Lord Jesus was so pleasing to His Father as when He was accomplishing His will even unto death. The sweet perfume of this wonderful work of redemption is ever before God and it is because of this that He can meet. with us, the very ones who deserved the judgment which Jesus bore.
ML 04/16/1950