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From Worship To Idolatry

Sun, 30/01/2011
Exodus Chapters 30 to 32

EXODUS 30

The Altar of Incense

Commentary

God continued with his instruction to Moses regarding the items He required in His Sanctuary and how they must be consecrated. Looking at His instructions which began in chapter 25, we can see how meticulously detailed and exact He is. Little wonder then that Moses spent a long time in His presence taking record of the instructions. Today, the Holy Spirit performs a similar role in believers by obtaining for us God's detailed instruction regarding worship. If we want to know God's innermost desires for us, our families and the Church of God, we must stay in tune with His Spirit whilst also taking time out to be in His presence just like Moses did. Apostle Paul sheds more light on this in 1 Corinthians 2; 9 - 12

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Aaron was instructed to burn a specially constituted incense unto God daily; both morning and evening perpetually throughout the generations of Israel. He had to atone for the people once every year with the blood of a sin offering. Through this we begin to understand the magnitude of what Christ did for us by taking our sins upon Himself and becoming  a perfect sacrifice made once and for all to God, thereby delivering us not just from our sins but also from the laborious task of rituals and sacrifices. Since the offering of incense is linked with the prayer of saints, (Revelations 8: 3 - 4) we must be mindful of how we pray so that ours will be a sweet smelling savour and not strange fire.

Immediately after His commandments on atonement, God instructed Moses on His rules governing census. Both are interrelated in that the priest makes atonement for the souls of the people while counting the souls requires the payment of a ransom, a small token indicating the value God places on the human soul. It is a great relief to note that God values our souls equally irrespective of our class or status.  

God has a very high standard of holiness, which He observes and also expects from His servants. The priests were asked to cleanse themselves each time they went into the Sanctuary otherwise they risked the danger of death. All the items of worship in the sanctuary must be consecrated with specially constituted oil and perfume. Our new life in Christ does not excuse us from being holy, in fact, according to Apostle Paul in his second epistle to Timothy, if we want to be God’s "vessel unto honour", we must ensure a life of purity. (See also 1 Peter 1: 15 - 16)

2 Timothy 2: 20 – 21: “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work”.

God always makes adequate provisions for His assignments. After concluding His instructions on requirements for the sanctuary, He identified the people He anointed to carry out the instructions. God has a purpose for creating each one of us and if we seek His face and submit ourselves to Him, we will be able to align ourselves to His purpose. We must always acknowledge that our skills and talents are gifts from God. God finished His instructions by emphasising the importance of rest and issued the commandments He had written on tablets of stone. If the Almighty God found it necessary to rest from His work, so should we.

Moses’ delay in returning from the mountain was used as an excuse by the children of Israel to ask Aaron to make them gods who will go before them. One wonders why Aaron hastily agreed to the people's demand and why the people quickly forgot about the wonderful miracles God performed before, during and after He rescued them from Egypt. Aaron's excuse also appears untenable. We must however not rush into passing any judgement on the people because we often find ourselves in similar situations where we forget past miracles of God when confronted with what appears to be insurmountable challenges. Have you ever wondered why people find it challenging to offer their best to God but end up spending fortunes on worthless items? The Israelites readily sacrificed their jewellery in order to make a worthless idol. Following other gods amounts to seeking help where there is none and doing this leads to sorrow. In God's message through the prophet Jeremiah, He described the foolishness of such actions as follows: -

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water”. -Jeremiah 2:13.

One major area of struggle for us is waiting upon God. This is a spiritual exercise and our adversary recognises that success in this area produces strength hence he brings discouragement. When the people failed, God planned to wipe them away and re-enact His purpose through Moses. Amazingly Moses intercedes for them pleading for God's mercy only to get down and express his own anger toward the people. In order to fully assuage God's anger he called for a cleansing exercise. Sin defiles and brings about sorrow and destruction and dealing with it requires drastic action.

Deacon Babatunde Akinfisoye

REVELATION 4:11

 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

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