Message 168
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 30:34-38
In the foregoing message we saw the two-way traffic between God and us portrayed by the ointment and the incense. The ointment typifies God coming to us in Christ and through Christ for our enjoyment. The incense typifies our going to God through Christ in prayer for His satisfaction. In this message we shall begin to consider the elements of the incense.
In both the anointing oil and the incense we have the numbers three, four, and five. Furthermore, in both the Triune God is portrayed. In both the anointing oil and the incense we see divinity, humanity, the mingling of divin ity with humanity, and the death and resurrection of Christ.
In the messages on the anointing oil we pointed out that although there were four spices, the quantity of these spices was three units of five hundred shekels each. The middle unit, formed of cinnamon and calamus, was divided into two parts, each measuring two hundred fifty shekels. Therefore, with the anointing oil we have four spices but only three units. These three units signify the Triune God. This is made especially clear by the fact that the middle unit signifies the Son who was “split” on the cross. With the incense we have three spices instead of four. As we shall see, these three spices of the incense also signify the Triune God.
In the incense there are three kinds of spices — stacte, onycha, and galbanum — with pure frankincense. According to the numbers and items of the ingredients, there are three in one, that is, three kinds of spices with pure frankincense. According to the grammatical construction of verse 34, the three spices form one group, while the fourth item, the pure frankincense, is in a category by itself. Therefore, here we have three plus one, which equals four. Three is the number of the Triune God, and four, the number of the creature, the human being, used in a positive sense. The meaning here is that the Triune God becomes a human being. Divinity is brought into humanity. This, of course, refers to Jesus Christ. He is the very God becoming a Man; He is divinity brought into humanity.
All four ingredients were compounded and mingled into one incense. Therefore, here we have God mingled with man, God compounded with man, divinity mingled and compounded with humanity, to produce the incense.
Exodus 30:34 says, “And Jehovah said to Moses, Take to yourself fragrant spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum — fragrant spices, and pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.” Both the first spice, stacte, and the third, galbanum, are resinous gums produced by trees. The middle spice, onycha, is the shell of a little animal. The order of these three spices is significant. It is important that the onycha is not mentioned either first or last, but in the middle.
As we have pointed out a number of times in foregoing messages, there are two factors in the life of Christ: the generating or producing life, signified by the vegetable life, and the redeeming life, signified by the animal life. Both aspects of Christ’s life can be seen in the Gospel of John. According to John 12:24, Christ is the grain of wheat that falls into the ground, dies, and produces many other grains. This is the vegetable life as the generating, producing, life. The animal life, however, is for redemption, for it is a life that can be slain and from which blood may be shed. In John 1:29 we see the redeeming life of Christ: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Christ is the Lamb who was crucified for our redemption. Christ, therefore, has both a generating life and a redeeming life. As the Lamb of God, Christ has the life signified by the animal life, and as the grain of wheat, He has the life signified by the vegetable life, the plant life. The animal life is for redeeming, and the plant life is for generating, producing.
In order to redeem us, there was the need for the second of the Godhead, with the aspect of the animal life signified by the onycha, to be slain on our behalf. The Lord Jesus was such a redeeming One. As the second of the Godhead, He accomplished redemption for us. This is the reason that the second spice, not the first or the third, has the animal life. The onycha, therefore, the second of the spices, surely signifies the second of the Trinity, the One who was crucified for our redemption. Neither the Father nor the Spirit died for the accomplishment of redemption. It was the Son who shed His blood on the cross so that we may be redeemed. Therefore, the three spices with onycha in the middle give us another portrait of the Triune God.
Where do we see humanity signified by the ingredients of the incense? Humanity is indicated by the number four implied in verse 34. Here we have three spices and pure frankincense, a total of four items. We have seen that in the Bible the number four signifies the creature, humanity in particular. Therefore, the four items used for the composition of the incense signify humanity.
With the incense we can also see the resurrection of Christ. With the ointment Christ’s resurrection is signified by the calamus and the cassia. But with the incense His resurrection is signified by frankincense. Hence, with both the ointment and the incense we have Christ’s death and resurrection.
With the ointment and incense we see the Triune God, divinity, humanity, and Christ’s death and resurrection. In both we see divinity mingled with humanity. In both we see the Triune God in man passing through death and coming forth in resurrection. In both we have the numbers three and four signifying divinity and humanity. With the incense the three spices signify Christ’s death for generating and redeeming, and the frankincense signifies His resurrection. This means that with the incense we have a picture of the wonderful Person of Christ. The incense is nothing less than Christ Himself with all the process through which He has passed and with all He has accomplished.
With the composition of both the anointing oil and the incense the principle is nearly the same. However, the anointing oil is for God’s coming to us, and the incense is for our going to God. In the anointing we have the Trinity, divinity, humanity, and the death and resurrection of Christ. In the incense we also have the Trinity, divinity, humanity, and Christ’s death and resurrection.
Eventually, in both the anointing oil and the incense we have the number five. With the ointment, the four spices are blended with olive oil to give us the number five. But with the incense four elements, the three spices and the frankincense, are tempered with salt to give the number five. With the ointment the tempering element is oil, but with the incense the tempering element is salt. This means that God’s coming to us is a matter of our being oiled, but our going to God is a matter of our being salted.
Why is it that when God comes to us there is an abundance of oil, but no salt? The reason is that with God there is nothing unclean. He comes to us from a pure source. However, our source is full of uncleanness. Therefore, our going to God requires salt in place of oil. Salt is a substance that is pure even though it is found in an unclean place. Salt is one of the most pure substances on earth. The tempering of the four elements of the incense with salt indicates that our prayer needs to be thoroughly salted so that all the “germs” may be killed and we may be purified. The salting element is also the element that tempers our prayer. Thank the Lord that He does not come to us with salt. It would be most unpleasant if He came to us with a large quantity of salt instead of an abundance of oil. But praise Him that when we go to God we are salted, seasoned, tempered!
In today’s church life we all need to be salted. Otherwise, there will be friction and controversy among us. The elders in particular need to be salted. Anyone who serves as an elder should expect to be salted. To be an elder is to be like fresh fish placed into a pot of salt. The eldership can be compared to a pot of salt. Be assured, elders, that the eldership will cause you to be salted.
Recently, in Anaheim we had a conference for the Chinese-speaking saints. I noticed that as the serving ones were preparing for this conference, they needed to be salted. If you were to ask some of the leading ones among them concerning this, they would say definitely that as they served together they needed to be salted. We need to be salted, for without the salt we cannot have fragrant incense ascending to God.
Many of us can testify that we need to be salted also in our married life. If you have not been married, you may be like a piece of fresh fish. But after you are married, you will begin to be salted immediately, perhaps even on your honeymoon. It is a very positive matter to be salted. If fish is not salted, it will give off a foul odor after a few days. But salted fish retains its flavor for a long time. Likewise, being salted in your married life will cause you to maintain your flavor in a positive way. Brothers, do you want to be pleasant husbands? If so, you need to be salted. Sisters, do you want to be pleasant wives, or offensive ones? Those who are offensive have not been salted. If you want to be a pleasant wife, you need to be salted. If a sister is salted over a period of years in her married life, she will become very pleasant.
We all need to be salted. We cannot go to God without salt. The salt with which we are salted is the salt of God’s everlasting covenant. More than once the Old Testament speaks of remembering the salt of the Lord’s covenant (Lev. 2:13; Num. 18:19). The salt used in tempering the incense is related to the salt of God’s covenant. The main point here is that if we would experience the Christian life in a finer way, we shall learn that our prayer must be thoroughly salted.
What is the element of the salt with which we are salted? This element is the cross. God’s coming to us is not a matter of the daily working of the cross. Rather, His coming is altogether in the oil, in the Spirit. However, our going to God requires the cross. We need the cross all the time. The salt here signifies the cross of Christ, His killing death. We need to experience the killing death of Christ in our prayer. I can testify that I have much experience of this. If my motive, intention, and heart are not pure, I am not able to pray. Furthermore, if my spirit has some kind of bias, I cannot pray either. In order to pray, my spirit must be without bias, and my motive and intention must be pure. To be pure in this way requires salt; it requires the cross.
Young people may realize that if they commit sins, they will find it very difficult to pray. But as we grow in the Lord and come to a finer stage in the spiritual life, we shall see that even a little bias in our spirit can keep us from praying properly. It is not necessary to sin in order to have your prayer hindered. Even a small amount of bias in your spirit can hinder your prayer. You may still pray if you have bias in your spirit, but deep within you may realize that this is not the kind of prayer the Lord desires. I dare not say whether or not the Lord will answer a prayer that issues from a biased spirit. However, I am assured that this is not the kind of prayer He desires.
I also know that such prayer does not have a pleasant fragrance to Him. Instead, He finds the odor of that kind of prayer very offensive. Many times our prayer has been altogether offensive and unpleasant to the Lord’s sense of smell. I believe that those saints with experience can endorse this word and say amen to it. From their experience they know that prayer which issues from impure motives or from bias in our spirit is offensive to the Lord.
By now we should be clear that for God’s coming to us the Spirit, the oil, is needed. But for our going to God the cross, the salt, is needed. Both the oil and the salt are tempering elements. The oil tempers the ointment for God to come to us, but the salt tempers the incense for us to go to God. Our prayer needs to be in the Spirit. However, the Bible in its clear portrait concerning our prayer indicates that what is needed is mainly the cross. Do you intend to pray? As you are about to pray, you need to be crossed out. Your natural being, your natural way, your natural thought, your natural desire, your natural preference, your natural choice — all must be crossed out.
You probably do not realize how many unclean elements or how much dirt there is in your being. There is dirt in your mind, in your emotion, and in your will. There may be much defilement both in your love and in your hatred. As a result, unclean elements may be expressed by your utterances in prayer. This means that even in your prayer there may be uncleanness or defilement. The prayer of some can be likened to the eruption of a volcano: it bursts forth with the release of many unclean things. These ones may feel that they are praying to God. Actually, they are expelling much uncleanness from their inner being.
In emphasizing our need to be salted, I am not saying that there is no need for the Spirit in our prayer. We do need the Spirit, but that is not our greatest need. Our greatest need is the cross, the salt. For us to enjoy God the main element needed is oil. When God comes to us to be our enjoyment, He must be the oil, the Spirit. Therefore, it is necessary for God Himself to be oil. Otherwise, there would be no way for us to enjoy Him. But for us to go to God in prayer, we need plenty of salt. We need to be salted thoroughly and absolutely.
