Message 169
(3)
Scripture Reading: Exo. 30:34-38
In the first message on the incense we considered the two-way traffic between God and us and between us and God. We saw that the ointment typifies God coming to us in Christ and through Christ, and the incense typifies our going to God in Christ and through Christ. In the second message on the incense we pointed out that with both the ointment and the incense we see the Triune God, divinity, humanity, and Christ’s death and resurrection. We also saw that for the experience of God coming to us in Christ the oil is needed, but for the experience of our going to God in Christ the salt is needed. This means our prayers need to be salted by the effective death of Christ. In the previous message we strongly emphasized our need to have our prayers purified by the salt so that we may offer fragrant incense to God for His satisfaction. Let us now go on to consider the elements of the incense.
The first of the fragrant spices used to make the incense is stacte. The Hebrew word for stacte is nataph. It signifies myrrh, a resinous gum used as purest myrrh. Hence, stacte is another kind of myrrh and signifies the sweet death of Christ. We should remember that the first spice in the anointing oil was also myrrh. This indicates that both for God’s coming to us and for our going to God a basic need is the death of Christ. Without the death of Christ, it would be impossible for us to go to God. Furthermore, it would even be impossible for God to come to us. This was the reason the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). The Lord’s word indicates that if He did not “go away” by dying on the cross for the accomplishment of redemption, there would be no way for God to come into us. When the Lord Jesus was with the disciples, God was present with them. But this was only a partial coming of God to the disciples. While the Lord Jesus was with His disciples in the flesh, God had come to man only halfway. He did not yet have the way to enter into His disciples. Therefore, the Lord had to go away; that is, He had to pass through death to open the way for God to come into fallen man.
The root of the Hebrew word for stacte, nataph, means drop (Job 29:22 S. S. 4:11; see Luke 4:22). We have already pointed out that the myrrh used as an ingredient in the anointing oil has the appearance of tears when it issues out from the tree. Now we see that the root of the Hebrew word for stacte means drop. This is very significant. It indicates that the Lord Jesus shed many tears in His human life. As He walked on earth experiencing the myrrh, He shed many tears. Even as He was ministering, inwardly there was the “dropping” of tears. On the cross there was a great dropping of the Lord’s human life, His soulish life. Because of this, there can be the myrrh, the stacte, as the first element of the incense.
The Hebrew word rendered onycha is shecheleth. This word denotes the shell of a little animal that grows in the marshes of the Red Sea, a shell that is good for medicine and is also used as a spice. This signifies that Christ with His redemptive life died for sinners.
In order for us to be redeemed, there was the need for the second of the Godhead, signified by onycha, to be slain on our behalf. Onycha grows in the marshes of the Red Sea, which signifies the corrupted world. The Lord Jesus became a little “animal” living in the marshes of this corrupted world for thirty-three and a half years. This is the Christ who was crucified to redeem us.
As we have pointed out, the animal life typifies the redeeming aspect of Christ’s life. Therefore, not only does the onycha indicate the death of Christ; it also indicates that the Lord Jesus has a redemptive life and that He lived a redemptive life for us. Then on the cross His redemptive life was given for sinners.
The Hebrew word for galbanum is chelebnah. This denotes a resinous gum. As the third element in the incense, galbanum signifies the powerful death of Christ’s generating life.
The root of the Hebrew word for galbanum means fat, and the word ending means weeping. Fat signifies that Christ lived a life that was absolutely for God. This is the significance of the fat of the burnt offering. While He lived such a life absolutely for God, Christ wept for those who were not for God. On the one hand, He Himself lived a life absolutely for God; on the other hand, He wept for those who did not care for God.
The odor of galbanum as a resinous gum was exceedingly strong, disagreeable, unpleasant, and offensive. This unpleasant odor has three strange functions. First, although by itself it is offensive, it strengthens the fragrance of the other odors. When this spice is added to the other spices, the fragrance of the other spices is increased.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He certainly was offensive to the Pharisees and Sadducees. His rebuke of the Pharisees offended them to the uttermost. According to Matthew 23:33, He called them “serpents, brood of vipers.” How strong and offensive the Lord was! Nevertheless, as the galbanum, He strengthened the fragrance of the other odors.
Myrrh is fragrant, and onycha gives off a pleasant fragrance when it is burned. The more onycha is burned, the more pleasant is its fragrance. Therefore, both myrrh and onycha have a sweet fragrance. But when galbanum is added to these spices, the offensive odor of the galbanum strengthens the sweet fragrance of the myrrh and the onycha.
The second function of the galbanum was to cause the fragrance of the incense to remain and endure. In other words, it enabled the incense to retain its fragrance for a longer time. Therefore, the galbanum not only strengthens the fragrance of the other spices; it also causes the incense to retain its fragrance.
Third, the galbanum functions as a repellent. It repels and expels noxious insects and poisonous reptiles, including serpents. In itself galbanum is noxious. It is used to repel and expel insects and poisonous reptiles and snakes. This is especially true of the “old serpent, the Devil.” The galbanum indicates that the death of Christ expels the serpent. In a sense, Christ’s death is not pleasant, but it truly strengthens and preserves the other elements, and it expels the serpent. His death is a repellent; it has the repelling power to expel Satan.
From the picture in these verses we see that all three spices signify the death of Christ. In the essence of all the ingredients we have the death of Christ. The Triune God came into humanity to die in order to redeem us, to produce sons, and expel evil. The Triune God became a man to generate us as sons, to redeem us from the fall, and to expel all evil.
Whenever I consider the three spices used to make the incense, I am convinced once again that the Bible truly is something inspired by God and revealed by Him. Man’s wisdom is not able to compose such a record. No doubt, these words were written according to the inspiration and revelation of God.
Frankincense is a white resinous gum signifying the sweet resurrection of Christ. The root of the Hebrew word for frankincense means white. Furthermore, there are five kinds of gum-producing trees from which frankincense is derived, and these trees have flowers of five petals and fruits of five sides. This signifies responsibility in resurrection with the Trinity. It is also interesting to note that within the flowers of these trees are five pistils and five stamens. Therefore, with the tree that produces frankincense we see the number five again and again. We see this number with the kinds of trees, with the five petals on the flowers, with the five stamens and five pistils within the flowers, and with fruits of five sides. All this is related to the significance of the frankincense.
According to 30:34, “there shall be an equal part of each.” This means that there was to be an equal proportion of each of the four basic elements. This signifies that all the attributes of Christ’s death and resurrection are even.
With the incense nothing should be unbalanced. However, many Christians today are not balanced in their experience. For example, certain believers place too great an emphasis on the experience of the cross. With them, there is no experience of resurrection. Rather, they are always talking about bearing the cross. It seems that they never have a happy, pleasant expression on their face. In the meetings of such Christians there may be much groaning, but there is very little praise, if any. I have attended meetings where the people spent a good deal of time groaning. The ones who attended those meetings emphasized the Lord’s death, but neglected His resurrection.
Other Christians, at the opposite extreme, seem always to be soaring with excitement. Actually, this is not the experience of the resurrection of Christ. Instead, it is an expression of natural emotion. Certain Pentecostalists are in this category. Often they will excitedly say, “Praise Jesus! Praise Jesus!” With them there is little sighing or groaning.
I use these examples to point out our need to be balanced in our experience of Christ. We need an equal portion of the Lord’s death and resurrection.
In the last message we emphasized the fact that we are salted by the death of Christ. Yes, we certainly need the salt of the Lord’s cross. Nevertheless, the incense still contains frankincense, which signifies resurrection. Along with our experience of the death of Christ, we need the experience of His resurrection.
The three spices indicate that the Lord Jesus lived a generating life, signified by the plant life, and also a redeeming life, signified by the animal life. The first and third spices, the stacte and the galbanum, are of the plant life. The second spice is of the animal life. All three spices signify the Lord’s death. According to the significance of the first spice, the stacte, Christ died to generate many sons. According to the significance of the second spice, onycha, He died to redeem fallen sinners. According to the significance of the third spice, galbanum, He died to expel the enemy. By this we see that Christ’s death has three functions: to redeem fallen sinners, to produce sons of God, and to expel the old serpent, the Devil. Praise the Lord for the functions of generating, redeeming, and expelling!
In the prescription for the ointment recorded in Exodus 30, definite quantities are designated for each ingredient. But in the prescription for the incense, no quantities whatever are mentioned. This signifies that Christ is immeasurable, unlimited. With this incense there is no measurement and no weight. In this universe there are no means available to tell the measure of Christ. For this reason, in Ephesians 3:18 Paul tells us that Christ is the breadth, the length, the height, and the depth. In other words, Christ is unlimited. The unlimitedness of Christ is indicated by the fact that no measurements are given for the stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense. We are simply told that there were to be equal parts, or portions, of each element used to make the incense.
Verse 35 says, “And you shall make of it incense, an ointment, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.” As we have seen, salt here signifies the effectiveness of Christ’s death. This salt kills negative things and also functions as a preservative (Lev. 2:13). In salt there is corruption-killing power. In typology salt signifies the preserving power of the death of Christ and also its killing power.
The elements of the incense are tempered together with salt. The anointing ointment is tempered with the olive oil, the Holy Spirit. But the incense is tempered with salt, the cross of Christ.
Verse 36 says, “And you shall grind some of it very fine, and put some of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.” According to verses 35 and 36, the incense must be salted, ground, and burned. The grinding of the incense and putting it before the testimony in the tent of meeting signifies the blending of Christ’s sweet death and His fragrant resurrection, and the offering of His death and resurrection to God on the incense altar as a base for the intercession of Christ and His members.
In order for our experiences of Christ to become a sweet fragrance to God, these experiences must be seasoned, ground, and eventually burned. When our experiences pass through such a process, they become a sweet fragrance to God. This means that not only do we need to experience the essence of what Christ is and does, but our experiences of this Christ need to be salted, ground, and burned. When something has been burned, it is reduced to ashes. Whatever we offer to God as incense will be consumed, but it will be fragrant to Him. Only when our experience of Christ has been salted, ground, and burned shall we have the incense to offer to God as a sweet-smelling fragrance. First we need the genuine experiences of Christ with all the ingredients of the incense. Then we need the salting, the grinding, and the burning of this incense. By this we see that experience is indispensable for the burning of the incense. We must have experiences of Christ, and these experiences must be salted, ground, and burned.
Exodus 30:37 and 38 say, “And the incense which you shall make, you shall not make for yourselves in its proportions; it shall be holy to you for Jehovah. Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from his people.” In these verses we see that the incense is not at all for man’s smelling. The incense is absolutely for the Lord’s enjoyment and satisfaction. What does this mean for our experience in a practical way? It means that we should not pray so that others in the meeting will listen to us. Many times prayers are uttered for the sake of human listeners. This is a serious mistake. The incense should be offered only to God, it should ascend to God, and it should be enjoyed by God. For this reason, we should not pray for the sake of human listeners, but for the Lord’s satisfaction.
In these three messages on the incense we have covered a number of deep matters related to spiritual experience. I would encourage you to take an adequate amount of time to dwell on all these points by praying over them and by having fellowship with others concerning them.
