The Altar of Incense
30:1 “You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth. It shall be square, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And you shall make a molding of gold around it. 4 And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on two opposite sides of it you shall make them, and they shall be holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering of atonement he shall make atonement for it once in the year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
The Census Tax
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “When you take the census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who is numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord‘s offering. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the Lord‘s offering to make atonement for your lives. 16 You shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.”
The Bronze Basin
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “You shall also make a basin of bronze, with its stand of bronze, for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, 19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. 20 When they go into the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.”
The Anointing Oil and Incense
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, 24 and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, 27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, 28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. 31 And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. 32 It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), 35 and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 You shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you. It shall be most holy for you. 37 And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.” (ESV)
Well, we are still working our way through the description of the Tabernacle here. Make sure you stick with SOTD though because the first three days of next week are some of the most epic chapters in all the Bible! No, I am not just saying that…Exodus 32-34 are LEGIT!!!
But let’s take a look at what we have here in Exodus 30:
v1-10 incense
v11-16 offering
v17-21 washing hands
v22-33 anointing oil
v34 -38 perfume
All of these things were designed to make worshiping God at the tabernacle even better.
In fact, specifically they were to make worshiping God unique. He didn’t want there to be anything else like it. In fact, in the last verse he says that if anyone makes a perfume like the one in the tabernacle they should be cut off from God’s people…wow! That’s intense!
SO HERE’S TODAY’S CHALLENGE: WHAT IS SOMETHING ABOUT WORSHIPING GOD THAT IS UNIQUE? AS IN, THERE IS NOTHING LIKE IT ANYWHERE ELSE. WORSHIPING GOD IS THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN EXPERIENCE IT.
This is important for us to consider because God is holy and set apart. There is no one like him! Therefore, there will be things about our worship of him that will be like nothing else. List some for me today and let’s realize what a sacred and special thing it is to worship God at True North this weekend!
all these laws and standards are gnarly. sheesh. and we thought our parents had a lot of rules….
Hebrews 4:12 ” For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
One way we worship God is to spend time with Him reading His Word. This verse in Hebrews talks about the truth that God’s Word is alive! It is always vibrantly changing the lives of those who read it with the desire to conform to Christ’s character and obey the Lord. Worshipping God by spending time with Him daily doing Bible study and meditation is going to change us for the good. Not many of the activities we do each day leave a lasting, positive effect on our lives (think facebook, texting, tv, etc.) but reading His Word will make us different in a good way!
A unique way we worship God is being set apart in this fallen world. Living different then the way of the world. “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, be holy just as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) We are to be holy; imitators of our holy God and rely on His strength for this to even be possible!
Another unique way we worship God is doing it all the time; having our life consumed with worship. It shouldn’t be just another thing in our lives or a daily task that we check off the list like homework or chores, but it should be what your life is ALL about. When Bobby spoke on worship, he said that worship is when you want God and nothing else matters. We should be living daily with this mindset. In Psalm 16:8, David also talks about setting the Lord constantly before our us. Worship is unique because it should consume our lives and reveal how we are truly set apart before the Lord.
Here’s something unique about worshiping God: sharing the accurate gospel! No other thing is like it and it’s why we are STILL here!
Luke 5:10b “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”
Let’s not miss the reason we are here: to glorfiy God through sharing about Jesus. No matter who or what we were, He cleans us for His purpose. So let’s share the bad news (that often gets forgotten) and the best news today with eveyone we meet.
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.”
this law may be very strange (especially when “cut of from his people” means killed) but we need to understand what the incense is made for. all of the tabernacle and its uses of sacrifices are to worship the Lord. and when something is done that displeases God when we are worshiping Him is sinful. though we are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14) we need to see from the Mosaic law and from these chapters in Exodus how seriously God takes worship. we need to worship Him with pure, whole, and loving hearts, not seeking to glorify ourselves, but rather Him
Its amazing to see the rules and things that they needed to do before worshipping the Lord! But unfortunately, in these days, that has become so obscured. People are trying to worship the Lord with sin in their hearts. The Lord hates sin – yet people try and enter into His holy place to worship Him! Psalm 24:2-4 is an example of who may worship the Lord. Isaiah 1: 11-13 shows how the Lord feels to this type of worship
How wouldyou like to be able to talk to the most powerful person in the world? What if you had direct access to this person and could see him whenever you wanted. As Christians we have the unique privilege of speaking to the One True God. In fact God wants us to pray continously. The creator of the universe wants to talk to us always how amazing is that? Its an awesome privilege and command from the Lord that we don’t take seriously.
8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9″This, then, is how you should pray:
” ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Both Vanessa and Beth made great comments; worshiping God involves a changed life and time spent in His word. This verse says that we MUST worship God in spirit and truth; meaning that we are commanded to worship with a heart attitude of worship and acording to the Truth in the scriptures. This will result in a changed life that is being clensed from sin and learning to be Holy just as He Holy.
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.
We must be the burning light for the Lord. We are here to spred the gospel and help others come to the Lord. So we need to keep that burning and live for the Lord and help others be a light in the world for hom.
The Lord wants the best that we have and we should give it to him willingly. He is asking us to give so little for so much.
Wow again these rules are very detailed! These verses are really showing me that I have it easy. We have it so good now. Like Cody said he is asking us for so little and in return we are getting to much!
CST!
John 4:23
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
I think this is unique. Worshiping our Father in spirit, as in not by fleshly desires. And worshiping our Father in truth, as in Jesus is the truth. Just like when he claimed that he was the way, the truth, and the life.
In Malachi 1:6-11 God makes it clear that he expects to be worshiped with one’s best, not the left overs of our time, energy, and money. There are so many areas of life where we can slack off for awhile and still be o.k. However, this should never carry over to our worship of God. God should hold a unique place in our life, he should be #1!
1 Chronicles 16:29 says”
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness…”
Sit and think for a few moments and reflect on Gods glory…
when i do that, i get the worst butterflies!God is intense and He is so wonderful. Worshipping God is unlike any other experience…mainly because there is nothing like God! He is holy, set apart from sin…we want to be so much like that and when we worship God, or at least when i do, i feel so honored to be worshipping Him. I know that now-a-days we dont bring burnt offerings as a sacrifice toward Him, but instead, we give God our best. We should devote our day to God, after all, He is the reason to why we live each day! When we talked about Gods holiness the other week, i could tell a lot of people were amazed at some of the passages we read! When we read about how angels in heaven have to cover themselves when in the precense of God, i definatley was in awe! We also need to remember to be humble, when we worship, like Bobby has said, do a heart check!Are we worshipping God, meaning every word in the songs we sing to Him, or do we do it to appear really strong in the Lord? and like John 4:24 says, we need to be worshipping Him in spririt and IN TRUTH!
maranatha; Lord, come in your perfect timing
Reading these chapters about sacrificing really shows us how detailed,exact, and specific it really was. It is amazing what these people had to do before worshipping God! Like everyone else is saying we have it sooooo easy.
Deuteronomy 6:5-7
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
One way that we should be worshipping God is by reading His Word and meditating on it all day! Not just reading it and forgetting about it, but rather,thinking about what we have read. Giving Him only our best.
I agree with Katie. We need to worship God in every aspect of our lives. We need to understand our dependence on Him. Worship the Lord by putting Him first! Society teaches us to always look out for #1 – which is ourselves. This is completely opposite of God’s word. Romans 2:7-8: “To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” When you’re saved, you are to put off your old self and put on the new – living for the Lord and worshipping Him by desiring to be like Him. Ephesians 4:22-24.
CST :)
We should be worshipping God with our very lives, glorifying Him daily. We can do this through prayer, daily reading, evangelizing, praising, singing songs and a sacrificial attitude of giving in every aspect of our life. Let us continually remember that we have been set- apart for His purpose and plan.
I worship God any time I can even doring a volleyball tornument.
I’m going with John 4:23
Worshipping God is not only through our mouth, but through our actions! So let’s worship God by being obedient with a heart that is seeking Him!
Nice comment Michelle ;)
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:23-24
I like this verse because it’s really straightforward and to the point. We worship God with spirit and truth.
The Lord who created the heavens and the earth call us to worship Him. This doesnt happen anywhere else.
John 4:23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”
The Lord really does seek people with a true love for Him and out of of our love for Him we should worship Him. There is so much to worship the Lord for on a regular daily basis.
By having our life committed to worship the Lord everyday. For we need to set apart ourselves from the fallen world and Worship God nonstop.
Quoting Kyle’s i agree
“Worshipping God is not only through our mouth, but through our actions! So let’s worship God by being obedient with a heart that is seeking Him!”
Psalm 95:6
Come, let us worship and bow down;
I agree with rebekah’s comment. we should worship God with all our mind, with all our hearts with all our soul; with our everything!
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
We can worship God by making him our top priority. We need to serve him first, and not let our lives become all about our friends, or school, or hobbies.. Eternity can be spent with the Lord in heaven if we cast away all our idols and worship the one and only God.
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.”
Wow, I have to say, these thousands of rules kinda make you think, aren’t you glad Jesus came so we don’t have to worry about this anymore. Here we see that some things are sacred and exclusive to the Lord. This kind of restraint, not doing something pleasing because we actually respect GOD is really not shown much anymore. Just look around your school and you’ll see proof of that. You got kids just doing things that are WRONG if you truly pay attention. Respect for GOD’s holy things is so rare today, you end up with kids who make fun of you for reading a bible. What happened to decency? These are the children that we have to minister to . To us falls the burden of a decade of parents who could care less, and brutish children who can control themselves less than is halfway decent. Stay strong and pray, for otherwise our cause is lost.
God wants our whole heart when you worship him. He designed us to glorify him. We can worship God in everyday things we do, such as obey our parents. This would please God as long as we give our whole heart.
Everyday we can worship God in everything we do!!!
:]]
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww it is sooo good to be back on here and see all these awesome comments! Man I missed it so much! I can’t stand being away from this website!
10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.”
The blood is most holy to the Lord. Reminds me of Jesus’ blood and how it cleansed us making us holy. His blood is what cleanses us of all our sin. It’s incredible to think about AND to worship God for! SALVATION!
Colossians 3:12-14 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Perfect. Bobby actually just went over this passage a couple weeks ago! The way we live is what causes us to stand out like sore thumbs! Our lifestyle should be TOTALLY different from the rest of the world like it says in John 15:18-25. We are “not of this world”. So doing your homework for class and giving 100% for everything is a great way to rep Christ at your school! CONNECTION!! HA! God’s Word connects to Bobby’s messages….that’s always a good thing! XD
I enjoyed reading all the comments on worship!!
Out of all the ways to worship God, I must say that singing praises to Him is my favorite. It is just a time to concentrate on how great our God is, what He has done, His character, etc… Good stuff!!
The thing that is so different from worshiping God than from exalting other things it that God is the only place you can find TRUE joy. In worshiping other things there is always a sense of loss or sort of a hole in your heart, but in God you feel complete with the true joy that the Holy Spirit gives.
Worshiping God is the most incredible feeling. It sets you apart because you know you are striving to live every single moment for the glory of the Lord. There is more to the Christian life than the material things of this temporary world because we know there is something bigger. We have to give Him our whole entire heart. Its not like we just give Him our our heart for fifteen minutes. We need to give it to Him always; when we eat, study, play basketball, sing, etc…
One way I know I need to be worshiping God better after Bobby’s message tonight is by sharing the Word more with others so that the Revival will spread at my high school.
what’s awesome, unique, is that when your worshipping God is that when you are doing it, your heart is always in that special place, close to God and you can’t get that feeling anywhere else because God is so filling!
There’s this incredible inner peace that you get when worshipping God. Its like you’re either able to forget everything that’s distracting you from Him at the moment, or you’re able to realize how God is helping you with your problems. More importantly, if you’re completely focused on Him, everything is put in the right perspective. It lets you look forward to an eternity of worshipping God :]
20 Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die.
This is different than today what if we had to wash before church. I am so glad that if I forget my jobs my parents don’t kill me. That is intense that if they don’t wash they will die.
I like what Derek said. People do try to worship God with sin in their hearts, even though God hates sin. Like the priests had to be consecrated and make sacrifices to God to approach Him, we also can’t naturally approach Him in worship because of our sin. Thankfully, Jesus Christ’s death has allowed us to approach God, but we still shouldn’t bring our sin with us. Sin is detestable to God, and like Bobby said in one of his sermons, God might not answer our prayers because of unconfessed sin. So lets make sure our hearts our pure before God when we worship by repenting of our sin. In this way we will be ready to bring Him glory rather than dishonoring Him by doing the very things He tells us not to do.
It’s amazing to see how many rules God is giving to his people. He certainly knows exactly what he wants. The punishments for disobeying these rules are very severe, and it shows how God does not take sin lightly. we need to fear his punishment enough to keep us from falling into sin, and as Pastor Bobby said tonight, this fear should motivate us to continue to work out our spiritual salvation because we definitely do not want to offend God.
Psalms 100: 3-5 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
It is so great we get to worship our God our creator!!! there are so many people out there who are worshiping the wrong things. from their cell phones to their ipod, but we are worshiping our creator! And its unique that his love endures forever! and his faithfulness continues forever! that is so encouraging and just makes me want to keep worshiping him as much as i can! thanking him for everything he has done for me!
The senior search wuz soooooooo much fun!!! :D
My dad’s Strongs Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible really comes in handy.
WORSHIPING GOD THAT IS UNIQUE? hmmmmmm
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secret of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God is certainly among you.
Wow fall on his face! Thats pretty hardcore in worshiping God. Reverence to fear of God! This verse is unique because is shows the determination in worshiping our lord in heaven by having fear. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginin of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Its not the bad kind of fear its the holy kind ya know. Yir’ah(Hebrew)- Reverence.
I think when we are singing(worshiping) to God, there is no other feeling like it. When you just close your eyes and forget everything else and its just you and God, best feeling ever. I feel bad for nonchristians that dont get to experience it!
one of the coolest things about worshiping God is that it truly matters. We can praise men or live material things but in the long run that (worship) doesn’t matter, it is meaningless. But, when we praise God and live lives as acts of worship God is pleased and it truly matters!
Exodus 30
Evangelizing the Gospel is a form of worship that is unique to God alone. Worshiping God thru evangelism (ministering to others) is one of the most euphoric experiences that we can experience. When we step out in faith for the Gospel and show our faithfulness to God’s command He is faithful to reward us Eternally.
Matt 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Eph 6:18-20 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should
Only through Gods are we able to do anything that is good.
I thought I clicked submit yesturday but it didn’t go, so I’m trying again :D
Something I think that is cool about worshiping God is that when you sing praises to Him it feels like its just you and God and you have all the time in the world to sing to Him and He doesn’t care what you sound like :]
9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.
I Like this verse because it tells us that when we give things to God we should misuse the time of sacrificing and we should give it all to Him. :]
***REMEMBER TO GIVE HIM YOUR ALL!!!*
Matthew 26:26-30 (communion)
26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
this is an incredibly unique way of worshipping God. In fact, there is no other time ever when I would eat or drink anything at a time where I was truly considering what those elements did for me. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a more focused time on God than during communion.
Something about worshipping God that is unique is the feeling that you get when you are singing worship songs. The words to these songs have actual meaning, unlike ungodly songs. You can let those messages really sink in and convict you. CST