EXODUS LESSON 51

    We will begin this lesson in Exodus 30:1 "And thou shalt make an
altar to burn incense upon: [of] shittim wood shalt thou make it."
Exodus 30:2 "A cubit [shall be] the length thereof, and a cubit the
breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits [shall be] the
height thereof: the horns thereof [shall be] of the same."

    We see, here, an altar made of shittim wood.  It was 18 inches by
18 inches and 3 feet high.  This altar was made to burn this sweet
smelling frankincense and other perfumes on.  It kept a nice smell in
the tabernacle all the time.  The horns at the edge were to be made of
wood, also.  This altar sat in front of the veil.  This altar was,
also, called the altar of wood and the altar of prayer.

    Exodus 30:3 "And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top
thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and
thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about."

    This overlay of pure gold had to be on this entire altar because
 of its close location to the presence of God.  Everything in God's
 presence had to be covered in pure gold or be solid gold.  This crown
 of gold was like a border around the altar.

    Exodus 30:4 "And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the
crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it
shalt thou make [it]; and they shall be for places for the staves to
bear it withal."

    These rings were so a rod could be put through them to carry the
altar.  The altar could not be carried by directly touching it, but
had to be carried by these poles.

    Exodus 30:5 "And thou shalt make the staves [of] shittim wood, and
overlay them with gold."

    We see in this that all of this had to be overlaid with gold.

    Exodus 30:6 "And thou shalt put it before the veil that [is] by
the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that [is] over the
testimony, where I will meet with thee."

    You see, the presence of God was over the mercy seat.  This ark
later would contain the stone 10 commandments, the Manna, and Aaron's
rod that bloomed.

    Exodus 30:7 "And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every
morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it."

    Incense is symbolic of prayer.  This altar of incense was symbolic
of Christ, our intercessor.  You see, the light was never to go out,
and this was one of the duties of the priest--to see that there was
always oil in the lamp.  This incense was symbolic of constant prayer,
because the incense was to be burned continually.  1 Thessalonians
5:17, "Pray without ceasing." You see, God intends for us to depend
upon Him; to call on Him in prayer continually.

    Exodus 30:8 "And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall
burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout
your generations."

    The light was perpetual in the true sense, in that it never went
out; but this perpetual means that every day, twice a day, morning and
evening, the incense (prayers) was to go up to God.

    Exodus 30:9 "Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt
sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering
thereon."

    This was a very special altar for a very special purpose.
Anything, except the special incense God had them to make for this
altar, was strange and not to be offered on this altar.  This altar
was not to be used as a substitute for the brazen altar.  This altar was
not to be used for burnt offering, or meat offering, nor drink offering.

    Exodus 30:10 "And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of
it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements:
once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your
generations: it [is] most holy unto the LORD."

    This atonement was to be made once a year, on the day of
atonement, which is the tenth day of the seventh month.  This seventh
month is about October on our calendar.  The high priest, after
burning incense inside the Holy of Holies, took the blood and
sprinkled it on the mercy seat.  He took some of the blood and put
it on the horns of the altar of incense.  This blood on the mercy seat was
to cover the sins of the people.  The blood on the horns showed that
the power and strength was in the shed blood.  This blood once a year
was, also, to cleanse the altar spiritually; to cleanse it from the
unholiness of the children of Israel.  The blood on the horns of the
altar of incense was for the cleansing from sin of the high priest and
his people, the children of Israel.  The bronze altar was for sins of
individual people. This blood on the horns had to do with the priest
and his whole congregation. Next to the ark and the mercy seat, this
altar of incense was most holy. The value of this altar of incense
lets us know the importance of prayer in God's sight.  We should be
praying at least twice a day.

    Exodus 30:11  "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,"  Exodus
30:12 "When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their
number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the
LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them,
when [thou] numberest them."

    We see, here, a source of money to help with the expenses of the
church.  Those who were not willing to pay their fair share would not
be included in the promise God had made to these people, that they
would not have any of the Egyptian diseases.  A person's heart is
where they put their money, and this is what this was saying here.  To
be numbered in the congregation, they each had to give 1/2 of a shekel
to the tabernacle.

    Exodus 30:13 "This they shall give, every one that passeth among
them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the
sanctuary: (a shekel [is] twenty gerahs:) an half shekel [shall be]
the offering of the LORD."

    A shekel was ten penny weights of silver.  Then a half shekel was
5 penny weights of silver.  The number 5 has to do with the grace of
God, and silver means redemption.  We see, here, God redeeming these
Israelites through His grace.  When you multiplied the people who were
numbered by 5 penny weights of silver, you would come up with a huge
amount of money, regardless of how much silver was valued at per penny
weight.  It would have amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars by
our standards today.

    Exodus 30:14 "Every one that passeth among them that are numbered,
from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the
LORD."

    When a young man became twenty years old, he was not thought of as
a youth, anymore.  He was suddenly old enough to join the military.
This was,also, the age that the Levites went to work in the temple.

    Exodus 30:15 "The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not
give less than half a shekel, when [they] give an offering unto the
LORD, to make an atonement for your souls."

    We are not to get this confused with the tithes.  A tithe to God
would be 10% of what each of them made.  This was an entirely
different thing.  This 1/2 shekel of silver was to show their loyalty 
to the church and was to redeem them from the world.  The one thing
this says to me about our churches today, is that every member needs
to give whatever he can to the building of the temple.  Everyone,
 regardless of how rich or how poor, should be involved.  It is the
 people's church.  The tithe is returning to God 10% to help keep
 God's work going, but everyone should be in this one time gift to
 establish the church.

    Exodus 30:16 "And thou shalt take the atonement money of the
children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the
tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the
children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your
souls."

    This silver would be needed to make the sockets and other
ornaments for the temple that would be made of silver.  Again I say,
silver has to do with redemption.  We will see this silver used in
cups to set the legs upon to keep the godly things out of direct
contact with the sinful earth. We will symbolically see redemption
between the sinful earth and Almighty God, even out here in the
tabernacle in the wilderness. The teaching of the tabernacle is so 
beautiful, because it shows how God had planned all along to redeem 
sinful man.

                          Exodus 51 Questions

1.  What was the altar of incense to be made of?
2.  What was the measurements of it?
3.  What was it covered in?
4.  What was its use?
5.  What were the horns made of?
6.  What were two other names for this altar?
7.  What was to be made round about it?
8.  Why was it covered in gold?
9.  What were the golden rings for?
10. What were the staves made of?
11. Where was this altar to be located?
12. Where was the mercy seat?
13. What would the ark contain (3 things)?
14. What was to be burned on the altar of incense?
15. How often was it burned?
16. Incense is symbolic of what?
17. What was this altar of incense symbolic of?
18. Quote 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
19. What was truly perpetual?
20. What 3 offerings were not to be offered on this altar?
21. Once a year the high priest was to put blood on the horns of this
    altar for what?
22. What is the 7th month, here, on our calendar?
23. When did the high priest put blood on the mercy seat?
24. The blood on the horns symbolized what?
25. This altar of incense being so holy showed us what?
26. What blessing were they promised if they ransomed their souls?
27. What was the offering for each person to ransom his soul?
28. What was a shekel?
29. What does the 1/2 shekel symbolize?
30. How old were they before they had to be ransomed?
31. What is the difference in this offering and the tithe?
32. What was this offering used for?
33. What did the silver cups the legs of the tabernacle sat in mean
    spiritually?