EXODUS 30 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

The Altar of Incense

1 Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense.

BARES, "Exo_37:25-28; Exo_40:26-27. The altar of incense was to be a casing of boards of shittim wood Exo_25:5, Exo_25:18 inches square and three feet in height (taking the cubit as 18 inches), entirely covered with plates of gold. Four horns were to project upward at the corners like those of the altar of burnt-offering Exo_27:2. A crown or moulding of gold was to run round the top. On each of two opposite sides there was to be a gold ring through which the staves were to be put when it was moved from place to place.

CLARKE, "Altar to burn incense - The Samaritan omits the ten first verses of this chapter, because it inserts them after Exo_26:32 (note).

Shittim wood - The same of which the preceding articles were made, because it was abundant in those parts, and because it was very durable; hence everywhere the

Septuagint translation, which was made in Egypt, renders the original by , incorruptible wood.

GILL, "And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon,.... The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call it incense of spices, properly enough, for it was made of various spices; of which see Exo_30:34 and this was necessary on a natural and civil account, to remove those ill smells from the sanctuary, occasioned by the number of beasts continually slain in it; but chiefly on a religions account, to denote the acceptableness of the service of the sanctuary to God:

of shittim wood shall thou make it: of the same that the altar of burnt offering was made, which was covered with brass, but this with gold, as after related; of this sort of wood; see Gill on Exo_25:5 as this altar was a type of Christ, the shittim wood may respect his human nature; which wood, though it sprung out of the earth, was not common, but choice and excellent, and very strong durable, and incorruptible; and so Christ, though he was man made of an earthly woman in his human nature, yet was chosen out of the people, is the chiefest among ten thousand, and excellent as the cedars,

the man of God's right hand, whom he made strong for himself; and though he died in it, he saw no corruption, he now lives, and will live for evermore; in which nature he acts the part of a Mediator, and intercedes for his people, and offers up their prayers, perfumed with the much incense of his mediation, to which this altar has a special respect.

HERY 1-10, "I. The orders given concerning the altar of incense are, 1. That it was to be made of wood, and covered with gold, pure gold, about a yard high and half a yard square, with horns at the corners, a golden cornice round it, with rings and staves of gold, for the convenience of carrying it, Exo_30:1-5. It does not appear that there was any grate to this altar for the ashes to fall into, that they might be taken away; but, when they burnt incense, a golden censer was brought with coals in it, and placed upon the altar, and in that censer the incense was burnt, and with it all the coals were taken away, so that no coals nor ashes fell upon the altar. The measure of the altar of incense in Ezekiel's temple is double to what it is here (Eze_41:22), and it is there called an altar of wood, and there is no mention of gold, to signify that the incense, in gospel times, should be spiritual, the worship plain, and the service of God enlarged, for in every place incense should be offered, Mal_1:11. 2. That it was to be placed before the veil, on the outside of that partition, but before the mercy-seat, which was within the veil, Exo_30:6. For though he that ministered at the altar could not see the mercy-seat, the veil interposing, yet he must look towards it, and direct his incense that way, to teach us that though we cannot with our bodily eyes see the throne of grace, that blessed mercy-seat (for it is such a throne of glory that God, in compassion to us, holds back the face of it, and spreads a cloud upon it), yet we must in prayer by faith set ourselves before it, direct our prayer, and look up. 3. That Aaron was to burn sweet incense upon this altar, every morning and every evening, about half a pound at a time, which was intended, not only to take away the ill smell of the flesh that was burnt daily on the brazen altar, but for the honour of God, and to show the acceptableness of his people's services to him, and the pleasure which they should take in ministering to him, Exo_30:7, Exo_30:8. As by the offerings on the brazen altar satisfaction was made for what had been done displeasing to God, so, by the offering on this, what they did well was, as it were, recommended to the divine acceptance; for our two great concerns with God are to be acquitted from guilt and accepted as righteous in his sight. 4. That nothing was to be offered upon it but incense, nor any incense but that which was appointed, Exo_30:9. God will have his own service done according to his own appointment, and not otherwise. 5. That this altar should be purified with the blood of the sin-offering put upon the horns of it, every year, upon the day of atonement, Exo_30:10. See Lev_16:18, Lev_16:19. The high priest was to take this in his way, as he came out from the holy of holies. This was to intimate to them that the sins of the priests who ministered at this altar, and of the people for whom they ministered, put a ceremonial impurity upon it, from which it must be cleansed by the blood of atonement.

II. This incense-altar typified, 1. The mediation of Christ. The brazen altar in the court was a type of Christ dying on earth; the golden altar in the sanctuary was a type of Christ interceding in heaven, in virtue of his satisfaction. This altar was before the mercy-seat; for Christ always appears in the presence of God for us; he is our advocate with the father (1Jo_2:1), and his intercession is unto God of a sweet-smelling savour. This altar had a crown fixed to it; for Christ intercedes as king. Father, I will, Joh_17:24. 2. The devotions of the saints, whose prayers are said to be set forth before God as incense, Psa_141:2. As the smoke of the incense ascended, so much our desires towards God rise in prayer, being kindled with the fire of holy love and other pious affections. When the priest was burning incense the people were praying (Luk_1:10), to signify that prayer is

the true incense. This incense was offered daily, it was a perpetual incense (Exo_30:8); for we must pray always, that is, we must keep up stated times for prayer every day, morning and evening, at least, and never omit it, but thus pray without ceasing. The lamps were dressed or lighted at the same time that the incense was burnt, to teach us that the reading of the scriptures (which are our light and lamp) is a part of our daily work, and should ordinarily accompany our prayers and praises. When we speak to God we must hear what God says to us, and thus the communion is complete. The devotions of sanctified souls are well-pleasing to God, of a sweet-smelling savour; the prayers of saints are compared to sweet odours (Rev_5:8), but it is the incense which Christ adds to them that makes them acceptable (Rev_8:3), and his blood that atones for the guilt which cleaves to our best services. And, if the heart and life be not holy, even incense is an abomination (Isa_1:13), and he that offers it is as if he blessed an idol, Isa_66:3.

JAMISO, "Exo_30:1-38. The Altar of Incense.

thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon, etc. Its material was to be like that of the ark of the testimony, but its dimensions very small [Exo_25:10].

K&D, "The Altar of Incense and Incense-Offering bring the directions concerning the sanctuary to a close. What follows, from Ex 30:11-31:17, is shown to be merely supplementary to the larger whole by the formula and Jehovah spake unto Moses, with which every separate command is introduced (cf. Exo_30:11, Exo_30:17, Exo_30:22, Exo_30:24, Exo_31:1, Exo_31:12).

Exo_30:1-6

(cf. Exo_37:25-28). Moses was directed to make an altar of burning of incense (lit., incensing of incense), of acacia-wood, one cubit long and one broad, four-cornered, two cubits high, furnished with horns like the altar of burnt-offering (Exo_27:1-2), and to

plate it with pure gold, the roof () thereof (i.e., its upper side or surface, which was also made of wood), and its walls round about, and its horns; so that it was covered with gold quite down to the ground upon which it stood, and for this reason is often called the golden altar (Exo_39:38; Exo_40:5, Exo_40:26; Num_4:11). Moreover it was to be ornamented with a golden wreath, and furnished with golden rings at the corners for the carrying-poles, as the ark of the covenant and the table of shew-bread were (Exo_25:11., Exo_25:25.); and its place was to be in front of the curtain, which concealed the ark of the covenant (Exo_26:31), before the capporeth (Exo_40:5), so that, although it really stood in the holy place between the candlestick on the south side and the table on the north (Exo_26:35; Exo_40:22, Exo_40:24), it was placed in the closest relation to the capporeth, and for this reason is not only connected with the most holy place in 1Ki_6:22, but is reckoned in Heb_9:4 as part of the furniture of the most holy place (see Delitzsch on Heb_9:4).

CALVI, "1.And thou shalt make an altar. God now issues His commands respecting the altar of burnt incense, whereby the people were assured that the odor of the worship under the Law was sweet to Him. This ceremony indeed also prevailed among the Gentiles; whence there is frequent mention made by heathen authors of incense-burning; but what its object was they knew not themselves, nor

did they care to reflect upon its proper intention, since they conceived themselves to have done all that was required of them, by the bare sign itself. In this way, however, God would encourage His believing people, by giving them to know that the worship which they offered at this command sent up to him a sweet savor. Meanwhile He admonished them diligently to beware lest any uncleanness should profane their sacrifices, but that they should come cleansed and pure into His sight. And David applies this type specially to prayer, when he says:

"Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. (Psalms 131:2.)

Therefore, as the other altar of which we have been hearing, was devoted to the victims for the purpose of propitiating God, so also this altar perfumed the sacrifices with the odor of its incense, that they might be acceptable to God. Hence it was placed near the ark of the testimony, though with the vail between, that its savor might ascend directly to God without any let or hindrance. There is no ambiguity in the words, except that some think there is a repetition where it is said, every morning, and between the two evens; (152) others suppose that there are two separate oblations, and this latter view is the more probable, i.e., that the incense was offered morning and evening. He afterwards forbids either the altar itself to be transferred to other uses, or any other kind of incense to be burnt upon it; of this he will speak elsewhere.

BESO, "Verses 1-6Exodus 30:1-6. Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense thereon The altar of incense was to be about a yard high, and half a yard square, with horns at the corners, a golden cornice round it, with rings and staves of gold for the convenience of carrying it, Exodus 30:1-5. It doth not appear that there was any grate to this altar for the ashes to fall into, that they might be taken away; but when they burned incense, a golden censer was brought, with coals in it, and placed upon the altar, and in that censer the incense was burned, and with it all the coals were taken away, so that no coals or ashes fell upon the altar. The altar of incense in Ezekiels temple is double to what it is here, (Ezekiel 41:22,) and it is there called an altar of wood, and there is no mention of gold, to signify that the incense in gospel times should be spiritual, the worship plain, and the service of God enlarged. It was placed before the veil, on the outside of that partition, but before the mercy-seat, which was within the veil. For though he that ministered at that altar could not see the mercy-seat, the veil interposing, yet he must look toward it, and direct his incense that way, to teach us, that though we cannot with our bodily eyes see the throne of grace, that blessed mercy- seat, yet we must in prayer by faith set ourselves before it, direct our prayer, and look up.

COFFMA, "Verse 1This chapter is of unusual importance, detailing the instructions for the golden altar of incense (Exodus 30:1-10); the institution of the poll-tax for the ransom of souls (Exodus 30:11-16); the command for making a bronze laver (Exodus 30:17-21) the formula for making the holy oil for anointing (Exodus 30:22-33); and the recipe for

making the holy incense (Exodus 30:34-38).

Efforts of critics to downgrade this chapter by making it a late addition to the instructions in Exodus 25, when examined carefully, are altogether ridiculous and unreasonable. Of course, it is true that Bible students in all ages have wondered why these particular instructions occur just here instead of in the context (Exodus 25), where it usually seems to men that they would have been more logically included.

Whether Moses made the omissions in writing his record, and afterward supplied them in this chapter, or whether Divine Wisdom saw fit to give the instructions in the order in which we now have them, cannot be determined. Certainly no sufficient reason has been shown for the existing order, which hence appears accidental.[1]

The fact which demands attention here is that God's arrangement of the instructions here is different from the plan which men would have followed. As Fields put it, "We are OT finding fault with the order in which God's Word presents this material. We are just stating a fact."[2] That men are totally unable to give a reasonable explanation of this curiosity is apparent in the vain efforts of those who have attempted to do so.

1. As should have been expected, the knee-jerk response of Bible critics is that of denying the Divine authority of the passage, as well as its Mosaic authorship, and labeling it a production of the priesthood of Israel almost a millennium after Moses: "These (instructions) may have come from a time chronologically later than the material cited in previous chapters, likely as late as the exile."[3] Such a view is impossible to receive! It is obvious to any thoughtful person that if the Jewish priesthood had authored this chapter after the Babylonian exile and inserted it into the holy writings of Moses, they would most certainly have put it in Exodus 25, where human wisdom would most certainly have required them to place it. As Fields expressed it, "If this chapter really were a late addition, the editors would probably have stuck it into the narrative at a point where it would appear to fit more naturally."[4] Our own view is that PROBABLY is too weak a word in Field's statement. It is not that such "editors" would probably have placed it elsewhere; they would unquestionably have done so!

2. Keil supposed that the altar of incense and the laver mentioned in this chapter are thus mentioned last because of their secondary and supplementary status. Of the altar of incense, he said, "The incense offering (on the golden altar) was not only a spiritualizing and transfiguring of the burnt-offering, but a completion of that offering also"; and of the laver, he said, "The making of this vessel is not only mentioned in a supplementary manner, but no description is given of it because of the subordinate position which it occupied."[5] Such an explanation as this falls far short of being satisfactory. As a matter of fact, the golden altar of incense must be ranked first among the articles of furniture in the Holy Place due to its placement near the veil, entitling it actually to be associated with the Holy of Holies as in Hebrews 9:4. Also, the laver, despite its location in the outer court was a most essential requirement in the ordination of the priests and in the ceremonies marking

the Day of Atonement, bearing a most important weight of symbolism as a type of Christian baptism. See Titus 3:5; Hebrews 10:22, etc. o! The placement of this chapter did not derive from any lesser importance of the instructions given.

3. Still another irresponsible suggestion as to the reason for this chapter's unusual placement is seen in the notion that it was a late addition to Exodus, and that it was written after the construction of the second temple which is alleged to be the occasion when the altar of incense was "added" to the Jewish services. "An altar of incense was probably introduced in the second temple ... Hence, we find it in this supplementary section."[6] Such an allegation is unacceptable because the inspired author of Hebrews stated categorically that there was a golden altar of incense in the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:4). The account of the high priest's actions on the day of atonement is alleged not to mention this altar specifically; but a careful reading of the passage requires that "the altar before Jehovah" in Leviticus 16:12 be understood as a reference precisely to this altar and none other. The false idea that the high priest took the coals of fire in his censor from "the great altar"[7] in the court could not be correct, for in no sense was it "the altar before Jehovah." Some scholars have also complained that the "horns" on this altar had no meaning, since sacrifices were not burned upon it; but there are two valid reasons for the horns: (1) They were symbols of power, and nothing in heaven or on earth was ever stronger than prayer; (2) Also, on the day of atonement, the high priest placed the blood of the atoning sacrifices upon the horns of the altar in order to cleanse it from the pollutions inherent in the fact that human beings had used it!

4. One other critical allegation should be noted. Dummelow complained that the directions for placing this golden altar "are apparently self-contradictory."[8] He based that astounding conclusion on the fact that Exodus 30:6 states that it was to be placed "before the veil, and also before the mercy-seat."[9] The error of such a remark is inherent in the truth that anything placed in front of the veil would, of necessity, also have been in front of the ark, in front of the testimony, and in front of the mercy-seat. It is amazing that a scholar like Dummelow should have overlooked so simple a thing as that. Perhaps the mention of the mercy-seat here is to emphasize the reason for the placement of the golden altar, symbolizing the prayers of the faithful, which are always directed to the presence of God, symbolized by the mercy-seat. Only a curtain separated the altar from the mercy-seat. Furthermore, the symbolism of this placement is instructive even for the present era. Today, when men pray, they cannot see God, for the veil of death lies between. But just as the ancient worshipper at that golden altar offered incense toward a mercy-seat that he could not see, so it is today. "Thus this altar occupied a significant position, outside the Holy of Holies, or else it would have been practically inaccessible; but yet it was spiritually in the closest connection with the presence of God within."[10]

GOLDE ALTAR OF ICESE

"And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shalt thou make it. 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 one piece with it. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and 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. And two golden rings shalt thou make for it under the crown thereof, upon the two ribs thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make them; and they shall be for places for staves wherewith to bear it. And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 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. And Aaron shall burn thereon incense of sweet spices; every morning, when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Jehovah throughout your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-offering, nor meal-offering; and ye shall pour no drink-offering thereon. And Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it once in the year; with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement for it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto Jehovah."

"The horns ..." mentioned in Exodus 30:2 were said by Clements to be "superfluous on an altar for burning incense, but have been introduced in imitation of the much larger altar,"[11] but his comment is contradicted by the fact that on the Day of Atonement the blood of the sin-offering was indeed placed upon this altar; and such applications were always made upon "the horns" of the altar.

"Before the veil ... before the mercy-seat ..." See the chapter introduction for comment on the location. Some have quibbled about the Book of Hebrews' association of this golden altar with the Holy of Holies; but, as a matter of fact, it did pertain to the ark and the mercy-seat, notwithstanding its location before the veil. The placement of it before the veil was, "a special arrangement, designed to teach the important lesson, that though we cannot with the eye of sense see the throne of grace, `we must direct our prayer to it, and look up.'"[12] Barmby stated that, "The altar was an appendage of the holy of holies, though not actually inside of it, in the same way (to use a homely illustration by Delitzsch) as the signboard of a shop belongs to the shop and not to the street."[13]

"And Aaron shall burn incense thereon,.." (Exodus 30:7). Chadwick commented upon how appropriate it was that incense should thus symbolize the prayers of God's people: "Fragrance is indeed matter passing into the immaterial; it is the sigh of the sensuous for the spiritual state of being."[14] There are a number of things in these ten verses that frustrate all efforts to date the passage after the exile. At that time, there was no need to carry the golden altar anywhere, since the second temple, like the first, was a solid also permanent building. Also, why should Aaron have been singled out, if at that later date Aaron had been dead for long generations and the function mentioned here was performed by the priests in rotation? To imagine that those alleged interpolators used such language to impose a fraud upon the sacred writings is impossible. That Aaron and his successors to the office of the high priest actually burned incense on this altar was doubtless true. But in time, "Aaron came to mean the whole priestly order, and in later times any of the priests might have officiated at this altar in rotation (See Luke 1:10)."[15]

"It is most holy ..." (Exodus 30:10). Rawlinson's comment on this was:

"There seems to be sufficient reason for considering the altar of incense as, next to the ark and the mercy-seat, the most sacred object in the furniture of the tabernacle. This precedence indicates the extreme value which God sets upon prayer."[16]See the chapter introduction for more on the rank of the golden altar. That the incense actually did represent prayer is seen in a number of .T. passages, as in Luke 1:10; Revelation 8:4, etc.

COKE, "Verse 1Exodus 30:1. Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon After the account we have given of the former altars, there is nothing difficult in the description of this; which was a little more than half a yard square, and as high again as it was broad. From being covered all over with pure gold, it was commonly called the golden altar, umbers 4:11. It appears from other passages of Scripture, that the priest took fire from the brazen altar, and put it into a golden censer; and then placed this censer with the fire upon the golden altar, to burn incense upon it. See Leviticus 10:1. umbers 17:13. The sweet incense which was to be burnt every morning and evening on this altar, is minutely described at the close of this chapter; which, doubtless, was used to perfume the sanctuary, and to prevent that otherwise offensive smell which would have arisen from the sacrifices. The use of incense in sacred rites was very general among the heathens. In the hymns of Orpheus, the incense appropriated to each heathen deity is constantly mentioned; and, of the Egyptians in particular, from whom Orpheus borrowed his philosophy, Plutarch (de Is. & Osir.) tells us, that they offered incense to the sun, rosin ( ) in the morning, myrrh at noon, and, about sun-set, what they called kyphi. Aaron, as chief, Exodus 30:7 and the other priests in their course, Luke 1:8-9 were to offer the sacred incense; to point out to us the figurative and spiritual meaning of which, we find that the people in the court of the temple and tabernacle were at prayers, while the priest burnt the incense, Luke 1:10. And, in Revelation 8:3 we read that an angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne: So that this action of the high-priest shadowed forth the intercession of CHRIST, the High-Priest of our profession, offering up the prayers of his servants before the throne of God, as the smoke of the incense ascended before the mercy-seat; representing the propitiousness of God to sinful men, and his readiness to receive those prayers and confessions which are offered up in faith and love through the mediation of Him who is perfect in holiness. Psalms 141:2. It should be observed, that this altar, Exodus 30:6 was to be placed in the sanctuary before the vail, exactly opposite to the mercy-seat, between the table of shew-bread and the candlestick.

COSTABLE, "Verses 1-10The altar of incense and the incense offering30:1-10

The place of this altar in the tabernacle has been a problem for some readers of the

Book of Hebrews. Hebrews 9:4 can be understood as describing its location as being inside the holy of holies with the ark. The writer of Hebrews probably meant that the veil, not the holy of holies, had the altar of incense and the ark of the covenant connected with it ( Hebrews 9:3-4). These pieces of furniture were on either side of the veil. Describing it this way clarified that the writer meant the veil between the holy place and the holy of holies. Old Testament passages say that the incense altar was inside the holy place with the golden lampstand and the table of showbread (cf. Exodus 30:6; Exodus 40:3-5; Exodus 40:21-27). Most commentators on Exodus locate it in the holy place. [ote: E.g, Cassuto, p391; Keil and Delitzsch, 2:208; Kaiser, " Exodus ," p472; Hyatt, p292; Cole, p205; Ellison, p162; Maxie D. Dunnam, Exodus , p327; Hannah, p154; and Durham, p399. This is also the position of the writers of the articles on the tabernacle and the temple in The ew Bible Dictionary, the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, and the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia.] Furthermore, Leviticus 16:2 and Hebrews 9:7 say that the high priest went into the holy of holies only once a year on the Day of Atonement. Another view is that the altar of incense was in the holy of holies. [ote: J. Dwight Pentecost, A Faith That Endures: The Book of Hebrews Applied to the Real Issues of Life, pp139-40.]

The priests would offer incense on this altar each morning and each evening, and the incense would burn all the time. The priests presented the daily burnt offering and the daily incense offering together each day. Both were demonstrations of constant uninterrupted devotion to God. Students of Exodus have almost universally recognized the incense offered as a symbol of prayer that ascends to God (cf. Revelation 5:8). It was a sweet aroma in His nostrils and was essential to the maintenance of the divine-human relationship.

"Morning and evening prayers have been the habit of all ages. With the one we go forth to our labour till the evening, asking that our Father will give us His God-speed and guidance and protection. With the other we entreat forgiveness and mercy." [ote: Meyer, p375.]

"He who offers no sacrifice in his prayer, who does not sacrifice his self-will, does not really pray." [ote: Ibid, p387.]

The horns of this altar ( Exodus 30:10), as well as the horns on the altar of burnt offerings (the brazen altar), probably symbolized strength. [ote: Margit Sring, "The Horn-Motifs of the Bible and the Ancient ear East," Andrews University Seminary Studies22:3 (Autumn1984):334.]

Once a year Aaron applied the atonement blood on this altar to cleanse it afresh for another year ( Exodus 30:10). The description "most holy to the LORD" means the altar could not be used for any other purpose than what is stated here.

The directions concerning the sanctuary conclude with this section.

ELLICOTT, "THE ALTAR OF ICESE.

(1) Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon.Why the directions concerning the altar of incense were delayed until this place, instead of being given when the rest of the furniture of the holy place was described (Exodus 25), it is impossible to say. But there is certainly no reason to suspect a dislocation of the text. The mode in which Aaron is spoken of in Exodus 30:7-10 implies a previous mention of his consecration to the high priesthood.

That incense would be among the offerings which God would require to be offered to Him had appeared already in Exodus 25:6. Its preciousness, its fragrance, and its seeming to mount in cloud after cloud to heaven, gave it a natural place in the symbolism of worship, and led to its employment in the religious rites of a variety of nations. Egyptian priests continually appear on the monuments with censers in their hands, in which presumably incense is being offered, and the inscriptions mention that it was imported from Arabia, and used largely in the festivals of Ammon (Records of the Past, vol. x., pp. 14-19). Herodotus tells us that the Babylonians consumed annually a thousand talents weight of it at the feast of Belus (i. 183). The employment of it by the Greeks and Romans in their sacrifices is well known. Here again, as so often in the Mosaical dispensation. God sanctioned in His worship an innocent rite, which natural reason had pointed out to man as fitting and appropriate, not regarding its employment in false religions as debarring it from adoption into the true.

Of shittim wood shalt thou make it.Of the same main material as the brazen altar (Exodus 27:1), but covered differently.

EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMETARY, "ICESE.

Exodus 30:1-10.

The altar of incense was not mentioned when the tent of meeting was being prepared and furnished. But when, in the Divine idea, this is done, when all is ready for the intercourse of God and man, and the priest and the daily victims are provided for, something more than this formal routine of offerings might yet be sought for. This material worship of the senses, this round of splendour and of tragedy, this blaze of gold and gold-encrusted timber, these curtains embroidered in bright colours, and ministers glowing with gems, this blood and fire upon the altar, this worldly sanctuary,--was it all? Or should it not do as nature ever does, which seems to stretch its hands out into the impalpable, and to grow all but spiritual while we gaze; so that the mountain folds itself in vapour, and the ocean in mist and foam, and the rugged stem of the tree is arrayed in fineness of quivering frondage, and it may be of tinted blossom, and around it breathes a subtle fragrance, the most impalpable existence known to sense? Fragrance indeed is matter passing into the immaterial, it is the sigh of the sensuous for the spiritual state of being, it is an aspiration.

And therefore an altar, smaller than that of burnt-offering, but much more

precious, being plated all around and on the top with gold (a "golden altar") (Exodus 39:38), is now to be prepared, on which incense of sweet spices should be burned whenever a burnt-offering spoke of human devotion, and especially when the daily lamb was offered, every morning and every night.

This altar occupied a significant position. Of necessity, it was without the Most Holy Place, or else it would have been practically inaccessible; and yet it was spiritually in the closest connection with the presence of God within. The Epistle to the Hebrews reckons it among the furniture of the inner shrine(41) (Hebrews 9:4), close to the veil of which it stood, and within which its burning odours made their sweetness palpable. In the temple of Solomon it was "the altar that belonged to the oracle" (1 Kings 6:22). In Leviticus (Leviticus 16:12) incense was connected especially with that spot in the Most Holy Place which best expressed the grace that it appealed to, and "the cloud of incense" was to "cover the mercy-seat." Therefore Moses was bidden to put this altar "before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat" (Exodus 30:6).

It can never have been difficult to see the meaning of the rite for which this altar was provided. When Zacharias burned incense the multitude stood without, praying. The incense in the vial of the angel of the Apocalypse was the prayers of the saints (Luke 1:10; Revelation 8:3). And, long before, when the Psalmist thought of the priest approaching the veil which concealed the Supreme Presence, and there kindling precious spices until their aromatic breath became a silent plea within, it seemed to him that his own heart was even such an altar, whence the perfumed flame of holy longings might be wafted into the presence of his God, and he whispered, "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense" (Psalms 141:2).

Such being the import of the type, we need not wonder that it was a perpetual ordinance in their generations, nor yet that no strange perfume might be offered, but only what was prescribed by God. The admixture with prayer of any human, self-asserting, intrusive element, is this unlawful fragrance. It is rhetoric in the leader of extempore prayer; studied inflexions in the conductor of liturgical service; animal excitement, or sentimental pensiveness, or assent which is merely vocal, among the worshippers. It is whatever professes to be prayer, and is not that but a substitute. And formalism is an empty censer.

But, however earnest and pure may seem to be the breathing of the soul to God, something unworthy mingles with what is best in man. The very altar of incense needs to have an atonement made for it once in the year throughout their generations with the blood of the sin-offering of atonement. The prayer of every heart which knows its own secret will be this:

"Forgive what seemed my sin in me,

What seemed my worth since I began;

For merit lives from man to man

And not from man, O Lord, to Thee."

MACLARE, "THE ALTAR OF ICESEExodus 30:1.Ceremonies are embodied thoughts. Religious ceremonies are moulded by, and seek to express, the worshippers conception of his God, and his own relation to Him; his aspirations and his need. Of late years scholars have been busy studying the religions of the more backward races, and explaining rude and repulsive rites by pointing to the often profound and sometimes beautiful ideas underlying them. When that process is applied to Australian and Fijian savages, it is honoured as a new and important study; when we apply it to the Mosaic Ritual it is pooh-poohed as foolish spiritualising. ow, no doubt, there has been a great deal of nonsense talked in regard to this matter, and a great deal of ingenuity wasted in giving a Christian meaning-or, may I say, a Christian twist?-to every pin of the Tabernacle, and every detail of the ritual. Of course, to exaggerate a truth is the surest way to discredit a truth, but the truth remains true all the same, and underneath that elaborate legislation, which makes such wearisome and profitless reading for the most of us, in the Pentateuch, there lie, if we can only grasp them, great thoughts and lessons that we shall all be the better for pondering.

To one item of these, this altar of incense, I call attention now, because it is rich in suggestions, and leads us into very sacred regions of the Christian life which are by no means so familiar to many of us as they ought to be. Let me just for one moment state the facts with which I wish to deal. The Jewish Tabernacle, and subsequently the Temple, were arranged in three compartments: the outermost court, which was accessible to all the people; the second, which was trodden by the priests alone; and the third, where the Shechinah dwelt in solitude, broken only once a year by the foot of the High Priest. That second court we are concerned with now. There are three pieces of ecclesiastical furniture in it: an altar in the centre, flanked on either side by a great lampstand, and a table on which were piled loaves. It is to that central piece of furniture that I ask your attention now, and to the thoughts that underlie it, and the lessons that it teaches.I. This altar shows us what prayer is.Suppose we had been in that court when in the morning or in the evening the priest came with the glowing pan of coals from another altar in the outer court, and laid it on this altar, and heaped upon it the sticks of incense, we should have seen the curling, fragrant wreaths ascending till the House was filled with smoke, as a prophet once saw it. We should not have wanted any interpreter to tell us what that meant. What could that rising cloud of sweet odours signify but the ascent of the soul towards God? Put that into more abstract words, and it is just the old, hackneyed commonplace which I seek to try to freshen a little now, that incense is the symbol of prayer. That that is so is plain enough, not only from the natural propriety of the case, but because you find the identification distinctly stated in several places in Scripture, of which I quote but two instances. In one psalm we read, Let my prayer come before Thee as incense. In the Book of the Apocalypse we read of golden bowls full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And that

the symbolism was understood by, and modified the practice of, the nation, we are taught when we read that whilst Zechariah the priest was within the court offering incense, as it was his lot to do, the whole multitude of the people were without praying, doing that which the priest within the court symbolised by his offering. So then we come to this, dear friends, that we fearfully misunderstand and limit the nobleness and the essential character of prayer when, as we are always tempted to do by our inherent self-regard, we make petition its main feature and form. Of course, so long as we are what we shall always be in this world, needy and sinful creatures; and so long as we are what we shall ever be in all worlds, creatures absolutely dependent for life and everything on the will and energy of God, petition must necessarily be a very large part of prayer. But the more we grow into His likeness, and the more we understand the large privileges and the glorious possibilities which lie in prayer, the more will the relative proportions of its component parts be changed, and petition will become less, and aspiration will become more. The essence of prayer, the noblest form of it, is thus typified by the cloud of sweet odours that went up before God.In all true prayer there must be the lowest prostration in reverence before the Infinite Majesty. But the noblest prayer is that which lifts them that are bowed down rather than that which prostrates men before an inaccessible Deity. And so, whilst we lie low at His feet, that may be the prayer of a mere theist, but when our hearts go out towards Him, and we are drawn to Himself, that is the prayer that befits Christian aspiration; the ascent of the soul toward God is the true essence of prayer. As one of the non-Christian philosophers-seekers after God, if ever there were such, and who, I doubt not, found Him whom they sought-has put it, the flight of the lonely soul to the only God; that is prayer. Is that my prayer? We come to Him many a time burdened with some very real sorrow, or weighted with some pressing responsibility, and we should not be true to ourselves, or to Him, if our prayer did not take the shape of petition. But, as we pray, the blessing of the transformation of its character should be realised by us, and that which began with the cry for help and deliverance should always be, and it always will be, if the cry for help and deliverance has been of the right sort, sublimed into Thy face, Lord, will I seek. The Book of Ecclesiastes describes death as the return of the spirit to God who gave it. That is the true description of prayer, a going back to the fountains source. Flames aspire; to the place whence the rivers came thither they return again. The homing pigeon or the migrating bird goes straight through many degrees of latitude, and across all sorts of weather, to the place whence it came. Ah! brethren, let us ask ourselves if our spirits thus aspire and soar. Do we know what it is to be, if I might so say, like those captive balloons that are ever yearning upwards, and stretching to the loftiest point permitted them by the cord that tethers them to earth?ow another thought that this altar of incense may teach us is that the prayer that soars must be kindled. There is no fragrance in a stick of incense lying there. o wreaths of ascending smoke come from it. It has to be kindled before its sweet odour can be set free and ascend. That is why so much of our prayer is of no delight to God, and of no benefit to us, because it is not on fire with the flame of a heart kindled into love and thankfulness by the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The cold vapours lie like a winding-sheet down in the valleys until the sun smites them,

warms them, and draws them up. And our desires will hover in the low levels, and be dank and damp, until they are drawn up to the heights by the warmth of the Sun of righteousness. Oh! brethren, the formality and the coldness, to say nothing of the inconsecutiveness and the interruptedness by rambling thoughts that we all know in our petitions, in our aspirations, are only to be cured in one way:-Come! shed abroad a Saviours love,And that will kindle ours.It is the stretched string that gives out musical notes; the slack one is dumb. And if we desire that we may be able to be sure, as our Master was, when He said, I know that Thou hearest me always, we must pray as He did, of whom it is recorded that He prayed the more earnestly, and was heard in that He feared. The word rendered the more earnestly carries in it a metaphor drawn from that very fact that I have referred to. It means with the more stretched-out extension and intensity. If our prayers are to be heard as music in heaven, they must come from a stretched string.Once more, this altar of incense teaches us that kindled prayer delights God. That emblem of the sweet odour is laid hold of with great boldness by more than one Old and ew Testament writer, in order to express the marvellous thought that there is a mutual joy in the prayer of faith and love, and that it rises as an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. The cuneiform inscriptions give that thought with characteristic vividness and grossness when they speak about the gods being gathered like flies round the steam of the sacrifice. We have the same thought, freed from all its grossness, when we think that the curling wreaths going up from a heart aspiring and enflamed, come to Him as a sweet odour, and delight His soul. People say, that is anthropomorphism-making God too like a man. Well, man is like God, at any rate, and surely the teaching of that great name Father carries with it the assurance that just as fathers of flesh are glad when they see that their children like best to be with them, so there is something analogous in that joy before the angels of heaven which the Father has, not only because of the prodigal who comes back, but because of the child who has long been with Him, and is ever seeking to nestle closer to His heart. The Psalmist was lost in wonder and thankfulness that he was able to say He was extolled with my tongue. Surely it should be a gracious, encouraging, strengthening thought to us all, that even our poor aspirations may minister to the divine gladness.ow let us turn to another thought.II. This altar shows us where prayer stands in the Christian life.There are two or three points in regard to its position which it is no fanciful spiritualising, but simply grasping the underlying meaning of the institution, if we emphasise. First, let me remind you that there was another altar in the outer court, whereon was offered the daily sacrifice for the sins of the people. That altar came first, and the sacrifice had to be offered on it first, before the priest came into the inner court with the coals from that altar, and the incense kindled by them. What does that say to us? The altar of incense is not approached until we have been to the altar of sacrifice. It is no mere arbitrary appointment, nor piece of evangelical narrowness, which says that there is no real access to God, in all the fullness and reality of His revealed character for us sinful men, until our sins have been dealt with, taken away by the Lamb of God, sacrificed for us. And it is simply the

transcript of experience which declares that there will be little inclination or desire to come to God with the sacrifice of praise and prayer until we have been to Christ, the sacrifice of propitiation and pardon. Brethren, we need to be cleansed, and we can only be delivered from the unholiness which is the perpetual and necessary barrier to our vision of God by making our very own, through simple faith, the energy and the blessedness of that great Sacrifice of propitiation. Then, and then only, do we properly come to the altar of incense. Its place in the Christian life is second, not first. First be reconciled to thy Father, then lay the incense on the altar.Again, great and deep lessons are given to us in the place of our altar in regard to the other articles that stood in that inner court. I have said that there were three of them. In the centre this altar of incense; on the one hand the great lampstand; on the other hand the table with loaves thereon. The one symbolised Israels function in the world to be its light, which in our function too, and the other with loaves thereon symbolised the consecration to God of Israels activities, and their results.But between the two, central to both, stood the altar of incense. What does that say as to the place of prayer, defined as I have defined it, in the Christian life? It says this, that the light will burn dim and go out, and the loaves, the expression and the consequences of our activities, will become mouldy and dry, unless both are hallowed and sustained by prayer. And that lesson is one which we all need, and which I suppose this generation needs quite as much as, if not more than, any that has gone before it. For life has become so swift and rushing, and from all sides, the Church, the world, society, there come such temptations, and exhortations, and necessities, for strenuous and continuous work, that the basis of all wholesome and vigorous work, communion with God, is but too apt to be put aside and relegated to some inferior position. The carbon points of the electric arc-light are eaten away with tremendous rapidity in the very act of giving forth their illumination, and they need to be continually approximated and to be frequently renewed. The oil is burned away in the act of shining, and the lamp needs to be charged again. If we are to do our work in the world as its lights, and if we are to have any activities fit to be consecrated to God and laid on the Table before the Veil, it can only be by our making the altar of incense the centre, and these others subsidiary.One last thought-the place of prayer in the Christian life is shadowed for us by the position of this altar in reference to the secret place of the Most High, that mysterious inner court which was dark but for the Shechinahs light, and lonely but for the presence of the worshipping cherubim and the worshipped God. It stood, as we are told a verse or two after my text, before the veil. A straight line drawn from the altar of sacrifice would have bisected the altar of incense as it passed into the mercy-seat and the glory. And that just tells us that the place of prayer in the Christian lift is that it is the direct way of coming close to God. Dear brother, we shall never lift the veil, and stand in the secret place of the Most High, unless we take the altar of incense on our road.There is one more thought here-III. The altar of incense shows us how prayer is to be cultivated.Twice a day, morning and evening, came the officiating priest with his pan of coals and incense, and laid it there; and during all the intervening hours between the morning and the evening the glow lay half hidden in the incense, and there was a

faint but continual emission of fragrance from the smouldering mass that had been renewed in the morning, and again in the evening. And does not that say something to us? There must be definite times of distinct prayer if the aroma of devotion is to be diffused through our else scentless days. I ask for no pedantic adherence, with monastic mechanicalness, to hours and times, and forms of petitions. These are needful crutches to many of us. But what I do maintain is that all that talk which we hear so much of in certain quarters nowadays as to its not being necessary for us to have special times of prayer, and as to its being far better to have devotion diffused through our lives, and of how laborare est orare-to labour is to pray-all that is pernicious nonsense if it is meant to say that the incense will be fragrant and smoulder unless it is stirred up and renewed night and morning. There must be definite times of prayer if there is to be diffused devotion through the day. What would you think of people that said, Run your cars by electricity. Get it out of the wires; it will come! ever mind putting up any generating stations? And not less foolish are they who seek for a devotion permeating life which is not often concentrated into definite and specific acts.But the other side is as true. It is bad to clot your religion into lumps, and to leave the rest of the life without it. There must be the smouldering all day long. Rejoice evermore; pray without ceasing. You can pray thus. ot set prayer, of course; but a reference to Him, a thought of Him, like some sweet melody, so sweet we know not we are listening to it, may breathe its fragrance, and diffuse its warmth into the commonest and smallest of our daily activities. It was when Gideon was threshing wheat that the angel appeared to him. It was when Elisha was ploughing that the divine inspiration touched him. It was when the disciples were fishing that they saw the Form on the shore. And when we are in the way of our common life it is possible that the Lord may meet us, and that our souls may be aspiring to Him. Then work will be worship; then burdens will be lightened; then our lamps will burn; then the fruits of our daily lives will ripen; then our lives will be noble; then our spirits will rest as well as soar, and find fruition and aspiration perpetually alternating in stable succession of eternal progress.

PETT, "Verses 1-6The Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1-10).

The purpose of the earlier descriptions of all that was connected with the Dwellingplace had been to concentrate on those aspects of it which referred to Gods approach to His people as He came to dwell among them, and the way back to Him that He had provided for them. But now, having established His earthly palace, and His kingship over His people, and having covered the aspects of the Dwellingplace (Tabernacle - mishkan) that dealt with Gods approach to man and the way of reconciliation He provided, He moves on to how man should respond in the offering continually through the priests of his worship and praise to God, and thus in declaring his loyalty. That is why the altar of incense is mentioned here and not along with the pieces of Sanctuary furniture described in Exodus 25-27. There all the attention was on Yahweh and His gracious approach to His people. Here it is on mans response to his Sovereign Lord. It is not to demean the altar of incense but to

emphasise its purpose.

The altar of incense was such a regular part of the worship of surrounding religions that the Dwellingplace would not have been seen as complete without it. In Egypt frankincense was certainly used in the worship of the god Amun and Egyptian records tell how a Pharaoh sent a naval expedition to Arabia for the express purpose of bringing frankincense, and the trees that produced it, back to Egypt in connection with the feasts of Amun. A number of hewn limestone altars with four horns at the upper corners dating around 13th century BC were also found at Megiddo, which from their small size were probably incense altars. But the use of incense in worship goes well back into 3rd millennium BC, and in an area where spices were deeply appreciated it was inevitable that they would be introduced into worship.

The passage is divided into two. The first part deals with the making of it and how Moses will use it. The second part deals with Aarons ministry on it. Here we have a further indication that we are dealing directly with the words of Moses. o later writer would have seen any necessity to make the distinction.

Moses and the Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:1-6).

a An altar of incense to be made of acacia wood to burn incense on (Exodus 30:1).b It was to be foursquare with upward projections at the corners and 2 x 1 x 1 cubits, and overlaid with gold all over and provided with a rim of gold (Exodus 30:2).c Two golden rings were to be set under the rim on the ribs, for the purpose of taking the staves with which it will be borne (Exodus 30:3).c The staves are to be made of acacia wood overlaid with gold (Exodus 30:4).b It is to be put beside the veil by the Ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat which is before the Testimony (Exodus 30:5).a There Yahweh will meet with Moses (Exodus 30:6).ote the parallels. In a the altar of incense was to be made for the offering of sweet incense while in the parallel Yahweh was to meet with Moses there. In b the altar was to be foursquare (an indication of total rightness), with horns reaching up to Yahweh, and covered in gold, as perfect as man can get (but not a cube, that represented God alone in the Holy of Holies) while in the parallel it was to be put in the prime position, before the veil which is in front of the mercy seat. Through that altar above all the mercy seat was to be approached by Moses. In c the rings are made for the staves, and in the parallel the staves are to be made for the rings.

Exodus 30:1-3

And you shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be foursquare, and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, its top (literally roof) and its sides (literally walls) round about, and its horns. And you shall make for it a crown of gold round about.

This new altar was for burning incense on. Its covering with pure gold from top to bottom indicates its holiness and glory, and the holiness and glory of God. The acacia wood that it was made of came from God through His creation and indicated His strength and solidity. Its foursquareness would be seen as demonstrating its perfection. It was about half a metre (18 inches) across and a metre (3 foot) high, somewhat larger than the ones found at Megiddo, foursquare but not a perfect cube. Perfection was retained for the Holy of Holies. As with the brazen altar it had horns, which clearly demonstrates that they were seen as significant, probably as pointing up to the heavens. There were no animals to be tied on here. They were to be of one piece with the altar, and not attachments. This confirms the suggestion that they pointed the whole upwards towards heaven. Their description as horns may also serve to indicate that they were symbols of Yahwehs power. The whole was to be covered with gold, a sign of its great value.

The burning of incense played a part in much religious worship in other countries and is witnessed in many parts in many centuries including Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and Rome, although not always necessarily with the same significance. The incense was noted for the sweet smell that it gave off while burning, and here would be burnt as an act of worship with the aim of pleasing God, and beautifying the air of the Sanctuary. It was a continual confirmation of the loyalty of His people. Certainly it is also later described as symbolising the prayers of Gods people (Psalms 141:2; Luke 1:10).

And you shall make for it a crown of gold round about. This was probably a ridge to prevent the incense falling off. The incense was holy to Yahweh and must not be allowed to fall on the ground, even holy ground.

PULPIT, "THE ALTAR OF ICESE. This chapter has the appearance of being one in which accidental omissions are supplied. The natural place for a description of the altar of incensepart of the furniture of the holy place (Exodus 30:6)would seem to have been Exodus 25:10-40, where we have the descriptions of the ark, the mercy-seat, the table of shew-bread, and the candlestick; the natural place for "the ransom of souls," the earlier part of the same chapter (Exodus 25:3), where the silver is required which was to be collected in this way; the natural place for an account of the bronze laver, Exodus 27:1-21; where the bronze altar, near which it stood, is described; the natural place for the composition of the holy oil, Exodus 29:1-46; where its use is commanded (Exodus 29:7, Exodus 29:21); and the natural place for a description of the perfume the same as for the altar on which it was to be offered. Whether Moses made the omissions in writing his record, and afterwards supplied them in the present chapter, or whether Divine wisdom saw fit to give the directions in the order in which we now have them, cannot be determined. Hitherto certainly no sufficient reason has been shown for the existing order, which hence appears accidental. The altar of incense was to be in many respects similar to the altar of burnt-offering, but of smaller size and richer material. Both were to be "four-square," and both of shittim wood cased with metal; but the former was to be taller, the latter shorter, than it was broad; and while the latter was to be cased with bronze, the former was to have a covering of gold. The place for the altar of incense

was the main chamber of the tabernacle, a little in front of the veil; and its purpose was, as the name implied, the offering of incense to almighty God. This was to be done by the officiating priest, twice a day, morning and evening, and in practice was performed before the morning, and after the evening sacrifice.

Exodus 30:1

An altar to burn incense upon. The offering of incense was an element in the religious worship of most ancient nations. In Egypt frankincense was especially used in the festivals of the god Ammon;. and on one occasion an Egyptian sovereign sent a naval expedition to Arabia for the express purpose of bringing frankincense and frankincense trees to Egypt, in connection with the Ammon feasts. The Babylonians burnt a thousand talents' weight of frankincense every year at the great festival of Bal (Herod. 1.183). The Greeks and Romans offered frankincense, as a rule, with every offering; and in the early ages of Christianity it was made the test of a Christian whether he would do this or no. What exactly the religious notion was which underlay these acts, or whether it was the same everywhere, may be questioned. In the Mosaic religion, however, there can be little doubt that, in the main, incense symbolised prayer. (See Psalms 141:2; Luke 1:10.) Of shittim wood. Compare above, Exodus 27:1.

2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high[a]its horns of one piece with it.

CLARKE, "Four-square - That is, on the upper or under surface, as it showed four equal sides; but it was twice as high as it was broad, being twenty-one inches broad, and three feet six inches high. It was called, not only the altar of incense, but also the golden altar, Num_4:11. For the crown, horns, staves, etc., see on the altar of burnt-offering, Exo_27:1 (note), etc.

GILL, "A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, four square shall it be,.... It was one Jewish square cubit, which is in surface, according to Bishop Cumberland, three English square feet, and about forty seven square inches; which may denote the solidity, perfection, and extensiveness of Christ's priesthood, it being unchangeable, firm, and lasting; and which passes not from one to

another, and the which makes something perfect, which the law and priesthood of Aaron could not, even perfects for ever them that are sanctified; and is very extensive; the virtue of it reaches to all the elect of God, from the beginning of the world to the end of it; not his sacrifice only, but his intercession, which is principally respected; that is made for all the people of God, in all places, and in all ages, and for all things for them, both for this life, and that which is to come:

and two cubits shall be the height thereof; so that it was as high again as it was long and broad: Christ, our interceding high priest, is made higher than the heavens:

the horns thereof shall be of the same; of the same wood the altar itself was made: these were a sort of spires that rose up at the four corners of the altar; and the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases the words,"and of it its horns shall be erect;''which were chiefly for decoration and ornament; and may denote the honour and glory of Christ, as well as his power and ability to save, to the uttermost, all that come to God by him, or lay hold upon him, since he ever lives to make intercession.

JAMISO, "foursquare the meaning of which is not that it was to be entirely of a cubical form, but that upon its upper and under surface, it showed four equal sides. It was twice as high as it was broad, being twenty-one inches broad and three feet six inches high. It had horns; its top or flat surface was surmounted by an ornamental ledge or rim, called a crown, and it was furnished at the sides with rings for carriage. Its only accompanying piece of furniture was a golden censer or pan, in which the incense was set fire to upon the altar. Hence it was called the altar of incense, or the golden altar [Exo_39:38; Exo_40:26], from the profuse degree in which it was gilded or overlaid with the precious metal. This splendor was adapted to the early age of the church, but in later times, when the worship was to be more spiritual, the altar of incense is prophetically described as not of gold but of wood, and double the size of that in the tabernacle, because the church should be vastly extended (Mal_1:11).

ELLICOTT, "(2) Foursquare shall it be.Of the same shape with the brazen altar (Exodus 27:1), but much smallertwo cubits high instead of three cubits, and a cubit square at top instead of five cubits. This small space was ample for the burning of so precious a material, which could only be offered in small quantities.

The horns thereof.Comp. Exodus 27:2, and ote 1, ad loc.

Shall be of the samei.e., of one piece with the altar, not made separately, and then attached to it.

3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.

GILL, "And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold,.... Hence this altar is sometimes called the golden altar, Num_4:11 this may figure the deity of Christ, whose head is as the most fine gold, and is in the divine nature, in the form of God, and is the brightness of his glory, and possessed of the same perfections; or rather the glorification of his human nature in heaven, where he is highly exalted, and the preciousness of his intercession, which is always powerful and prevalent, and the duration of it:

the top thereof, and the sides thereof, round about, and the horns thereof: all and each of them were covered with gold; this altar had a top, when the altar of burnt offering had none, but its hollow place was filled up with earth at every encampment; so Jarchi observes: this was not a grate, as the Vulgate Latin version renders it, for here were neither blood nor ashes to be let through; but it was a flat covering like the roof of a house, as the word signifies, on which was set a golden dish, with live coals and incense burning on them; and which, when burnt, was carried away: and the sides are the four sides of the frame, it being a square, or the two sides and two ends of it; and the horns, the four horns at each corner, all were covered with plates of gold; so that this altar was a richer and more excellent one than that of burnt offering; and may signify the superior excellency of Christ's state of exaltation to that of his humiliation: in the latter, which the altar of burnt offering respected, he was made of no reputation, and became obedient to the death of the cross, yea, was made sin, and a curse for his people; but in the former, which the altar of incense respected, he was raised from the dead, and had glory given him; he was raised for the justification of his people, and was himself justified in the Spirit, ascended on high, was received into glory, sat down at the right hand of God, making continual intercession for his saints:

and thou shall make unto it a crown of gold round about; which was partly to keep from slipping what was put upon it, but chiefly for ornament; and plainly points at the exaltation of Christ in our nature in heaven, as our interceding high priest, where he is a priest upon his throne; and is crowned with glory and honour.

ELLICOTT, "(3) Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold.ext to the Ark of the Covenant the most holy article of furniture contained either in the sanctuary or in its court was the altar of incense. It symbolised prayer in its general use (Psalms 141:2; Luke 1:10), and it symbolised expiation in the purpose whereto it was to be applied on certain occasions, as when the high priest had sinned in his official capacity (Leviticus 4:3-12), or when the whole congregation had sinned through inadvertence (Leviticus 4:13-21). It was, therefore, most holy to the Lord. Hence, its materials were to be the same with those of the ark of the covenant, and its place was to be directly opposite the ark, near to it, but on the outer side of the vail (Exodus 40:5).

A crown of gold round about.Comp. what is said of the table of shewbread (Exodus 25:24). In both cases a raised rim or edging is meant, which would prevent what was on the top from falling off.

4 Make two gold rings for the altar below the moldingtwo on each of the opposite sidesto hold the poles used to carry it.

BARES, "Exo_30:4

By the two corners thereof - Not corners. See the margin. The sense appears to be: And two gold rings shalt thou make for it under its moulding; on its two sides shalt thou make them (i. e. one ring on each side).

GILL, "And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it,.... The crown was on the top of the altar, at the edge of it all around; and just underneath it were two rings of gold, two on each side:

by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shall thou make them; at each corner a ring, and at each side; the use of them follows:

and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal; these rings were for the staves to be put into when the altar was to be carried from place to place, as it was in the wilderness, during the travels of Israel there; and this signifies that Christ never leaves his people; when they are in the wilderness he is with them, interceding for them, providing all things necessary for their food, safety, and protection, Rev_12:14.

ELLICOTT, "(4) Two golden rings.The golden altar was so much smaller and lighter than the brazen one that two rings only were required for carrying it, instead of the four rings needed by the brazen altar (Exodus 27:4).

By the two corners thereof.Rather, on the two sides thereof. The word used means, literally, ribs, and is explained in the clause which follows.

PETT, "Exodus 30:4-5

And you shall make for it two golden rings under its crown. On its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them. And they will be for places for staves, to bear it with them. And you shall make the staves of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.Provision is made for its carrying. o hands must touch it, it must be borne on

staves. Only two rings are needed because they are placed near the top and the altar is small. And as always in the Sanctuary, that which came from Gods creation was overlaid with gold, setting it apart as glorious and as His.

The holiness of the altar by which the peoples expression of dedication, worship and prayer was brought before God is only exceeded by the holiness of the One through Whom we may come to offer our worship and prayers before God, through the body of our Lord Jesus Christ offered once for all.

PULPIT, "By the two corners. Rather, "on its two sides." The ensuing clause is redundant. All that is meant is, that the altar should have two rings onlynot fourone at each side, directly below the moulding. As it was so small, two rings were enough. For the staves. Rather, "for staves."

5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

GILL, "And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood,.... Of the same wood the altar itself was made:

and overlay them with gold; as that was; these rings and staves may be an emblem of the precious ordinances of Christ, in which he grants his presence; and where he is held forth in different ages and places as the interceding high priest of his people, their advocate with the Father, pleading continually his propitiatory sacrifice in their favour.

PULPIT, "The staves were to be of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, like those used for carrying the ark (Exodus 25:13) and the table of shew-bread (Exodus 25:28).

6 Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant lawbefore the atonement cover that is over the tablets of the

covenant lawwhere I will meet with you.

BARES, "Exo_30:6

The place for the altar of incense was outside the veil, opposite to the ark of the covenant and between the candlestick on the south side and the showbread table on the north Exo_40:22-24. It appears to have been regarded as having a more intimate connection with the holy of holies than the other things in the holy place; and the mention of the mercy-seat in this verse, if we associate with it the significance of incense as figuring the prayers of the Lords people Psa_141:2; Rev_5:8; Rev_8:3-4, seems to furnish additional pound for an inference that the incense altar took precedence of the table of showbread and the candlestick.

CLARKE, "Before the mercy-seat that is over the testimony - These words in the original are supposed to be a repetition, by mistake, of the preceding clause; the

word happarocheth, the veil, being corrupted by interchanging two letters into

haccapporeth, the mercy-seat; and this, as Dr. Kennicott observes, places the altar of incense before the mercy-seat, and consequently In the holy of holies! Now this could not be, as the altar of incense was attended every day, and the holy of holies entered only once in the year. The five words which appear to be a repetition are wanting in twenty-six of Kennicotts and De Rossis MSS., and in the Samaritan. The verse reads better without them, and is more consistent with the rest of the account.

GILL, "Thou shalt put it before the vail,.... That divides between the holy and the most holy place; not within the vail in the holy of holies, but before it at the holy place, for there the altar of incense stood: Josephus (o) says, between the candlestick and the table, i.e. of shewbread, stood the altar of incense; now the candlestick and shewbread were in the holy place; and with this account the Talmudists (p) agree, who say, that the table was in the north, distant from the wall two cubits and a half, and the candlestick on the south, distant from the wall two cubits and a half, and the altar was in the middle, and stood between them: and Maimonides (q) gives the like account of its situation, which is here further described:

that is by the ark of the testimony; which vail was by it, before which the altar was placed; the ark of the testimony was the chest or coffer in which the law was put, and which was the testimony of the will of God, from whence it had this name; and it stood in the most holy place; and not by it in the same place, but over against it, in the holy place stood the altar of incense:

before the mercy seat, that is over the testimony; the mercy seat that was over the ark, a lid or cover to it, where the testimony was; and towards this, before the face of it, was the altar of incense, where the priest officiating, looked directly towards it; having that in view for the acceptance of the people's prayers to God through Christ, which they

were making while he was burning the incense:

where I will meet thee; as he had before promised, Exo_25:22.

JAMISO, "thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony which separated the holy from the most holy place. The altar was in the middle between the table of showbread and the candlestick next the holy of holies, at equal distances from the north and south walls; in other words, it occupied a spot on the outside of the great partition veil, but directly in front of the mercy seat, which was within that sacred enclosure; so that although the priest who ministered at this altar could not behold the mercy seat, he was to look towards it, and present his incense in that direction. This was a special arrangement, and it was designed to teach the important lesson that, though we cannot with the eye of sense, see the throne of grace, we must direct our prayer to it and look up [Psa_5:3] (compare 2Co_3:14; Heb_10:20; Rev_4:1).

ELLICOTT, "(6) Before the vail.The ark was behind the vail (Exodus 26:33; Exodus 40:3), the altar of incense directly in front of it, nearer to the vail than either the golden candlestick or the table of shewbread. Hence the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of it as belonging, in a certain sense, to the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:4; see Kay, in Speakers Commentary). The vail that is by the ark of the testimony is distinguished here from the vail, or curtain, at the entrance to the holy place.

Before the mercy seat.The altar bore a close relation to the mercy seat. It was the instrument by which the mercy there enthroned was made available to the penitent sinner.

Where I will meet with thee.Comp. Exodus 25:22; Exodus 29:42-43.

ISBET, "THE ALTAR OF ICESEAnd thou shalt put it [the altar of incense] before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, etc.Exodus 30:6-10The altar of incense was made of acacia wood, and stood about a yard high and eighteen inches square. Incense was burnt upon it every morning and evening, and it was used for this purpose only. The altar and incense were symbolic

I. Of the prayers of Gods people.(1) In prayer we speak to God and tell Him the thoughts of our minds, the feelings of our hearts, the desires of our spirits. The incense smoke ascended, arrow-like, in a straight and most direct column to heaven. Our prayers ascend immediately and in the directest way to the heart and ear of God. (2) In prayer we stand very near God. The altar of incense was placed before the mercy-seat. (3) The pleasant odour of the incense is symbolic of the acceptableness of prayer.

II. Of intelligent, unceasing, and reverent prayer.(1) The burning of incense is intelligent prayer. It took place in the light, and our prayers should be presented to

God intelligently. (2) Unceasing prayer. It was a perpetual incense before the Lord. (3) Reverent prayer. Ye shall burn no strange incense thereon; it is most holy unto the Lord.

III. Of prayer offered in Christs name.Aaron sprinkled the golden horns with the blood of atonement. This act is typical of the offering of prayer in the name of Christ.

IV. Of the power of prayer.The horns of the altar symbolise power. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Illustration

(1) What a lovely, significant, and instructive symbol of prayer the incense is! That that was the meaning, and was recognised to be the meaning of the incense in the old worship, there are plenty of illustrations in the Old Testament itself. Isaiah 6. contains one of them, where, in the vision of the higher temple, we find that the consequence of the praise, the adoring prayer,not the supplicatory one,of the higher seraphim, was, that at the voice of him that cried the house was filled with smoke. As if the voice was transubstantiated, so to speak, into the curling spires of the wreathing incense that went up and filled the sanctuary.

And then there is a still distincter proof of it in one of the old psalms. Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. So that the devouter spirits in these old times apprehended the meaning of the symbolism and felt the beauty of it.

(2) The very altar of incense needs to have an atonement made for it once in the year throughout their generations with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The prayer of every heart which knows its own secret will be this:

Forgive what seemed my sin in me,What seemed my worth since I began;For merit lives from man to man,And not from man, O Lord, to Thee

PETT, "Exodus 30:6

And you shall put it before the veil that is in front of the Ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat which is above the Testimony, where I will meet with you.The altar is to be placed in front of the inner veil behind which is the throne of Yahweh and the place of propitiation, the mercy seat, which covers the Testimony of the covenant of the ten words. All offerings of incense are to be to Yahweh and Him alone. The staves of the Ark protruding through the curtain would be a constant reminder of the presence of the Ark (1 Kings 8:8), and the altar was probably placed between them, incorporating it into the Most Holy Place while still being available outside the veil to be used.

Thus the writer to the Hebrews speaks as though it were in the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 9:4). This suggests that its placement was intended to be seen as connecting it with the Most Holy Place and not with the ministry in the Holy Place, and this comes out in the description above. The Most Holy Place could only be entered once a year, thus this ministry on the altar of incense (probably placed between the protruding staves of the Ark) was the closest approach to entering the Most Holy Place that was permitted at all other times. It was seen as a direct, though veiled, approach to the mercy seat, and was thus the closest that mans representative could get to Gods throne and place of propitiation except on that one unique day, the Day of Atonement. It was most holy (Exodus 30:10).

PULPIT, "Exodus 30:6

Thou shalt put it before the vail. It might have been doubtful from what is said here, which side of the veil the altar was to be placed. The doubt is precluded by the narrative of what Moses actually did in Exodus 40:21-29, which makes it clear that the altar was placed with the golden candlestick and the table of shew-bread, outside the veil, in the "holy place," and not within the "holy of holies." Where I will meet with thee. See above, Exodus 25:22.

7 Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.

BARES, "Exo_30:7

The lamps - See Exo_25:37.

CLARKE, "When he dresseth the lamps - Prepares the wicks, and puts in fresh oil for the evening.

Shall burn incense upon it -Where so many sacrifices were offered it was essentially necessary to have some pleasing perfume to counteract the disagreeable smells that must have arisen from the slaughter of so many animals, the sprinkling of so much blood, and the burning of so much flesh, etc. The perfume that was to be burnt on this altar is described Exo_30:34. No blood was ever sprinkled on this altar, except on the day of general expiation, which happened only once in the year, Exo_30:10. But the perfume was necessary in every part of the tabernacle and its environs.

GILL, "And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning,.... This in later times was done by a common priest, who obtained this service by lots as we find in the times of Zacharias, Luk_1:9 the incense was fetched out of the house of Abtines, where it was made, and burning coals were taken off of the altar of burnt offering in a vessel, and the incense was spread upon them and burnt: the Jewish canons about this matter run thus (r); he that was worthy of, or allotted to, the incense, took a vessel that held three kabs, and a bowl in the midst of it, full and heaped up with incense, and took a silver censer, and went up to the top of the altar, and moved the coals to and fro, and took them and went down and poured them into a golden censer: and again (s), he that was worthy of, or allotted to, a censer, gathered the coals upon the top of the altar, and spread them with the edges of the censer, and bowing himself went out; and he that was worthy of, or allotted to, the incense, took the bowl out of the midst of the vessel, and gave it to his friend or neighbour: and he that burns the incense may not burn until the president says to him, burn; and if he was an high priest, the president says, lord high priest, burn; the people depart, and he burns the incense, and bows and goes away: the burning of the sweet incense was typical of the mediation and intercession of Christ; the burning coals typified his sufferings, which were painful to his body, and in which he endured the wrath of God in his soul, and both must be very distressing to him: the incense put upon these shows that Christ's mediation and intercession proceeds upon his sufferings and death, his bloodshed, satisfaction, and sacrifice; which mediation of his, like the sweet incense, is frequent, is pure and holy, though made for transgressors, and there is none like unto it; there is but one Mediator between God and man: likewise this was typical of the prayers of the saints; and at the same time that the incense was burnt the people were at prayer, which was set before the Lord as incense, see Psa_141:3, these go upwards to God, and come up with acceptance to him, from off the golden altar, being offered up to him by Christ, with his much incense, through his blood and righteousness, and are pure, holy, fervent, and fragrant, and called odours, Rev_5:8.

when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it; which he did every morning he went into the holy place, where the candlestick with its lamps was; these he trimmed and dressed, snuffed those that were ready to go out, lighted those that were gone out, supplied them with oil and wicks, and cleared the snuff dishes, and the like: now near to the candlestick stood the altar of incense, so that when the priest looked after the one, he did the service of the other; and hence we learn, that our intercessor and lamplighter is one and the same; he that was seen amidst the golden candlesticks dressing the lamps of them, appears at the golden altar with a golden censer, to offer up the prayers of his saints, Rev_1:13 and we learn also, that the light of the word and prayer should go together, as they do in faithful ministers and conscientious Christians, who give themselves up unto and employ themselves therein; the one to and in the ministry of the word and prayer, and the other to and in the reading and hearing of the word and prayer.

JAMISO 7=8, "Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense literally, incense of spices - Strong aromatic substances were burnt upon this altar to counteract by their odoriferous fragrance the offensive fumes of the sacrifices; or the incense was employed in an offering of tributary homage which the Orientals used to make as a mark of honor to kings; and as God was Theocratic Ruler of Israel, His palace was not to be wanting in a usage of such significancy. Both these ends were served by this altar - that of fumigating the apartments of the sacred edifice, while the pure lambent flame, according

to Oriental notions, was an honorary tribute to the majesty of Israels King. But there was a far higher meaning in it still; for as the tabernacle was not only a palace for Israels King, but a place of worship for Israels God, this altar was immediately connected with a religious purpose. In the style of the sacred writers, incense was a symbol or emblem of prayer (Psa_141:2; Rev_5:8; Rev_8:3). From the uniform combination of the two services, it is evident that the incense was an emblem of the prayers of sincere worshippers ascending to heaven in the cloud of perfume; and, accordingly, the priest who officiated at this altar typified the intercessory office of Christ (Luk_1:10; Heb_7:25).

every morning ... at even In every period of the national history this daily worship was scrupulously observed.

K&D, "Exo_30:7-9

Upon this altar Aaron was to burn fragrant incense, the preparation of which is described in Exo_30:34., every morning and evening before Jehovah, at the time when he trimmed the lamps. No strange incense was to be offered upon it, - i.e., incense which Jehovah had not appointed (cf. Lev_10:1), that is to say, which had not been prepared according to His instructions-nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat-offering; and no drink-offering was to be poured upon it. As the altar of incense was not only marked as a

place of sacrifice by its name , place of slain-offering, but was put on a par with the altar of sacrifice by its square shape and its horns, it was important to describe minutely what sacrifices were to be offered upon it. For the burning of fragrant incense is shown to be a sacrifice, by the fact that it was offered upon a place of sacrifice, or altar.

Moreover the word , to cause to ascend in smoke and steam, from to smoke or steam, is not only applied to the lighting of incense, but also to the lighting and burning of the bleeding and bloodless sacrifices upon the altar of incense. Lastly, the connection between the incense-offering and the burnt-offering is indicated by the rule that they were to be offered at the same time. Both offerings shadowed forth the devotion of Israel to its God, whilst the fact that they were offered every day exhibited this devotion as constant and uninterrupted. But the distinction between them consisted in this, that in the burnt or whole offering Israel consecrated and sanctified its whole life and action in both body and soul to the Lord, whilst in the incense-offering its prayer was embodied as the exaltation of the spiritual man to God (cf. Psa_141:2; Rev_5:8; Rev_8:3-4); and with this there was associated the still further distinction, that the devotion was completed in the burnt-offering solely upon the basis of the atoning sprinkling of blood, whereas the incense-offering presupposed reconciliation with God, and on the basis of this the soul rose to God in this embodiment of its prayer, and was thus absorbed into His Spirit. In this respect, the incense-offering was not only a spiritualizing and transfiguring of the burnt-offering, but a completion of that offering