“The Lord spoke to Moses: . . . Prepare from these a holy anointing oil, a scented blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil . . . Tell the Israelites: This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It must not be used for ordinary anointing on a person’s body, and you must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. Anyone who blends something like it or puts some of it on an unauthorized person must be cut off from his people . . . As for the incense you are making, you must not make any for yourselves using its formula. It is to be regarded by you as holy – belonging to the Lord. Anyone who makes something like it to smell its fragrance must be cut off from his people.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
My family has a special Christmas plate and cup. They only come out once a year on Christmas Eve, and they only get used then to hold Santa’s cookies and milk. After that, they get washed and put away for the next year. To use them for any other purpose would seem wrong. Some things are just special like that. We understand either explicitly or perhaps merely intuitively that it wouldn’t be right to use them for anything else. As God was coming to the final parts of the tabernacle description, He gave the Israelites two things that were to be specially designated to only be used for worship purposes. Let’s talk about the sacred oil and incense.
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The Nexus 