Exodus 30:34-38

Exodus 30:34-38

 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:

And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.

And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.

Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

1. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense…”

a. sweet spices [5561 * cam][BLB: spice, a spice used in incense. This word is translated “sweet” 14 times and “sweet spices” 1 time.]

1). All of these ingredients are compounds that make the incense that was to be burned in the Temple. The burning of the incense was a type of prayer.

a). Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

2). In light of the above it could show that all of these ingredients will be somehow tied to our words.

b. stacte [5198 * nataph][BLB: drop, gum, drops of stacte,

an aromatic gum resin of a shrub used in incense.][AMG Word Study of Old Testament: A masculine noun referring to a drop. It is used of the evaporation of water into the upper atmosphere that returns as drops of rain.]

1). In light of the above there are a couple of Scriptures which come to mind.

a). Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

b). Isaiah 55:10, 11 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it.

c). Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

d). Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

c. onycha [7827 * shĕcheleth][Strong: the cerulean mussel, i.e. the color (violet) obtained there from or stuff dyed therewith:--blue.

d. galbanum [2464 * chelbnah][Strong: galbanam, an odorous gum (as if fatty):--galbanum.] [W. Mannix: by itself it was bitter(it was used to drive away insects), but mixed with the other ingredients it was very pleasant.]

e. frankincense [3828 *  lebownah][BLB: frankincense, a white resin burned as fragrant incense, ceremonially,  personally, used in compounding the holy incense.]

2. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.

Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

a. cut off [3772 * karath][Strong: specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces):--be chewed, be con-(feder-)ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league ((covenant)), X lose, perish, X utterly, X want.][BLB: to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.][Gesenius: to kill or destroy persons.]

1). I have always been fascinated by the fact the same Hebrew word relating to cutting the Covenant  also means to kill or remove from the Covenant.

2). Israel was forbidden to make this incense for their own personal grooming, it was to be used only for the incense for the tabernacle. Those who violated this were either killed or at least removed from the congregation.