Scripture Daily

Context No. 1084 of 4322 · Exodus

Context · Reflection

Exodus 30:22-33: in context

22Moreover the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; 24and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. 25You shall make it into a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the covenant, 27the table and all its articles, the lamp stand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 29You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. 30You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 31You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. 32It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, and do not make any like it, according to its composition. It is holy. It shall be holy to you. 33Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”

God gives Moses the recipe for a holy anointing oil, a rich blend of liquid myrrh, cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia, and olive oil, compounded like a perfumer's work. With it Moses is to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark, the furniture, and Aaron and his sons, consecrating them so that whatever touches them becomes holy. And then a strict boundary: this oil is not to be poured on ordinary people or reproduced for common use; anyone who copies it or puts it on an outsider is to be cut off. It is holy, set apart for God alone.

The whole point of the anointing oil is set-apartness. The word holy simply means set apart, dedicated exclusively to God, and this oil embodies it: made to one unique recipe, used only for consecrating what belongs to God, forbidden for common or casual use. The prohibition against copying it or using it on ordinary flesh is not stinginess; it protects the meaning of the holy. If the oil of consecration could be splashed on anything, its significance would dissolve; the very thing that made it sacred was that it was reserved. There is a lesson in that about the nature of holiness, that some things are meant to be set apart and not treated as common, and that cheapening the sacred by making it ordinary empties it of its meaning. And there is a forward glance, too: the word Messiah, and Christ, means the Anointed One, the one on whom the true anointing of God rests. Behind this careful, fragrant oil stands the whole idea of being set apart for God, which the New Testament says now marks every believer, anointed by the Spirit, set apart, no longer common.

Is there something in my life God has set apart as holy that I am tempted to treat as common, and do I understand that I too have been anointed and set apart for him?

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