Exodus 30:1-10
It is good to be with you this week, thanks so much for joining us on Hope for Today. There is absolutely no other book like the Bible, and we believe every part of the Bible is beneficial for us. As you know, we are studying in Exodus, but this is not the only book of the Bible we have teaching from.
Here is a testimony from Macedonia, and at the time we were airing our teaching from one of the Gospels.
“I listen to Radio 7 daily because it is different from all the other radio stations in our country. The music and the radio programs give me a lot of inner peace and have helped me practically with a few relationship problems I have had this year. I want to thank you for the program, Heralds of Hope. I am a Russian orthodox believer and though I always had a Bible in my home, I never opened it. I always was told that only the priests can understand the Bible and we do what we are told. Through the program Heralds of Hope, I was encouraged to read the Bible myself for the first time. This radio program has helped me a lot to understand the Gospels. I like that the teacher studies every chapter of the Gospel. Nothing is left out. I never thought that the Gospels had so many teachings about everyday life. I learned from the program how to forgive others and since then my relationships have improved greatly.”
Isn’t this testimony amazing? Notice how the listener was impacted when they read the Bible on their own. Have you had an experience like this with God’s Word? I have and those who are involved with Heralds of Hope have also experienced the life in this wonderful book. This is the life and hope we share with you.
With that introduction let’s go with Bible teacher, J Mark Horst to the Old Testament book of Exodus. If you can, follow along in your Bible and get ready to see God and be changed by Him.
Every religion has certain forms, certain liturgy, we might say, certain ways that the worshippers perform to meet God. Some have mandated times for prayer. At different times of the day, they stop what they’re doing and pray. Some have certain postures in prayer such as folded hands or kneeling on the ground or bowing low. Some have special places for prayer where they enter only after cleansing certain parts of their bodies. Some go to temples, shrines, or other locations to offer their prayers.
These forms may be good, but they also may take the first place rather than God. When form becomes the most important part, worshipers forget that there must be more to religion than merely form or else it is empty. Some worshippers have form, but they make no contact with God. It is just a matter of going through the motions. But God wants to be real to you in your spirit, just as real as He was to Moses and the people of Israel.
In ancient days it was also true that the how could be more important than the whom. So, the true God came to Israel and told them how to pray so He would be real to them.
Moses received instructions from God for THE ALTAR OF PRAYER in Exodus 30:1-10. As we meditate on this, we will find some beautiful insights on prayer as worship.
1. And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of acacia wood shalt thou make it.
2. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.
3. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.
4. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
5. And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.
6. And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.
7. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
8. And when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.
9. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.
10. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.
In these verses are set forth the SPECIFICS which defined the altar of prayer, here called the altar of incense, for the ancient people of Israel.
The First Specific is,
The Production of the Altar
The materials of which it was made were accurately described. They were to make it of acacia wood. This was the main kind of wood that was available in the Sinai Peninsula at that time. But in any case, God made it clear that it was to be made of a specific kind of wood and it was to be overlaid with pure gold.
God was very specific about this altar of incense. The material was carefully described. The shape was carefully designed. It was to be a cubit, about one-half meters square, as long as broad. It was to be two cubits or one meter high. The horns on it were made of the same material. God was specific about the production of the altar.
There were golden rings fastened to the corners so it could be carried with staves. They were made of the same kind of wood and also overlaid with gold. This altar was meant to be moveable. The altar of incense was to be carried wherever they took the tabernacle. I see a beautiful application here. Everyone needs some particular place for prayer and for the people of Israel it was this altar of incense, made of wood and gold, made square and moveable. It was available to them no matter where they went. Prayer works the same way for us today. We can pray and meet with God no matter where we are.
My wife and I have our daily family prayers in the morning along with a cup of coffee. We have a specific place for prayer in our home and in our schedule. It seems only right after these many years that we should continue having this altar for prayer.
The Next Specific is,
The Position of the Altar
Moses was instructed that the altar should be put in front of the veil. The veil divided the tabernacle into two parts. The first part was the Holy Place, and the other part was the Most Holy Place. They were separated by a curtain or veil. This altar of incense was to be near the veil in the Holy Place. It was near the ark of the testimony which was on the other side of the veil in the Most Holy Place.
We know that the mercy seat covered the ark of the testimony. The divine Law of God on the two tablets of stone was in that ark. The altar of incense, representing the prayers of God’s people, was to be placed near the ark of the testimony. The mercy seat was the meeting place between man and God. This altar of incense and prayer was to be placed close to the ark of the testimony, as near as possible, yet separated by the veil which divided the tabernacle.
God had a specific position for that altar of incense. It was near His Word: the divine revelation on the tablets of the Law. I believe that everyone in prayer time needs to include God’s Word. It is a working principle: always season your prayers with God’s Word.
The Final Specific is,
The Purpose of the Altar
God instructed Moses that Aaron should burn sweet incense on that altar every morning and every evening. There was to be a regular time for burning incense on this altar. In fact, God said there was to be a never-ending burning of incense before the LORD throughout their generations. There was to be a regularity about this worship form. It was not to be occasional or offered haphazardly. There was to be incense burning continually on this altar. The sweet fragrance of the incense rising up to God represents the prayer of God’s people.
There was also to be a specific kind of incense. God gave them the recipe of ingredients they were to use. No strange incense, no offering of any other kind was to be brought to this particular altar. God is specific about what He says. So, He said this altar was to be reserved only for the burning of incense of a proper kind, that it should be regular and never-ending.
I believe everyone needs a regular prayer time just like this incense burning every morning and every evening. My wife and I have our regular prayer times. Besides those morning prayers we have prayer at every meal. It is only proper that we should thank the LORD for the food He provides for us.
Let us learn the lessons we can from the experiences of ancient Israel. God gave them instruction regarding this altar of incense. I found several lessons here. One, we need a specific prayer time, and we need to be there at that specific time and place. We need to be near God’s Word, to anchor our prayers in the Scripture. And we need a regular and perpetual time for prayer. I get this from the altar of incense for Israel. There was the production, the position, and the purpose of this altar.
God gave them this altar of incense to cultivate worship that was real. Is God real in your times of worship? God desires the pleasure of your wholehearted worship.
Thanks J Mark for this teaching on prayer. Today’s title was “Who Will Pray for Us?” When I heard this title, it made me think of another question. I had to wonder, who do I pray for? Who are the people we pray for regularly? Do you take the time to bring them before God and pray for them. Yes, I know this takes effort but our time with God must be fought for and protected. Satan does not like to see you wake up early or stay up late so you can spend time with God. This is where our power lies, and Satan loves to see us get busy or distracted so we shorten our prayer time. I challenge you, don’t let it happen.
God tells us the fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much or makes a big difference. If you are like me, it is a struggle against my flesh to keep my prayers fervent and effectual. When I am praying is when I am tempted to think about so many other things, or I feel hungry or thirsty. The truth is Satan does not care how he distracts us or keeps us from prayer, anything will work as long as our time with God is less. This is not an unusual struggle. It is a battle we are all in. So, let’s be good soldiers of Christ and defend our time with God.
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Thank you so much for being with us. We look forward to next week and hope you will join us for more teaching from Exodus. I leave you with this verse from Hebrews that reminds us of where the power of our prayers comes from. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
*This episode is an exposition of Exodus 30:1-10 by J. Otis Yoder, re-recorded by J. Mark Horst, with an opening and closing by Arlin Horst.