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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 'And thou hast made an altar [for] making perfume; [of] shittim wood thou dost make it; |
Make an altar – The Golden altar in the Holy represents the Church in the sacrificing condition. T120
The Golden altar was only acceptable because it had been sprinkled with the atoning blood taken from the side of the Brazen altar. R101:4*
To burn incense – Representing the privileges of worship and prayer. R5418:5
Sweet incense, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, the incense of faith, love and obedience to God. T120, T56
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| 2 a cubit its length, and a cubit its breadth, (it is square), and two cubits its height; its horns [are] of the same. |
The horns – Symbols of power. T42
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| 3 'And thou hast overlaid it with pure gold, its top, and its sides round about, and its horns; and thou hast made to it a crown of gold round about; |
With pure gold – Representing the divine nature. T18, T20
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| 4 and two rings of gold thou dost make to it under its crown; on its two ribs thou dost make [them], on its two sides, and they have become places for staves, to bear it with them. |
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| 5 'And thou hast made the staves of shittim wood, and hast overlaid them with gold; |
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| 6 and thou hast put it before the vail, which [is] by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat which [is] over the testimony, whither I am met with thee. |
Before the vail – The passing of the second veil represented the death of the human body. T21
That is by the ark – It represented the eternal purpose of God for mankind in The Christ, Head and Body. T121
The mercy seat – The Mercy Seat, glory-light and cherubim together represented Jehovah God. T124
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| 7 'And Aaron hath made perfume on it, perfume of spices, morning by morning; in his making the lamps right he doth perfume it, |
And Aaron – And his sons who succeeded him in office. T116
When he dresseth – Representing the trimming off the dross of the old nature, the wick through which the holy Spirit operates. T117
The lamps – Seven lamps, representing the complete Church. T115
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| 8 and in Aaron's causing the lamps to go up between the evenings, he doth perfume it; a continual perfume before Jehovah to your generations. |
Burn incense – Offer acceptable prayer. R17:6
At even-The High Priest daily fills us with the mind of Christ and trims off the dross of the old nature. T116
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| 9 'Ye do not cause strange perfume to go up upon it, and burnt-offering, and present, and libation ye do not pour out on it; |
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| 10 and Aaron hath made atonement on its horns, once in a year, by the blood of the sin-offering of atonements; once in a year doth he make atonement for it, to your generations; it [is] most holy to Jehovah.' |
And Aaron – Representing our High Priest, Christ. T36, T116; E449
Make an atonement – The offerings were presented to God, not to Satan. E449
Once in a year – On the Day of Atonement, which typified the entire Gospel age. T50
With the blood – None can fully appreciate the power of this altar without first recognizing the blood. R96:1
Unto the LORD – The sacrifices for sin, under the Law, were sin offerings unto Jehovah. R685:4
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| 11 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 12 'When thou takest up the sum of the sons of Israel for their numbers, then they have given each an atonement [for] his soul to Jehovah in their being numbered, and there is no plague among them in their being numbered. |
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| 13 'This they do give, every one passing over unto those numbered, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel [is] twenty gerahs); half a shekel [is] the heave-offering to Jehovah; |
This – This poll tax. R3447:6, R2367:1
Half a shekel – About 33 cents. R2367:1
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| 14 every one passing over unto those numbered, from a son of twenty years and upwards, doth give the heave-offering of Jehovah; |
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| 15 the rich doth not multiply, and the poor doth not diminish from the half-shekel, to give the heave-offering of Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls. |
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| 16 'And thou hast taken the atonement-money from the sons of Israel, and hast given it for the service of the tent of meeting; and it hath been to the sons of Israel for a memorial before Jehovah, to make atonement for your souls.' |
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| 17 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 18 'And thou hast made a laver of brass (and its base of brass), for washing; and thou hast put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and hast put water there; |
A laver – No dimensions given. Truth, like its author, is boundless. R243:6*
Dimensions not given; therefore, as a type, it must be considered unlimited. R118:4*
Typifying baptism. R117:1*
Typifying not baptism only, but the daily washings of the Word. R117:6*
Of brass – No wood in its construction, therefore no provision for the flesh. R117:2*
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| 19 and Aaron and his sons have washed at it their hands and their feet, |
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| 20 in their going in unto the tent of meeting they wash [with] water, and die not; or in their drawing nigh unto the altar to minister, to perfume a fire-offering to Jehovah, |
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| 21 then they have washed their hands and their feet, and they die not, and it hath been to them a statute age-during, to him and to his seed to their generations.' |
So they shall wash – Aaron had to be washed in order fitly to represent the purity of Jesus. T29
Symbolizing the putting away of filthy practices - stealing, slander, envy, strife, back-biting, etc. R1543:6, R3054:2
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| 22 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, |
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| 23 'And thou, take to thyself principal spices, wild honey five hundred [shekels]; and spice-cinnamon, the half of that, two hundred and fifty; and spice-cane two hundred and fifty; |
Principal spices – Representing principal things which go to make up the anointing which we receive. R4092. 3*
Of pure myrrh – Symbol of wisdom-knowing what to do. R4093:2*
Five hundred shekels – The amount of myrhh was equal to the amounts of cinnamon and calamus combined. So God, in our anointing, gives us wisdom equal to our understanding and knowledge combined. R4093:2*
Of sweet cinnamon – Symbol of the understanding which we have of all the knowledge which we receive from God. R4093:2*
Of sweet calamus – Symbol of the knowledge which we receive from God's Word. R4093:2*
250 shekels – The amounts of cinnamon and calamus were equal, so we would expect in our anointing that we would have the understanding of all the knowledge received of God. R4093:2*
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| 24 and cassia five hundred, by the shekel of the sanctuary, and olive oil a hin; |
And of cassia – Symbol of deputyship, described in Scripture as "workmanship" and as "counsel and might." God gives no knowledge except for a purpose. He establishes our faith by giving the understanding thereof, then gives us the wisdom to know what is expected of us, and finally blesses us with the advice and ability (counsel and might) necessary for good workmanship in the accomplishment of his purposes. All that is expected of us is full consecration to the Lord and his service. All the rest he will supply in knowledge, understanding, wisdom, counsel and might. With more than this he cannot anoint us. R4093:3*
And of oil olive – Symbol of light through the holy Spirit. D651
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| 25 and thou hast made it a holy anointing oil, a compound mixture, work of a compounder; it is a holy anointing oil. |
Holy anointing oil – Typifying the holy Spirit. T29, T37, T116; D650; R5654:5, R72:2
Of peculiar composition-olive oil, the basis, with perfumes, etc., added. SM598:2
Poured out upon our Head, Christ Jesus. It reached the Church at Pentecost and has been f lowing down, anointing the members ever since. R2225:1
Jewish Law required that every king and every priest be anointed before serving. R5227:3
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| 26 'And thou hast anointed with it the tent of meeting, and the ark of the testimony, |
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| 27 and the table and all its vessels, and the candlestick and its vessels, and the altar of perfume, |
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| 28 and the altar of burnt-offering and all its vessels, and the laver and its base; |
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| 29 and thou hast sanctified them, and they have been most holy; all that is coming against them is holy; |
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| 30 and Aaron and his sons thou dost anoint, and hast sanctified them for being priests to Me. |
Anoint Aaron – The anointing came upon Aaron only at first, but upon each of his sons as they succeeded to the office of chief priest. F131; Q689:3; T37
The High Priest was anointed with oil, which constituted the divine evidence of his call to priestly office. SM598:2
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| 31 'And unto the sons of Israel thou dost speak, saying, A holy anointing oil is this to Me, to your generations; |
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| 32 on flesh of man it is not poured, and with its proper proportion ye make none like it; it [is] holy; it is holy to you; |
Any other like it – The Israelites were not permitted to compound a similar oil, showing typically that the holy Spirit is different from everything else and that its anointing is superior to any other. SM598:2
After the composition – According to the proportion thereof. Those who mix the proportions of the spirit differently are false brethren. R4093:4*
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| 33 a man who compoundeth [any] like it, or who putteth of it on a stranger hath even been cut off from his people.' |
Even be cut off – Only the consecrated ones are ever to be anointed with the holy Spirit. T29
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| 34 And Jehovah saith unto Moses, 'Take to thee spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; they are part for part; |
Pure frankincense – Representing praise, heart adoration and gratitude. R3703:5
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| 35 and thou hast made it a perfume, a compound, work of a compounder, salted, pure, holy; |
A perfume – The prayers of God's people rise up before him as a sweet perfume. R5692:5
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| 36 and thou hast beaten [some] of it small, and hast put of it before the testimony, in the tent of meeting, whither I am met with thee; most holy it is to you. |
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| 37 'As to the perfume which thou makest, with its proper proportion ye do not make to yourselves, holy it is to thee to Jehovah; |
Ye shall not make – None could be made like it. We think it represents the perfection of the "man Christ Jesus." R79:2
Holy for the LORD – As nobody was allowed to make that incense except the priests, so the privilege of prayer is confined to the Royal Priesthood. R5692:5
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| 38 a man who maketh [any] like it to be refreshed by it hath even been cut off from his people.' |
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