Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20100808.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Exodus: God's Forming The Nation Israel For His Abrahamic Covenant
Part II: God's Forming Israel To Heed Him, Exodus 15:22-40:38
K. God's Directive Of The Tabernacle To Fellowship With His People
12. The Anointing Oil: God's Blessing Through Separation From The World
(Exodus 30:22-33)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    Many today feel stressed and troubled over the state of the economy and the political, social and government issues behind it all:

    (1) Practically any newspaper you pick up today has a "Letters to the Editor" section with heart-wrenching musings on these subjects.

    (2) One group in particular has been hit hard -- those who must deal directly with the people who face such matters. The August 2, 2010 issue of The New York Times, p. A1 ran the article, "A Break From Work Is Healthy (Even if It's the Lord's Work)" telling of a national crisis in which many Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, mainline Protestant and evangelical ministers suffer "obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans" and "their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could."

    I know from personal experience how real this crisis is: (a) a past alumni director of the seminary from which I graduated told my father in the 1980s of a stack of letters 18 inches high he had on his desk from pastors who had graduated from the seminary. They were all written to ask him to send their resumes out so they could pastor anywhere else than in their current churches! (b) I myself was once such a "statistic," suffering dreadful, suffocating, inner pain, doubt and confusion like so many clerics and those they try to help!

    However, as strange as it may sound, today, after 28 years here, I would rather pastor Nepaug Bible Church here in New Hartford, Connecticut than work anywhere else in the world!

    That statement requires an explanation, and the passage we are set to study today, Exodus 30:22-33, offers it! I wish to share it with you for your insight, encouragement and blessing!



    So, the question we seek to answer in introducing this message is, "What is needed for us Christians to enjoy God's rich blessing in life and ministry?!"

    Need: "How may I enjoy God's rich blessing in my life and service?"

  1. God had Israel build a tabernacle to typify how He as a holy God could fellowship with sinful man and meet his needs, Ex. 25:1-9.
  2. The Exodus 30:22-33 anointing oil teaches believers must separate from the world unto God for rich blessing as did Noah of antiquity:
    1. God ordered the formation of a perfume oil to be used to anoint the tabernacle, its furnishings, its tools and the priests, Ex. 30:22-28, 30.
    2. This anointing signified God's desire that His servants be separate from the world unto Himself, Ex. 30:29, 31-33: the odor of the items signaled they were "most holy," that is, fully separate from the profane unto God (Ex. 30:29, 31). The oil was not for any use in the world but to anoint the tabernacle, its items and priests, Ex. 30:32-33.
    3. The context and details involved teach we believers like Noah must part from the world unto God for His pleasure and our blessing:
      1. The only other past record of God's focusing on an odor is Genesis 8:15-21 when Noah offered burnt offerings to God after the Flood.
      2. Burnt offerings signify total dedication to God, so Noah's offerings after the Flood stated his stand for God Who had judged the world and so against the past evil world (Gen. 6:5-9). Noah's sacrifice "odor" that signified his separation from the world pleased God much as a perfume scent would please mankind (Gen. 8:20-21a).
      3. To preserve, prolong and fortify Noah's "odor" of separation stance, God gave the Genesis 8: 21-9:17 Noahic Covenant:
        1. God promised to preserve the separation stand of the godly like Noah by preserving the earth and its climate so they might stay sustain their separation stance on the earth, Genesis 8:21b-22.
        2. God sought to prolong their separation in causing animals to fear them and in giving them animals as food so as to help curb the lethal violence of the past evil world, Genesis 9:1-4; 6:13.
        3. God sought to strengthen the separation stand of godly folk like Noah by instituting capital punishment to preserve the value of human life in man's mind; this would help preserve all human life, especially the lives of the separated godly, Genesis 9:5-7.
      4. <+@>Well, remarkably, the contents of the Exodus 30:22-33 anointing oil and their use typologically carry these same themes in detail :
        1. The "sweet cinnamon" (Ex. 30:23b KJV) was the dominant and "very precious spice," messianicmessages.com/Anointing; I. S. B. E., 1929, v. I, p. 656. (It depicts the pleasing odor in God's view of a believer's separation from the world and unto God.)
        2. The "myrrh" used in the oil mixture preserved the aroma of the highly prized and costly cinnamon, Ibid.; Exodus 30:23a.
        3. The "sweet calamus" (sweet cane) was a perfume "fixative" that retarded the evaporation of the scented cinnamon oil to prolong its aromatic effects, victorie-inc.us; Exodus 30:23c.
        4. The "cassia" was a coarse imitation of the prized cinnamon, but it was added because its pungent odor strengthened the effects of the sweet cinnamon odor, answers.com; Exodus 30:24a.
        5. This mix of spices was put in a solution of olive oil, Ex. 20:24b.
      5. Also, the ingredient amounts of the pleasant smelling anointing oil recall and typologically honor Noah's life of holy faith:
        1. The number 500 repeated in the ingredient amounts in the context of Noah's life recall the Genesis 5:32-6:9 500-year life he lived apart from his godless world before God rewarded him!
        2. The 250 shekels of cinnamon and 250 shekels of calamus are to be seen as a 500-shekel unit: both parts had to mix to prolong the cinnamon odor in line with Noah's 500-yearlong holy life.
        3. To this mix was added 500 more shekels of myrrh to preserve it, and to that 500 more shekels of cassia to enhance the cinnamon aroma all in repeat recall and honor of Noah's 500 holy years!
      6. Thus, as the believer relies on the Holy Spirit (olive oil) to separate from the world unto God in a life of faith as did Noah of old, God so values it (sweet cinnamon) that, as in Noah's case, He preserves (myrrh), prolongs (calamus) and strengthens (cassia) the believer in his stand that he can thrive holding onto it (1 Jn. 2:17; John 14:23).
      7. Exodus 30:26-30 shows God wants our separation to include all areas of life for His pleasure and our blessing: we must part with the world to God in how approaching Scripture (lampstand), in expounding it (table of showbread), in prayer (altar of incense and ark) and in relating to other people (courtyard altar) that we might also enjoy God's rich blessing in each of these realms, John 14:23.
Application: May we (1) trust in Christ as Savior to be saved, John 1:11-12. (2) As believers, may we heed God's call to separate fully from the world and unto Him for His richest blessings in living!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 God sure provided illustrations for this message last week:

(1) As you will recall, we have often reported from the pulpit that God has given us illustrations we need for a following Sunday morning sermon in the Fellowship Hall time right after the previous Sunday morning service.

Well, last Sunday, He did it again, but this time before I ever got into Fellowship Hall! As I was walking past some believers in the sanctuary on my way to the Fellowship Hall, I heard a Sunday School teacher pointedly tell his student, " You tell him this time!"

I noticed they were looking at me, so I asked, "Tell me what?" and the student explained: two of the passages I had explained in that day's sermon were taught in their class before the service -- 2 Timothy 1:13-14 on the believer's need to rely on the Holy Spirit to maintain theological accuracy and 1 Timothy 4:11-16 where leaders must watch their lives and doctrine to avoid going misleading others!

God had again signaled His involvement in our lives -- in the teacher's ministry, in the student's experience and in my own ministry -- spurring each one of us to stay committed to the Lord where we live!

(2) Tuesday evening in a phone call with a believer in another state, I received feedback on the sermon and lesson material our Church sends her. She expressed appreciation for the exposition of the Word, and added she hoped we would stay true to the Lord's call in continuing to expound His Word this way!

After that, I was very motivated to keep doing my part in it all!

(3) The Lord gave added encouragement with the people who approached me last week wanting to be baptized this Sunday!

So, recalling The New York Times article in our introduction, if we wonder how ministers of all faiths eat too much, get hypertension and suffer depression, cutting into their life expectancies and wishing they could change jobs?! The answer is that they, like I once was, have a bad case of the "world"! It leaves them lacking God's help and blessing! Like I had to do, they or anybody else for that matter, must separate from the world in thought and deed: some must trust in Christ to be saved, but all must reject the world's ideas and obey Scripture in functioning in the Holy Spirit's power and gaining God's rich blessing!

May we ALL get right with God and SEPARATE from the WORLD in ALL REALMS that we might see God really BLESS!