Exodus 30:34-35 ESV “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part), and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.’”
In the temple in Jerusalem, incense was required by the Lord to be burned every day, a half-pound in the morning, and another half-pound in the evening. Its sweet aroma would permeate the temple. And once a year in the Holy of Holies, three pounds were to be burned at one time. That’s 368 pounds of incense burned each year. The smell of the incense was so potent that people living 12 miles from the temple, in Jericho, could smell the fragrance! Why so much incense? Because the daily animal sin sacrifices offered in the temple caused a putrid smell of blood, bone, and carcasses. On warm days, in the hot sun, the smell would have distracted people and repelled worshippers.The smell of sin was enough to repel anyone, so to speak. But the incense’s pleasing aroma did not keep worshippers away!
On the day when three pounds of incense burned in the Holy of Holies at one time, it was not to cover an odor. it was to keep the priest from dying. Leviticus 16:12-13 ESV says, “he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.” The incense causeda sweet-smelling cloud to fill the Holy of Holies so that the priest could not see the Lord seated upon the mercy seat during his sacrifice for the sins of the people. God is so holy that simply looking at Him by a sinful man would cause sudden death. Sin complicated things and caused a separation with God.
But something happened. Matthew 27:50-51, “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…” Jesus became the once-and-for-all sacrifice. The separation of our holy Lord was no longer. We were forgiven and now invited to visit with our holy God whenever we want! The stench of sin is now gone! So what about the incense? What about the Holy of Holies? The Holy of Holies continues! ”So where is it?” you ask! If you want to see it, look in the mirror! It is you! It is inside of you! 1 Corinthians 6:19 asks, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” My favorite Bibletranslation, the Mirror, puts it like this in Ephesians 2:22, “In Him you are co-constructed together as God’s permanent spiritual residence. You are God’s address.” Understand? The Lord no longer resides inside a room blocked off by a curtain.The Lord has now entered into us and so now we are the Holy of Holies! And the temple incense is no longer needed. In fact, 2 Corinthians 2:15 explains, “Through us, [God] brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent [rich] with life.”
Lord, let those who encounter us recognize the sweet-smelling aroma of God’s incense upon us! Let others know by our actions and words that we carry the presence of The Holy One inside of us! And in life, like incense, we must be on fire to positively affect others with the presence of our Lord.
-Emil Liko 9/18/26