MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Exodus 30:22-24
THE SPIRIT OF GOD IN THE CHURCH
That the ointment signifies the influence of the Spirit of God we can hardly doubt. The anointing of kings and prophets signified that they received the gift of holiness in a special degree; and when Christ was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows (Psalms 45:8-9), it signified that on Him rested the power and grace of the Holy Spirit in an extraordinary degree. What does this ointment teach respecting God’s Spirit?
I. The salutariness of His influence. Ointment is gracious in its action, and signifies the softening influence of the Spirit. As ointment softens, so does the Spirit of God cause the proud will to relent, and the hard heart to soften. The healing influence of the Spirit. Wounds are mollified with ointment—its action is medicinal and purifying. So God’s Spirit cleanses and heals the diseased and wounded soul. The rejoicing influence of the Spirit. It is “the oil of gladness.” “Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over” (Psalms 23:5). Here the Psalmist associates anointing with fulness of joy. Yes, the Spirit of God gives tenderness and purity to the soul, and out of this contrite and cleansed heart springs up streams of peace and joy.
II. The sweetness of His influence. The sweetness of this ointment renders it a striking symbol of the rich and fragrant influence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God gives an incomparable charm to the character! We see this in Christ. “All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad” (Psalms 45:8). The spirit, the language, the life of Jesus, breathed a divine perfume. And so it is with all in whom the spirit of Jesus richly dwells. There is something far beyond a merely cold and formal prosperity, there is a rich diffusive goodness. When the power and grace of Christ fill the heart, our character is fragrant, and wherever we go, “’tis as if an angel shook his wings.” In Jesus, and in that Holy Spirit which is His gift, we rise to the beauty, the music, the fragrance of life. Let us seek to realise this richness and sweetness of character and disposition. Not a cold intellectual religion; not a hard austere morality; not a stern rugged character; but a lovely life and a soul full of grace and sweetness. Such sweetness is full of personal joy. It is also most preservative. Some say that the sweetness of the rose kills certain vermin, and sweetness of character is a defence. And it powerfully recommends the faith of Christ.
III. The sacredness of His influence.
1. Nothing is sacred except as it is hallowed by the Spirit of God. Everything was to be anointed with the ointment, Exodus 30:26-31. Our temples are only sacred so far as they are hallowed by the Spirit of God; our religious instrumentalities are only sacred so far as the Spirit of God blesses them; our ministers are only sacred so far as the Spirit of God dwells in them and works through them. The grandest things in the sanctuary needed to be anointed, and the strongest, brightest, purest things in the Church are but dark and feeble and profane except as they are filled and used by the Holy Spirit. And this is equally true of the highest and grandest things of the world and life.
2. Everything is sacred that is hallowed by the Spirit of God. The commonest things, when anointed, were sacred as the highest—the brazen laver as the golden ark. Let us seek for God’s Spirit to hallow all within the Church, to hallow all within the world, so that there shall be nothing common or unclean.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Sacrificial Speech! Exodus 30:1-38.
(1.) No student of the Bible needs to be reminded that by the complicated and long protracted series of events which preceded, accompanied, and followed the Exodus from Egypt, the essential doctrine of Gospel truth and grace are distinctly made known. By a stupendous array of symbolic acts and facts they are most emphatically confirmed and illustrated.
(2.) Thomson remarks that what is more pertinent, if possible, is that the record of them is so guided as to suggest and evolve the very best words, figures, and phrases by which these fundamental doctrines can be set forth. This is equally true of the words and ideas in this chapter of Exodus, as of the paschal lamb in Egypt, or the smiting of the rock in Horeb.
(3.) The symbolic acts and facts, it has been wisely asserted, in connection with the typical institutions, rites, and ceremonies of the Mosaic economy, were designed to permeate, and did permeate, the entire religious consciousness of the Hebrews. They thus gave birth to spiritual ideas and emotions wholly peculiar, and to corresponding formulas by which to give expression to them.
“I saw a Moslem work upon his shroud alone,
With earnest care, even as the silkworms weave their own,
When with that sacred Script it was filled from side to side,
He wrapt it round his body, and in calmness died.”
—Oriental.
Anointing-Oil Ingredients! Exodus 30:23-25.
(1.) It was composed of two parts of myrrh—the gum of a thorny tree growing in Arabia; two parts of cassia—the bark of an Indian tree, having a strong resemblance to cinnamon, but more pungent, and of a coarser texture; one part of cinnamon—the inner bark of a tree of the laurel kind growing in Ceylon; one part of sweet calamus—a fragrant beard grass growing in Arabia, and whose root and stem and leaves, when bruised, are very fragrant; with a sufficient quantity of the purest olive oil to give it the consistency.
(2.) An immense quantity, we are told, was annually manufactured and consumed. Of this, says an eminent author, we have a very significant indication in the fact that it was never made in smaller quantities than 750 ounces of solids compounded with five quarts of oil. It was so profusely employed that, as we find in Psalms 133, when applied to Aaron’s beard, it flowed down over his head and breasts, to the very skirts of his garments.
“In Him a holiness complete
Light and perfection twine;
And wisdom, grace, and glory meet—
O Saviour! Thou art mine.”
—Newton.
Cinnamon! Exodus 30:23.
(1.) The cinnamon tree is not a native of Palestine, but there is no doubt that the substance here referred to is the spice of the cinnamon laurel in Ceylon. It is a low growing tree, with a smooth ash-coloured bark and wide-spreading boughs. It is rendered very picturesque, both by its form and the variety of tint given to its bright green leaves by their white under-surface. The young shoots, too, have a scarlet crimson hue, and their bark is often speckled with deep green and orange-coloured spots. The fruit is about the size of a damson, and, when ripe, is of a black colour.
(2.) Neither the leaves nor flowers give forth any odour; and it is not till the season for gathering arrives that a walk through the cinnamon gardens yields delight in respect of fragrance. Kingston notes that, when the Cinghelese are engaged in their annual employment of peeling the twigs, the beauty of the gardens and the fragrance of the spice is exquisite.
(3.) The Arabians had commercial intercourse with Ceylon and India at an early period, as they were the first navigators of the Indian Seas. Cinnamon is mentioned in Proverbs 7:17; Song of Solomon 4:14; Revelation 18:13. In the second of these passages it is referable figuratively to the baptism of our Lord; and in the third, it is mentioned as among the articles of commerce in Babylon.
“From various herbs, and from discondant flowers,
A fragrant harmony of spice compounds.”
—Smart.
Divine Rites! Exodus 30:17-21.
(1.) The whole science of chemistry makes us familiar with a system of order. The chemistry that deals with the inorganic world may be called the science of substitutions. There is nothing accidental in these substitutions. They are the result of laws which have been through all time in active operation, and to which they are bound by a mathematical precision.
(2.) As in chemistry, the phenomena of substitution bring out in full relief the unchanging order of nature, showing that it is not a system of chance or confusion, but of the most harmonious arrangements; so is it with the rites enjoined by God. The various arrangements of the Tabernacle—whether of its Holy of Holies, of its holy place, or of its court and altar adjuncts—were all parts of our orderly system of substitution, pointing to the Great Substitution which magnifies the moral law and makes it honourable.
“The types and figures were a glass
In which they saw a Saviour’s face.”
—Cowper.
Holy Water! Exodus 30:18. Holy water indeed, says Spurgeon! If there be such a thing, it trickles from the eye of penitence, bedews the cheek of gratitude, falls upon the page of Holy Scripture when the Word is applied with power.
(1.) Those waters that filled the hunger-channels on the cheeks of the prodigal son, as his father fell on his neck and kissed him, were holy. Those waters that flowed from deep liquid wells upon the sacred, dust-soiled feet of Jesus at the feast, were holy. Those waters that gushed from the fount within the Prophet’s patriot heart over his people’s woes and wickedness were holy. Those waters that welled out during the silent night watches upon the Psalmist’s pillow, as he pondered God’s goodness and his own badness were holy.
(2.) Holy in God’s sight, though they cannot make holy. There is but One Fount whence the “Water of Life” flows to purify the soul, and sanctify his daily ministry in the Christian life. That purifying comes not of ceremonial cleansing, but of the Holy Spirit. His grace is the “Holy Water,”—the living water—the water whose living properties are capable of cleansing the works and walks of the Christian priests unto God; so that they are able to minister daily before God. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” Who shall rise up to officiate in “His Holy Place”? Even he that hath clean hands and a pure heart. Even he who has accepted the cleansing virtues of the Spirit of Christ and of God.
“Only be sure
Thy hands be pure
That hold these censers, and the eyes,
Those of turtles, chaste and true,
Wakeful and wise.”
—Crashan.
Hin-Measure! Exodus 30:24. The instructions given about the holy ointment, and the mode of its preparation, remind us of the Egyptian skill in ointments and perfumes. In the description of this ointment occurs the mention of the “him” as a measure. It is supposed to be borrowed from the Egyptian language, and is only found in the Pentateuch, and in Ezekiel’s description of the temple. It was said to be equal to about six quarts,
“Thy Word is like a glorious choir,
And loud its anthems ring;
Though many tongues and parts unite,
It is one song they sing.”