DISCOVER BIBLE | EXODUS 30-38, 40

1. Introduction

a) The Bible is full of wonderful stories and special truth. What we want to do is to discover the Bible.  

b) Psalm 119:11 says, "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." 

c) Nurture and grow your understanding of the Bible as you read and discover the Bible.  

2. Outline:

a) The Altar of Incense - Exodus 30:1-10

i) Symbolical of the place of prayer: 

Psalm 141:2 New International Version (NIV)

² May my prayer be set before you like incense;
    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. 

b) Atonement for Each Person - Exodus 30:11-16.

i) A special means of reminding each person that he was not his own. Think of it as you would the leasing of a piece of land, which has an annual fee required. The world for "contribution" is literally "heave offering" - an offering freely given by the giver. It was a way of saying , "I recognize I do not own my own life!"

c) The Laver of Bronze - Exodus 30:17-21.

i) A type of the word of God. See Exodus 38:8 for the source of the bronze. It was mirror-like, reflecting surface. Unless we wash, our fellowship with God dies! (See John 13:6-10 - "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.") 

Exodus 38:8 New International Version (NIV) 

⁸ They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 

John 13:6-10 New International Version (NIV)

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 

d) The Anointing Oil of Incense - Exodus 30:22-38.

i) The Anointing Oil

@1. The Oil - A powerful, oil-based perfume. All objects and all priests anointed with it. The fragrance revealed the object or person was, in a special way, set apart (sanctified) for the special activity of God among men. Everywhere the anointed ones went, their special fragrance marked them. Because of it, Aaron and his sons were prohibited from sharing in the burial of Nadab and Abihu. One odor - one use!

ii) The Incense

@1. Symbolical of prayer. 

Psalm 141:2 New International Version (NIV)

² May my prayer be set before you like incense;
    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. 

Luke 1:10-11 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 

Revelation 5:8 New International Version (NIV)

⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 

Revelation 8:4-5 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. ⁵ Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. 

e) Appointment of Skilled Workmen - Exodus 31:1-11.

i) Where did we get the idea that our skills are self-developed, or come to us from our parents? Exodus 31:1-11 point out that GOD has put the skills we possess into our lives, and they belong to Him. It is not just the preacher who is "special!" Bezalel had both natural and spiritual skills for his life's work.

f) The Sabbath - Exodus 31:12-18.

i) Man is essentially a spiritual being. He must make time to be with God. It is a physical, a family, and a national necessity. The person who secularlizes life for weeks at a time is a fool! Even in eternity the Sabbath will be kept!

ii) For the Christian, the day changes, to remember the resurrection day of our Lord as more significant than even the creation of the earth. the special meaning for this special day, does not change. In Exodus 31:14: was it important to God, or an "option" to those who are not too preoccupied with other things?

g) Forty Days and Nights without God - Exodus 32-34.

h) The Tabernacle Instituted - Exodus 35-39.

i) The Tabernacle Erected - Exodus 40. 

3. Major Places in Order (Exodus 30-38, 40):

a) Sinai.

4. Major People in Order:

a) Moses, Aaron, Bezalel.

5. Amount of Time Covered:

a) A few months.