SMOKE SCREEN
"..and the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat...Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And 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." ESV Leviticus 11-13
As I was reading this passage this morning, it struck me as interesting how the incense acted as a buffer between the manifestion of God's presence and Aaron. I'm not sure what all the ramifications are to this, but I do know that throughout Scripture incense and prayer go hand-in-hand (cf. Psalm 141:2, Luke 1:10, Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4, 18:13). I have always seen blood as the mediatorial (i.e. appeasing or atoning) substance in ancient Hebrew worship. Here, incense functions in that capacity so that Aaron can survive in the presence of God long enough to sprinkle the blood of the atonement on the mercy seat.
If this spurs any thoughts or insights, I would love to hear them.
"..and the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat...Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. And 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." ESV Leviticus 11-13
As I was reading this passage this morning, it struck me as interesting how the incense acted as a buffer between the manifestion of God's presence and Aaron. I'm not sure what all the ramifications are to this, but I do know that throughout Scripture incense and prayer go hand-in-hand (cf. Psalm 141:2, Luke 1:10, Revelation 5:8, 8:3-4, 18:13). I have always seen blood as the mediatorial (i.e. appeasing or atoning) substance in ancient Hebrew worship. Here, incense functions in that capacity so that Aaron can survive in the presence of God long enough to sprinkle the blood of the atonement on the mercy seat.
If this spurs any thoughts or insights, I would love to hear them.
posted by grateful talmid | 6:43 AM
1 Comments:
I say the incense's protective power foreshadows/symbolizes Christ's continual intercession for us in heaven, making a way for us into God's presence.
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