Holy and Common

DEVOTION

EXODUS

HOLY AND COMMON

Ex 30:22-38

22 Then the LORD said to Moses, 23 "Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 24500 shekels of cassia — all according to the sanctuary shekel — and a hin of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. 26 Then use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, 27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. 29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy. 30 "Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. 32 Do not pour it on men's bodies and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. 33 Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.'" 34 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Take fragrant spices — gum resin, onycha and galbanum — and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, 35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. 36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. 38 Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people."

NIV

Here is the exact formulas for the use of consecrating the tent of meeting and the priests who are to serve in it. These fragrances, these perfumes are not to be used for common purposes. If for any reason someone uses them other for the purpose God intends them to be used, he is to be cut off from his people. There is a lesson here we should pay attention to. That which is for God is only that which comes from God. It would seem God is not pleased with the inventions of man for sacred use, if it is also used for common use. This might apply to many of the traditions of the church, or of Christianity in general. Let us consider just for a moment the sanctuary in our churches. We say this is the place we worship God. Even the whole building should be the holy temple of God. But we use it for Christian entertainment. We might say or think that is a form of worship to God, but it is nothing more than a common thing in a holy or sacred place, that is if God has instructed us to build this sacred place to worship him in. If not, then the whole of the church is nothing more than a common place invented by man, rather than God, but we use it for God, and for common things. How about our own temple? What about the temple that God, in fact built himself. If the premise of nothing goes to God unless it comes from God is true, then we who have come from God should go to God. That is, do we use our temple for common things while it should be set aside for Godly things?  What about the word of God? That is something that certainly came from God and is for God. Do we sport with the word of God, or take it lightly? The whole story of the master and his field, sending servants to see what was happening the way the field workers treated all of them, especially when he sent his son. It was about God sending Jesus, of course. The response of the workers was to evidently kill the son. Also the story about the king having a banquet and invited special guests. Their response was to pay no attention to him and they went off to their own fields to work. We have been entrusted with the word of God. We have been indwelled with the Holy Spirit. How then can we use our words, our thoughts, our actions, or behaviors for common use? This is not to say we cannot go to work, or shop, or mow the lawn, or dine out and enjoy the things God has blessed us with. But the idea of common things, using the traditions of this world, the ideologies of self, the concepts of trusting self over God, is at the heart of the issue. God has given specific instructions as to how we are to walk with him, trust him, obey him, and worship him. When we invent our own ideas of what is acceptable in Christianity, what is alright to engage in, then we may well be in trouble of being cut off from his people. Oh that is harsh. What about his grace, his mercy? Should we continue to sin that God’s grace should abound? God forbid.

Rom 6:1-2

6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means!

NIV

Yet the point remains, God has given specific instructions for that which is to be used for him, nothing that is also to be used for common. So can we be holy and common?