Exodus 30:22-38

v. 22-33

God instructs Moses to have the perfumers create a special anointing oil. With this oil, the tent of meeting and its furnishings were to be consecrated along with the priests. The application of the oil signified that these things were to be holy, set apart from common use for the purpose of ministry. The punishment for creating or applying this kind of oil outside the ministry of the tent of meeting was exile.

I don’t think there is anything particularly special about the particular mixture used to create this anointing oil. I think it did symbolize God’s own holiness. He is not common. He is entirely unique, the only one of His kind. God deserves our respect. Though He desires to dwell with His people, He never desires to be considered as common.

This instruction prevented people from turning the ministry into an industry and marketing spiritual things (like we see today with holy water from the dead sea or so called relics). The tent of meeting was set apart as a place to actually hear from God. The priests were set apart, not to program some kind of attractional ministry, but to minister to the people who actually loved God. God was not for sale, and He certainly would not be used so that the rich could build their kingdoms on the backs of laymen.

v. 34-38

There was the same punishment (exile) for those who used the unique incense that was to be burned only on the altar for common use for the same reasons. 1) God is holy and is not common. 2) Religion was not to be marketed for anyone’s personal gain. This being said, religion is good. When evil people use religion to gain for themselves, that religion, like politics or science or social clubs or anything else, can hurt people. Our desire is not to reject religion but, instead, to have healthy religion—religion by which we visit orphans and widows in their distress, and keep ourselves unstained by the world (cf. James 1:27; Isaiah 1:17, 23). When practiced rightly, healthy religion is good for the world.