Exodus 30: Holy Cologne

You can tell what someone has been around, not just by what they say, but by what they carry. Exodus 30 takes that idea and turns it into a vivid image: a holy fragrance so unique it marked the tabernacle, the priests, and everything set apart for God. We use Pastor Brandon’s “holy cologne” story to connect an ancient recipe for anointing oil to a modern question that gets uncomfortably real: what does my life “smell like” to the people closest to me?

We walk through the key movements of Exodus 30, including the altar of incense and its daily rhythm of morning and evening worship, the census ransom offering, and the bronze wash basin that underscores how seriously God treats holiness. Along the way, we talk about how Jewish tradition viewed the incense smoke as a symbol of prayer rising to God, and why the Bible warns against taking what is sacred and turning it into something casual or common.

Then we slow down on the anointing oil and the holy incense, the specific ingredients, and the strict boundaries God sets around their use. That uniqueness becomes the point: when you spend time in the presence of God, it should leave a mark. Not perfection, not hype, but a different kind of character, a different kind of peace, and a different kind of hope that people do not find everywhere else. If our habits shape us, what habits are shaping you right now?

Subscribe for a daily chapter-by-chapter Bible breakdown, share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a five-star review so more people can find the show. What do you want your life to “smell like” this week?

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Setup

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Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

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Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Exodus chapter 30, and today's title is Holy Cologne. Holy cologne. I used to know a guy who he had this very special type of cologne that he would put on, and he put all of it on. I mean, there was there had to be none left in the bottle every single day. You could smell it on him before he entered the room, but it smelled good. So you didn't care. You were very happy that he was in the room because it smelled so good. And it was one of those where, as long as I knew him for years, he only wore the exact same kind, so that after a while, you knew if he had been there, because you could smell it. And people knew if you'd been around him, because you could smell it on them. Well, I think about that when I think about today's chapter, because all throughout the rest of the Bible, when you hear of the priest using anointing oil and all this kind of stuff with anointing oil, they would make it in a very special way that we're going to learn about today. And so we're going to talk about that and talk about the very special smell that it would have and that you can actually smell it today if you want to. So we'll get all that in just a moment. So we'll get you Bibles, get your Bible journals, get your coffee, get your soda, whatever it is you need. Also make sure you take just a moment, like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you go into the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. You can get all

Holy Cologne And A Holy Pattern

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that information at the Biblebreakdown.com because the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you were with us yesterday, we were talking about the priests being anointed and all the different things where God is getting the house of worship ready for worship. And God is giving these instructions to Moses while he is on Mount Sinai. He is on Mount Sinai for a total of 40 days getting these instructions. And excuse me, we're going to talk about in a couple days what the wonderful nation of Israel was doing while he's getting the pattern for worship. But this is another thing that he is doing today is he is getting the pattern for how to make the anointing oil. And this is important because this anointing oil is going to be used for all kinds of different things. And the smell is going to be so unique and so strong that wherever you go in the land, there's only one smell like it, and nothing else is quite like this. And that's how people will know that you've been to the house of God is because you smell like the very presence of God. And I'll go ahead and give you spoiler alert. What do you smell like? You smell like the presence of God, or do you smell like the presence of something else? We'll get into all that in just a moment. First, let's read about God's word and about the altar of incense, all these things, and the anointing oil. So chapter 30, verse 1 says this. Then make another altar of acacia wood for burning incense. Make it 18 inches square and 36 inches high with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself. Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar. Make two gold rings and attach them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold moulding to hold the carrying poles. Make these poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Place the incense altar just outside the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant in front of the ark's cover, the place of atonement that covers the tablets inscribe with the terms of the covenant, and I will meet with you there. Every morning when Aaron maintains the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar, and each evening when he lights the lamps, he must again burn incense in the Lord's presence. This must be done from generation to generation. Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar for any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or liquid offerings. Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by smearing its horns with blood from the offering made to purify the people from their sins. This will be a regular annual event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord's most holy altar. Now pause. There is an old Jewish historical claim. It's either in the Midrash or it's in the Talmud that says that whenever they would burn incense, that the incense from this altar never went to the left or to the right, no matter whether or not the wind was blowing, it always went straight up, supernaturally went straight up before God, because this is a symbol of the continual prayer of worship going up before God. And the fact that the smoke never went to the left or to the right, but straight up was a symbol of it going straight up before God. Very interesting idea. Right? All right, verse 11. Then the Lord said to Moses, Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them. Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the Lord. This payment is half a shekel, based on the sanctuary shekel, which equals twenty garas. All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this sacred offering to the Lord. When this offering is given to the Lord to purify your lives, making it right with him, the rich must not give more than the specified amount, and the poor must must not give less. Receive this ransom of money from the Israelites, and use it for the care of the tabernacle. It will bring the Israelites to the Lord's attention, and it will purify your lives. Then the Lord said to Moses, Make a bronze wash basin with bronze stands. Place it between the tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there. They must wash the water whenever they go into the tabernacle to appear before the Lord, and when they approach the altar to burn up the special gifts to the Lord, or they will die. They must always wash their hands and feet, or they will die. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be observed from generation to generation. Then the Lord said to Moses, Collect choice spices, twelve and a half pounds of pure myrrh, six and one fourth pounds of fragrant cinnamon, six and one-fourth pounds of fragrant calamus, and twelve and one half pounds of cacia, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. Also get one gallon of olive oil. Like a skilled incense maker, blend these ingredients to make a holy anointing oil. Use this sacred oil to anoint the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and all its accessories, the incense altar, the altar of burnt offerings and all its utensils, and the wash basin with its stand. Consecrate them to make them absolutely holy. After this, whatever touches them will also become holy. Anoint Aaron and his sons also, consecrating them to serve me as priests. And say to the people of Israel, This holy anointing oil is reserved for me from generation to generation. It must never be used to anoint anything else. You must never make it any any blend of it like this for yourselves. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. Anyone who makes a blend like this or anoints someone other than the priest will be cut off from the community. Then the Lord said to Moses, Gather fragrant

The Anointing Oil And Holy Incense

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spices, resin droplets, mollusks shell, and galbum, and mix the fragrant spices with pure frankincense, weighed out in equal amounts. Using the usual techniques of the incense maker, blend the spices together and sprinkle them with salt to produce a pure and holy incense. Grind some of the mixture into the very fine flour and put it in front of the Ark of the Covenant, or I will meet with you in the tabernacle. You must treat this incense as most holy. Never use this formula to make any incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the Lord, and you must treat it as holy. Anyone who makes incense like this for personal use will be cut off from the community. So I have been told that if you go to Israel right now, you can buy the stuff that it says not to do. It says, do not make this oil except for worship, or you'll be cut off from your people. But I have been told that if you go to Israel, they have put all this together and you can buy it. So let me tell you, smell it, but I wouldn't buy it because the Bible says not to, and he says to not use it on anything other than the tabernacle. So maybe you don't do that, right? But most of the oil you have today in churches, it's olive oil. I had someone who went to Israel one time and they brought me back, uh brought back to me some oil that was made out of frankincense. And it smells wonderful. And it's you can tell if someone has put that on because it just has a very particular smell. And that was one of the things that I love that God said about this oil. He said, I'm gonna give you the ingredients and it's gonna create this very unique smell. If you've ever smelled any of these things, put them together, it smells very, very unique, would have smelled wonderful, to be honest with you. And then he says, only use it to anoint the things of my house and only use it in my house. So if you go anywhere after you've been in my house, people will know. And people will know if you've been in my presence. And if you remember, just like I was telling you at the beginning of our podcast, I had that friend of mine who you could always tell where he had been because he he smelled one way coming in, he smelled the same way going out, and it was a good smell, but it was a very particular smell. To the point that if somebody else were to have worn his cologne, they would have felt like, okay, that's not right. And that belongs to this guy, even though I never smelled it anywhere else. It was just, it was just his, it was unique. And you could tell if he'd been there. And

Character Reveals What You’ve Been Near

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that that is so convicting to me because you know what I want in my life, and I bet you do too, and that is I want people to know that God has been there. I want, I want people to not smell me, you know, uh figuratively. I want them to smell the presence of God. I want them to know he has been with the Lord. And you know what we tend to smell like, if I can say it like that, what we're around the most. As I was telling you also at the beginning, you could tell if one of my friends, or I could tell if one of my friends had been around this other guy, because you could smell it. Because he he just would just wear up. That's how much. I mean, like I said, he he used the whole bottle, right? And the thing is, is whatever we tend to be around the most, whatever we let into our lives the most, is what we intend to give back out into the world. And so if we are constantly, you know, looking or listening or doing things that are not holy, we start to emulate that. You know, there's an old phrase that says, birds of a feather flock together. So in other words, you tend to hang around what you are, but at the same time, it's the other way. I've heard someone say, You show me your friends, I will show you your future. Because we also tend to emulate, start to look like the things that we're around the most. And so one of the ways you can tell if someone's been spending time in the presence of God is their character. What do they look like? You know, as far as in the way they treat people, how do they act? What is the sense that you get from them when you're around them? You know, it doesn't mean that they're always happy. It doesn't mean they're always having the best day of their life, but are all they are they always falling forward into God's presence? Even in the darkest moment of their life, are they getting closer to God? I'm gonna ask you this question figuratively, not physically, but figuratively, what do you smell like? Do you smell like the presence of God? Do you do you have this relationship with God where people say there's something different about you? I don't see that anywhere else. What is that? And so it's not me, it's who I know. And his name is Jesus. Just like in this chapter, if you went into the presence of God, people would know. Because there's no other smell like that anywhere else, there's nothing like somebody who loves Jesus. Once again, it doesn't mean they're perfect. They may have 99 issues. It's just they got one God who is helping them along the way. What do you smell like? And what course correction

Prayer And Final Encouragement

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do you need to make today? Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. I thank you, God, that your presence is one of a kind. Nowhere else can we go in this entire world and can we experience what we experience in you? The peace, the joy, the confident hope of knowing that you're for us. I pray today, God, you open our eyes to see you more clearly, help us follow you more faithfully. And Lord, I pray that the fragrance of our relationship with you be evident to all, not as a way to impress others, but as a way to say, This is my God. I am proud to be a son and daughter in the kingdom of God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And what God's Word says in Exodus 6, verse 6, it says, I will free you from your oppression and I will rescue you from slavery. I'm so glad to serve a God of freedom. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Exodus chapter 31.