◄ Exodus 30:33 ►
Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.'"
Study Bible
Anyone who mixes perfume like it
This phrase refers to the sacred anointing oil described earlier in Exodus 30. The Hebrew word for "mixes" is "רָקַח" (raqach), which implies a skilled and deliberate act of compounding ingredients. The sacred anointing oil was a unique blend, divinely prescribed, symbolizing holiness and consecration. The act of mixing such a perfume was reserved for a specific purpose, highlighting the importance of maintaining the sanctity of what God has set apart. This serves as a reminder of the reverence due to God's commands and the sacredness of His ordinances.

or puts it on an outsider
The term "outsider" in Hebrew is "זָר" (zar), which can mean a foreigner or someone unauthorized. In the context of the tabernacle, it refers to anyone not consecrated or ordained for priestly service. The anointing oil was not for common use; it was a symbol of divine appointment and blessing. Applying it to an outsider would desecrate its holy purpose. This underscores the theme of separation and holiness that runs throughout the book of Exodus, emphasizing that God's people are to be distinct and set apart for His purposes.

shall be cut off from his people
The phrase "cut off" in Hebrew is "כָּרַת" (karath), which can mean to be excommunicated or even to face death. This severe consequence reflects the gravity of violating God's commands regarding sacred things. It serves as a stern warning to the Israelites about the seriousness of maintaining the holiness of what God has ordained. In a broader sense, it illustrates the principle that disobedience to God's laws leads to separation from the community and, ultimately, from God Himself. This is a call to obedience and reverence, reminding believers of the importance of honoring God's holiness in all aspects of life.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Moses
The leader of the Israelites, who received the laws and instructions from God on Mount Sinai, including the instructions for the anointing oil.

2. Israelites
The chosen people of God, who were given specific laws and instructions to follow as part of their covenant relationship with Him.

3. Anointing Oil
A sacred mixture used for consecrating the priests and the tabernacle, symbolizing holiness and dedication to God.

4. Tabernacle
The portable sanctuary where God dwelled among His people, requiring consecration and holiness.

5. Layman
A non-priestly member of the Israelite community, who was not permitted to use the sacred anointing oil.
Teaching Points
Holiness and Reverence
The anointing oil was a symbol of holiness. We must approach God and His commands with reverence, understanding the sacredness of what He has set apart.

Obedience to God's Commands
The specific instructions regarding the anointing oil remind us of the importance of obedience to God's commands, even in details that may seem minor to us.

Consecration and Dedication
Just as the anointing oil was used to consecrate the priests and the tabernacle, we are called to live lives that are set apart and dedicated to God.

Respect for Sacred Things
The prohibition against using the anointing oil for common purposes teaches us to respect what God has declared holy and to avoid treating sacred things as ordinary.

Community Accountability
The consequence of being "cut off" from the people underscores the importance of community standards and accountability in maintaining holiness.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the concept of holiness in Exodus 30:33 apply to our lives today as believers in Christ?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are treating the things of God with the reverence they deserve?

3. How does the idea of being "cut off" from the community for disobedience relate to church discipline in the New Testament?

4. What are some modern-day equivalents of the anointing oil that we should treat with respect and reverence?

5. How can we, as a "royal priesthood," live lives that are consecrated and dedicated to God in our daily actions and decisions?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Leviticus 10:1-2
The account of Nadab and Abihu, who offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, resulting in their death. This highlights the seriousness of following God's specific instructions.

1 Peter 2:9
Describes believers as a royal priesthood, connecting the concept of holiness and consecration to the New Testament church.

Hebrews 10:29
Discusses the severity of treating the holy things of God with contempt, emphasizing the need for reverence.
Sermons
The Golden Altar and the PerfumeJ. Orr Exodus 30:1-11, 34-38
The Laver and the Anointing OilJ. Orr Exodus 30:17-34
The Anointing OilC. Simeon, M. A.Exodus 30:22-33
The Holy Anointing OilJ. Spencer.Exodus 30:22-33
The Holy Anointing OilJ. G. Murphy, LL. D.Exodus 30:22-33
The Use of Oil in Daily Life and in the Symbolism of WorshipJ. H. Kurtz, D. D.Exodus 30:22-33
People
Aaron, Israelites, Moses
Places
Mount Sinai
Topics
Anyone, Compoundeth, Compounds, Cut, Layman, Makes, Mix, Outsider, Peoples, Perfume, Priest, Puts, Putteth, Strange, Stranger
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 30:22-33

     4492   olive
     7304   anointing

Exodus 30:23-33

     4488   oil

Exodus 30:32-33

     4490   ointment

Exodus 30:33-35

     4496   perfume

Library
The Altar of Incense
'Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon.' --EXODUS xxx. 1. Ceremonies are embodied thoughts. Religious ceremonies are moulded by, and seek to express, the worshipper's conception of his God, and his own relation to Him; his aspirations and his need. Of late years scholars have been busy studying the religions of the more backward races, and explaining rude and repulsive rites by pointing to the often profound and sometimes beautiful ideas underlying them. When that process is applied to Australian …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ransom for Souls --I.
Then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul.' --EXODUS xxx. 12. This remarkable provision had a religious intention. Connect it with the tax-money which Peter found in the fish's mouth. I. Its meaning. Try to realise an Israelite's thoughts at the census. 'I am enrolled among the people and army of God: am I worthy? What am I, to serve so holy a God?' The payment was meant-- (a) To excite the sense of sin. This should be present in all approach to God, in all service; accompanying the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ransom for Souls --ii.
'The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel....'--EXODUS xxx. 15. This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very small amount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in its significance. Notice-- I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God. Contrast the reign of caste and class in heathendom with the democracy of Judaism and of Christianity. II. The universal sinfulness. Payment of the tax was a confession that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

"Whereby we Cry, Abba, Father. "
Rom. viii. 15.--"Whereby we cry, Abba, Father." As there is a light of grace in bestowing such incomparably high dignities and excellent gifts on poor sinners, such as, to make them the sons of God who were the children of the devil, and heirs of a kingdom who were heirs of wrath; so there is a depth of wisdom in the Lord's allowance and manner of dispensing his love and grace in this life. For though the love be wonderful, that we should be called the sons of God; yet, as that apostle speaks, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Jesus Pays the Tribute Money.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29) ^A Matt. XVII. 24-27. ^a 24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the half-shekel? [The law of Moses required from every male of twenty years and upward the payment of a tax of half a shekel for the support of the temple (Ex. xxx. 12-16; II. Chron. xxiv. 5, 6). This tax was collected annually. We are told that a dispute existed between the Pharisees and Sadducees as to whether the payment …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

How a Private Man must Begin the Morning with Piety.
As soon as ever thou awakest in the morning, keep the door of thy heart fast shut, that no earthly thought may enter, before that God come in first; and let him, before all others, have the first place there. So all evil thoughts either will not dare to come in, or shall the easier be kept out; and the heart will more savour of piety and godliness all the day after; but if thy heart be not, at thy first waking, filled with some meditations of God and his word, and dressed, like the lamp in the tabernacle …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Copies of Things in the Heavens
'And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2. On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. 3. And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail. 4. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be set in order upon it; and thou shalt bring in the candlestick, and light the lamps thereof. 5. And thou shalt set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the testimony, and put …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Jesus Attends the First Passover of his Ministry.
(Jerusalem, April 9, a.d. 27.) Subdivision A. Jesus Cleanses the Temple. ^D John II. 13-25. ^d 13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand [We get our information as to the length of our Lord's ministry from John's Gospel. He groups his narrative around six Jewish festivals: 1, He here mentions the first passover; 2, another feast, which we take to have been also a passover (v. 1); 3, another passover (vi. 4); 4, the feast of tabernacles (vii. 2); 5, dedication (x. 22); 6, passover (xi. 55). This …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Annunciation to Zacharias of the Birth of John the Baptist.
(at Jerusalem. Probably b.c. 6.) ^C Luke I. 5-25. ^c 5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa [a Jewish proselyte, an Idumæan or Edomite by birth, founder of the Herodian family, king of Judæa from b.c. 40 to a.d. 4, made such by the Roman Senate on the recommendation of Mark Antony and Octavius Cæsar], a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course [David divided the priests into twenty-four bodies or courses, each course serving in rotation one week in the temple …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Last Events in Galilee - the Tribute-Money, the Dispute by the Way, the Forbidding of Him who could not Follow with the Disciples, and The
Now that the Lord's retreat in the utmost borders of the land, at Cæsarea Philippi, was known to the Scribes, and that He was again surrounded and followed by the multitude, there could be no further object in His retirement. Indeed, the time was coming that He should meet that for which He had been, and was still, preparing the minds of His disciples - His Decease at Jerusalem. Accordingly, we find Him once more with His disciples in Galilee - not to abide there, [3743] nor to traverse it …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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