Exodus 30

¹“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense. ²It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece. ³Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it. ⁴And make two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. ⁵Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ⁶Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony —before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you. ⁷And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps. ⁸When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come. ⁹On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it. ¹⁰Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.” ¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹²“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered. ¹³Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD. ¹⁴Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD. ¹⁵In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less. ¹⁶Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD to make atonement for your lives.” ¹⁷And the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁸“You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it, ¹⁹with which Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet. ²⁰Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made by fire to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die. ²¹Thus they are to wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this shall be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.” ²²Then the LORD said to Moses, ²³“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (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. ²⁵Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil. ²⁶Use this oil to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, ²⁷the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, ²⁸the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. ²⁹You are to consecrate them so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. ³⁰Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests. ³¹And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘This will be My sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. ³²It must not be used to anoint an ordinary man, and you must not make anything like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. ³³Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’” ³⁴The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense—in equal measures, ³⁵and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶Grind some of it into fine 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. ³⁷You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD. ³⁸Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”

Life is short. Where are you going?

You just read God’s own words, and one day every one of us will stand before Him. “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). This life will be over sooner than you think — do you know where you are going when it is?

The Bible says, “Man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). If you died today, would you be ready?

Are you a good person?

Most of us think we are. But God doesn’t measure us against other people — He measures us by His Law. Look honestly at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17):

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet.

Have you ever told a lie — even a small one? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t yours? Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word? Have you ever wanted what belongs to someone else? Jesus said that anyone who looks with lust “has already committed adultery … in his heart” (Matthew 5:28), and the Bible says “everyone who hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).

If we’re honest, we have all broken God’s Law — and “whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). “There is no one righteous, not even one … there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12).

That leaves every one of us guilty before a holy God. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). This is why our world is full of tragedy — and without Christ, every life ends in the greatest tragedy of all.

But God made a way

“God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, and on the cross He took the punishment we deserved: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Three days later He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).

It’s like standing guilty in court when the judge steps down and pays your fine himself. Forgiveness is a free gift — you can’t earn it: “It is by grace you have been saved through faith … it is the gift of God, not by works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” Jesus — John 10:10

What will you do with Jesus?

“Repent and believe in the gospel!” (Mark 1:15). Turn from your sin, and put your trust in Jesus alone — “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Don’t put it off — “now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

And when you turn to Him, you won’t be met with a frown — you’ll be met with a celebration. Jesus said, “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). He is “mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness … He will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Like the father who ran to embrace his lost son, He is waiting with open arms — and heaven throws a party when you come home (Luke 15:20–24).

If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Today you can be forgiven, made new, and have real, abundant life — now and forever.

Join the Party — give my life to Jesus Find a Party — a church near me

Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is in the public domain.