Lessons from the Biblical Apothecary #7

Friday, February 21, 2025

“And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil” (Exodus 30:25 KJV).

Let us learn some lessons from the biblical apothecary….

From the Book of Hebrews, which enlarges upon Jeremiah 31:31-34, we discover the Old Covenant was temporary and will be replaced by the New Covenant (see particularly Hebrews chapters 8–10). Considering that change, Messiah (Jesus Christ) speaks to Father God: “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:6-8). Hebrews 10:5-9 interprets this as Messiah submitting to Father’s will to sacrifice Himself on Calvary’s cruel cross, the foundation for the New Covenant.

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;…” (Hebrews 10:10-12). This “offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” is described in Ephesians 5:1,2 as: “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.”

Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary was “a sweetsmelling savour”—just as pleasant to God’s nostrils as those aromas of the anointing oil and the perfume or incense (the context of today’s Scripture). The stench of the spiritual decay of our sin debt is overwhelmed by the blood sacrifice of the sinless Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, that does not deter works-religionist man from offering his own righteousness, his reeking “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and stinky “dung” (Philippians 3:8), bragging, “I can be just as good as Jesus!” If nothing else, may the “sweetsmelling savour” of Calvary at least discourage us Christians from resurrecting the buried, rotting old man to boast, “I can live the Christian life!”