The Golden Altar, in a full size replica of the Israelite Tabernacle (Mishkan) in Timna valley, Israel; Ori229, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
After the time of Abraham (approximately 1950 BC), the incense trade land routes through the wilderness were beginning to be set in place. Ancient religions used incenses in their worship. By the time of Joseph, (1600 BC), traders traveled between Gilead (balm) and Egypt to sell their wares. These men were Abraham’s descendants.
When Joseph was 17, his brothers sold him to passing Ishmaelite and Midian traders heading toward Egypt, coming from Gilead with labdanum resin, balsam and myrrh to sell. (Genesis 37:20-39) God can use anyone—believers and unbelievers—for His own purposes. He used the Midianites and the Ishmaelites to move Joseph into Egypt for a reason. (Genesis 50:20)
There, the young man became a slave. Slavery existed in Egypt prior to Joseph’s arrival and continued through the time of Moses.
BackStory: Abraham had three wives, to whom each bore sons. Hagar was the mother of the Ishmaelites. Keturah was the mother of the Midianites. Sarah was the mother of the Israelites. At the time of Joseph, there were only a few generations between the men. They were able to trade with each other.
The Ishmaelites and the Midianites worked together along the incense trade route, extending from present day Yemen up through all the Middle East and west into Africa (Egypt).
Before Abraham died, he sent Hagar and Ishmael away into the wilderness to live. Later, he also sent Keturah to the east with her sons, giving them gifts. (Genesis 25:6)
Ishamel had a son named Mibsam. Mibsam means “spice, balsam tree,” or “sweet smell.” His name refers to a product that was traded along the incense route. Names in the Scriptures are significant and for a purpose. According to his given name, he was a trader of incense.
The Ishmaelites were the descendants of Abraham through Hagar, Sarah’s servant. (Genesis 25:12-15) The 12 tribes of Ishmael settled from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt, as one goes toward Assyria. (Genesis 25:18)
The Midianites were the descendants Midian, a son of Abraham through his wife, Keturah. (Genesis 25:1) They had others sons, including Jokshan, who was the father of Sheba. (Genesis 25:2-3)
Sheba became a kingdom in the south. During the time of Solomon it had a royal ruler known as the Queen of Sheba. She visited King Solomon, bringing with her a very large gift of balsam oil, a tree sap resin. (1Kings 10:10) She was extremely wealthy and had access to significant amounts of resins from the balsam tree. (Ezekiel 27:22) An inscription in Ancient South Arabian (Sabaean) about the visit of the Queen of Sheba was found on a resin pot remnant in Jerusalem. The Sabeans or the Kingdom of Sheba is known as Yemen today. (Times of Israel)
Sheba’s brother was called Dedan. (Genesis 25:3) The sons of Dedan became traders, traveling to many coastlands, carrying ivory tusks and ebony. (Ezekiel 27:15) Their home base was an oasis called “Dedan” (al-Ula, Saudi Arabia). It was a stopping place along the incense trade route and is found in the northwest Arabian Peninsula.
Keturah was the mother of the Midianites, Sheba, Dedan and other wealthy nations. (Job 6:19) Her name means “incense.”
Isaac, the son of Sarah, lived by Beer-lahai-roi, between Kadesh and Bered (southern Judah). This area was a wilderness desert. (Genesis 16:14, 25:11)
Abraham had been a wanderer. His sons too became nomads. They were well suited to desert life, having grown up as an unsettled people.
At the time of Joseph, a famine swept through the wilderness of Jacob. Joseph had been raised up by God to power for the preservation of peoples, those of Egypt and those who would take refuge in the land. (Genesis 50:20)
God used the Egyptians and Egypt to benefit His people.
Jacob, his sons, grandchildren and their families, 70 in all, went to Egypt to live. (Deuteronomy 10:22) These were the founding family of the nation of Israel. (Genesis 32:26-28) After 400 years and slavery, they came out of the land as a great nation. (Deuteronomy 26:5-9) With them came a variety of other peoples, also descendants of slaves in Egypt from other regions. They were a mixed people, with the Hebrew speakers—that is the Israelites, as the core. (Exodus 12:38)
God had raised up Moses to help deliver his people from slavery. He returned to Egypt where he had grown up as an adopted son of Pharaoh’s royal family. He came from Midian with his wife, a Midianite. (Exodus 2:16-22)
In the wilderness, God commanded Moses to create a holy incense suitable only for use in the tabernacle. Its ingredients were: stacte, onycha, galbanum, spices and pure frankincense. Each Israelite leader from the 12 tribes presented a gold bowl of incense for the tabernacle’s dedication. (Numbers 7) These are a type of the gold bowl of prayers kept by God in heaven.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take for yourself spices—stacte, onycha, and galbanum, spices and pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.” (Exodus 30:34)
Stacte is naw-tawf in the Hebrew, meaning “drop, an aromatic gum resin of a shrub.” The root word is naw-taf, meaning “to drop, prophesy, preach.” This substance is symbolic of the prophesy and teaching given by God to His people through Jesus. It came in drops, here a little, there a little. It is extremely valuable, just as the resin was.
Listed second, is onycha, called shekh-ay’-leth in the Hebrew. The root word is shakh’-al meaning “lion.” It has an unused root meaning “to roar.” This element symbolizes Jesus as the Lion who roars at times. He is the One who has overcome. (Revelation 5:5)
Third, is the incense ingredient galbanum, called khel-ben-aw in Hebrew, which was a kind of resin from a tree. Its root is kheh’-leb, meaning “fat” or the “choicest, best part,” or “abundance.” The best part of the animal sacrifices, the fat, was to be given completely to the Lord. Jesus was the best part of God, given as the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 10:9-10)
Finally, pure frankincense was included. Pureness symbolizes “without sin.” Jesus was the only sinless sacrifice ever given. (1John 3:3) The Hebrew word for “pure” is zak, also meaning “the pure one.” Its root word is zaw-kak, which can mean “to be pure, be bright” or “to cleanse, make clean.” Jesus wasn’t just the Pure One, He is also the only One who takes away sin. (John 1:29)
The frankincense was a white resin called leb-o-naw’. Whiteness symbolizes purity. The wise men from the East brought frankincense as a gift for the Christ Child to Bethlehem. They would have followed the well-established incense trade route, known as the Ridge Route, coming first to Jerusalem, a key stopping place, before going to Bethlehem.
The root word of leb-o-naw’ is law-bawn’, also meaning “white.” Its primitive root is law-ban’ meaning “to be white,” or “to make white, purify.” Jesus stood atop a high mountain, shining with brilliant whiteness. (Matthew 17:1-2) Jesus took the sins of the world upon Himself (1Peter 2:24) to purify a people for Himself—those who believe that Jesus is Lord. To be purified is to be cleansed by Jesus. (Titus 2:14)
Equal parts of these components were to be mixed together to create the holy incense. They were considered to be sweet, as the Word of God is sweet. (Psalm 119:103) His people are the aroma of Christ to God (2Corinthians 2:15-16). Their prayers as incense before Him. (Revelation 5:8) Kept before the Lord, valued, and remembered forever. (Revelation 8:3-4)
The ingredients of the holy incense were four-part, pointing to the four points of the cross and to the four Gospels. Together the four books—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, give a complete picture of the Lord.
The mixture of the holy incense for the tabernacle is a type of the Lord Jesus. It also represents the prayers of God’s people. Prayer must go through Lord Jesus or it will not reach God. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
In the tabernacle, the priest was to burn the incense upon the golden altar in the morning and again in the evening within the holy place, just outside the veil.
Aaron, Moses’ brother, was consecrated as high priest in the wilderness. He was selected by God to burn the holy incense. Aaron had two sons, Nadab and Abihu, who decided to burn the incense upon the golden altar. However, they did not follow God’s direction and chose to burn “strange fire.” The two chose to take the holy incense and offer it in their own way, in their own time, even taking it behind the veil and into the Holy of Holies. (Leviticus 10)
Fire from the presence of the Lord came out and the two men died.
“Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses:
“‘Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the atoning cover which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the atoning cover.’” (Leviticus 16:1-2)
God’s ways are put in place for a reason. They are boundaries, for the reverence of the Lord and for the protection of His people.
“‘Among those who approach me
I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
I will be honored.’” (Leviticus 10:3)
The two brothers’ behavior was considered “unlawful” by God. Nadab means “generous;” its root word is naw-dab, meaning “to incite.” To incite means “to stir up unlawful behavior.” This ungodly idea was Nadab’s, as his name is also mentioned first.
Abihu means “he is my father.” The first root word of Abihu is awb, meaning “father of an individual” or “of God as father to His people.” Together the two sons stirred up ungodly and unlawful behavior before God the Father. These men were Levites, sons of Aaron. They were to set an example. Pride interfered.
God’s ways, not man’s must be followed, especially when in desert places. Christian leaders are held to a higher standard by God. (1Timothy 3:1-13, James 3:1)
Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s other two sons were also priests; they would continue serving God under Aaron’s supervision. (Numbers 3:4)
Those who will not follow God’s ways will be replaced.
In the wilderness, the types continued. An inner circle of three: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. The 12 sons of Jacob became the 12 tribes of Israel, each with a leader.
The 70 in Jacob’s family became the 70 under Moses’ authority. (Numbers 11:16-17, 24)
Jesus began His ministry with the inner circle: Peter, James and John, who were a part of the 12 disciples. He sent out 70/72 men who had spiritual authority. (Luke 10:1)
This is God’s authority structure within the church and is necessary for godly leadership, as set in place by God in both the Old and New Testaments.
In the wilderness the Israelites were discontent. They complained about the manna, and craved other food. (Numbers 11:4) The people whined, were unthankful, and contrasted their present life to their old lives as slaves in Egypt. They were blind to God’s mercy, goodness, love and grace.
Much of the western church leadership have this same attitude today. Discontent with what they have, they seek to build churches which function as corporations with a CEO at the top. Instead of teaching about Jesus, the “CEO” seeks to build up numbers of members for the benefit of loans from the banks and large income from tithes. This reeks of the love of power and money. It smells of pride. As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. (Proverbs 23:7)
Scripture says: Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5)
The Israelites displayed jealousy within its leadership: Miriam and Aaron were jealous of their brother Moses, who is described as an extremely humble man. (Numbers 12:1-3) Joshua also became jealous of two men prophesying in the camp. (Numbers 11:26-29)
Within the western church there is jealousy, even hostile takeovers of leadership positions. Lies. Deceit. Betrayal. Usurpment. It leads to whole congregations being misled to follow a leader not put in place by God.
Once again, these behaviors reek of the love of money and power.
Within the church, leadership cannot be one man, but three people, for checks and balance.
The Israelites had issues with pride—thinking too much of themselves. This is illustrated by Miriam and Aaron’s words, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” (Numbers 12:2)
Pride is a problem in the leadership of the western church. Pastors want to be photographed shaking hands with important public officials, they like to boast about the numbers of their congregants and tell how many individual congregations are under their authority. They seek to control their religious kingdoms through nepotism. These “leaders” are placing themselves above God and Scripture.
Jesus often encountered pride among His disciples. Peter actually argued with Jesus about going to the cross. Pride is a sin. Jesus identified it as being the work of satan. “Get behind Me satan!” (Matthew 16:23)
The disciples also struggled together with deciding who was the greatest among themselves. (Luke 9:46-48)
Before Jesus went to the cross, He Himself humbled Himself and washed His disciples’ feet, as a house servant would. In the true Kingdom, humility is recognized as good. Jesus said, “For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48)
Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Moses sent 12 men into the land of Canaan to have a look at it and its people prior to the entrance of all the Israelites. Only Caleb and Joshua, two of the 12, believed that the Israelites could take the land with God’s help. but the remainder of the 12 who had crossed over, stated that it was too dangerous and could not be done. The people became afraid. They wished they had never left Egypt. They wished that they were dead!
Only Moses, Aaron, Caleb and Joshua believed that the nation should move into Canaan. For this, the people called for their stoning. (Numbers 13-14)
Weak leadership will cause the people to turn to fear instead to God for help. Fear begets rebellion.
God decided that the Israelites would wait 40 years to enter their land. All adults except for Caleb and Joshua died. The leadership had failed the people. Only the children that had grown up, away from Egypt and slavery, and had lived under God’s sovereign direction were able to enter Canaan.
Weak leadership will allow people to die instead of trusting God.
The Pharisees, part of the 70 in the Sanhedrin, were warned by Jesus “You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:13)
Instead, the priests and rabbis were using the Law to their own benefit—even taking advantage of poor widows! (Mark 12:40)
There are those in church leadership today who do the same—demanding that their churches receive what widows are entitled to.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.” (Luke 16:15)
Jesus called these men “hypocrites.” (Matthew 23:15)
The leadership of the Sanhedrin was no different than many pastors today. Like the two who returned from spying out Canaan, and believed the people should follow God’s plan, (Joshua and Caleb), only Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, Pharisees from the Sanhedrin, were the two mentioned in Scripture who followed God’s plan to receive Jesus.
In the wilderness, Korah—a Levite, led a rebellion. He wanted a position higher than he had been given. This was the result of ingratitude, pride and jealousy toward Moses and Aaron. The rebellion was actually against God and His ordained order. (Numbers 16:11)
Moses spoke to God about this situation. The Lord is sovereign, the decisions about how to handle the circumstance were His.
Afterward, Moses instructed Korah and his 250 followers to come with censers and incense before the Lord. The work of lighting the incense upon the golden altar was the work of Aaron, to which Korah wished to attain. (Exodus 30:7-8)
Aaron, the true high priest, was also told to come up with his censer and incense.
Moses first approached the Reubenites who had aligned themselves with Korah. Following behind Moses were the elders of Israel. (Numbers 16:25)
Moses warned the others to move away from the wicked men. (Numbers 16:26) The earth swallowed them and their households alive. False attempts at leadership and hostile takeovers affect not just those who participate in such acts, but also their families. (Numbers 16:26-33)
Then fire came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 with the censers and incense. (Numbers 16:35) Leadership within the church cannot be achieved, it must be received from God. There is a price to pay for usurping God’s leadership and that of His ordained leaders. The wages of sin is death.
God, not popular opinion, had decided the outcome.
Jesus chose three fishermen to become His inner circle—Peter, James and John. The men were very close to each other: James and John were brothers and fishing partners with Peter. (Luke 5:10) God uses threes.
The inner circle, the three, were also members of the 12 disciples. They were leaders within a powerhouse. Together they left their earthly trade and devoted themselves to Lord Jesus—living with and learning from Him.
These men did not choose Christ first. Jesus chose them. (Ephesians 1:4)
These men, simple as they were, are the type of devoted men God is looking for to lead His church in the wilderness. In the deserts, life is hard. One must be prepared to rely on Jesus and His bounty instead of what one can earn. Men who build kingdoms through their own achievements cannot survive difficult times, therefore, they will not be good leaders.
Peter, James and John went on to serve the Lord after His ascension. Peter was a leader and preacher of the Early Church. (John 21:15-19) James was the first listed martyr for Jesus. (Acts 12:1-2) John wrote a Gospel, 1, 2, 3 John and the book of Revelation during his exile.
These men did not choose their ministries. Jesus gave them their positions and ministries.
Most western pastors have not endured difficulties, persecution, hunger, or poverty. They will not be ready for wilderness times.
After Korah and the 250 rebels died, the people blamed Moses and Aaron. A plague broke out among the Israelites. Both Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before God for mercy. Moses then instructed Aaron to take incense in a censer with burning coals and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Aaron did. And he ran into the middle of the people. There he stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 14,700 people had died from the plague. (Numbers 16:41-50)
The incense is a type of Lord Jesus as Intercessor. (Romans 8:34) Aaron, the high priest, is also a type of the Lord. As Aaron stood between life and death, so Jesus stands in the gap for His people in the wilderness between life and death—to separate them, to stop death. Jesus said, “I am the life.” (John 11:25)
Aaron held the censer with the incense. Jesus holds the power of prayer.
As the incense was taken into the midst of the assembly, so is prayer given in the midst of the people. With prayer, time is of the essence. Aaron had to hurry. So too does Jesus hurry to assist His own.
Aaron’s priesthood was a gift from God. No one else could do his work or they would die. Jesus became the eternal High Priest. (Hebrews 4:14-16, 7:23-28)
In the desert, the Israelites were a “mixed multitude,” or ereb in the Hebrew, meaning “as mixed, interwoven, knitted material, a mixed people.” These were descendants of the Egyptian slaves taken in conflicts and from the slave trade. They spoke many languages, coming from: the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine), Babylon, Nubia, Libya, Midian and Egypt.
Moses was educated in the knowledge of Egypt. He would have learned how to read and possibly write Middle Babylonian, the lingua franca of the diplomatic world, that included Egypt. (Acts 7:22) His first wife spoke Midianite, an ancient Semitic language related to Hebrew. His second wife was an Ethiopian (Numbers 12:1). Some Nubians (Ethiopia/Sudan), were slaves in Egypt since the time of Joseph and they too left with the Hebrews.
The Kenites, descendants of the Midianites and in-laws to Moses, joined the Israelites. (Numbers 10:29)
Together, this mixed people, with a core nucleus of Hebrews, became the people of the desert for 40 years. Together they carried the hope of the Messiah to come, understanding that Yahweh was their own personal Messiah.
These people are a type of the church come out of slavery, with the Hebrew speakers as the core and the Gentiles a part of the mixed multitude. (Acts 26:23)
As the Israelites traveled through the wilderness for 40 years, Aaron and his sons would prepare the golden altar for burning incense and all things associated with it for each move.
Numbers 4:11: “Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.”
The blue cloth symbolizes heavenly things. The leather represents the Lord’s physical body. The golden altar is a type of the godly work of the Lord, who is the connection of prayer between God and man. Jesus returned to God the Father, physically ascending to His place beside Him, where He continues to intercede for believers. (Acts 1:9-11)
The temple pieces were made according to God’s pattern as they were in heaven. Before His birth 2,000 years ago, Jesus was in heaven with God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-7)
Aaron entered the Holy of Holies alone once a year, on the Day of Atonement, in a specific manner. (Leviticus 16) He was to take a firepan full of coals (a censer) of fire from the altar before the Lord with two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. As Aaron went into the Holy of Holies, the incense cloud would cover the mercy seat, protecting Aaron from God’s glory and his own death.
The golden altar was made of wood with four horns on the corners, then was covered over with gold. It was a type of the glorified spiritual work of Jesus at the cross. On the Day of Atonement, blood was put on the horns of the altar of incense to cleanse it. There would be no connection to God without the atonement for sins.
The blood came from the bronze altar, where the sin sacrifice was made. It is a type of the cross of Christ to come. There is no pathway for prayer through Jesus without His blood sacrifice at the cross.
Incense, a type of believers’ prayer, asks God to protect them from death. The prayers (Romans 8:34), the flesh (Hebrews 10:20) and the blood (Ephesians 2:11-13) of Jesus to the Father are each a part of what enables believers to come before God in prayer.
As the incense was burned, it was also a type of God’s people praying for the Savior to come.
Incense continued to be used during David (Psalm 141:2) and Solomon’s reigns. The practice was still in place around the time of Jesus’ birth in the Jerusalem temple. (Luke 1:10) Today, many branches of the church keep the practice of burning incense in censers during services in honor of God, Jesus, and His holy work.
Incense and prayer are in union before God. (Revelation 8:4)
In Luke 1:9-10, Zechariah is the priest who would burn the incense in the temple. Outside the holy place, the people were gathered in prayer. This occurred both in the morning and in the evening, when the incense was burned. (Psalm 141:2) In the wilderness, at the beginning of the tabernacle and the altar of incense, prayer by the people to Yahweh began. Prayer was in several languages, according to one’s tongue.
At the church’s beginning, many people believed in Jesus and spoke various languages—the Canaanite woman, the man from Decapolis, the Greek Jews, Romans and many others at Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-12) Each person prays to God in his or her own tongue. Prayer should be made to God communally in the evening and in the morning, just as the incense was burnt at those times.
Some church denominations continue to keep the times of prayer both evening and morning.
As God came to help His people, the Israelites in the wilderness, so too He sent Jesus to help His people. (Luke 7:16)
Though incense was used in pagan worship, God meant it for good to be used by believers in the tabernacle and temple, as a type of His Son, the Messiah to come.
Though Joseph was sold as a slave to Egypt, he said to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)
Though the wilderness was a tough place to live, God meant it for good, using the circumstances to sanctify His people, preparing them to carry the Scriptures and the Savior into the world.
Though the early church experienced persecution, God used it for good, thus spreading the Gospel across the Old World, creating a mixed people for Himself.
Though Romans and the Sanhedrin came against Jesus, God meant the cross for good, to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive in heaven—that is eternal life.
God uses unbelievers, evil and horrible circumstances from this fallen world to achieve His will. Nothing can usurp the power of the true and living God.
(C) Kelly Jadon, 2025