In the first message on the incense we considered the two-way traffic between God and us and between us and God. We saw that the ointment typifies God coming to us in Christ and through Christ, and the incense typifies our going to God in Christ and through Christ. In the second message on the incense we pointed out that with both the ointment and the incense we see the Triune God, divinity, humanity, and Christ’s death and resurrection. We also saw that for the experience of God coming to us in Christ the oil is needed, but for the experience of our going to God in Christ the salt is needed. This means our prayers need to be salted by the effective death of Christ. In the previous message we strongly emphasized our need to have our prayers purified by the salt so that we may offer fragrant incense to God for His satisfaction. Let us now go on to consider the elements of the incense.
The first of the fragrant spices used to make the incense is stacte. The Hebrew word for stacte is nataph. It signifies myrrh, a resinous gum used as purest myrrh. Hence, stacte is another kind of myrrh and signifies the sweet death of Christ. We should remember that the first spice in the anointing oil was also myrrh. This indicates that both for God’s coming to us and for our going to God a basic need is the death of Christ. Without the death of Christ, it would be impossible for us to go to God. Furthermore, it would even be impossible for God to come to us. This was the reason the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). The Lord’s word indicates that if He did not “go away” by dying on the cross for the accomplishment of redemption, there would be no way for God to come into us. When the Lord Jesus was with the disciples, God was present with them. But this was only a partial coming of God to the disciples. While the Lord Jesus was with His disciples in the flesh, God had come to man only halfway. He did not yet have the way to enter into His disciples. Therefore, the Lord had to go away; that is, He had to pass through death to open the way for God to come into fallen man.
The root of the Hebrew word for stacte, nataph, means drop (Job 29:22; S. S. 4:11; see Luke 4:22). We have already pointed out that the myrrh used as an ingredient in the anointing oil has the appearance of tears when it issues out from the tree. Now we see that the root of the Hebrew word for stacte means drop. This is very significant. It indicates that the Lord Jesus shed many tears in His human life. As He walked on earth experiencing the myrrh, He shed many tears. Even as He was ministering, inwardly there was the “dropping” of tears. On the cross there was a great dropping of the Lord’s human life, His soulish life. Because of this, there can be the myrrh, the stacte, as the first element of the incense.
The Hebrew word rendered onycha is shecheleth. This word denotes the shell of a little animal that grows in the marshes of the Red Sea, a shell that is good for medicine and is also used as a spice. This signifies that Christ with His redemptive life died for sinners.
In order for us to be redeemed, there was the need for the second of the Godhead, signified by onycha, to be slain on our behalf. Onycha grows in the marshes of the Red Sea, which signifies the corrupted world. The Lord Jesus became a little “animal” living in the marshes of this corrupted world for thirty-three and a half years. This is the Christ who was crucified to redeem us.
As we have pointed out, the animal life typifies the redeeming aspect of Christ’s life. Therefore, not only does the onycha indicate the death of Christ; it also indicates that the Lord Jesus has a redemptive life and that He lived a redemptive life for us. Then on the cross His redemptive life was given for sinners.