The Hebrew word for galbanum is chelebnah. This denotes a resinous gum. As the third element in the incense, galbanum signifies the powerful death of Christ’s generating life.
The root of the Hebrew word for galbanum means fat, and the word ending means weeping. Fat signifies that Christ lived a life that was absolutely for God. This is the significance of the fat of the burnt offering. While He lived such a life absolutely for God, Christ wept for those who were not for God. On the one hand, He Himself lived a life absolutely for God; on the other hand, He wept for those who did not care for God.
The odor of galbanum as a resinous gum was exceedingly strong, disagreeable, unpleasant, and offensive. This unpleasant odor has three strange functions. First, although by itself it is offensive, it strengthens the fragrance of the other odors. When this spice is added to the other spices, the fragrance of the other spices is increased.
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He certainly was offensive to the Pharisees and Sadducees. His rebuke of the Pharisees offended them to the uttermost. According to Matthew 23:33, He called them “serpents, brood of vipers.” How strong and offensive the Lord was! Nevertheless, as the galbanum, He strengthened the fragrance of the other odors.
Myrrh is fragrant, and onycha gives off a pleasant fragrance when it is burned. The more onycha is burned, the more pleasant is its fragrance. Therefore, both myrrh and onycha have a sweet fragrance. But when galbanum is added to these spices, the offensive odor of the galbanum strengthens the sweet fragrance of the myrrh and the onycha.
The second function of the galbanum was to cause the fragrance of the incense to remain and endure. In other words, it enabled the incense to retain its fragrance for a longer time. Therefore, the galbanum not only strengthens the fragrance of the other spices; it also causes the incense to retain its fragrance.
Third, the galbanum functions as a repellent. It repels and expels noxious insects and poisonous reptiles, including serpents. In itself galbanum is noxious. It is used to repel and expel insects and poisonous reptiles and snakes. This is especially true of the “old serpent, the Devil.” The galbanum indicates that the death of Christ expels the serpent. In a sense, Christ’s death is not pleasant, but it truly strengthens and preserves the other elements, and it expels the serpent. His death is a repellent; it has the repelling power to expel Satan.
From the picture in these verses we see that all three spices signify the death of Christ. In the essence of all the ingredients we have the death of Christ. The Triune God came into humanity to die in order to redeem us, to produce sons, and expel evil. The Triune God became a man to generate us as sons, to redeem us from the fall, and to expel all evil.
Whenever I consider the three spices used to make the incense, I am convinced once again that the Bible truly is something inspired by God and revealed by Him. Man’s wisdom is not able to compose such a record. No doubt, these words were written according to the inspiration and revelation of God.
Frankincense is a white resinous gum signifying the sweet resurrection of Christ. The root of the Hebrew word for frankincense means white. Furthermore, there are five kinds of gum-producing trees from which frankincense is derived, and these trees have flowers of five petals and fruits of five sides. This signifies responsibility in resurrection with the Trinity. It is also interesting to note that within the flowers of these trees are five pistils and five stamens. Therefore, with the tree that produces frankincense we see the number five again and again. We see this number with the kinds of trees, with the five petals on the flowers, with the five stamens and five pistils within the flowers, and with fruits of five sides. All this is related to the significance of the frankincense.