Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people. The same covenant penalty — cutting off — applies to the misuse of the incense formula as to the misuse of the anointing oil. The gravity of the penalty communicates the gravity of the violation: the sacred fragrance of the covenant meeting, treated as a personal luxury, is a fundamental category error. The person who smells the incense formula for personal enjoyment has confused the most intimate expression of covenant prayer with self-indulgent sensory pleasure. The cutting off that follows is the covenant community's declaration that such confusion is incompatible with belonging to the community where the holy God dwells.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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