רֹאשׁ בְּשָׂמִים – Rosh Beshamim – The Finest of Spices
From Exodus 25 through to 30, we have six loaded chapters detailing our tour of the Tabernacle, that special place where God said He would dwell with the nation of Israel. We have seen how every element typifies and points to a facet of the Messiah. The whole history of Yeshua is contained in the Tabernacle, and what we find so beautiful is this closing section, a culmination of sorts, which appears to be speaking about a wedding. In that same vein, this is what is in store for every believer, for soon after the rapture we will experience a wedding.
It is very significant that we do find traces of this marriage event coming from the Book of Exodus because God’s covenant with Israel is a marriage sealed by His unconditional election to this nation. This was first given back in Genesis to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And talking of a wedding or covenant right at this point is even more significant when we consider what will soon happen in the following chapter. In chapter 32 we have the story of the Golden Calf, where Israel fell greatly. Three times in that chapter we are told that it was a great sin, so much so that one would indeed think that God would have been justified in forsaking this nation. However, the inferences of a wedding coming right here in Exodus, just before, assures us that God will never leave Israel for she is His wife. This also speaks to every believer, for that same assurance of love is guaranteed to anyone who has committed their lives to the Lord and is therefore sealed by Him.
Where do we find the elements of a wedding in Exodus? Beginning in Exodus 30:23 we find this association in the very last named elements of the Tabernacle, with the anointing oil and the incense. Here the people were told to prepare a special mixture of spices and incense with pure oil and to anoint each article of the Tabernacle, from the Ark of the Covenant and including the priests.
However, as one reads the account, many of these named spices are unknown to us, their identification has been lost in time. However, when we search the Scriptures, we find many of these spices mentioned in other passages in the context of a wedding. What makes this particularly interesting is that these passages typify the marriage of Israel with her Messiah.
Let us look at a few of these spices. It all begins in vs.23 where the LORD says, Take also for yourself the finest of spices. The finest spices is רֹאשׁ בְּשָׂמִים, rosh beshamim. The word rosh stands for head, top or best. This same expression, chief spices, is found in only one other place in the Bible, in the wedding book of the Scriptures, in chapter 4 of the Song of Songs. This chapter describes the royal wedding, beginning with the preparation of the bridegroom who is anointed with spices. It is in vs.14 where we find this expression mentioned during the king’s wedding where the finest of spices are at hand. Then we read in vs.15, “You are a garden spring, A well of fresh water, And streams flowing from Lebanon.”
Notice the word Lebanon in this verse. It must be very important for this word is found four times in this chapter. Why speak of Lebanon? Here we have the connection with the Temple and the Tabernacle. House of Lebanon, is how the Temple was often called, because it was made from cedar trees from Lebanon.
And in this story of Song of Songs, we find both the bride and the groom going to the Temple. These same spices which were to anoint the bride and groom were also used to anoint the Tabernacle as well as the priests (Ex.30). And as the Tabernacle in Exodus was the place of meeting between God and Israel, here in Song of Songs 4:8, the Groom invites Israel into the Temple. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, May you come with me from Lebanon. On this verse the Targum says, You shall dwell with Me, Assembly of Israel, which is likened to a chaste bride, and with Me you shall go up to the Temple.
There is also another spice mentioned in Exodus that is noteworthy and associated with marriage and weddings. It is the cassia spice, קִדָּה (qiddâ) found in two other places in the Bible. One is found in Ezekiel, noted to be an expensive and precious spice. It is also found in Psalm 45, directly associated with the wedding of the Messiah. This psalm starts by identifying itself as a love song and addressing it to the King. In vs.6-7, it actually speaks directly of Yeshua. We know this because it is cited in Hebrews 1:8-9 which says: But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Here the Lord is speaking to the Son, and it further says, Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You, affirming this mystery of the triunity of God. Here the Father and the Son are One, they are echad. They are the same, yet they are distinct as in John 1:1, the Word was with God and the Word was God. And as the Father speaks to the Son, He sees His garments emanating the cassia spice. Psalm 45:8 reads, All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
This citation from the Book of Hebrews spoke to the heart of the Jews for the rabbis at that time had associated this Psalm with the Messiah. In the Targum, in vs. 3 they render it, Your beauty, O Messiah king, exceeds that of the sons of men. The Essenes who gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls, and who were perhaps also known as the Herodians, believed the King to be the Teacher of Righteousness and this is what they called the Messiah (frags. 1–10, col. 4.27). Later we read how some medieval rabbis like Ibn Ezra and Radak understood this Psalm to be messianic.
Click Here for the Teaching: Exodus Sermon 30: Living Encense & Spices