Day 27 – Frankincense

(Boswellia sacra)

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather fragrant spices—resin droplets, mollusk shell, and galbanum—and mix these fragrant spices with pure frankincense, weighed out in equal amounts.” Exodus 30:34 NLT

We are first introduced to frankincense in the Old Testament when God gave Moses the recipe for His anointing oil – only to be used in the Tabernacle, in front of the Ark of the covenant where God met with him. But frankincense is not a tree – it is the resin product of a tree. The fine, very expensive white resin is produced by the Boswellia tree. It is not a root, bark, flower, or fruit – but the very expensive, gummy substance produced when the plant is injured or broken.

Holiness is the pinnacle of the purity of God, right? So, how can something produced from brokenness be Holy? This is exactly the symbolism of the Boswellia (frankincense) – Jesus Christ (who is God) choosing to be human only to be broken for us to be Holy through Him. The product of His brokenness becomes the pure frankincense pleasing to God the Father.

The Magi opened their treasure chest when they worshiped at the crib of our King and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2:11) – the epiphany changing the world. The gift of frankincense already symbolised the brokenness of this world to be healed by the physical brokenness of the Healer.

Prayer: Father, I may not understand the brokenness of this world, or the brokenness which shaped my life, but I do understand that Jesus chose to break His body for me to walk in Holiness with You. That His sacrificial act became the product, like frankincense saps from the Boswellia, for a broken world to be Holy before You. Teach me to see brokenness through Your eyes and appreciate the beauty thereof. Amen.

Love, Pastor Iriza