R. Brabham
I purchased a few droppers of Frankincense last year to make my Christmas soap. It is costly and still as precious today as it was thousands of years ago when it was considered worthy only to the most elite, an iconic symbol of wealth, traded over thousands of miles. Can you just imagine frankincense filled urns in the cooled stone treasury rooms of Solomon's castle? I used all of the contents in the soap I made,but couldn't make myself part with the bottle. I pull the cork stopper out and take a whiff occasionally. It transports to a time that I have only read of. The crispness in the air this morning makes me think of pulling out supplies to get ready for my annual pleasure of making soap. I remember the first time I made the Christmas soap and I was excited to go purchase the first bottle of Frankincense for the blend. I browsed through an authentic herb shop that resembled an old scientific research lab. Shelves are lined with glass apothecary jars filled with oils and dried herbs or (urps) as my grand- babies like to call them. I pulled down the dark brown bottle of Frankincense and pulled the cork,fully expecting a aroma so sweet it would transcend me. I sniffed strongly and jerked away. It was heady, but not in the floral noted sweetness imagined. I was surprised, but went back for a softer pass under my nose. It has a beckoning note to it. One that keeps drawing you back. The oil was dispensed by the ounce, so I brought the large bottle to the clerk and told her that I wanted 4 ounces. When she rang up the oil I was startled, she laughed when she saw my face. I had not looked at the price on the bottle. It was somewhere around 32 dollars and ounce and rang up for about $120.00. She understandably felt my pain and poured the Frankincense back in the jar except for about 2 dropperfuls in a 1 ounce jar. She explained that the undertones were heady and are usually mixed with other scents. I had a wide range of other essential oils at home and decided to experiment with the Christmas scent.
Back to this morning. Pulling the stopper out of the bottle again, I am still perplexed. Why was this one of the most revered oils? A couple of thousand years ago, Magi, highly intelligent men gathered their gifts for the king and stuffed their camel sacks. Frankincense and Myrrh? The Frankincense smelled wonderful in my soap, but it was mixed with other sweet oils to produce a aroma that was pleasing. By itself, it was pungent. There were thousands of other oils as precious that the Magi could have chosen. Google gave me the 1 million answers to it's healing properties and uses. But one stood out. It is one I choose to believe would make it a special gift for the baby Jesus. As sure as the Magi knew that he would be born on this night and where, they knew the future of our Savior. He was to die. This is a description of how the oil is obtained.. The Frankincense tree originates from the Middle East and is small with abundant pinnacle leaves. The flowers are white or pale pink. Frankincense resin begins as a milky-white sticky liquid that flows from the trunk of the tree when it's cut, healing the wound in the tree. The oil is luxuriant and has a rich woody, earthy scent with a deeply mysterious nuance. I can't help but think of the aroma of Jesus on his believers. Historically, Frankincense resin, or teardrops as they were called, were burned over coals which made the aroma sweeter. Couldn’t this symbolize a person's heart? Scourged in the refiners pot, it becomes an aroma that is pleasant to the Lord.
Myrrh, like Frankincense, is produced by the tree as a reaction to a purposeful wound through the bark and into the sapwood. The trees are bled in this way on a regular basis. The Greeks began using myrrh to replace living sacrifices in the 3rd century AD. Again, I think of the Magi...Baby Jesus was born to bear the iniquities of our sins. Banishing the Law and replacing it with Grace.
Gold...The Magi brought the most precious of metals on camels backs in unison with the oils above. Psalms 19 vs 10 ~The words of God are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb."
This is more precious than any other thing. More to be desired than the best gold, anything the world has to offer is the idea here. It is more precious than the best commodity the world has to offer. It is sweeter than the sweetest thing that life can bring. It is the best. That is his gift to us as well.
When we pick out a gift for the ones we love. We try to find something that would suit the wants and needs and wishes of the recipient. Knowing from prophesy that this sweet baby would accept no gift that he couldn't give away. We could believe that they gave him the gifts that he would give us.
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