Sometimes what is the least pleasing to us is a pleasing aroma to God.
Some aromas bring to mind a different kind of memory. Like the aforementioned scent of a specific men’s cologne. Which – I never realized – is worn by like every man in America apparently…can’t hardly walk through the grocery store without getting a whiff of the smell of my own personal heartache.
For the record, he is a great guy – it just wasn’t a great relationship even though I really, really wanted it to be. So that particular scent comes with the sting of regret and the consistent reminder of what might have been.
Moving on…
I’ve been reading about all the different kinds of sacrifices God required in the Old Testament. Littered throughout the book of Leviticus are the details of sin offerings, guilt offerings, burnt offerings, peace offerings… the list goes on.
Maybe the pleasure was found in the obedience of His people more than the scent that made its way up to heaven.
I’ve been struck by the level of detail required by God. He was so particular in His descriptions to Moses. It seems like every time I open the Bible lately, knowing this is the part of scripture I’m in, I’m asking God, “Please help me understand.”
And the fact that all of this was given to Moses, but had to be carried about Aaron… aren’t we just opening ourselves up for misinterpretation? Some kind of holy telephone game here? The margin for error seems so slim – wouldn’t direct communication to the priests have been safer?
So many questions.
“It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” Leviticus 3:5b
This is the description of one of the offerings that would have been burned on the altar, and I daresay, it would not be a pleasing aroma to anyone but the Lord. Let’s talk about the bloodiness of this scene.
What if our discomfort is actually an opportunity to please God?
When an offering was brought, the animal was slaughtered, blood was spilled, and flesh was burned. The altar was covered with the blood of the sacrifice. Imagine how it must have smelled in that space. Offering after offering, sacrifice after sacrifice, blood upon blood.
And that is what the Bible calls a pleasing aroma to the Lord. His thoughts are definitely not our thoughts.
Sometimes what is the least pleasing to us is a pleasing aroma to God.
I live in an older neighborhood where the houses still have wood-burning fireplaces, so the aroma of a campfire is not an uncommon scent during the fall. And without fail, I’ll go out to walk my dogs some time around October, then go back inside and my clothes, my hair, the dogs… all of us smell like a campfire.
Consider the scent of the Levitical sacrifices. Would those pungent smells have lingered on the clothing of the participants? The odor of death remained in their hair? How many days would they carry the aroma of their offering on their person?
Our days of enduring the putrid smell of death in the name of honoring God are gone. But our time enduring the scent of a sacrifice we never wished to offer remains.
Perhaps the pleasing aroma was not pleasing to the Lord in and of itself. The offerings were a requirement to communion with God. Maybe the pleasure was found in the obedience of His people more than the scent that made its way up to heaven.
What if our discomfort is actually an opportunity to please God?
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
Psalm 51:16-17
Our days of enduring the putrid smell of death in the name of honoring God are gone. But our time enduring the scent of a sacrifice we never wished to offer remains.
Sacrifice indicates that we are willing to release something of value so that we may cling to Someone who is utterly invaluable.
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