Numbers 29:2 and others scriptures say that burnt offerings are a pleasing aroma to God. These scriptures have troubled me in the past. I would think, “Why, God, would you like the smell of sacrifices being burned?” I believe I have one answer. Let’s take an analogy from our Thanksgiving traditions.
“Hey, Mom, that smells delicious! I can smell the turkey. You have leg of lamb too. Not surprising because dad loves that And you made lemon pie and homemade rolls. Wow, the smell of that banana bread.”
Those kinds of comments do not mean that my son loves turkeys and lambs being killed. No, he is pleased because we have the holiday together with all the traditional elements of a prosperous and successful harvest. We still have an income that allows for this extravagance! Bring on those delicious aromas. The aroma heralds the meal!
For God, the lamb was to be perfect. No roadkill for his kids. The sacrifice was a time of spiritual renewal. No half-heartedly turning over a new leaf. It was a festive time as families ate of the sacrificial lamb. A time of tradition, forgiveness, and thanksgiving.
************** Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the pleasing aromas of my Thanksgivings. How thankful I am that pleasing aroma is rising in the homes of my loved ones! My thoughts turn to those who have no abundance of pleasing aromas, no family with whom to celebrate, no knowledge of your forgiveness, no peace that comes with giving thanks to you. May your grace, comfort, and peace be a sweet aroma to those who seek you. Thank you, Heavenly Father
Sweet aroma 
Unlike the Thanksgiving turkey, the animals sacrificed to God were pictures of his Son gong to the cross to redeem sinners. Not that God loves the cross as a cross, but he loves the obedience and mercy of his Son.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving! J.
Have a WONDERFUL holiday with family!!
The sense of smell is the one closest connected to memory. I love the food and the Thanksgiving fun. I also love the memories that this day brings back.
Thanks, Nicole. I’m glad to have evoked some sensory memories for you. I guess any excuse for family and food provide loving memories for us.
What a lovely post. As it happens, I just stepped outside for a minute, and the faint scent of woodsmoke was in the air. It’s not often cool enough here that fires are built, but someone has done so (perhaps opening every window in the house to cool things inside a bit more) and the result is delightful.
Here’s a random thought: we like to think our minds are the best tool for communicating, but sometimes our senses are just as good. Or better. Think of Proust and his madeleine. That single cookie evoked lines and lines of memory — and we’ve delighted in it for decades. I’ll bet burnt offerings sometimes do the same.
Dear Linda, you send me such challenges. Okay, Proust and his madeleine. I can get th sense of taste and feel, but only smell lemon and that is probably not right! Proust said something about “if you tell a lie and live long enough, it might all come true.” My lie would be that I know enough about Proust or madeleines to connect with my Thanksgivings! I’ll have to put that on my bucket list. 😀 Thanks for you sweet words. I dearly love you keeping me on my artsy, and literary toes.
Hang on a minute…..
Here you go. You don’t even have to read the whole thing. Go down to the last two paragraphs — voila!
You made that lesson easy for me. I see I was wrong about the lemon; it was lime-blossom. I confess, however, that I got wrapped up in curiosity about what grade-level I was reading. I doubt that I can find 153 words sentences, 380 syllable on a reading level scale! Not curious enough to check. (I didn’t really count.) But I did enjoy his ability to touch the senses with his imagery. Marking it off my bucket list.
I think the idea of incense as prayers going up to heaven from early tradition came from this idea of burnt offerings. Personally I do not like incense but I imagine that God who sees the heart knows the reason for the offering and as you say if love motivates the baking of cookies etc then the smells are part of our response to indeed thanksgiving as you wrote. Thank you for blog very thought-provoking.
Dear Faye, I also do not like incense but it is because I connect it with occult and such. But in truth it might well come from harmless kinds of rites. Something to think about. I certainly cannot tell any objective why I don’t like incense but I do like candles. Such is my illogical biases. Thanks for staying with me.