The Aroma of God’s Love

By Craig Ashton Jr., July 15, 2023

The golden altar of incense that was placed in the Old Testament Sanctuary was generally described as having a pleasant or delightful aroma (Exodus 30:1–10; 37:25-29). This altar stood nearest the inner veil, which housed God’s presence. The smoke from fragrant burning spices rose from the incense altar in a perfumed cloud. God had invited humanity close, and the sweet fragrance allowed for nearness. Connection to God should be perfumed with a pleasing aroma.

Fragrance is a metaphor. A pleasing or foul odor affects our attitudes and even our judgments. The priests’ job in the Sanctuary was to represent heaven on earth. They burned finely ground aromatic spices on the altar closest to God’s presence, creating not a mere earthly perfume but a spiritual heavenly scent. Spreading the message about God was to be like a sweet-smelling perfume. Among the interpretations of scent is the desire for God and the need for His presence on earth. The scent included the attraction, the passion, and the intimacy of relationship. The wonderful perfume that ascended in columns of smoke from the Sanctuary and wafted through the streets filled the countryside with a sweet fragrance to which people were drawn.

The scent of the incense expressed the love and sacredness of the relationship between God and man. Yet some Bible passages suggest that God was not always pleased by the perfume’s scent. In Isaiah God is described as unpleased by the aroma, declaring that the incense emitted an offensive odor (Isaiah 1:13-15; 43:22–24). Other Bible references describe how the troubling actions and sinful practices caused people to “stink” or to have a bad smell (Genesis 34:30; Exodus 5:21; 2 Samuel 10:6). They didn’t actually stink, but the people around them found their scent offensive. God desired the proper motivation and the cessation of sinful practices so that His people would resemble the pleasant fragrance of heaven.

Paul said that God uses us to spread the aroma of His character everywhere: “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life” (2 Corinthians 2:15–16). Plucking and smelling a fragrant flower brings both death and a pleasant scent. There are both positive and negative perspectives.

Mary’s act of pouring out her expensive perfume on Jesus before His death and burial signified her complete devotion and love (John 12:1–8). Jesus said that the fragrance of this act must accompany the message about God (Matthew 26:13). This fragrant perfume came to represent the power of Christ’s redeeming love. The Song of Songs includes a poem about the power of love: “Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out” (Song of Songs 1:3). Just as the woman in the poem rejoices in the name of her lover, God wants us to rejoice in Him as we delight in the scent of poured-out perfume. This message about God beseeches us to smell like Jesus’ desirable fragrance so that others may find Him irresistible. Perfumed with the lovely merits of Jesus and carrying the wonderful fragrance of knowing God throughout every place, one can entice others with the scent of God’s extravagant love.

Humans need sweetness and yearn for the wonderful fragrance of God’s true character. This earthy need is the prayer and the petition that connect us to heaven (Revelation 5:8). Yet questions remain for the priesthood of believers: Are we tending the altar of incense? Are we attentive to earthly needs and sharing the fragrant message about God’s love? Are we emitting a wonderfully soothing and life-saving odor, or has our scent become offensive and foul?

Craig Ashton Jr.