Of a Sweet Smelling savour unto the Lord is a recurrent phrase in the book of Leviticus being used seven times in the first three chapters. The origin of the phrase, however, was not in the record of the sacrificial law but in the book of Genesis. It is found in the context of an immediate sequel to the demise of, “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (II Pet. 3:6). We read:
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Gen.8:20-22).
Weather terminology
Let us examine this primordial “sweet savour” along with comments from Job.
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength… Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.., that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy (Job 37:5-6, 9,12-13).
We are being reminded that God controls the weather for a specific number of reasons. In the light of this knowledge perhaps we need to be a little more careful about two common practices: First, our habit of describing weather changes in careless terms such as “wicked or nasty;” (should we not rather use more objective terminology such as: “rainy, hot or freezing”?) Second, our tendency to use the elements as a scapegoat for non-attendance at meetings.
Accepting the inevitable
The consideration of a passage in Ecclesiastes may help to moderate our tendency to grasp at inclement weather as a cover for our lack of enthusiastic attendance:
If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap (Ecc.11:3-4).
We must accept variations in the weather patterns without grumbling, because the Lord may be using them for His specific purpose. It is a salutary thought that although the Lord was pleased with the sweet savour, He then went on to pronounce the covenant of natural global cycles with which we have to cope as covenant-guided people. We cannot change or alter any of the circumstances that He has set in action and to attempt to use the weather as an excuse for dilatory action will only be to our spiritual detriment.
Walking in love
The apostle Paul tells of another new beginning with the connection of a “sweet savour” in a most uplifting connection: “And walk in love as Christ hath also loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour” (Eph. 5:2). This walking in love involves how we specifically internalize God’s love to us. In the introductory verse Paul says, “Be ye followers of God as dear children.”
There are repeated contrasts between the darkness of the world and the light of the truth in Christ: For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord walk as children of light ..And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them… But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light for whatsoever doth make manifest is light Wherefore, he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Eph. 5:8,11,13,14).
Contemplating these things, our minds are taken back to Noah’s emergence from the year of seclusion in the ark into the light of a new day when he offered the burnt offerings to effect the “sweet savour.”
The Philippian’s sacrifice
To help us translate these ideas into living action, we will take some illustrations from our brothers and sisters of 2,000 years ago. The Philippian ecclesia, no doubt encouraged by its founder member Sis. Lydia (Acts 16: 15, 40), showed outstanding care for Bro. Paul. The apostle sent the loving character Epaphroditus to Philippi after he had recovered from a life-threatening illness:
For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick For indeed he was sick nigh unto death but God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful (Phil. 2:26-28).
The Philippians, no doubt inspired by the example of Epaphroditus as he worked among them teaching and exhorting the things related to the word of God, sent him back to Paul with a “communication.” This we learn was a gift of money to be used to aid the work of the Truth. To Paul this must have been as an odour of a sweet sacrifice and must have given him great comfort at a time when so many anxieties and problems were pressing down upon him: “But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18).
The beauty of this incident lies in the members of the Philippian ecclesia demonstrating “walking in love” and with Epaphroditus as their link to Paul. The example is a unique testimony of the sweet savour which should emanate from our relationship with each other: “Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me” (Phil. 2:30).
Factionalism at Corinth
In contrast is the ecclesia at Corinth which gave our brother Paul much heartache and concern. His well-written response demonstrates the wide spectrum of negative behavior and degenerate practices that would pollute the sweet savour of ecclesial life. The factionalism of the early chapters; “I am of Paul; I am of Apollos and I am of Cephas” was continued even to the point of the memorial meeting. “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it” (I Cor. 11:18). This ecclesia was plagued with controversy: what to do with the incestuous brother (1 Cor. 5:1-5); resorting to the judicial system for judgment amongst brethren (I Cor. 6:1- 8); both pre-marital and relationships within the marriage state (I Cor. 7:1-16); things offered to idols (I Cor. 8:1- 13). The list seems exhaustive, but perhaps the most damaging is the effect of factionalism among brothers and sisters. The resultant discord is in sharp contrast to the harmonious atmosphere Lydia and Epaphroditus helped to produce in Philippi.
A new-world principle
Two passages from the spirit-given wisdom of Solomon reach out to us across the centuries to add further guidance: “As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place” (Prov. 27:8). The lesson gleaned here is that we must keep within the confines of the ecclesial brood and not introduce unnecessarily controversial ideas and practices that may lead to faction and discord. “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel” (Prov. 27:9). This adequately describes the relationship that existed between Paul and his beloved friend Epaphroditus of whom he wrote: “My brother and companion in labour and fellow soldier” (Phil. 2:25). Those who do not heed this advice can be a disruptive influence: “Scornful men bring a city into a snare”(Prov. 29:8). We do not need situations that tend to ignite, rather we need to add to the sweet savour of uplifting fellowship, for as the verse continues, “wise men turn away wrath.”
The “sweet savour” is a new world-order principle, from Noah saving himself and seven others for a new beginning, to Jesus, “the beginning, the first born from the dead” (Col. 1:18). It is with joy and thankfulness that we come together every Sunday morning to celebrate these things in obedience to our Lord’s command.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One