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HEAVENLY SMELL

By David Bachelor, PhD

Back during the Pandemic, our sense of smell was a normal topic of conversation. With the crisis gone, our olfactory abilities have returned to their trail position among humanity’s five senses. Recent headlines remind us that there are still scented eruptions that focus our attention on the information coming through our noses.

The June 27^th edition of The Guardian carried this stinker of a story, “‘Like A Dead Body’: After Warehouse Fire, LA Residents Say Air Thick with Smell of Rotting Food.” The blaze kindled a major frozen food warehouse for over a week. Even before the flames were extinguished, 40 million pounds of food began to decay. The article states that since smoke is no longer wafting everywhere, “Residents … say their new concern is the pervasive, putrid smell of rotting meat, vegetables and frozen products.” The mayor intends to use city resources to alleviate the stench.

The Lone Star State clears the aroma of the previous story in the July 2026 edition of Texas Monthly with, “A Road Trip through the Sweetest-Smelling Part of Texas.” The author was inspired to take his road trip because of a TikTok sensation about a Texas candle company.  He states, “Smell doesn’t get enough play when we travel … Texas offers plenty of them to take in, from the aroma of pit-smoked meat in the Hill Country to the singular piquancy of feedlots in the Panhandle.” The author discovered the TikTok trend only gave a whiff of what was to come.

The Telegraph on June 27^th featured, “The Funny Sorts of Smell that You Find in Church.” The piece is a book review of Bjørn Berge’s “Smell: The Tale of a Fading Sense.” The reviewer’s main critique is Berge’s selection of Biblical olfactory references, “The author quotes God’s injunction on the making of incense … (Exodus, 30:34). But he omits … ‘no one is to make perfume for private use from this recipe, or he shall be cut off from the people.’ [Ex 30:27-38]” The reviewer found this omission, and others, gave an unpleasant tang to Berg’s assortment of conclusions drawn from Biblical and historical excerpts.

The “Funny Sorts of Smell” article challenged me to check the Bible for God’s attention to the sense of smell. I discovered olfactory references pervade both Old and New Testaments. Berge’s citation of Exodus 30 is just one of many examples where God meets His people surrounded by a cloud of fragrance. This pall contained not only incense, but also smoke from burned meat, wool, blood, flour and wine (Ex 29). God told the Israelites if they were faithful in presenting the offerings these smells represented, “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God” (Ex 29:45).

The aroma of the Tabernacle and Temple of the Old Testament set the stage for believers to be God’s incense of the New Testament. The church in Corinth was told, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15). The church in Ephesus was commanded, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). These verses challenged me to ask myself, “How do people answer the question, ‘What’s that smell?’ when they interact with me?” I hope it is the sweet fragrance of Jesus. The nose knows!