A Fragrant Offering

The character is Jonah and I want to begin by considering the sacrifices of the Hebrew people to God. The Law of Moses required the people to make a variety of sacrifices to God. The important point of the sacrifice was that it was to come from the heart, not merely be an outward activity of simply “going through the motions.” Listen to Psalm 51:16-17 (NKJV):

16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;

You do not delight in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,

A broken and a contrite heart—

These, O God, You will not despise.

God repeatedly refers to proper sacrifices as having a "sweet aroma." We observe that the more genuine the gift, the sweeter the aroma to God. The sacrifice is about the scent of a person's soul, not the BBQ festivities surrounding it.

My daughter has a home baking business. I have spent time at her house in Arkansas as she bakes for her customers and occasionally for me. As she bakes, there is an aroma of something special that is to come. She has mastered cinnamon rolls and giant cookies. These treats not only smell good as a precursor, but they taste good!

When a person makes sacrifices for God, they present a sweet-smelling aroma, which represents the anticipation of something more or better, the gift of a person's life to God. Paul describes Jesus in this manner in Ephesians 5:1-2 (NKJV):

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

Jesus gave us the example of a sweet-smelling sacrifice by His life, death, burial, and resurrection. So, He shows us how to be a fragrant offering to God in our lives. If we only do it at the moment, we miss out, but if we do things to make change our lives we display the sweet aroma God desires.

God called Jonah to the task of preaching to Israel’s greatest enemy, Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. He refused and fled from God, only to find himself as a person isolated in the belly of the whale. What kind of odor do you think was there? The ultimate question is not why did he run from God? Instead, the big question is, why did God chase him? God saw him as a faithful servant who needed time to reflect and faith to obey.

I wonder if God views America as a servant who needs some time to smell the mess we’ve made and reflect on our repentance and obedience. Three times in the book of Jonah people go through the actions of repentance:

1. Sailors when realized the God of Israel that created the storm – repent and make a vow to change lives

2. Jonah in the whale – realizes he was wrong and repents; vows to change life different from the repentance of Nineveh

3. Nineveh’s repentance, which was a problem, according to rabbis. Jonah knew Nineveh’s repentance was momentary. Eventually, they returned to their old ways. We are much like Nineveh, we repent to get our way with God, but it is only for the moment, then we go our own way when the crisis has passed. Nineveh merely tried to avoid imminent destruction with no vow for the future to change the trajectory of their lives. Eventually, Nineveh attacked Israel and carried the nation into captivity. In turn, God raised Babylon to destroy Nineveh and the Assyrian empire.

God wants us to bring sacrifices, to Him, too. We are to bring ourselves to Him as “living sacrifices” according to Romans 12:1-2. We bring the “sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name,” according to Hebrews 13:15. These sacrifices are not just for the moment but are life-changing.

Jonah was in the whale and couldn’t get out on his own. He saw that he needed to make a change and cried out to the LORD from the belly of the whale. God removed him from his maritime prison and he obeyed the LORD’s call to preach ever so reluctantly.

Samuel addressed the rebellious King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV):

22 So Samuel said:

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

As in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

America is imprisoned right now, not only in sin but in manufactured dilemmas such as COVID issues and an evil political regime crushing our inalienable rights. Hopefully, we are learning to obey God and develop the courage to properly repent and serve the LORD as a sweet fragrance or aroma, for we cannot bring anything better to Him.