Researching the biblical view of the sense of smell

 For us, it was the worst day ever...as far as the Bristol smell goes! The stink stank worse than it had ever stunk!

Sammie and I had dined and shopped at Exit 7; now we were headed home. On Lee Highway we caught a whiff. Not too bad...yet.

We took a left onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, then turned again on Mary Street to cross the bridge and avoid the State Street railroad crossing in front of the train station. Then, as we headed across Mary Street bridge, it hit us. Slammed us! It was as if we had plowed through the gates at the State Street crossing and been met on the tracks by a Norfolk Southern engine pulling a bunch of coal cars.

But the wreck was not a literal crash, it was a collision of our olfactory senses, with the aroma drifting from the landfill. If you have been within a few miles of the dump within the last couple of years, you know what I’m talking about. As I said at the beginning, for us, it was the worst we had ever smelled it.

Our eyes burned. We coughed. Had trouble breathing. Felt nauseous. Pulling into our driveway in the Historic Fairmount Neighborhood we rushed into the safety of our home, but, of course, the odor was already trapped in our 115-year-old house.

Heading for bed as soon as possible, we pulled the covers over our heads and tried to breathe. We talked about getting out of town and going to a motel for the night. Finally we went to sleep. Several times during the night we awoke, still smelling the stench.

Years ago I went to a third world country on a mission trip. I had read about the country, seen pictures, listened to recordings, met people who moved here from there, but I couldn’t imagine the smell of open sewers that attacked my nostrils when our plane landed.

About a year and a half ago, I walked out on our rear deck on a beautiful spring evening and smelled something putrid. Was it a decomposing body? Someone cooking meth? A gas or sewer leak? I dialed 911 and was told that it had already been reported several times, and the fire department was checking it out. It wasn’t long before I joined the ranks of the informed populous of our town and learned about the landfill.

Understanding that the “powers that be” are diligently seeking a solution, we wait prayerfully and - sometimes - patiently for the smell to be blown away or burned off. In the meantime, I decided to search the scriptures and see what the Bible says about smells.

Usually we think of God watching what we do or hearing what we say, especially our prayers. Perhaps we remind ourselves that He feels our pain, our trials, our disappointments. But I had not thought too much about God’s sense of smell...or taste, for that matter, but let’s save that for another time.

“Smell,” “aroma,” and “fragrance” are found many times in the Bible. In my search, I learned that aromas that are pleasant to God often refer to sacrifice. Paul thanked the Philippians for the offering they sent him, referring to their gifts as “...a sweet smelling  odor, a sacrifice well-pleasing to God.”  Remember that a life of sacrifice to God is sweet smelling, and Jesus’ sacrifice for us is fragrant to the Father. 

Those who disregard God will suffer His judgement. Isaiah 3:24 says, “...instead of fragrance there will be a stench...” It is certainly better to smell good before God than to stink in His presence. Presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him is much better than the smell of death.

 --Steve Playl, columnist, college Instructor, former pastor, and hospital chaplain, email playlsr@yahoo.com.