The Aroma of the Sanctuary

Tell the Israelites: This is My holy anointing oil … It is not to be used for [ordinary] anointing on a person’s body, and you must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. --Exodus 30:31-32

As for the incense you are making, you must not make any for yourselves using its formula. It is to be regarded by you as sacred to the LORD. --Exodus 30:37

When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and knew that they had been with Jesus. --Acts 4:13

To be holy means to be set apart to and for the Lord. The term consecration is one side of the holiness equation. We give ourselves over to God that He might work in our lives according to His purpose. In the Old Testament spiritual economy of animal sacrifices when a man gave a lamb or a ram or a bull to be sacrificed, he had consecrated it. For his part, he had made it holy to the Lord. People could be holy as well, as one entire tribe was dedicated to serving God; this fell especially the sons of Aaron, who constituted the priesthood. They lived solely for that end, to stand in as mediators before God, offering sacrifices in obedience that God might look favorably upon His people. The priesthood foreshadows what is revealed and fulfilled in Christ, our great High Priest.

There is another side to holiness, and that is God’s work in making holy what is given to Him in consecration. It is referred to as sanctification.

According to Exodus, holiness has its own aroma. The Israelites were strictly forbidden to use any of the aromatic anointing oil or the incense burned on the altar in the Holy Place in their homes or on anyone who was not a priest. There was a dividing line between the holy and the profane. When a priest came into the courts of the Temple, he washed off the contamination of the common world. When he left after fulfilling his duties, he had to leave behind the priestly garments in which he had ministered. Still, I am sure a priest returning to his home retained some of the smell of the holy. If he had been anointed, the oil had penetrated his skin. If he had been in the Sanctuary, the smoke of the incense was upon him, on his skin and in his hair. The fragrance of holiness clung to him.

I would guess that many of us have met people who seemed to be perfumed with holiness. The cachet of God’s presence lingers upon them. They have been with Jesus. They have met the Lord in secret and the scent of His touch pervades even their material being. When Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin for preaching in the name of Jesus, they impressed the rulers with their boldness. The religious leaders took note of the fact that these simple fishermen had been changed by having been with Jesus. But another man was even more aware of this: the crippled man the Apostles had encountered at the Gate Beautiful. When Peter and John looked upon the lame man as he asked for alms, he caught the scent of holiness, of the Holy of Holies. He believed, and he was healed.

What we learn from Exodus is that holiness cannot be imparted indiscriminately. We are not to take what is holy and give it to the dogs anymore than we should throw pearls to hogs. We cannot drag people into the presence of God. What we can do is go into His presence ourselves and spend time there. We can place ourselves before God and allow the sanctifying atmosphere to permeate our being. Then, those with whom we come in contact will catch the scent of holiness and be drawn to Him.

Those who follow Christ are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Jesus asks if salt loses its savor or saltiness, what good is it. Savor is a lot like aroma. If the Christian does not have the fragrance of heaven, if his presence has no bite or flavor, what good is he? The weakness and ineffectiveness of Christianity in the modern world must be laid at the feet of the individual believer -- at my feet. The Lord asks only that I give Him time -- that I have enough faith in Him to spend time in His presence. I don’t have to isolate myself physically. I can enter the Sanctuary on a plane, even in coach, in the mall, or at the office. Even briefly entering the presence of God allows that aroma of holiness to be renewed.

I can’t blame anyone else. Bringing that fragrance of life into the world is my job, and I have failed too often. What I can’t do much about are the plentiful and futile attempts to concoct a knock-off. Every time church doors open across America there are people who put forth their best effort to make others believe they are drenched in holy cologne. It is a waste of time. Only a true encounter with God in secret will sanctify us and impart the right scent. Accept no substitutes.

But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To some we are a scent of death leading to death, but to others, a scent of life leading to life. And who is competent for this? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)