Egypt to Canaan (Pt. 8): A Pleasing Fragrant Life
“The Lord called to Moses… ‘When you present an animal as an offering to the Lord, the priest shall burn it all on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord’” (Leviticus 1:1–9).
This aroma was not the smell of meat or smoke but a soothing, tranquilizing fragrance — one that pacified the wrath of God and made fellowship possible between God and man.
God gave Moses five categories of offerings:
The Burnt Offering — a voluntary sacrifice of total consecration.
The Grain Offering — a voluntary thanksgiving for provision.
The Peace Offering — a voluntary offering of fellowship.
The Sin Offering — for general sin and atonement.
The Trespass Offering — for specific sins against God or neighbor.
Each of these revealed an aspect of worship that found its fulfillment in Christ. Jesus is our burnt offering, our grain and peace offering, our sin and trespass offering. On the cross, every sacrifice was completed in Him.
As Ephesians 5:2 declares, “Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
1. Appropriate the Sacrifice of Jesus
Peter writes, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).
Christ is our burnt offering — fully consumed on the altar of Calvary. His blood was shed outside the city, His life given wholly to God. We now live under the fragrance of that perfect offering.
When we honor and speak of His sacrifice, we appropriate it. We remind ourselves that the wrath of God toward us has been satisfied in Jesus. Every prayer, every communion, and every act of faith begins with this acknowledgment: Jesus has already made me acceptable before God.
2. Offer Your Life as a Living Sacrifice
Paul pleads, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1). This is our reasonable service.
Just as sin and trespass offerings dealt with disobedience and guilt, our lives now must express repentance and surrender. Grace is not permission to sin; it is power to live free. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid” (Romans 6:1–2).
When we live in holiness, we are no longer dragging animals to the altar; our bodies have become the altar. The cross ended the shedding of blood, but not the call to consecration. A holy life is a pleasing fragrance before God.
3. Offer the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving
The grain offering in Leviticus 2 was given to thank God for provision. In the same way, our thanksgiving today rises as a sweet-smelling aroma.
Psalm 107:22 says, “Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.” Thanksgiving is sacrificial because our flesh prefers requests to remembrance. Yet it is gratitude that keeps the fire burning on our altar — for “the fire must never go out” (Leviticus 6:13).
Thanksgiving is fuel for fellowship. As we continually thank Him, we carry a fragrance that draws heaven’s favor.
4. Offer Praise and Worship
The peace offering in Leviticus 3 symbolized fellowship between God, priest, and worshiper — all shared in the meal. So too, our praise and worship today are offerings of communion.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “By Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.”
Worship is not music; it is intimacy. “These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). We enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). Before the incense of prayer rises, the offering of praise must ascend.
5. Offer Generosity and Giving
Paul wrote to the Philippians, “The things sent from you are a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18).
Giving, like the grain offering, is thanksgiving expressed through generosity. It is the sharing of resources that brings fellowship between God’s people. The church at Philippi gave repeatedly, and Paul assured them, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
When we give with the right heart, it becomes a fragrance God receives with joy.
6. Offer Service in the Kingdom
When King Hezekiah faced death, he prayed, “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before You in truth” (Isaiah 38:3). His faithful service became intercession, and God added fifteen years to his life.
Service to God is never wasted. Jesus said, “If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor” (John 12:26). Every act of serving — even unseen — burns as incense before God.
7. Offer Prayers of Intercession
Revelation 5:8 describes “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Intercession is costly — it takes time, compassion, and love. But when we pray for others, that prayer becomes incense before God, pleasing to Him and powerful on earth.
Conclusion
God weighs every offering by the heart that brings it. Israel offered sacrifices He Himself commanded, yet He said, “I am sick of your burnt offerings… Stop bringing meaningless gifts” (Isaiah 1:11–13). Their actions were right; their hearts were wrong.
The Lord desires truth in the inward parts — “a broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 51:17). Solomon is the perfect contrast. “Solomon loved the Lord” (1 Kings 3:3). Out of love, he offered a thousand burnt offerings when one would have sufficed. That same night, God appeared to him and said, “Ask what I shall give you” (v. 5). Extravagant love provokes an extravagant response.
Every true sacrifice draws heaven’s attention. God respected Abel’s offering, received Noah’s, swore covenant to Abraham, and responded to Solomon. When our sacrifices rise from love, sincerity, and obedience, the same God still responds.
Let our hearts be the altar, our obedience the wood, our lives the offering, and Christ the flame — until every breath becomes a pleasing fragrance before the Lord.