May 10

Numbers 19 I could smell him before I even saw him. My office was in the SE corner of our 40X80 building. The front doors were near the NE corner of the building. When he opened the door, a blast of air swept past him carrying his smell all the way into the office. It is not uncommon for homeless people to have a distinctive ‘human’ smell, but this was overpowering! I struggled the whole time that I talked with him with the physical nausea which was evoked by his presence. It was supposed to get cold that night, and he wanted shelter. One of my elders was on the governing board of the City Rescue Mission. So as a church, we supported the ministry of the Rescue Mission financially, emotionally, prayerfully and with our acts of service. I offered to take him to the shelter. He would have none of it. He said that He did not feel safe there. I thought to myself, “With a smell like this, no one would want to be near him. He would probably be the safest person there.” When he realized that the only help which he would get from me was to take him to the shelter, he left in disgust mumbling something about, “Jesus wouldn’t have done that.” I walked back to my office. I could still smell him. Fifteen minutes later, I could still smell him. Although it was cold outside, I propped open the doors and slid up the windows. After an hour I could still slightly smell him, but it was cold inside the building. I shut the doors and windows. The next morning his lingering odor was still there when I walked in. I drove to the store and bought some air freshener to mask the smell. It was a full week before I could no longer detect his residue. I wonder, “Could he smell himself?” In 17:13 the people had expressed their terror at coming to the tabernacle lest they all die. Matthew Henry speaks of it as: They seem to speak despairingly, as if God was a hard Master, that sought advantage against them, and took all occasions to pick quarrels with them, so that if they trod every so little awry, if they stepped ever so little beyond their bounds, they must die, they must perish, they must all perish, basely insinuating that God would never be satisfied with their blood and ruin, till he had made an end of them all and they were consumed with dying. Here the Lord continues to provide a remedy for their unclean state. Their rebellion was a stench in the nostrils of God, our merciful and gracious God chose to cleanse them and us of the stench. Before the priest could minister, a ceremonial cleansing needed to take place so that stench of rebellion might not nauseate the LORD God as the representative of the people came forward to intercede for the people. I wonder, “Could they smell their spiritual stench?” That question leads me to a more personal question, “Do I have a spiritual stench before God? Is it a distinctly ‘human’ smell that is nauseating to Him?” In order to remove a smell it is best to remove the cause. The French are famous for their perfumes because they developed them in an age when bathing was considered unhealthful. The perfumes effectively masked that distinctively ‘human’ smell. Today the most effective way to remove the smells is to bathe regularly. It is interesting that the invention of soap probably comes from the ancient practices of sacrifice. The major ingredients of soap are lye and animal fat. Lye is obtained by running water through wood ashes. As the water travels through the ash, it leaches out lye (sodium hydroxide). Pure lye is a dangerous chemical because its strong alkali ph lever eats just about everything. That is why it makes such a good soap. To make soap, the animal fat is rendered, and lye is added at a proper ratio. The concoction is allowed to cool and becomes soap. Lots of soap and water is usually a good way to remove the cause of bad odors. Is it not interesting that God’s solution to the uncleanness of the high priest and the people is to burn a red heifer and to mix its ashes with water and then to sprinkle that water on the object being cleaned as part of the cleansing ceremony? But why a red heifer? A pure red heifer was indeed a rare thing. The rabbis used to say, ‘If but two hairs were black or white, it was unlawful.’ The purity of the heifer speaks of the purity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The water poured through His ashes is strong enough to purify the worst stench. That is His glory! He is strong enough to purify the most defiled stench upon us. He not only forgives us, but He also cleanses us of our stench, if we let Him! But we like the homeless man, often turn and walk away preferring our stench to His cleansing water. Does that over power His glory? No, it only makes it more difficult for us to see it. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john