The nose is in the approximate center of all our faces, and for a man at least, unless his belly has grown too big, it’s also the most forward part of his body. In other words, it’s centrally located on his face and gets to wherever he’s going first. Believing as I do that there’s testimony in design, I’m convinced this feature of our physique is meant to be instructive. The common idiom “right under my nose” is used to reference something that is obvious or ought to be. Could it be that the placement of this faculty for sensing what our eyes cannot behold is a kind reminder from our Maker that we were made to know He’s here?
Of the five senses that we’ve been given for perceiving our environment, none is quite so powerful as the sense of smell. Though light may travel faster to our retinas, a scent is more explosive when it gets inside our nose. This is by design. The olfactory receptor neurons dangle, on one end, inside the upper portion of our nasal cavity, while the other side connects directly to our brain. They are the only nerves directly exposed to the world around us, and that also sends their info straight into our frontal lobe – the seat of memory and emotion. This is why a fragrance can conger up emotion before you even know the reason, or why a smell can suddenly transport you to another place and time. Our sense of smell literally gets where we are inside us. So it should be no wonder that of all the senses it can get us back there in an instant.
The Bible is full of fragrant references. From the very inception of His wandering congregation, the Lord Himself prescribed the aromatic ingredients that would mark their faithful worship. They were not left to wonder what bouquet they ought to bring Him. And that the incense of their worship was indeed intended for His pleasure all alone, is clarified in His injunction that “Whoever makes any like it, to smell it, he shall be cut off from His people.” (Ex.30:38) The ruse of Jacob on his aging father Isaac pivoted on the sense of smell. He wrapped his arms in animal skins to imitate the odor of the open fields his brother Esau often carried with him. There isn’t a single chapter in the Song of Solomon that doesn’t reference some odoriferous aspect of the Shulamite or her Beloved. Our Lord declared that the Gospel should always be accompanied by the story of the weeping woman’s broken flask of Spikenard. And who can doubt the power of the fragrant Frankincense and Myrrh given at our Savior’s birth and used again to prepare His body before the tomb?
Scripture even uses the sense of smell as a key differentiator between our God and idols made of wood. “…noses they have, but they do not smell.” (Ps. 115:6) Their useless nostrils are no match for Him Who has no nose. “He Who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see?” (Ps. 94:9) The same, it seems, can be applied to noses – our God alone can smell. We often make a point of not pushing the “Imago Dei” too far. Made in the image of our God, we mustn’t allow our imaginations to picture body parts in Him, but still, we can’t forget that our noses have some reference in our Creator. In Revelation incense is the prayer of the saints. And Paul tells us that “we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” (2 Cor. 2:15) Smelling is some echo of our God.
The sense of smell might seem a needless benefit to some. We do not need the warm and wonderous smell of baking bread to then partake of all its nutrients. The same could be said of bacon, coffee, and tangerines. Their essence isn’t found in how they smell. But the richness of life would be empty out of all we know. No more chocolate wafting through the air. No delight in fresh-cut lawns. Never smelling that earthy goodness after it rains. How instructive that that which can’t be tasted, touched, or heard or seen is so intrinsic to the enjoyment of our lives!
An oft-reported symptom of this virus sweeping ‘round the world is the temporary loss of smell. Could this not be a timely, wordless warning of a greater plague affecting all the world – the loss of sensing the unseen? But no, with COVID-19 some really are unable to pick up scents around them; our God is too clearly on display. “His invisible attributes are clearly seen.” Says Rom 1:20. I am just as certain that His aroma is clearly smelt as well. It isn’t that we don’t perceive His presence. It’s that we ignore His fragrance when we do.
