God's Nourishment

The LORD said to Moses, “Give these instructions to the people of Israel: The offerings you present as special gifts are a pleasing aroma to me; they are my food. See to it that they are brought at the appointed times and offered according to my instructions. [Numbers 28.1-2]

I am going to take a stab at understanding today what it means that the offerings mentioned above are God's food. How significant is God's food?

For contrast, God's Word is our daily bread - our food. Jesus also indicated elsewhere that doing God's will serves as nourishment.

I am intrigued by the fact that the special gifts referred to above are "a pleasing aroma," a smell, that serves to nourish God. Nourishment, in human terms, is a regular necessity. If we can understand God at all in human terms, then He would need the smell of these offerings on a regular schedule.

If the smell of the regular offerings of the Old Testament served to nourish God then, I wonder how He is nourished today?

The key to understanding this may be found in the "smell."

Here is an interesting passage of scripture found in Revelation 5.8:

And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.

The purpose of incense is "smell." Suddenly, prayer seems even more important to me - and to God!

I realize that to imply that God is nourished by us would indicate that God needs us which would draw problematic conclusions. But, in contrast, for us to need God's Word as "daily bread" creates problems as well - everyone knows that if they don't eat actual food, they will eventually die. We can choose to pick this apart and miss the point, or see an amazing relationship between us and God.

Father, be glorified in me! Be nourished by my prayers!