What Do You Smell Like? Exodus 30
Have you ever smelled something that immediately transported you to another time or place?
Maybe it’s the smell of rain that takes you back to childhood. Maybe it’s a particular food that reminds you of your grandmother’s kitchen. Maybe it’s a perfume or cologne that brings back the memory of someone you love.
Smell has a unique ability to connect the present with the past. A scent can trigger a memory before we even consciously realize what we are smelling.
In Exodus 30, God uses this powerful connection between smell and memory to teach Israel something about his presence.
An Altar of Incense
By Exodus 30, God has rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. At Mount Sinai, he is teaching them not only how to live, but how to worship and how to make space for his presence.
Part of that instruction involves an altar specifically designed for burning incense.
God gives Moses detailed instructions about the incense: what spices to use, how to prepare it, and how it is to be treated. Most importantly, this particular mixture was set apart. It was holy because it belonged to the Lord.
The incense was to be burned continually. Aaron, the high priest, was instructed to tend it every morning and every evening. It wasn't something that happened occasionally. The aroma of the incense was meant to be a constant part of Israel's experience of worship.
Imagine what that would have been like.
Every morning, the fragrance would fill the sanctuary. As the day went on, the aroma would move beyond the sanctuary and into the surrounding camp.
The priest would smell like it.
The air would smell like it.
And eventually, the people would smell like it.
The Fragrance of God's Presence
There's something beautiful about that picture.
The Israelites didn't simply encounter God's presence in one particular moment. They were surrounded by reminders of his presence.
The smell itself became a kind of sermon.
Every time they encountered that familiar fragrance, they could remember who God was and what he had done.
He was the God who had delivered them from Egypt.
He was the God who had brought them through the Red Sea.
He was the God who had been faithful before.
And the message of that fragrance could be summed up in a simple truth:
If God did it before, he can do it again.
The incense was a reminder of God's faithfulness.
And it was also associated with joy. Scripture repeatedly connects God's presence with joy. Psalm 16:11 says, “In your presence is fullness of joy.”
God's presence was not merely something Israel was supposed to acknowledge intellectually. It was something they were meant to experience—to see, hear, taste, touch, and even smell.
You Start to Smell Like What You're Around
But there's another part of this picture that is worth considering.
If Aaron spent his days tending the incense, he was going to smell like the incense.
And if the people spent their time around that incense, its aroma would eventually cling to them as well.
The longer they were around it, the more they carried its fragrance with them.
That raises an important question for us:
What do we smell like?
Not literally, of course.
What aroma does your life give off?
What do people experience when they spend time around you?
Do they encounter anxiety, anger, bitterness, and impatience?
Or do they encounter something that reminds them of the presence of God?
Paul uses this same kind of imagery when he describes believers as carrying “the fragrance of the knowledge of God.” Our lives can become a kind of testimony—not merely through what we say, but through what we carry with us.
And here's the uncomfortable part:
We tend to smell like whatever we spend the most time around.
What we continually watch, listen to, consume, pursue, and give our attention to will eventually shape us.
What we spend our time doing becomes part of who we are.
If we continually immerse ourselves in the presence of God, we should expect that presence to begin shaping the aroma of our lives.
What Are You Carrying?
Think about Jesus at twelve years old.
When Mary and Joseph realized they had left him behind, they eventually found him in the temple. Jesus wasn't lost. He was exactly where he wanted to be—in his Father's house, doing his Father's work.
He had been spending time in the presence of his Father.
And that raises the question for us:
What do we carry with us when we leave the presence of God?
Do we simply have a moment of worship and then return to life unchanged?
Or does something of God's presence remain with us?
The goal isn't to pretend to be more spiritual than we are. It's not about performing holiness for other people.
It's about allowing our lives to be shaped by the One we spend our time with.
The more time we spend with God, the more his character begins to shape our character.
The more we listen to him, the more his voice influences our words.
The more we encounter his grace, the more gracious we become.
The more we experience his presence, the more his presence becomes evident in the way we live.
Two Questions
So perhaps the most important question from Exodus 30 isn't simply, “What was the incense made of?”
It's this:
What do you smell like?
What have you been spending your time doing?
What has been shaping your attention?
What are you carrying into your relationships, your work, your family, and your everyday life?
And then there's a second question—a question we can bring directly to God:
What do I need to do to smell more like you?
Or perhaps even:
What is keeping me from smelling like you?
Those aren't questions we have to answer immediately.
They are questions we can sit with.
Questions we can bring before God in silence and prayer.
Because sometimes the most important thing we can do is simply make space—to stop, listen, and allow God to show us what has been shaping us.
The incense of Exodus 30 was a continual reminder of God's presence and faithfulness.
Today, we don't recreate that altar or that particular incense. But the principle remains: what we continually place ourselves around will shape what we carry with us.
So spend time with God.
Make space for his presence.
And allow his presence to become an aroma that others can encounter through your life.
What do you smell like?
