Seriously!! One attribute of the Mashiach is that He judges by smell!
(This promises to be an interesting and unconventional post that will pull some odd things together… )
After the midrash at this week’s Shabbat (parsha, Toldot), a bunch of the guys were sitting around batting topics and savoring the weekly covered dish selections. Usually, the topics discussed can be as varied as the smorgasbord on the side table. This week however, proved special… I threw a really odd, off-the-wall topic on the table.
While reading The Return of the Kosher Pig, by Rabbi Itzhak Shapira, (recently reviewed here) I was introduced to an interesting concept about the Messiah in Judaic thought.
The Messiah will judge by smell!
Really?!?
Having learned to read and study further, as there is often great value in pursuing the Rabbinic thought process, I was astounded to not only see the connection, but to confirm it from multiple places in Scripture. Before sharing the potential really odd connection (nephilim), let me explain how they ‘got there’ and why it has a lot of validity!
As R. Shapira reveals Judaic thought on the Messiah, he draws from Isaiah 11:1-4 at least six times. In one of those instances, p.170, he says,
The sages understand that his final attribute (Fear of God) will be so strong that the message is repeated again in Isaiah 11:3.
‘And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord; and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears;‘
The term “And his delight” is rooted in the same Hebrew word for “spirit,” as the prophet wanted to emphasize the seventh principle yet again. Rashi understood that he will be “fully consumed” by the Spirit of God. Radak added that the term “and his delight” is rooted in the Hebrew word “smell,” as the Messiah will have a divine understanding of men’s hearts and their goodness and wickedness. The understanding of Radak is important, as he acknowledges at the very least that the Messiah will have superhuman attributes.
Elsewhere, in a youtube discussion, R. Shapira pursues Radak’s thought a little further. (I can’t find the exact source, Shapira’s videos are a goldmine, worthy of reviewing.) In his pursuit he explains (if I recall correctly) that Radak placed emphasis on the nose as it is between the eyes and ears mentioned in that very verse.
It seemed an odd sort of idea, but it began rolling around in my head. As it did a veritable plethora of verses began to come to mind concerning ‘smell,’ ‘aroma,’ ‘fragrance,’ etc… How many times in Scripture do these concepts appear in connection with sacrifice and offering? MORE than dozens. Look it up!
And indeed, the word translated as ‘delight’ (NASB) in Isaiah 11:3 is also translated as ‘smell,’ ‘aroma,’ ‘fragrance,’ etc elsewhere in Scripture, and in this passage is used in contradistinction to His eyes and His ears… VERY interesting!!
So, as I am pondering all of this several weeks ago, I started thinking about a piece I wrote on ‘be ye holy as I am holy‘ and the fact that the phrase appears only a couple times in Scripture and two of those, significantly, appear in Leviticus 11!!
Pulling the odd strands together, I began to wonder how significant the obvious is. Eating clean makes one smell different. Even more importantly, eating Biblically clean makes one smell different to the Living God!! And this is where it starts to get a little strange… the crazy thought I threw on the table at Shabbat that led to a lively discussion:
“If eating clean makes us a ‘pleasing aroma to God,’ then, does eating unclean make us ‘palatable’ to the nephilim?”
(I warned you this will get interesting/weird!)
I have studied and pondered the bizarre, possible literal, connections of nephilim and the end times, though I try not to track such onto this blog for fear of having my two remaining friends think I’m a total nut-job and ostracize me… LOL! (Really, it is not that bad…) Still, I do try not to blend the speculative NWO/alien agenda with the clear rational instructions we receive from Scripture… But this one continued to tease my mind, so I thought it worth pursuing, if only momentarily.
Consider, what makes the Father happy, by definition, would make the adversary, haSatan, UNhappy. What the Father finds to be a ‘pleasing aroma,’ would, by definition, be UNSAVORY for haSatan. Further, if the ‘alien agenda’ is, as I believe, a physical manifestation of inter-dimensional demonic beings, then, it would make sense that eating clean is MORE than health related! PARTICULARLY, if, as some believe, the aliens will be coming To Serve Man! (Must see that video, for full effect!!)
Which begs the question: Does eating clean make us ‘unpalatable’ to haSatan? To the fallen ones? Or even more practically, does it make us into a more pleasant dwelling for the Ruach (Holy Spirit)?
Hmmm… Will Messiah judge by smell?
So, this morning I purposed to write a little about these thoughts and decided to re-read notes and consider some other uses of this word, when it led to a verse out of yesterday’s Torah portion that uses the word four times!! (Michael mentioned this at the table yesterday, but we didn’t open Bibles back up to verify! Sure wish we had now, as this would have cemented the importance in all of our minds…)
Consider Genesis 27:26-27!!
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he blessed him and said,
“See, the smell of my son
Is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed;
Folks, this is a picture!! Itzhak is a type and shadow of the Messiah! Ya’acov here is instructed to ‘come close and kiss me, my son.” Amazingly, yesterday, as we concluded worship I was moved to read Psalm 2, a Messianic passage in which we read,
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Ya’acov drew near to the ‘messiah’ and kissed him and was judged by his smell!! Critical to our understanding is that Ya’acov was wearing the skins of two small kids, as well as his brother’s garments. Itzhak could smell the blood of the goat(s) (picture of forgiveness in Yeshua, our Pesach as well as the picture of the two goats at Yom Kippur), AND the garments of his elder brother, Esav.
We are judged by the smell of the garments of our elder brother (Yeshua) and the blood of atonement shed on our behalf!! Messiah indeed judges by smell, based on this remez picture!!!
The blood of Messiah is KEY, but, Revelation 14:12 tells us,
Here is the [a]perseverance of the [b]saints who keep the commandments of God and [c]their faith in Jesus.
Perseverance in the Tribulation is clearly connected to BOTH having the faith of Yeshua AND keeping the commandments of God, one of which is eating clean. (See Leviticus 11!)
Now, back to the question on the table…
“If eating clean makes us a ‘pleasing aroma to God,’ then, does eating unclean make us ‘palatable’ to the nephilim?”
I don’t have a hard/substantiatable answer, however, it would make sense! Our Father does not give frivolous instructions (torah). Everything has a purpose, and certainly, there are numerous reasons for His CLEAR instructions on diet that have NEVER been rescinded, abolished, abrogated or some other theological nonsense. Some reasoning is overly simplistic with the ‘healthy’ ideas… Others understand greater depth of learning the distinction of the clean and unclean. The holy and the profane.
Personally, in light of my recent thoughts, I can’t help but wonder if there is another reason we are instructed to eat clean and that it may have HUGE significance in these last days….
Maybe, just maybe, we will ‘smell’ detestable to the enemy of our King and thus be considerably less palatable…
I would love to hear some thoughts… as long as you aren’t writing to tell me I must have ‘bumped my head.’ (I’m already aware of that probability! LOL!)
natsab 
Reblogged this on Davar Chaim and commented:
Yesterday’s Torah Portion was incredibly rich, and frankly, we barely touched it, even from the direction I chose. Here is an article about some other interesting thoughts, but the tail end of the article bears a strong connection to the portion in a picture we see in Genesis 27:26-27… Thought I’d post a link here for your review and edification.
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More thoughts coming, right now…
The forces of evil have really been pushing GMO foods and such. Might these be connected? Potentially alters the consumer genetically…. Hmmm… Thoughts?
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Very interesting Thank You for sharing
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HEY!! Good to ‘see’ you guys. Hope all is well and a belated ‘Shabbat Shalom!’
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Well, just a ‘bump on the head’ comment, but I recently saw the zombie apocalypse movie, World War Z, and there is a similar “smell” concept brought out as well. Without hopefully spoiling too much for someone who hasn’t seen it, in this movie, the zombies would viciously attack anyone who was healthy, but would totally ignore the sick, as if they were invisible. They somehow knew or could, can we say “smell” sickness and impending death and would not touch those individuals. The sick were effectively camouflaged! I believe dogs can also “smell’ sickness in people. So, smell can certainly be used as an indicator for determining the fitness of something, with the resulting action being positive OR negative. Like I said, ‘bump on the head’ comment – probably isn’t worth much -, but this article did have a strange connection to the movie for me. Thanks for the post.
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I have read that some dogs are trained to ‘find’ cancer and with some types are more effective early warning than man’s high tech equipment.
On the movie, I find it twisted irony that the zombies avoid the sick, when eating clean leads to greater health… Odd twist on the predictive programming we see in Hollywood.
Thanks for the input. Shalom!!
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Might just be anecdotal but around here, when we made the decision to begin eating according to the Fathers instructions (being obedient to His Words) I personally saw a significant reduction in temptations from the enemy. As always, there’s much more to all this than we have been trained to recognize by our old RCP (Roman Catholic Protestantism) upbringing.
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I had the same experience… Thought it might have been circumstantial, but the differences in attacks/temptation were markedly reduced. Certainly bears consideration as a blessing/benefit of obedience.
Shalom!
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Great thought provoking subject, (fee fi fo fum i smell the blood of a gentile man)( smile.) I knew friday night I had heard this somewhere, It comes from babylonian mythology and that comes from satan. I came back home today to do more research on the sumerian gods or annunaki to find that ancient sumerian texts states they were on earth( The sumerian gods) to find precious metals for longevity of life, coincidentally two of the metals, rhodium and iridium, are found in 5% of pig brain tissue in dry form. Therefore, if this is true I can see why an unclean person or pigs could be a source of food for these creatures! ( im just saying) love the topic, great job!
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Great thought, re: Sumerian gods….
Someone from the Shabbat discussion sent me this link connecting mythology and cannibalism… another possible pointer/connection to the, er, dietary habits of the nephilim??
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/myths/tp/080707Cannibalism.htm
Don’t be a stranger. Drop back in as you have opportunity!
Shalom!
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Hmmmm!!! Interesting. Will think on this. Hopefully our lives are a sweet smelling savor to Him.
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Just watched the video. Don’t remember that one. Hmmm! again. They say Hollywood spits ut a lot of ‘pre’ truths. Hmmm!
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Yeah, I think YouTube has the complete episode… Even the abbreviated version I put up will mess with one’s mind… a bit freaky, eh?
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I’m not sure why I was directed here. The smell of Jacob was the smell of his brother, not Jacob’s smell. Jacob disguised his own smell. Are you saying we should try to decieve Yeshua?
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Clearly you just want to be antagonistic… So be it.
The remez clearly explains that Itzhak (Isaac) is a picture of Yeshua and the focus is on his use of smell to judge.
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Sorry, I know I come across as antagonistic. But, iron sharpens iron. Not wash rags sharpen iron.
See, even that sounds antagonistic, but I only wanted to make a point. 🙂
I still don’t get it, but it does not matter. Is there some other scripture that says the same thing in a different way that I can understand. About Yeshua smelling I mean?
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Gen 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour/aroma/smell; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
2Co 2:15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,
2Co 2:16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
There are many others… I never really thought of smell as relevant until this particular series of pieces came together. yet, we look particularly at the many offerings to God and how many verses record ‘soothing’ or ‘pleasing aroma to Yahweh?’
It is interesting… at the least, worth considering.
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Wow, your right! I see it now
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“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?”
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Bingo! Which begs the question: How important is what we eat to the King?
If I can smell garlic or alcohol on a friend after they have partaken, how much more can our God ‘smell’ us when we have been unclean or eaten unclean?
Certainly, interesting to ponder…. What are the deeper implications?
Shalom.
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Yes, I can’t even think about eating unclean food, it turns by stomach just the thought.
Deeper implications? The eating of the body and blood of Messiah might make us smell like him?
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This is absolutely mind blowing! I started looking up all these verse that came flooding into my head concerning smell, aroma Etc. This is connecting dots for me. Really thought provoking!
… Jo-Ann
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Wow! This is great! I am not sure, but I think the Word says YHWH smells some offers as well, and what about the prayers of the saints in Revelations? Man, I love the Word!!!!!
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Great insight!
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There is, in the Talmud, a passage where the Rabbis came to Bar Kochba to find out is he were truly the Messiah as he had said. They said: “in the case of the Messiah it is said that he shall smell a man and judge. Can you smell a man and judge?” When they saw that Bar Kochba could not smell a man and judge, they killed him.”
The rabbis of that era clearly accepted the idea from Isaiah 11:3 that the Messiah would be able to discern “truth in the innermost parts” through the sense of smell. The greatest grammarian of the Hebrew language Rabbi David Kimchi (RaDaK) would agree with this line of interpretation, though RASHI and Maimonides went different directions with it.
To call the ability to smell truth in the innermost parts is a “supernatural power” though, might be a distortion of the truth. Because if the sense of smell is a God given gift which we in our foolishness and pride have generally chosen to ignore, deflect, downplay, and relativize, or categorize as somehow “animalistic” (even though modern science now disputes that claim) then really we might more rightly think about smell as a sense which we also, in our imitation of Messiah, ought to give greater honour to, and cultivate from a young age, trusting to the true information it conveys. If more of us did this then lies, deception and falsehoods would be exposed much earlier than they typically are. And when that day arrives then God’s kingdom has come into our midst.
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Love this informative comment. Thank you for a fine contribution.
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If you go back and hear again the video of the young Jewish boy, Nathan, tell of his experience of being in the Kingdom / heaven when he had died for some minutes….
One of the things is that the Messiah will be judging by smell. 👃🙌
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I continue to find this topic so fascinating. Thank you for that tidbit!
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