It has been about ten or more Christmases ago that we were all able to get together for a visit at my parents’ home and enjoy the holidays with them. They are both gone now, but we cherish all the memories we were able to make with them along the way. My mother was famous for her good cooking, especially her pies and goodies at Christmastime and this was one of the things we were looking forward to this particular year, with great anticipation. However, she had developed Macular Degeneration which made seeing anything at all a challenge, especially smaller items. As we got the meal together there was much joy and communing together and the turkey, dressing and trimmings were all delicious, until we got to the pies. We served them up to each one’s individual preference and request and begin to partake. It only took one bite to know that something was very wrong and quite different to years gone by. We all saw each other’s expressions, including my dad’s. We acknowledged the problem and discarded the remaining pies silently, because my mom had no idea what was going on because she could not see enough to know. She had put salt into the pies instead of sugar, or so much salt that you couldn’t taste anything else. Though there was a legitimate reason for her mistake, you can see that yes, it is in the details. My dad must have said something to her later because that was the last pies of her baking career. Many of you may have similar stories to tell from your own memories.
My sweet husband just watched the old classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” with me on Thanksgiving weekend. I recall a particular scene from the movie that especially brings out the point about how important details are. George Bailey, just a school boy at the time, had a parttime job at the drug store. He served the customers at the front counter, where he first met Mary as a girl, his future wife, but he noted on this day that the druggist, Mr. Gower, had received a telegram stating that his son, Robert, a soldier, had died suddenly of influenza. He saw how distraught the druggist was and tried to offer assistance as best he could. He was told to go and deliver some capsules to a customer who had been waiting for them. He left the store with them, but before he left, he noticed that the druggist had put poison into them, so he goes to ask his father what he should do. He finds him too busy at work to talk so he returns with the pills. The customer had already called wondering where the pills were, and George had to confess that he did not deliver them, but that he had seen that the druggist had put poison in the pills by mistake. Even though the druggist had a legitimate reason, the fact that he was so distraught over the news of his son that he couldn’t think straight or concentrate, it is still all in the details. In addition, Clarence the angel had shown him this particular scene from his past, because if he had not noticed or said anything about the small detail of the wrong ingredients being put into the pills, the customer would have died, and Mr. Gower would have ended up the town drunk.
No matter your occupation, there are certain details you must pay attention to. Of course, the list of specific occupations and all their particulars would be too long to mention in one setting, however, I will just throw out a few that affect us all and that we can relate to in some way, shape or form in our lives. The first one of course is the baker, like the story of my mother’s snafu. One ingredient added or omitted from the recipe or substituted for something different, and our favorite bread, donuts or cakes can go from delicious to atrocious very quickly. The familiar is what we crave, often referred to as ‘comfort food’ because taste can evoke emotions as well as memories. A Mixologist is also an occupation that capitalizes on the sense of taste. They are persons according to the dictionary, who are skilled in mixing cocktails as well as other drinks. They are most often hired in bars, clubs, or restaurants. Not only do they make the drink that everyone loves but they can remake the same drink repeatedly to ensure they have repeat customers.
Even more so than taste, the sense of smell is even more closely connected to memories. Julie Vaughn wrote in a recent article in the Tennessee Magazine, “The olfactory bulb (sensory organ right above your nose) connects directly to the amygdala and hippocampus in our brains. The amygdala plays a key role in processing emotions, while the hippocampus helps you form new memories. Here is the best part, smell is the only sense that has a direct connection to these sections of the brain, therefore has a more powerful impact on memory than any of our other senses. Nostalgic smells provide solace in trying times.” There are many occupations today that deal with this concept. A Perfumer is someone who produces and sells perfumes of varying compositions. Just about anything with a smell can be incorporated into perfumes. Including skunk oil. The compound we call musk, which is butyl mercaptan, from the skunk oil, is what allows the perfume to hold its smell. The term Perfumer was first used in the year 1564. They are thought to be artist of sorts and often affectionately called, ‘A Nose’ by the French. In the old days there was no formal training for this occupation, but they would learn as apprentices under an already established Perfumer. They have learned the concept that the sense of smell is linked to the emotions and are very astute and precise in their creating. They use this knowledge not only in their choices when mixing the scents, but in their marketing efforts as well. Their ads will make you believe that if you wear their perfume, you too will be transported to that sensual, beautiful vacation resort with that handsome, sun kissed creature beside you. If they can get you to buy their product, you will think of these images every time you wear it. And you will in turn, as the customer, by word of mouth, become an unpaid salesperson for them.
An Aromatherapist is also someone who creates specific combinations of scents, but they are thought to be more medicinal, to assist in destressing their clients and promote calm and healing. Various essential oils can be mixed to promote certain responses. One example is peppermint oil. It is said to alleviate diarrhea, nausea, indigestion, flatulence, muscle, nerve and menstrual pain, and symptoms of the common cold. The oils are most normally transmitted into the atmosphere of your home, spa or Aromatherapist’s office, through the invention of what is known as a diffuser, which are sold in many shapes and forms. I feel better already, just thinking about it! This is a very detailed profession.
My ‘last but not least’ example, for the sake of this study, is the chemist or druggist or what we know now as the pharmacist. The dictionary states they are, one who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes. The Chemist could also refer more to the one doing chemical research and experiments with the druggist being the one primarily mixing and distributing the medicines. However, the word Chemist can also refer to the establishment itself, as does Drugstore or Pharmacy. As we saw in our story from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, and as anyone taking prescription medications knows, it is imperative that they pay attention to the details. Not only in what they are mixing, but who they are prescribing the medication to. What could be a healing agent for one, could be toxic to another. What a great responsibility ‘to get it right’, that these folks have. Several forerunners to Chemistry were Alchemy, heard of since the 13th century, which was a philosophical approach to creating cures, and an Apothecary, who was a Druggist. The Apothecary was an ancient word used for a medical professional who mixed and dispensed medicines to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The word Apothecary is derived from the ancient Greek word for a depository or storehouse. In historical accounts, this profession can be traced back to 2600 BC in Babylon. More than 800 prescriptions and 700 drugs are mentioned in the Papyrus Ebers of Ancient Egypt a medical documentation of herbal knowledge written around 1500 BC. It is also mentioned in the scriptures, first seen in the book of Exodus. This takes us back to our focus on details.
You have heard the expression ‘the Devil’s in the details’, meaning that details are important, and that problems and difficulties could arise if we don’t pay attention to the details. However, this expression was derived from its predecessor, ‘God is in the details’, meaning that whatever we do we should do thoroughly, which by extension means to pay close attention to the details, which is exactly what I wanted to point out in this article. God is not a ‘fly by the seat of the pants’ fellow, neither does he do anything’ willy-nilly’, nor does he say or do things that are of no consequence and that can be interpreted as a ’take it or leave it’ proposition. This lesson can be learned very quickly by reading the story of Adam, Eve, and Satan in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3:1-6, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Note: God did not say anything about not touching it.) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Note: This is a direct lie to preface what he was going to tell her to plant doubt in her mind.) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” It’s in the details.
Everything we see in the Old Testament physically we can see the spiritual counterpart in the New Testament. Therefore, if we try to change or downplay anything as not important, insignificant details or just semantics, we undermine God’s very creation, commandments, and divine design. We can see this as God began to give Moses specific instructions for the constructing of the tabernacle, where to get the materials from and all the functions thereof. Exodus 25:1-8 tells us, “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood, Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” All the materials, oils and spices were offerings from the people.
God was very serious about the recipe for the anointing oil. He gave directives for the specific ingredients and the quantities to be used and wanted it to be mixed and created by the apothecary. It was also meant to be exclusive for the purpose for which it was designed. Branded and copy written if you will. Exodus 30:22-33 says, “Moreover the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever touches them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, this shall be a holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compounds any like it, or whosoever puts any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.”
For the perfumed incense he had a different recipe, albeit also precise and exclusive and to be mixed by the apothecary. In Exodus 30:34-38 we see these instructions, “And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”
In the scriptures God correlates sweet odors with obedience. It pleases Him. He has precise recipes and specific expectations for their use because He is One and will not share His glory with another. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were often referred to as a sweet savor to Him. When Noah and his family exited the ark after the flood, Genesis 8:20-22 tells us, “And Noah built an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; 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 everything living, as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
The opposite is also true. Disobedience is described as a foul odor to God. Ecclesiastes 10:1 states, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.” Portions of Isaiah 3:14-26 regarding the children of Israel states, “The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. Moreover, the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes… And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle, a rent; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty. Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate, shall sit upon the ground.”
Using and replicating the recipes for any use other than the designed purpose came with judgement. As we read in Exodus 30:33 and 38, “Whosoever compounds any like it, or whosoever puts any of it upon a stranger, or whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.” Jeremiah 1:16 states, “And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.” This is mentioned 23 times in Jeremiah alone, not counting any of the other 39 books of the Old Testament. God takes His instructions very seriously. Solomon lost out with God, not because he didn’t love God, but because He did not take His instructions to heart. 1 Kings 3:3 says, “And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.” 1 Kings 9:25, “And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the Lord. So, he finished the house.” 1 Kings 11:8 “And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.” This was not an ‘oops, I made a one time mistake’, but a continual practice that he adopted.
Let us wrap this up and tie a beautiful bow on the top. Why did Jesus receive myrrh at his birth you may wonder. Because he was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! It was an ingredient in his anointing oil recipe. Matthew 1:23 states, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
You may also contemplate the reason why Jesus received frankincense as a gift at his birth. He was the One true God come in flesh to die for our sins for our redemption from sin. Colossians 2:8-10 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” Frankincense was an ingredient in His perfume recipe. God loves a sweet savor, because it denotes obedience, even as we read in Philippians, Jesus was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”.
Mark 14:1-8 tells this story of Jesus, “After two days was the feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft and put him to death. But they said, not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she break the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.” Jesus was God robed in flesh, and our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, as recorded in Psalms and Hebrews, therefore, receiving the anointing oil was within the stipulations of the instructions. Spikenard Essential Oil can sell for up to $615.00 in 2022, which is quite expensive for anyone’s pocketbook. The descriptions of it says, “Aromatic and earthy, Spikenard Essential Oil is an ancient oil with many health benefits…Incredibly grounding, Spikenard Oil is a wonderful choice for meditation and relaxation, as well as a perfect choice to promote sleep. It is known for its ability to increase blood flow, making it a popular choice for those battling circulation conditions. In skincare, Spikenard is revered for its powerful cleansing and purifying properties. The calming and spiritual aroma of Spikenard pairs wonderfully with clove, juniper berry, myrrh, sandalwood, and vetiver.”
We are now on this side of Calvary, and one might ask, how can I be a sweet savor to God and have His anointing? Should I invest in an expensive bottle of spikenard essential oil, and will scented candles or incense get His attention? The answer is no, and neither does he take pleasure anymore in the scent of the sacrifices of bulls or goats as seen in Hebrews 10:8, but our obedience to the instructions he has left us in his word is what he delights in. Paying close attention to the details is what provides hope for everlasting life, and that Holy anointing oil of His Spirit upon our lives in the here and now. We should not think that we can add or omit anything to the salvation equation and still have the correct result in the end. The word of God is not just semantics, but authoritative and definitive. We must have understanding of what we are to do and how we are to do it. There will be no acceptable reason on the judgement day for why you did not know what to do. Just as God stated about the holy anointing oil and the incense, that they should not try to replicate it or misuse it, we must stick to the recipe aka salvation plan and use it for that which it is designed. God is in the details. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 Paul tells us, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ…”
David, who was always ahead of his time, states in Psalm 141:2, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” The sweet savor we offer to Him now is our prayers. Revelation 5:8-10 gives us a glimpse of what the revelator saw in heaven, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”Revelation 8:3-4 says, “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” God enjoys the prayers of His people. He hears every one and savors them and answers them all in His timing. Our prayers are our communion with the Lord and lets Him know that we need Him.
Lastly, we are to be a sweet aroma to those around us. How do we accomplish that you may ask? By having the same love toward others as Jesus had for us. Ephesians 5:1-2 says, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.” In Philippians 4:18 Paul describes how their gifts of love to him were received “But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” Proverbs 27:9 encapsulates this thought, “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.” Always remember, it’s in the details!