Ezekiel 20:39-40

Only through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are we saved.

It is nothing to do with our worthiness…NOTHING!  But everything to do with our faith.

Holy Spirit gave me a sensory vision of the sweet aroma many years ago. He allowed me to smell it 3 times (in the visions that He has given me 3 is significant…could it symbolize the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?) It smelled of the Catholic Church incense I remember as a child when the priest sent it over the people at Mass. He called to my mind the prayers of the faithful.

I found this on the internet site “Adoremus”:

The use of incense in religious worship predates Christianity by thousands of years. Incense is noted in the Talmud, and the Bible mentions incense 170 times. The use of incense in Jewish temple worship continued well after the establishment of Christianity and certainly influenced the Catholic Church’s use of incense in liturgical celebrations.

In the Old Testament God commanded His people to burn incense (Exodus 30:7, 40:27). Incense is a sacramental used to venerate, bless, and sanctify. Its smoke conveys a sense of mystery and awe. It is a reminder of the sweet-smelling presence of our Lord. Its use adds a feeling of solemnity to the Mass. The visual imagery of the smoke and the smell reinforce the transcendence of the Mass linking Heaven with Earth, allowing us to enter into the presence of God. The smoke symbolizes the burning zeal of faith that should consume all Christians, while the fragrance symbolizes Christian virtue.

Ezekiel 20:39-44

39 “As for you, O house of Israel,” thus says the Lord God: “Go, serve every one of you his idols—and hereafter—if you will not obey Me; but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols. 40 For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,” says the Lord God, “there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. 42 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. 44 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel,” says the Lord God.’ ”

An ironic and sarcastic statement. It implies that Israel was offering Yahweh rituals and religious practices that had been created for Canaanite idols. Worshiping the right God in the wrong way was just as bad as pure idolatry. The ot is clear that worship of Canaanite gods was closely mixed with worship of Yahweh. This mixture of religions was strongly condemned. The obedience and devotion of restored Israel is as pleasing to Yahweh as sacrifice. Yahweh is concerned with His reputation and wants the nations to see and acknowledge His sovereignty and holiness.

The recognition formula emphasizes that Yahweh’s motivation is a desire to make His power known to all. Yahweh didn’t punish them according to what they deserved for their sin. He punished but then saved for the sake of His reputation. Faithlife Bible.

The command Go, serve every one of you his idols is an ironic command; the rest of the verse indicates that God was giving the stubborn people over to what they had decided. God grants each one a destiny consistent with his or her decisions. Then God looks to an unspecified future time when Israel will glorify His name, meaning “His reputation” among the nations. The future repentant, renewed, and regathered Israel will be characterized by: (1) a return to the land of Israel and an acceptable, sacrificial system of worship (2) a revived, personal knowledge of its sovereign and faithful Lord; (3) a renunciation of former sins; and (4) a recognition that God’s grace governs the nation’s history of sin and salvation. My holy mountain is reference to the glorious central location for worship in Israel—Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. NKJ Bible. 

Leviticus 26:39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.

Judges 10:14 Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.”

Psalm 81:12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.