HEBREW WORD STUDY – SWEET SAVOR – RE’CHA NICHOCHA ריח נוחח Resh Yod Cheth Nun Vav Cheth Cheth

II Corinthians 2:15: “For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:”

Leviticus 3:5: “And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which [is] upon the wood that [is] on the fire: [it is] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.”

Leviticus 1:16: “He shall remove its crop with its feathers, and cast it beside the altar.”

It is said of a large ox, “A burnt offering, a sweet savor”; of a small bird, “A burnt offering, a sweet savor”; and of a meal-offering, “A burnt offering, a sweet savor.” This is to teach you that it is the same whether a person offers much or little, so long as he directs his heart to heaven.

(Talmud, Menachot 110a)

A meal offering was not an offering of an animal but consisted of grain finely ground to flour mixed with Olive oil and frankincense. It was considered an offering that the poorest could afford. Each offering whether an animal or meal offering was considered a sweet savor to God. The words sweet savors is re’cha nichocha which means to grind something into small particles to release a sweet, soothing and satisfying aroma. I remember watching my grandfather pick up the petal of a flower and rub it in his hands, destroying the petal yet, in the destruction of that petal he would put his nose to it to receive a very pleasurable and satisfying aroma. Until its destruction, one could not experience the ultimate in its pleasurable aroma. That is a sweet savor, where all that hinders a sweet aroma is destroyed leaving behind only that which is pleasurable.

It is interesting that before a bird was to be a sacrifice the priest was to remove its crop. The crop in a bird is a small sack located near or on the esophagus. It holds particles of food. A wild bird will collect its food through theft and/or violence. God did not want that part of the bird sacrificed in the fires of the altar. It was to be removed from the bird before it was put in the fires.

There is a picture here of Jesus. A lamb was to be offered without blemish or spot. A bird was to be offered without its crop – any evidence of its past theft or violence. The sacrifices were to be an offer, in a metaphoric sense, as sinless just as the Messiah, the one who will redeem us of our sins must Himself be sinless.

The Apostle Paul tells us in I Corinthians 13:3: “And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.” In Aramaic, there is an article attached to the word love and should be read: “and have not the love.” In other words, the love of God in Christ Jesus who was our sacrifice. You can give all you want to the poor and even offer your body up to be burned as a sacrifice on the Altar and still it would profit nothing. The only sacrifice for our sin would have to be a sinless offering as was Jesus. If we were to be sacrificed as a burnt offering with sin in our lives, it would not be a sweet savor or aroma to God, even though we were sacrificing our very lives.

There were various offerings that gave off a sweet aroma to God. The most costly sacrifice would be an ox, less costly was a bird and the least costly was a meal offering. Yet, the Talmud teaches that the Torah tells us that all are a sweet aroma to God. That it is not the sacrifice but the attitude of the heart that brings the redemption. Even sacrificing our very lives will not bring about our redemption. It is our heart’s repentance and surrenders to God that makes the sacrifice a true offering to God a sweet savor to God.

The word for aroma is nucha which means rest, relaxing peace. It is a peace that comes after an intense emotional experience. Our living in sin is a very tense emotional experience for God and until we repent and accept the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, God cannot rest. Once we do accept his sacrifice to redeem our sins, God can enter into a rest and a sense of peace over our well being.