SMOKE!

Last week, one of Iceland’s volcanoes, Eyjafjallajökull (what a terrific name!), blew its top, sending smoke and ash 6 miles high. As far as volcanoes go, this one is not a biggie, but it happened over some of the world’s busiest airspaces. The stuff, consisting of minute particles of rock akin to glass, once sucked into an airplane’s engines can congeal, causing disastrous failure. And what’s more, this ash cannot be spotted by weather radar. Which spelled inordinate vexation for all of Europe. A smoky disaster!

A normal Saturday would have had 22,000 flights in Europe, but yesterday there were only 5,000. Canceled flights are costing carriers $200 million a day. A spokesman for the International Air Transport Association said it could easily hit a billion dollars’ loss in revenue this week. Not to mention the economic repercussions related to air cargo shipments—everything from fresh fruits and flowers to microchips and mail is affected. Add to that, the hundreds of thousands of people stranded in some airport missing work. Even routine diplomacy got scuttled, evidenced in the dwindling guest list of dignitaries attending Polish President Kaczynski’s state funeral today. Then there is the potential of all of this ash coming down to terra firma and into the lungs of humans and animals …. A smoky disaster, indeed!

Hopefully the smoke-spewing creature will go back to sleep soon, leaving us all alone. But one can’t be too sure. The last eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in December 1821 didn’t subside until January 1823. May that not happen again!

Smoke. In the Bible, more often than not, smoke is frequently pictured in relation to some activity of God.

Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke
because the LORD
descended upon it in fire;
and its smoke ascended
like the smoke of a furnace.
Exodus 19:18

Smoke seems to indicate His presence.

I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
lofty and exalted, with
the train of His robe filling the temple.
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds
trembled … while the temple
was filling with smoke.
Isaiah 6:1, 3–4

It is likely that it symbolizes God’s holiness. It also indicates God’s wrath against sin.

And the foundations of the
mountains were trembling and
were shaken, because He was angry.
Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured.
Psalm 18:7–8

And so smoke shows up in God’s judgment of evil as well.

And the smoke of their torment
goes up forever and ever;
they have no rest day and night,
those who worship the beast ….
Revelation 14:11

I suspect its connection to God’s holiness is why the smoke of sacrifices pleases a holy God, an oft-repeated theme in Leviticus.

And the priest shall offer up in smoke
all of it [the sacrificial animal]
on the altar for a burnt offering,
… a soothing aroma to the LORD.
Leviticus 1:9

Smoke, a soothing aroma.

But, no more. A greater sacrifice, the Perfect Sacrifice has been made, this one never to be repeated.

For if the blood of goats and bulls
and the ashes of a heifer … sanctify …,
how much more will the blood of Christ,
who … offered Himself
without blemish to God?
Hebrews 9:13–14

The price for sin has been paid fully, finally, and forever. And for those placing their trust in Jesus Christ as their only God and Savior, sin is no longer an issue between them and God.

Praise God—no more smoke!