Exodus 29 · a question people ask
Did God need the smell of burning meat?
The chapter calls the offerings "a pleasant aroma" to the LORD (29:18, 29:25, 29:41). It doesn't say God needed them. A psalm has God say, "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" (Psalm 50:12-13), and then, "Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving" (Psalm 50:14). The New Testament uses the same kind of words for gifts and for Christ. Paul calls the Philippians' gift "a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God" (Philippians 4:18), and writes that Christ "gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance" (Ephesians 5:2).
The verses
“You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.”
“You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire to the LORD.”
“The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.”
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.”