The Five Senses

Psalm 34:8 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

1 John 1:1-4 ESV / 26 helpful votes

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of
life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to
you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that
which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have
fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus
Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

Matthew 5:13 ESV / 14 helpful votes

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be
restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under
people's feet.

Proverbs 20:12 ESV / 11 helpful votes

The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.

1 Corinthians 12:18 ESV / 8 helpful votes

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

Psalm 141:2 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the
evening sacrifice!

Matthew 8:3 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And
immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Psalm 94:9 ESV / 7 helpful votes

He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?

Exodus 20:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Revelation 5:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders
fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense,
which are the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 4:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice,
which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show
you what must take place after this.”

Matthew 26:26-29 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to
the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he
had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood
of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I
will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you
in my Father's kingdom.”

Matthew 24:1-51 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him
the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not?
Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be
thrown down.” As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately,
saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming
and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you
astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead
many astray. ...

Matthew 5:14-15 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the
house.

Proverbs 1:1-33 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and
instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in
righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and
discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who
understands obtain guidance, ...

2 Chronicles 16:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong
support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this,
for from now on you will have wars.”

Genesis 8:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never
again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his
youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

Romans 10:13 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Jonah 2:1-2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out
to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
and you heard my voice.

Isaiah 66:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one
day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor
she brought forth her children.

Isaiah 35:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

Psalm 32:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my
eye upon you.

Exodus 20:25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield
your tool on it you profane it.

Genesis 6:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and
out with pitch.

1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Luke 5:37 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the
skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.

John 3:14-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Preaching With Your Senses

December 12, 2012 By Sherman Haywood Cox II 15 Comments

Preachers determine the meaning of scripture so that they can convey that meaning to
the congregation in the preaching moment. Preachers go to considerable lengths to
make sure that they preach the truth and not error. They study the passage within the
context of the chapter, book, and even the whole cannon of scripture. In many cases, the
preacher derives valid and truthful points from the text and then present those vital
truths to the people. This is good, but often when you take the points from the story, you
remove the ability of the people to fully experience the truth that you are presenting. But
before the people can experience the text, we have to both understand and experience
the text ourselves.

But how do you experience the text? Well you should do a full exegesis as you have
done in the past, but I would also suggest that you might allow all of your senses to
guide your understanding of the text. Yes, allow all five senses of touch, sight, sound,
smell, and taste to help you ask questions of the text that you are presenting.

For example, let’s look at the woman

who grabbed for Jesus’ cloak in Luke 8:40-49. After doing your exegesis, now go into
the text and look around. What do you feel when exploring, in your minds eye, the text.
Do you feel the pushing and the shoving around as the crowd almost crushes Jesus? Do
you see a frail woman whose loss of blood no doubt made her weak? Do you see the
desperation as the woman who has expended all of her money, according to a parallel
passage, comes to her last chance. Do you see the mass in front of her and her pushing
through bobbing and weaving to get to the Master? Do you feel the people pushing
away as they try to get to Jesus for themselves? Do you feel the clothing of the Master’s
garment on the tip of her fingers as she lunges for a touch?

What does explicitly thinking about your senses do? It forces you to think about the
story. It forces you to realize that this is not just a lesson for us today, and it is that, but
it is also a story about a woman struggling for liberation that only comes from a
connection to the master. It is a real story of a real desperate woman and her interaction
with the master.

Thinking about these kinds of questions might give you a sermon title. Or maybe it
could offer aid in ordering your sermon. Or maybe this type of analysis will help you in
the presentation of the message. In any case, this type of analysis will encourage an
experience with a desperate woman touching the master’s garment. This will provide a
marvelous backdrop for your presentation.

Now some may argue that this kind of analysis is not going to be helpful, or they may
argue that they already do this. And that is fine, but before you throw it away, think
about explicit questions that come from your senses.

Many preachers exegete the text so that they can understand intellectually the Bible and
preach a bible lecture that informs the people. That is good, but take it a bit further and
convey a story that we not only experience intellectually, but also physically and
emotionally. Address the whole being by allowing your senses to aid in the exegesis. I
am sure that this will help you present the truths of the Bible.

Related posts:

ENSES, THE FIVE (Hebrew, or

):
Table of Contents

 The Philosophers.
 Development of the Senses.
 In Exegesis.

The Philosophers.

According to the Aristotelian psychology, the human soul possesses, besides the
rational and nutritive faculties, that of perceiving external objects, through the medium
of bodily organs which are adapted to produce the sensations of sight, hearing, smell,
taste, and touch. This theory entered into Jewish literature with the introduction of
Greco-Arabic philosophy. It was first propounded by Saadia, who endeavored to show
that the five senses are mentioned in the Bible ("Emunot we-De'ot," ed. Slucki, p. 7).
Baḥya ibn Paḳuda ("Ḥobot ha-Lebabot," ix. 5) pointed out the Mosaic prohibitions that
are connected with the five senses, to which Ibn Gabirol attributed the twenty qualities
of the soul (S. Wise, "The Improvement of the Soul," p. 17).

With the exception of certain writers, who regarded speech, movement, etc., as so many
additional senses, the absoluteness of the number five was universally admitted in the
Middle Ages; and authors like Judah ben Solomon, Shem-Ṭob ibn Falaquera, and
Ẓemaḥ Duran even endeavored to demonstrate the inadmissibility of more than five
senses. Judæo-Arabic philosophy established a parallel between the five senses and the
faculties of the soul; and for this reason the former were called "external senses" and the
latter "internal senses." The former were divided into two groups: (1) the finer or
intellectual senses, and (2) the coarser or material ones. To the first group belonged
sight, hearing, and smell; to the second, taste and touch (Judah ha-Levi, "Cuzari," iii. 5).
The superiority of the first three is shown by the fact that their respective functions are
exercised from a distance and need not come in contact with their object, while the last
two must be in touch with it. Another mark of superiority of the first three is that they
are found only in the higher animals, while the last two are met with even in the lowest
animals. The external senses perceive objects; but it is the internal which observe their
difference. It is, therefore, the fault of the latter if the former err (Saadia, l.c. vi. 98;
Baḥya, l.c. i. 10).

Development of the Senses.

The senses develop in the child gradually. At the moment of birth only the coarsest
sense, that of touch, is present; after a while comes the sense of taste; then, at various
intervals, appear the senses of smell, hearing, and sight (Baḥya, l.c. ii. 3; Albo, "Sefer
ha-'Iḳḳarim," iii. 10). Death silences the senses in the inverse order. The dying lose the
sense of sight first, and retain until the last moment that of touch. Sleep suspends first
the sense of touch.

Gershon ben Solomon and many other writers of the Middle Ages drew a parallel
between the five fingers on each hand and the five senses. Each finger,according to
them, stands in a natural connection with one of the senses: the thumb is attracted to the
mouth; the index, to the nose; the middle finger, to the skin, the organ of touch; the
ring-finger, to the eye; the ear-finger, to the ear (Baḥya ben Asher, "Shulḥan Arba'," p.
8a, Lemberg, 1858). There is a divergence of opinion between Aristotle and Galen as to
the seat of the central organ of perception, the former placing it in the heart, while the
latter locates it in the brain. With rare exceptions, the Jewish writers of the Middle Ages
sided with Galen.

In Exegesis.

The five senses were prominent in Biblical exegesis, in the interpretation of the
Haggadah, and in the symbolism of certain Mosaic prescriptions. Thus, Isaac Arama
sees in the narrative of Gen. xxvii. 18-27 the striving of Isaac to replace by the
remaining four senses that of sight, which had failed him ("'Aḳedat Yiẓaḳ," p. 62c,
Venice, 1573). Each of the five priestly prohibitions (Lev. xxi. 16 et seq.) corresponds,
according to Solomon ha-Levi, to one of the five senses ("Dibre Shelomoh," p. 265c,
Venice, 1596). Nathan ben Solomon finds in the "Shema'" ten elements, the first five of
them corresponding to the five internal senses, by which man arrives at the knowledge
of God, and the last five to the five external senses, which serve him to carry out God's
commandments ("Mibḥar ha-Ma'amarim," Leghorn, 1840). The three bowls on each
branch of the candlestick in the Temple represented, according to Levi ben Gershon, the
three coarser senses; the knop, the sense of hearing; the flower, that of sight ("Perush 'al
ha-Torah," p. 105b). Moses Isserles sees in the five gates of the Temple a symbol of the
five senses: the western gate typifies the sense of hearing, which is the symbol of night;
the eastern, the sense of sight, which is the symbol of day; the northern, the sense of
touch, which is considered to be the author of mischief among the senses; while the two
southern gates are symbols of the sun, which ripens the fruits and flowers whence smell
and taste draw their nourishment ("Torat ha-'Olah," i. 7). The five food-offerings are
another symbol of the five senses (Lev. ii.).

The quorum of ten (Minyan), which is required for the holding of public worship, is,
according to Abraham ben Shalom, a symbol of the five internal and the five external
senses. The former five are symbolized also by the five compartments of the
phylacteries (Solomon ibn Parḥon, "Maḥberet he-'Aruk," ed. S. G. Stern, p. 24).

Bibliography:

 Kaufmann, Die Sinne, Budapest, 1899.