Today’s Bible Reading: LEVITICUS 9:1-11:47
Leviticus 10:1 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.
We live a world of concessions. It is a society where God’s standards are no more than mere suggestions and where noncompliance is the norm. It is a place where the Lord’s laws are laughed at. It is a culture that cancels His commands. Their way is the right way and their desires become their directives. Even those who claim to be His followers alter what He advocates. His commandments are no longer strictly adhered to, but adjusted to align with what they advance.
In our text we see this played out in the lives of two of Aaron’s sons. Rather than complying with the Lord’s command they chose to act contrary to it. Their response led to their ruin. Aaron obeyed God’s commands resulting in God consuming his sacrifice (Lev 9:24). Aaron’s sons disobeyed God’s commands resulting in God consuming them. (Lev. 10:2)
In this narrative God sets forth the requirements and rituals regarding the manner and methods to be applied in administering the duties of the priests. He clearly outlined the specific details for the offerings that there were to be performed in worshiping Him. The instructions were so detailed that they were even told how to dispose of the skin of the animals that were sacrificed (Lev. 9:11). Conformity to God’s commands would cause His glory to appear to them (Lev 9:6). Aaron did everything “according to the rule” (Lev. 9:16), his sons did not. Their failure was fatal. Their defiance brought their destruction.
Their sin was offering unauthorized or “strange” fire at a time the Lord had not commanded. Their actions were “strange” because they were not sanctioned in the “rules” (Lev 9:16). They sought to incorporate their interest upon God’s instructions. The heart of their disobedience was a deliberate disregard and defiance for what the Lord had decreed. It was a decisive decision to devise their own method of worshiping God. It was imposing their self-will upon the Lord’s directives. They sought a relationship with God on their terms, not His. They discounted His holiness and denied the glory to His name. They sought their way rather than God’s way.
Some would argue the severity of God’s sentence upon them. To them the punishment didn’t seem to fit the crime. This appeared to be a minor infraction that incurred major consequences. Yet this was not a minuscule mishap. They were consecrated and commissioned to uphold God’s holiness and they did the opposite. This was not a lapse of judgement in burning the “strange” fire, but a bold and blatant act of blasphemy against God. Their punishment did fit their crime. God’s extreme actions frightened the priests and the people causing them to refrain from further profane practices for fear of the same punishment.
We are not unlike Nadab and Abihu. We too bring “strange” or “profane fire” before the Lord. We do this when we declare holy what God has decreed unholy. We do it when we live our life as if it coincides with God’s commands, but we in reality we live in contrast to them. We do this when we call acceptable what God calls unacceptable. We act as they did when we do not regard the Lord and His commands as holy and do not seek to bring glory to His name in all that we say and do. (Lev 10:3, 1 Cor 10:31).
Today dwell on the effects of disobedience. Contemplate those parts of your life that can become profane practices. Thank the Lord Jesus Christ that His piercing covers our profane. Ask the Lord to help you live a life that is not in contrast to His commands but glorifies Him by all you say and do. Ask Him to help you to sanctify Christ in you so you will avoid burning “strange fire.”
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