We have learned so much from the OT about God’s amazing grace. The tabernacle and all the furnishings were designed by God, Himself as a means to atone for the sin of His people. Here, in Chapter 10 we see a Chapter about judgement. The place of divine forgiveness became a place for divine wrath and judgement.
Theological Points-
God’s holiness can be a dangerous thing when His people treat holy things as common. Aaron’s sons were chosen for this task. They were disobedient and met with God’s swift judgement.
God’s ways are always right. This passage shows us that we are to accept what God does and not second guess Him or His motives. We are to also even publicly acknowledge the justice and goodness of God.
It’s very important to be able to distinguish holy from unholy. We can distinguish the difference as we read God’s Word and obey what He tells us.
1. Judgement in the Tabernacle of Salvation (10:1-7)
10 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace.
4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. 7 And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
The two sons of Aaron who were priests were disobedient in how they presented fire into the tabernacle. The censors were supposed to be lit from the fire burning on the altar. What was important was that the fire on the altar was lit by God Himself. This fire was to light the incense contained within the holy place. The incense represented the prayers of God’s people who were cleansed at the altar of the burned offering, the place where the fire was supposed to come from.
What really happened and where they sinned by not obeying what God said is not clear. The unauthorized fire comes from a word meaning strange or foreign. Perhaps they lit their censors from another fire? It is not clear where the fire came from but it is clear where the fire of judgement came from.
They were careless and neglected God’s orders and commands concerning the Tabernacle. By their actions they were communicating to the people that the things of God are no big deal.
Exodus 19:22 (ESV)
22 Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.”
It could be that they were judged with fire from God because they neglected the fire from God on the altar?? Whatever their specific sin was, we do know but we do know that they neglected the holy things. They took something holy and treated it as common.
They had been on the holy mountain with the other leadership of Israel. They had looked on the glorious vision of God and had been selected to serve God as His priests.
Here is where we should be careful. When Scripture clearly tells us what to do and clearly tells us what not to do, we must follow those decrees. We must be cautious with human innovation in the realm of God’s holiness.
Right after judgement fell on these men, Moses gave important instructions to Aaron and his other sons. They were not to mourn these deaths or even have the appearance of mourning or even go to their burial.
In other words, they had to affirm that God was exactly right in doing what He did. Aaron was not allowed to visibly mourn the deaths of his two sons because God killed them.
Acceptance of God’s discipline of the priestly line was instructive to the congregation. It was no doubt very difficult but Aaron’s duty was to serve all Israel and make proper sacrifices to God.
2. Discerning Between Holy and Unholy (10:8-11)
8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
As we read this section, we immediately see that God forbid the priests to drink alcohol, wine or strong drink. We can wonder why the warning was placed here? Were Aaron’s sons drunk when the lit the incense with the foreign fire? Or was this a warning to all who may be mourning the loss of these two priests? The reason God forbids the abstinence from strong drink is given…
10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,
The point is, strong drink can impair your judgement. This prohibition is telling the priests not to drink alcohol because they needed to be able to think clearly in their service to God.
In the Book of Proverbs 31:4-5 tells us that Kings were not to drink because they too must be ready to think clearly when they make decisions.
The Bible goes on further to explain the strong drink can get in the way of spiritual pursuits so in Numbers 6, we read about those who desire to grow spiritually could take a Nazirite vow. This was a vow where the person would not drink alcohol so that they could focus their clear attention on spiritual things.
The sense that these verses are given to those who serve in some capacity is that regular use of intoxicating drink in incompatible with spiritual service and spiritual growth.
The people had to see the priest as also holy and set apart for God’s service and to abstain from the profane things of the world.
3. Sin’s Snowball Effect (10:12-20)
12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the Lord’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the Lord’s food offerings, for so I am commanded. 14 But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15 The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.”
16 Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.
Moses begins to speak to Aaron in order to finish the of the day’s sacrifice. Moses desires Aaron’s other two sons to pick up where Nadab and Abihu left off. Moses wanted them to eat the food offering and the wave offering as God had commanded to be done by the priests.
Here’s the issue, Nadab and Abihu did not get to finish their daily tasks because they die beforehand.
Moses was greatly concerned that these two new younger sons of Aaron were doing everything correctly. This was a time when the priesthood was walking on pins and needles. Would they be the next ones to die?
They were not sure what to do out of fear. Do we eat the offering even though we didn’t throw the blood of the sacrifice against the altar?
It was to be the priest who sacrificed the animal and collected the blood and threw it against the altar that was to receive the breast and thigh for his own provision not another priest.
As Moses began his investigation as to where things were for the day, he discovered that all of the goat had been burned on the altar. There was no wave offering and no priestly provision that day.
16 Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord?
Here’s what was taking place. Let’s see if we can follow along. I want to say that this is just one small part of this large and intricate sacrificial system. It becomes very apparent why the priests were not to drink…
If the blood of the offering is taken inside the tent the body of the sacrifice was taken outside the camp and burned. If the blood was thrown against the side of the altar, then the priest who served that day in other words, who did the sacrificing, collecting the blood, and throwing it against the altar was also supposed to eat the breast and thigh it was his portion.
What are they to do when halfway through the process the priest is killed by God?
The priests were guilty of burning the portions they were supposed to eat. Remember the eating of their portion was a sign to the Israelites that the sacrifice was accepted by God. However, they were not the priests who offered the sacrifice, the dead ones were. So, the priesthood must go on (Moses) It would not be right for them to eat it (Aaron).
Sin is a mess. Will the priesthood be able to continue? Was there no atonement that day?
4. New Testament Strange Fire
It seems that the NT correlation of Nadab and Abihu’s unauthorized fire would be a false Gospel brought into the Church. I think this based on what Paul writes in the beginning of Galatians.
Just like the strange fire looked like the God ordained fire, it was not. A false Gospel may look tempting to the Church but like the strange fire that disrupted atonement for God’s people a strange Gospel will also disrupt atonement for God’s people.
Galatians 1:8–12 (ESV)
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Just like the true fire was lit by God on the altar, the true Gospel did not originate with man but was given to Paul by Jesus, Himself…it originated with God.
The Gospel message must not be altered. It is offensive, bloody and ancient. It is the message that Jesus came to this world lived a sinless life was crucified died and was buried and on the third day rose again. There are many details to also be preserved. How the death of Jesus is applied to us individually is by faith alone.
These truths must be maintained.
There is one point here that is brought out that we must look at.
Through this section we learn the Lord is holy beyond imagination. He demands our reverence and obedience. He is to be adored and loved more than anything else. Aaron learned that day that God is to be loved even above family.
I want to close by just mentioning the fact that we have a sinless High Priest, Jesus Christ. He never sinned like Nadab and Abihu. He did everything perfectly.
So, when we are in Christ, we do not need to be afraid of God the way Moses’ sons were, anxious not knowing what to do and afraid that they too would be consumed with fire. As believers we do not need to fear God’s punishment but we do need to fear Him with great reverence and awe.
Romans 5:1–2 (ESV)
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
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