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Leviticus 10:1-2 says, “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. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.” What does this say of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of those who are heirs to Abraham’s inheritance as noted in Galatians 3:29?
First, to put Leviticus 10:1-2 in context, Leviticus 9:8-9 says, “So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar.” At that point, Aaron and his sons were in the midst of God’s Altar.
Later, Leviticus 9:22 says “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” One may presume at this point that Aaron was outside of the altar and facing the people. What of his sons? We don’t hear of them until they made the “unauthorized” fire, so it seems reasonable to presume that they were still in the midst of God’s Altar, and Aaron wasn’t around to stop them from making the fire of contention.
What can one say of God at this point? One might presume that He is very particular about His Place for us, and perhaps the rule is that when you’re in His Place, you only do what He tells you to do. Since the Bible tells us that Nadab and Abihu’s fire was unauthorized in God’s Place, we can presume that God did not want them to make that fire.
It calls to mind David’s journey with the Ark in 2 Samuel 6:6-7. The oxen carrying the Ark stumbles, and Uzzah, the person driving the Oxen takes hold of the Ark to steady it. For that, the Lord strikes him dead. Apparently, Uzzah wasn’t ‘authorized’ to touch the Ark. Proverbs 1:7 doesn’t say “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge...” for nothing. A reading of the Old Testament would lead one to believe that when it comes to God’s Things, like His Altar or His Ark, only authorized people are allowed certain privileges. Such authorized people in the Old Testament were the priests that God appointed. And even then, as we see with Aaron and his sons, the priests were only allowed to do certain things.
This also comes to mind that there are certain Laws in the Old Testament that many of those who know God through the Old Testament feel compelled to abide by, since God told them to. Those Laws apply to at least the thousandth generation, as specified in Deuteronomy 7:9. A thousand generations is roughly 20,000 years if you consider that a generation in a family comes along roughly every 20 years. (In some families it’s rougher than others, one might say!)
What does the New Testament say about these Laws? Well, Jesus says in Matthew 5:17-18 says that he didn’t come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. Later on, though, Hebrews 6:1-6 says to leave behind the “elementary doctrine of Christ” with the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament that is part of that Doctrine. Hebrews 6:1-6 infers that once we see what God is all about in terms of mankind, it would no longer be necessary to go through the rudiments of the ceremonial Laws of the Old Testament. Those Laws kept believers in line, but Hebrews 6:1-6 tells us that those who truly love God, know in their hearts what that line is. Having learned the dance steps and coming to realize what dancing entails, we have become mature enough to put some variation in those steps and still accomplishing the things that dancing is known for. Having been raised on milk referred to in Hebrews 5:11-4, we can go on to solid food and still accomplish feeding ourselves.
Hebrews 6:1-6 infers that for those who truly love God, no prior authorizations in His name is needed; we know what God wants, which is that we love Him and we love eachother.
First, to put Leviticus 10:1-2 in context, Leviticus 9:8-9 says, “So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. And the sons of Aaron presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar.” At that point, Aaron and his sons were in the midst of God’s Altar.
Later, Leviticus 9:22 says “Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” One may presume at this point that Aaron was outside of the altar and facing the people. What of his sons? We don’t hear of them until they made the “unauthorized” fire, so it seems reasonable to presume that they were still in the midst of God’s Altar, and Aaron wasn’t around to stop them from making the fire of contention.
What can one say of God at this point? One might presume that He is very particular about His Place for us, and perhaps the rule is that when you’re in His Place, you only do what He tells you to do. Since the Bible tells us that Nadab and Abihu’s fire was unauthorized in God’s Place, we can presume that God did not want them to make that fire.
It calls to mind David’s journey with the Ark in 2 Samuel 6:6-7. The oxen carrying the Ark stumbles, and Uzzah, the person driving the Oxen takes hold of the Ark to steady it. For that, the Lord strikes him dead. Apparently, Uzzah wasn’t ‘authorized’ to touch the Ark. Proverbs 1:7 doesn’t say “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge...” for nothing. A reading of the Old Testament would lead one to believe that when it comes to God’s Things, like His Altar or His Ark, only authorized people are allowed certain privileges. Such authorized people in the Old Testament were the priests that God appointed. And even then, as we see with Aaron and his sons, the priests were only allowed to do certain things.
This also comes to mind that there are certain Laws in the Old Testament that many of those who know God through the Old Testament feel compelled to abide by, since God told them to. Those Laws apply to at least the thousandth generation, as specified in Deuteronomy 7:9. A thousand generations is roughly 20,000 years if you consider that a generation in a family comes along roughly every 20 years. (In some families it’s rougher than others, one might say!)
What does the New Testament say about these Laws? Well, Jesus says in Matthew 5:17-18 says that he didn’t come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. Later on, though, Hebrews 6:1-6 says to leave behind the “elementary doctrine of Christ” with the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament that is part of that Doctrine. Hebrews 6:1-6 infers that once we see what God is all about in terms of mankind, it would no longer be necessary to go through the rudiments of the ceremonial Laws of the Old Testament. Those Laws kept believers in line, but Hebrews 6:1-6 tells us that those who truly love God, know in their hearts what that line is. Having learned the dance steps and coming to realize what dancing entails, we have become mature enough to put some variation in those steps and still accomplishing the things that dancing is known for. Having been raised on milk referred to in Hebrews 5:11-4, we can go on to solid food and still accomplish feeding ourselves.
Hebrews 6:1-6 infers that for those who truly love God, no prior authorizations in His name is needed; we know what God wants, which is that we love Him and we love eachother.
