Strange Fire Is Destroyed By Holy Fire

The Fodder:  Leviticus 8-10

The Thought:  Nadab and Abihu: two brothers who represent the perfect mixture of ignorance and pride.  You may not agree with that summation, but before you get about the rest of your day, look at the first word the jumps out of this collection of letters: ignorance.  Do you immediately see the word IGNOR (ignore)?  I hope so because that’s exactly what Nadab and Abihu did - they pridefully ignored the holiness of God and did so with full knowledge.  They paid the ultimate price. 

This pair was part of the seventy four member procession whom ventured up the mountain with Moses and saw the presence of the Lord first hand (Exodus 24:9-11).  They were part of the seven day ordination ceremonies that God instituted for the inauguration of the priesthood.  These ordained priests had strategic roles on the day following the ordination and participated in all the sin, burnt, fellowship and grain offerings.  Also, they knew the Lord would appear the day their pride got the best of them (Leviticus 9:1-4).

All of the rites were being performed just as the Lord had instructed Moses.  Notice the words used to describe the consumption of the burnt offering in Leviticus 9:24, “Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar.  And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.”  All the people? Yep, the entire nation of Israel was gathered at the Tent of Meeting for the seven day ordination of the priests and on the eighth day the priests performed all the rituals before the people.

Imagine this... There’s a massive worship service; it’s celebratory, loud and becomes reverent.  Once again God demonstrated His power and everyone is facedown on the ground, except Nadab and Abihu.  They’re priests, dressed for the occasion and apparently not at all fazed by God’s demonstration.  Had the antecedent exposure to God’s presence, the fact that their father was the high priest, the priestly garb, the moment - the whole day - served as the buffet from which their pride feasted on?  What would cause them to burn incense when incense wasn’t required for a burnt offering?  I can only think of two things: ignorance and pride.

Notice the words used to describe the consumption of this ignorance and pride in Leviticus 10:2. “So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”  Aaron, their father, remained silent as Moses chided him.  I suspect that very few saw what happened.  They were still facedown as a result of the demonstration of God’s power in the consumption of the burnt offering.  However, they couldn’t help but hear the second rush of flame and later notice the charred remains of two men in tunics being carted outside the camp.  “What happened?”  

I’ll tell you what happened:  God’s holiness cannot share the altar with anyone who will pridefully ignore His statutes.

Submitted by www.thefodder.net