Holy Worship

Leviticus 10:1-7

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. 2 So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. 3 And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: 

    ‘By those who come near Me
    I must be regarded as holy;
    And before all the people
    I must be glorified.’ ”  

So Aaron held his peace.
    4 Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” 5 So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
    6 And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. 7 You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

Leviticus 10:1-7 addresses holy worship of our holy God, and the consequences of sinfully disregarding His word.  The sons of Aaron, priests called to serve the Lord, decided to disregard God’s command of the precise order and manner of worship, bringing not the fire from God’s altar constantly burning, but seemingly their own which they lit and thought to offer.  The incense which they put in it may also have been something other than what God specially and meticulously had prescribed.  They did not see their way of worship and service as truly holy, set apart for God’s service in the way His word directed them, but instead had taken it on themselves to do OT their own way.  The consequences were immediate and severe.  God sent His fire down to cleanse that place and make it holy again after the strange and unauthorized offerings of fire and incense had marred it with disobedience.  This meant consuming the trespassers as well as the unholy offering.  Moses gave God’s word to their father Aaron saying that those who draw near to Him must reverently see His holiness and realize that He is to be glorified in their service of ministry before all as witnesses to these things.  We are to hear these truths and be like Aaron who held his peace and did not argue the truth because it cost his sons their lives.  He honored God above family or loss or misplaced anger; he did not call God unfair or question what he knew they did sinfully wrong.  He agreed with the Lord that sin must bring its due consequences.  After the trespassers were carried outside of the holy camp, they were all to mourn their deaths but also take heed to their own actions.  The remaining priests were to remain in the tabernacle for the time being, as they had been anointed previously with oil for holy ministry.  They wisely chose to obey God’s word given through Moses.  We can learn from this how God is to be taken fearfully serious in His holiness and living by His word, serving His way as the scriptures outline for us and with His glory in our actions which must honor our Lord.  We are not to argue against what He prescribes and surely not to willingly disobey by doing things our way as if we know better; that is what led to our fall into sin from the beginning (Genesis 3:1-6), questioning His commands and acting in pride to seemingly know better than our Creator.  Our thoughts must never be “has God really said that?,” but “He has said this and I must follow the directions for His glory to be displayed and to find His pleasure in my view of His holiness that I choose to live by” (Matthew 4:4).