This chapter has a great deal happening, so I can only focus on one main event. Feel free to read the rest for yourself.
“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. 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.” (v1-3)
Two of Aaron’s sons (he had 4 total) decide to come to God in their own way: they used the holy incense, with unauthorized fire, before the Lord. Let’s break down the significance:
– the holy incense was to be burned at certain times, in certain ways, with explicit instructions from God. It was not to be used at the discretion of people
– “unauthorized fire” would be fire made by the two men. The fire that should have been used for the holy incense was from the holy altar – holy fire that was kindled by God Himself, for his holy purposes (did I say holy?)
– most scholars would agree that “before the Lord” means the two men went into the tabernacle at least into the outer room, possibly even into the holy of holies. Entering the holy of holies would certainly explain why God struck them down, since none but Aaron were allowed in there (and even Aaron could only enter on the Day of Atonement)
Regardless of which part of the tabernacle these two men entered, they tried to come to God their own way, on their own terms, in a way that God had not requested or authorized. They, being priests, were held to a much higher standard of obedience than the average citizen, and their punishment was severe.
Moses relays God’s message to Aaron: “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.” Meaning, those who are nearest to Him (His priests in this context) need to glorify God before all of the people, and what his sons did was not glorifying to God. So Aaron, realizing the reason behind why his sons had been killed, “held his peace” (he was probably quite upset at first, and understandably so).
So what does this mean for us today? I have three takeaways. First, even though we come to God as we are, we have to come to Him on His terms. What this means is, we receive reconciliation and salvation through faith in Jesus, not from any other means (not by works so no person can boast [Eph 2:8-9]). There is no other way to God, except the way that He has created. There is no acceptable man-made path for us to reach God or achieve salvation. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no person comes to the Father except through Him. (Jn 14:6 par)
My second takeaway is we, as those near to God (His followers), need to be image bearers of Jesus/God, and bring glory to Him. “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam [ie. Jesus] became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Cor 15:45-49) What Paul’s saying is, physically we bear the image of the first Adam, who is from the dust, and spiritually, we bear the image of Jesus, who is from heaven. “[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Hb 1:3a) So if we are to bear the spiritual image of Jesus, and Jesus bears the glorious image of God the Father, then we are ultimately to be image bearers of God to the people for God’s glorification.
Third, often times things God says, does, allows, or requests will cause strong emotion within us (anger, pain, frustration). Aaron had a brutal experience as God took two of His sons away. But we, just as Aaron did, need to check our feelings against God’s word(s) (and Christian counsel) to see if what we’re feeling is correct. I’ve often been angry or frustrated “with God”, only to later realize I should actually have been angry “with myself”, because I didn’t listen to God’s word, and there were consequences. It’s not God’s fault Aaron’s sons disobeyed, nor is it God’s fault I disobeyed and have to live with consequences.
Father God, we humbly come before You, O Glorious Lord. We recognize that on our own, we are blind, we are foolish, and we cannot approach Your throne in our own way. Father please graciously teach us how to be Your servants, devoting ourselves to hearing Your words, and obeying Your instructions. May we learn to follow You as Jesus did, so we look like Him, bearing His image, and in turn bear Your image. Father please grow within us the fruit of Your Spirit, which also conforms us to Your image. Father please glorify Yourself to others through us, as we seek to do Your will and not our own. We acknowledge cannot do this in our own strength, so we praise You for helping us on this difficult journey. Amen.
~ Conqueror in Training