March 04, 2020

Leviticus 10:1-3 (KJV)

1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
2 And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.  3 Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

This is an uncomfortable story in the Bible. Recently made priests, Nadab and Abihu, had just finished being consecrated for 7 days. For reasons we do not know, they kindled their own fire, not the fire from the altar that God had kindled, and went to worship. God rejected them, and killed them with fire. The problem however was how they approached God. He had given strict rules to approach Him. When they rejected God’s words, God rejected them from the office of priesthood and life.
The reasoning for this goes back to Cain and Able. Able’s offering was accepted because it was what God required. Cain’s offering was rejected because he did it his own way. The reason this is so important is because we cannot approach God any way. We must approach Him God’s way, which is through Christ. Jesus is the mediator between God and man. God made an example of these two priests that God doesn’t respect men. God welcomes everyone to Himself, but Jesus it the only way we access Him. God wants us to approach him, but we must do it His way. As a believer we should approach God with the respect He deserves. It’s easy to get comfortable talking to God, but I believe it’s important that when we do approach Him it should be with reverence.

Jacob Jarriel