Leviticus 10

Disobedience of Nadab and Abihuverses 1-7

And Nadab and Ahihu – 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

And there went out FIRE from the LORD – and devoured them

and they DIED before the LORD

THEN Moses said to Aaron

This is it that the LORD spoke

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

And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan – sons of Uzziel

the uncle of Aaron – and said to them Come near

carry your brethren from before the sanctuary

out of the camp

So they went near – and carried them in their coats out of the camp

as Moses had said

And Moses said to Aaron – and to Eleazar and to Ithamar- his sons

Uncover NOT your heads – neither rend your clothes

lest you die – lest wrath come upon all the people

BUT let your brethren – the whole house of Israel

bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled

And you shall NOT go out from the door of the

tabernacle of the congregation – lest you die

FOR the anointing oil of the LORD is on you

And they did according to the word of Moses

Aaronverses 8-11

And the LORD spoke unto Aaron

saying

DO NOT drink wine nor strong drink – you

nor your sons with you

when you go into the tabernacle of the

congregation – lest you die

it shall be a statute for ever

throughout your generations

AND that you may put DIFFERENCE between HOLY and UNHOLY

and between UNCLEAN and CLEAN

AND that you may TEACH the children of Israel all the statutes which

the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses

Eating of offering by priestsverses 12-15

And Moses spoke unto Aaron and to Eleazar and to Ithamar

his sons that were LEFT

Take the meat offering that remains of the offerings of

the LORD made by fire

and eat it without leaven beside the altar

for it is MOST HOLY

And you shall eat it in the HOLY place

BECAUSE it is your due – and your sons’ due

of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire

FOR so I am commanded

And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall you eat in a

clean place – you – your sons – your daughters with you

FOR they be your due – and your sons’ due

which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings

of the children of Israel

The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with

the offerings made by fire of the fat

to wave it for a wave offering before the LORD

and it shall be thine and your sons’ with you

by statute for ever as the LORD has commanded

Moses confronts Aaronverses 16-20

And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering

and behold it was burnt

and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar – the sons of Aaron

which were LEFT ALIVE –

saying

Wherefore have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place

and God has given it you to bear the INIQUITY of the

congregation to make ATONEMENT for them

before the LORD?

BEHOLD – the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place

ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place

as I commanded

And Aaron said to Moses

BEHOLD – this day have they offered their sin offering and their

burnt offering before the LORD

and such things have BEFALLEN me

and if I had eaten the sin offering TODAY

should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?

And when Moses heard that – he was CONTENT

COMMENTARY:

DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers

: 2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. (398 “devoured” [’akal] means eat, consume, burn up, destroy, or ruin)

DEVOTION: The same fire that came down from the LORD in the last chapter to consume the offering was sent to consume the two sons of Aaron who offered strange fire before the LORD.

They were supposed to do everything according to the instructions of the LORD but they were not obeying the LORD. This was the beginning of the time when the children of Israel were learning how to worship the LORD properly.

The priests were instructed and they needed to obey the instructions or the worship of the LORD was going to be compromised. This was unacceptable to the LORD at this time.

What does it mean for the fire to consume them? It meant that they were killed by the fire of the LORD. There were still bodies to be buried by the uncles that were not serving as priests.

God judged them immediately to show HIS HOLINESS to the other priests. They have been warned. If these actions continued the LORD would judge the other priests.

HE wanted the beginning of HIS worship to be good. HE also wants us to worship properly today. Many places are not honoring HIM in their worship services as they have disregarded HIS commands regarding who should serve as spiritual leaders of the congregations across our world.

Many men and women who stand in the pulpits of our world are not preaching Christ alone for salvation. They are not preaching against sin in the congregation or the world. Compromise seems to be the attitude of many in leadership.

God is going to judge all leaders with a greater judgment because they have a greater responsibility. Those who teach our future leaders will receive even greater judgment if they are leading future pastors away from the Word of God into man’s thoughts.

Every leader is going to stand before the LORD. Those who are not true followers of the LORD will receive a greater judgment in the lake of fire. Those who are genuine believers, if that is possible, will lose their rewards and be saved yet so as by fire.

CHALLENGE: What type of leader are you? Deacons and other leaders in church need to be warned as well. Compromise is NOT acceptable.)

DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers

: 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, This is it that the LORD spoke 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. (6942 “sanctified” [qadash] means hallow, dedicate, consecrate, to be holy, removed from common use, subject to special treatment, to show oneself as or be treated as holy or be treated as sacred)

DEVOTION: God wants all of us to know that HE is HOLY. HE is completely different from us. We are HIS creation and should remember this fact when we come to worship HIM.

In this chapter HE displayed HIS HOLINESS by judge two men that were priests that thought they could worship the LORD their own way and not according to HIS commands.

Sometimes we think that we can come to church and just claim that we have worshiped the LORD for one hour when in reality we were thinking of other things while we were sitting in the pews. We also didn’t sing because we were not in the mood. That is not worship.

We were just in a building that sang some songs and heard someone speak but it really didn’t affect us because we were not really there to genuinely worship the LORD.

Imagine what would happen if the LORD struck everyone dead that didn’t worship HIM properly in your local church one Sunday. Do you think a lot of people would skip church next Sunday for fear of HIS judgment? Would you skip because you were not there to truly worship the LORD?

HE states that those who come near HIM should expect HIM to react to their worship, whether it was proper or improper. Going to church should be a HOLY occasion for you and I. We are there to meet with other believers to truly worship the LORD alone.

: 9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generation. (7941 “strong drink” [shekar] means drunkard, intoxicating drink, fermented or intoxicating liquor)

DEVOTION: What would happen if a pastor came to the pulpit drunk? What if, God would strike dead every pastor or leader of a church who entered a worship service drunk? What should happen if God gives special instructions to church leaders and they don’t follow them?

Too often we have leaders who think that they can do anything they want in the leading of the church. They try what they think is right. They follow other examples from other churches. They read books written by men. They forget the Word of God.

God ordered Aaron and his remaining sons to never enter HIS presence while they were serving HIM in the Tabernacle. HE made the statement that HE WILL be sanctified or set apart as different by HIS servants. HE stated that HE WILL be glorified by HIS servants that serve HIM. IF HE is not sanctified and glorified, wrath will come.

The church has a problem with saints who like to drink to the point of intoxication. There are many in the church which thinks that social drinking is not a sin. One drink will not hurt anyone. The Bible says to drink in moderation –right?

We find that those who like to drink don’t realize that they are being a stumbling block to others who can’t handle drink. It is important to realize that our habits affect others. Some pastors don’t think it is wrong to drink, yet at church gathering of youth and adults they don’t bring the drinks to the dinner. However, this is changing in some churches now.

In this passage we have the second time strong drink has caused problems. The first seemed to be Noah after he came out of the ark and raised grapes. There might have been another occasion when Moses was on the mountain and the people rose up to “drink.” Here we find that two of Aaron’s sons died. They tried to serve the LORD drunk.

They went into the holy place and offered strange fire before the LORD. Remember that the LORD is very specific regarding what was to be offered to HIM. The only influence we are to be under when we are serving the LORD is the HOLY SPIRIT.

CHALLENGE: When we enter the presence of the LORD, what are we offering HIM? Is it strange fire or the real thing? The Bible is our instruction book for life, what are we learning?

DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers

: 10 And that you may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. (914 “difference” [badal] means separate, divide, to withdraw, be excluded, singled out, or to make a distinction)

DEVOTION: God wants us to understand the difference between those who are HIS servants and those who are not. This chapter dealt with those who had the responsibility of serving the LORD in the Tabernacle but did it in the wrong manner.

All of the servants of the LORD are sinners. All those who are called to serve the LORD in leadership in the church are sinners. All those who are in the pews are sinners.

This sin was great enough for God to act quickly. HE is longsuffering from our perspective concerning those who sin today. We have not seen HIM strike someone down with fire recently.

HE has stated that HE will use weakness, sickness and premature death on those who don’t examine themselves and confess their sins regularly. Some have died because of their lack of examination.

We need to be following the LORD to the best of our knowledge from HIS word, the Bible. A daily diet of the Word of God will help us to see that we don’t fall away from HIM.

CHALLENGE: We need to know the difference between the holy and the unholy. We need to know the difference between the clean and unclean.

:17 Wherefore have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? (3722 “make atonement” [kaphar] means 1 to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch. 1a (Qal) to coat or cover with pitch. 1b (Piel). 1b1 to cover over, pacify, propitiate. 1b2 to cover over, atone for sin, make atonement for. 1b3 to cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites. 1c (Pual). 1c1 to be covered over. 1c2 to make atonement for. 1d (Hithpael) to be covered. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])

DEVOTION: The concept of the atonement goes back as far as the Garden of Eden shortly after the Fall. It was the idea of covering something up. Once Adam and Eve sinned, they knew that they needed coverings, and made fig leaves to do so. However, God sacrifices animals for them in order to cover them with animal skins.

When we get to Exodus, we realize that at the Passover it was the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the house that made an atonement, or covering, on the house of the children of Israel. It covered those in the house so that the angel of death would pass over their houses and not kill their firstborn. This blood of the lamb prefigures the blood of the sinless Lamb of God who will give His blood as the atonement for all of our sins.

In this chapter, Moses is directly the priests to properly handle the blood of the animals which has been offered as a sin offering. They had to realize that this blood was to symbolize the atonement for their sins. They had been given the task to serve as mediators for the people before God. We now realize that there is one God and one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

CHALLENGE: We no longer have to go through a mediator to be able to approach God in the way He demands. Come boldly before the throne of grace! (MW)

DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:

BODY

Chastity (Purity in living)

Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)

Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)

Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)

Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)

SOUL

Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)

Frugality (wise use of resources)

Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)

Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)

Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)

SPIRIT

Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)

Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)

Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)

Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)

Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)

Sanctuaryverse 4

Tabernacle of the congregationverses 7, 9

Bear the iniquity of the congregationverse 17

Make atonementverse 17

Holy placeverse 18

Burnt offeringverse 19

Sin offeringverse 19

DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:

Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)

Word of Mosesverse 7

Statuteverses 9, 11, 15

God the Father (First person of the Godhead)

LORD (Jehovah)verses 1-3, 6-8, 11-13, 15, 17, 19

I will be sanctifiedverse 3

I will be glorifiedverse 3

I have commandedverse 13

God (Elohim)verse 17

Sight of the LORDverse 19

God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)

God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)

Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)

Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)

Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)

Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)

Offering strange fire before the LORDverse 1

Disobey commands of LORDverse 1

Uncover your heads (this occasion)verse 6

Rend your clothes (this occasion)verse 6

Go out the door of tabernacle (this occasion) verse 7

Do not drink wine – strong drink (always)verse 9

Unholyverse 10

Uncleanverse 10

Sinverses 17, 19

Iniquityverse 17

Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)

Sanctifiedverse 3

Glorify the LORDverse 3

Brethrenverses 4, 6

Differenceverse 10

Holyverse 10

Cleanverse 10

Teachverse 11

Dueverses 13, 14

Atonementverse 17

Acceptedverse 19

Contentmentverse 20

Israel (Old Testament people of God)

Nadab and Abihu sinverses 1-7

offered strange fire before LORD

devoured by fire of the LORD

Mosesverses 3-7, 11-20

Aaronverses 3, 6, 8-20

Mishaelverse 4

Elzaphanverse 4

Uzziel the uncle of Aaronverse 4

Eleazarverses 6, 12

Ithamarverses 6, 12

House of Israelverse 6

Tabernacle of the congregationverses 7, 9

Warning regarding strong drinkverses 8-11

Teach children of Israelverse 11

Eating of offerings by the priestsverses 12- 15

Eleazar and Ithamarverse 16

Church (New Testament people of God)

Last Things (Future Events)

Fire of LORD devoured and killedverse 2

Dieverses 6, 7, 9

Statute for eververse 9

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QUOTES regarding passage

The fire mentioned in 10:2 is the same fire that came from the presence of God in 9:24 in celebration of the obedient priestly response to God’s instructions for the inauguration of the priesthood. ( Rooker, M. F. (2000). Leviticus (Vol. 3A, p. 158). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

Calvin commented on this heinous act of disobedience and the necessity of God’s strict judgment on this occasion:

If we reflect how holy a thing God’s worship is, the enormity of the punishment will by no means offend us. Besides, it was necessary that their religion should be sanctified at its very commencement; for if God had suffered the sons of Aaron to transgress with impunity, they would have afterwards carelessly neglected the whole Law. This, therefore, was the reason of such great severity, that the priests should anxiously watch against all profanation.

Moreover, the priests had been warned that judgment would be the inevitable result if they were disobedient in their presentation of offerings to him (Exod 19:22). The worship of God should never be characterized by carelessness, especially by those who have a spiritual leadership role. (Rooker, M. F. (2000). Leviticus (Vol. 3A, p. 158). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

10:2–3 If the exact nature of the “strange fire” is somewhat obscure, the fire of God’s judgment is not. Leviticus 10:2 states that in response to this violation by Aaron’s sons fire burst forth from the presence of the Lord and consumed the bodies of Nadab and Abihu. “They died before the Lord.” The fire mentioned in 10:2 is the same fire that came from the presence of God in 9:24 in celebration of the obedient priestly response to God’s instructions for the inauguration of the priesthood. Here it is meted out in judgment as a response to disobedience. The Lord appears as a devouring fire as he does in Exod 24:17; Deut 5:22; Num 11:1; 16:35; 2 Kgs 1:10, 12. Fire from heaven occurs twelve times in the Old Testament, six times in a beneficial way and six times in judgment. The latter is certainly the contextual background for the statement in Heb 12:29: “God is a devouring fire.” The serious consequence of Nadab and Abihu’s disobedience is a reminder of how resolutely important the worship of God is to be for a believer’s life. Calvin commented on this heinous act of disobedience and the necessity of God’s strict judgment on this occasion:

Moreover, the priests had been warned that judgment would be the inevitable result if they were disobedient in their presentation of offerings to him (Exod 19:22). The worship of God should never be characterized by carelessness, especially by those who have a spiritual leadership role. (Rooker, M. F. (2000). Leviticus (Vol. 3A, pp. 157–158). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)

Here is, I. The great sin that Nadab and Abihu were guilty of: and a great sin we must call it, how little soever it appears in our eye, because it is evident by the punishment of it that it was highly provoking to the God of heaven, whose judgment, we are sure, is according to truth. But what was their sin? All the account here given of it is that they offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not (v. 1), and the same Num. 3:4. 1. It does not appear that they had any orders to burn incense at all at this time. It is true their consecration was completed the day before, and it was part of their work, as priests, to serve at the altar of incense; but, it should seem, the whole service of this solemn day of inauguration was to be performed by Aaron himself, for he slew the sacrifices (ch. 9:8, 15, 18), and his sons were only to attend him (v. 9, 12, 18); therefore Moses and Aaron only went into the tabernacle, v. 23. But Nadab and Abihu were so proud of the honour they were newly advanced to, and so ambitious of doing the highest and most honourable part of their work immediately, that though the service of this day was extraordinary, and done by particular direction from Moses, yet without receiving orders, or so much as asking leave from him, they took their censers, and they would enter into the tabernacle, at the door of which they thought they had attended long enough, and would burn incense. And then their offering strange fire is the same with offering strange incense, which is expressly forbidden, Ex. 30:9. Moses, we may suppose, had the custody of the incense which was prepared for this purpose (Ex. 39:38), and they, doing this without his leave, had none of the incense which should have been offered, but common incense, so that the smoke of their incense came from a strange fire. God had indeed required the priests to burn incense, but, at this time, it was what he commanded them not; and so their crime was like that of Uzziah the king, 2 Chr. 26:16. The priests were to burn incense only when it was their lot (Lu. 1:9), and, at this time, it was not theirs. 2. Presuming thus to burn incense of their own without order, no marvel that they made a further blunder, and instead of taking of the fire from the altar, which was newly kindled from before the Lord and which henceforward must be used in offering both sacrifice and incense (Rev. 8:5), they took common fire, probably from that with which the flesh of the peace-offerings was boiled, and this they made use of in burning incense; not being holy fire, it is called strange fire; and, though not expressly forbidden, it was crime enough that God commanded it not. For (as bishop Hall well observes here) “It is a dangerous thing, in the service of God, to decline from his own institutions; we have to do with a God who is wise to prescribe his own worship, just to require what he has prescribed, and powerful to revenge what he has not prescribed.” 3. Incense was always to be burned by only one priest at a time, but here they would both go in together to do it. 4. They did it rashly, and with precipitation. They snatched their censers, so some read it, in a light careless way, without due reverence and seriousness: when all the people fell upon their faces, before the glory of the Lord, they thought the dignity of their office was such as to exempt them from such abasements. The familiarity they were admitted to bred a contempt of the divine Majesty; and now that they were priests they thought they might do what they pleased. 5. There is reason to suspect that they were drunk when they did it, because of the law which was given upon this occasion, v. 8. They had been feasting upon the peace-offerings, and the drink-offerings that attended them, and so their heads were light, or, at least, their hearts were merry with wine; they drank and forgot the law (Prov. 31:5) and were guilty of this fatal miscarriage. 6. No doubt it was done presumptuously; for, if it had been done through ignorance, they would have been allowed the benefit of the law lately made, even for the priests, that they should bring a sin-offering, ch. 4:2, 3. But the soul that doth aught presumptuously, and in contempt of God’s majesty, authority, and justice, that soul shall be cut of, Num. 15:30.

II. The dreadful punishment of this sin: There went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, v. 2. This fire which consumed the sacrifices came the same way with that which had consumed the sacrifices (ch. 9:24), which showed what justice would have done to all the guilty people if infinite mercy had not found and accepted a ransom; and, if that fire struck such an awe upon the people, much more would this.

1. Observe the severity of their punishment. (1.) They died. Might it not have sufficed if they had been only struck with a leprosy, as Uzziah, or struck dumb, as Zechariah, and both by the altar of incense? No; they were both struck dead. The wages of this sin was death. (2.) They died suddenly, in the very act of their sin, and had not time so much as to cry, “Lord, have mercy upon us!” Though God is long-suffering to us-ward, yet sometimes he makes quick work with sinners; sentence is executed speedily: presumptuous sinners bring upon themselves a swift destruction, and are justly denied even space to repent. (3.) They died before the Lord; that is, before the veil that covered the mercy-seat; for even mercy itself will not suffer its own glory to be affronted. Those that sinned before the Lord died before him. Damned sinners are said to be tormented in the presence of the Lamb, intimating that he does not interpose on their behalf, Rev. 14:10. (4.) They died by fire, as by fire they sinned. They slighted the fire that came from before the Lord to consume the sacrifices, and thought other fire would do every jot as well; and now God justly made them feel the power of that fire which they did not reverence. Thus those that hate to be refined by the fire of divine grace will undoubtedly be ruined by the fire of divine wrath. The fire did not burn them to ashes, as it had done the sacrifices, nor so much as singe their coats (v. 5), but, like lightning, struck them dead in an instant; by these different effects of the same fire God would show that it was no common fire, but kindled by the breath of the Almighty, Isa. 30:23. (5.) It is twice taken notice of in scripture that they died childless, Num. 3:4, and 1 Chr. 24:2. By their presumption they had reproached God’s name, and God justly blotted out their names, and laid that honour in the dust which they were proud of.

2. But why did the Lord deal thus severely with them? Were they not the sons of Aaron, the saint of the Lord, nephews to Moses, the great favourite of heaven? Was not the holy anointing oil sprinkled upon them, as men whom God had set apart for himself? Had they not diligently attended during the seven days of their consecration, and kept the charge of the Lord, and might not that atone for this rashness? Would it not excuse them that they were young men, as yet unexperienced in these services, that it was the first offence, and done in a transport of joy for their elevation? And besides, never could men be worse spared: a great deal of work was now lately cut out for the priests to do, and the priesthood was confined to Aaron and his seed; he has but four sons; if two of them die, there will not be hands enough to do the service of the tabernacle; if they die childless, the house of Aaron will become weak and little, and the priesthood will be in danger of being lost for want of heirs. But none of all these considerations shall serve either to excuse the offence or bring off the offenders. For, (1.) The sin was greatly aggravated. It was a manifest contempt of Moses, and the divine law that was given by Moses. Hitherto it had been expressly observed concerning everything that was done that they did it as the Lord commanded Moses, in opposition to which it is here said they did that which the Lord commanded them not, but they did it of their own heads. God was now teaching his people obedience, and to do everything by rule, as becomes servants; for priests therefore to break rules and disobey was such a provocation as must by no means go unpunished. Their character made their sin more exceedingly sinful. For the sons of Aaron, his eldest sons, whom God had chosen to be immediate attendants upon him, for them to be guilty of such a piece of presumption, it cannot be suffered. There was in their sin a contempt of God’s glory, which had now newly appeared in fire, as if that fire were needless, they had as good of their own before. (2.) Their punishment was a piece of necessary justice, now at the first settling of the ceremonial institutions. It is often threatened in the law that such and such offenders should be cut off from the people; and here God explained the threatening with a witness. Now that the laws concerning sacrifices were newly made, lest any should be tempted to think lightly of them because they descended to many circumstances which seemed very minute, these that were the first transgressors were thus punished, for warning to others, and to show how jealous God is in the matters of his worship. Thus he magnified the law and made it honourable; and let his priests know that the caution which so often occurs in the laws concerning them, that they must do so that they die not, was not a mere bugbear, but fair warning of their danger, if they did the work of the Lord negligently. And no doubt this exemplary piece of justice at first prevented many irregularities afterwards. Thus Ananias and Sapphira were punished, when they presumed to lie to the Holy Ghost, that newly-descended fire. (3.) As the people’s falling into idolatry, presently after the moral law was given, shows the weakness of the law and its insufficiency to take away sin, so the sin and punishment of these priests show the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and its inability to shelter any from the fire of God’s wrath otherwise than as it was typical of Christ’s priesthood, in the execution of which there never was, nor can be, any irregularity, or false step taken. (Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (pp. 160–161). Peabody: Hendrickson)

10:2 fire came out. The same divine fire that accepted the sacrifices (9:24) consumed the errant priests. That was not unlike the later deaths of Uzzah (2Sa 6:6, 7) or Ananias and Sapphira (Ac 5:5, 10). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Le 10:2). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

Ver. 2. And there went out fire from the Lord, &c.] They sinned by fire, and they were punished by fire, either from heaven, or from the most holy place, where the Lord dwelt between the cherubim; this was of the nature of lightning, as appears by what follows: and devoured them; not reduced them to ashes, for neither their bodies nor their clothes were burnt with this fire, as is clear from ver. 4, 5 but their lives were destroyed, they were exanimated, their souls were separated from their bodies by it, and they died; which is often the case by the lightning, that the clothes of those who are killed with it are untauched, and scarce any marks of violence on their bodies; and so the Targum of Jonathan says of these, their bodies were not burnt: and they died before the Lord; upon the spot where they were offering incense, in the holy place, over-against the most holy place. This was very awful, like the case of Ananias and Sapphira, and may seem severe: it was for the terror of others in the priesthood, or who should come after, to take care that they performed their office according to the divine precepts, and brought in no innovation into their service. And when it is considered that these were the sons of the high-priest, newly invested with an high and honourable office, and just had the laws of the priesthood delivered unto them, and yet deviated from them as soon as in their office, and very probably, from what follows, went drunk into their service, their sin will appear aggravated, and the punishment less severe. This shews there’s nothing in carnal descent, these were the sons of Aaron the high-priest, that acted this part, and came to this end; the proneness of men to transgress the laws of God as soon as given them; thus the people of Israel fell into idolatry as soon as the moral law was given; and here the priests, as soon as the ceremonial laws, relating to the priesthood, were delivered to them; and also that the law made sinful men priests, and that the Levitical priesthood was imperfect; and that no order of men are free from sin, or exempt from punishment: and the whole of the divine conduct in this affair may lead us to observe how jealous God is in matters of worship; how much he dislikes hypocrites, and formal professors; how severe he will be against such who bring in strange doctrines; what will be the fate of the contemners of Gospel doctrines and ordinances; and how much he resents those who trust in themselves, and their works, and bring in anything of their own in the business of salvation, which is strange fire, sparks of their own kindling, a burning incense to their own drag, and sacrificing to their own net. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 577). London: Mathews and Leigh.)

FROM MY READING:

(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)

Romans 1
Paul emphasizes the importance of the gospel message.
INSIGHTAccording to Romans 1:18-20, all people have two avenues for beginning to learn about God. First, all human beings have an inner awareness of God or conscience (v. 19). Second, they can look at nature and learn several truths about God: (1) His invisible attributes–beauty, intelligence, etc.; (2) His eternal power–what awesome power it takes to put the stars in place!; (3) His divine nature–that there is a God who is higher than man and nature. Whenever anyone looks at nature and honestly searches his own heart, he can know that there is a God. (Quiet Walk)

PROCLAMATION

That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. 1 John 1:3
The lack of proclamation in the preaching of the church accounts for so much of the present state of the church and the present state of the world and of society. A man standing in a Christian pulpit has no business in saying, “I suggest to you” or “Shall I put it to you” or “On the whole, I think” or “I am almost persuaded” or “The results of research and knowledge and speculation all seem to point in this direction.” No! “These things declare we unto you.”
The old charge that has so often been brought up against the Church and her preachers is that we are dogmatic; but the preacher who is not dogmatic is not a preacher in the New Testament sense. We should be modest about our own opinions and careful as to how we voice our own speculations. But here, thank God, we are not in such a realm; we are not concerned about such things. We do not put forward a theory that commends itself to us as a possible explanation of the world and what we can do about it; the whole basis of the New Testament is that here is an announcement, a proclamation–those are New Testament words.
The Gospel, according to the New Testament, is a herald; it is like a man with a trumpet who is calling people to listen. There is nothing tentative about what he has to say; something has been delivered to him, and his business is to repeat it. It is not the business of the messenger, first and foremost, to examine the credentials of the message”he is to deliver it. We are ambassadors, and the business of the ambassador is not to say to the foreign country what he thinks or believes; it is to deliver the message that has been delivered to him by his home government. That is the position of these New Testament preachers, and that is how John puts it here. “I have an amazing thing to reveal,” he says in essence.
A Thought to Ponder: The gospel is like a man with a trumpet who is calling people to listen. (From Fellowship with God, pp. 46-47, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

Taught by the Word
“Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.” (Psalm 119:33)
This eight-verse section (vv. 33-40) closely parallels a similar passage in Proverbs 2:1-5. Both focus on being taught, gaining understanding, and keeping “the way” of God’s Word.
Certainly worth noting is the manner in which the psalmist asked to “go in the path of thy commandments” (v. 35). In every case, the request is for God’s hand to control the process. There is no indication that the psalmist assumed the capability of finding these truths on his own.

“Teach me, O LORD” (v. 33).
“Give me understanding” (v. 34).
“Make me to go” (v. 35).
“Incline my heart” (v. 36).
“Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity” (v. 37).
“Stablish thy word” (v. 38).
“Turn away my reproach” (v. 39).
“Quicken me in thy righteousness” (v. 40).

However, having prayed for God’s intervention and oversight in his life, the psalmist promised to act on the given insight and order his life around “the way” so illumined by God’s instructions. He acknowledged his “delight” and his “longing” in the holy life and character revealed in the Scriptures and, like the Proverbs 2 passage, showed a willingness of the spiritual consciousness of his heart and mind to “understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God” (Proverbs 2:5).
May our prayer always be like this: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)

Nathan writes (MI): I’m really trying to understand how we have reached the point where questioning the authenticity and/or maturity of another’s faith, self-righteous anger, and ending friendships over political ideologies have become so normalized. We are conspiring with madness and justifying it in the name of morality, protecting freedoms, or advocacy. We cannot honor Christ and treat others as though they are an enemy that must be defeated or eliminated. Blind party allegiance is oppositional to fidelity to Christ. Do we care?

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