Sermon - Leviticus 9 to 10 - Obedient Service Part 2

Leviticus 9~10 Obedient Service - Part 2 Great tragedy!

Leviticus 10v1-11

These two men, Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron the High Priest, start their duties. They take their pans, fill them with hot coals from a fire, place aromatic incense on the coals and offer this to God as an act of worship. The fire from the glory of the Lord comes out, engulfs them and they die. What happened? They hadn't followed the strict guidelines as given by the Lord and had therefore violated all the instructions given to them.  Strict regulations were required by sinful humans to be in and work in God's holy presence! How different can these two scenes be?

In the first passage we looked at, fire represented God's presence and spoke of His love, warmth, purity and blessing upon His people. Here though, the fire represents a different aspect of His presence through his active holiness and therefore danger and judgement. Who were Nadab and Abihu? They were Aaron's eldest sons and had received a privileged upbringing.  They had seen God working from close quarters. When Moses went up Mount Sinai to speak with God and receive the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, they were there. They had just spent the previous week in training for their new jobs as priests in service to God. No doubt they had witnessed at close quarters, the fire we spoke of earlier in Leviticus 9v24.

So they were not only important people, but also experienced. Yet in spite of all this, they did what was contrary to the guidelines given them. They were disobedient. We don't know why they did it. It could have been satan whispering in their ears "Go on. You have a go now. Your dad did it, didn't he? So can you. Don't worry about those guidelines God gave you. it will be alright tonight, my sons. You felt good and happy, didn't you? Trust yourself." It could have been pride, jealousy or impatience that led them to disobey the strict guidelines, or in light of 10v8 perhaps too much wine! Perhaps they were caught up in the excitable fever of the joyful occasion and wanted joy like a drug!

What may have seemed right to them, most certainly wasn't right to God. Perhaps they thought they were doing God a big favour by zealously embracing their roles as priests and wanting to offer as many sacrifices as they could! We will never know! But we do know, that regardless of the reason for doing so, they actively disobeyed God. They chose to do it! Not only was it a fragrant disobedience but also a flagrant disobedience. In offering a "strange" or unauthorised fire, they had disregarded God's instructions for the timing, place or manner. They had been set apart and dedicated to a life of serving God and His people and had now paid the ultimate consequence for their disobedience. 

Their disobedience is referred to again in Leviticus 16 in the regulations for the annual Day of Atonement. Regulations probably given to ensure that this never again occurred!  Aaron, their father, was silent - stunned I would imagine! He has seen at firsthand, that in a life of true joy, God requires obedience over sacrifice. Aaron and his remaining sons were not to mourn or appear to be sorrowful. This was to signify the seriousness of Nadab and Abihu's disobedience. To us this may seem harsh, but Aaron and his remaining sons had to prioritize service to God over commitment to family. This was symbolic of Joy - Jehovah Over Yourself. Aaron and his other sons had to remain engaged in priestly duties and responsibilities. Other members of the family were allowed to mourn however.

Continued in Part 3

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