Strange Fire
Leviticus 10:1-11
Introduction: Romans 15:4 tells us that “…whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” In Leviticus 10 we have a lesson about the worship of God. As we look at the account of Nadab and Abihu we will see that in the worship of God there’s a proper way and a wrong way to worship God.
I. The Privilege of Nadab and Abihu
A. They were called by called to serve
1. Exodus 28:1 “Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron's sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.”
2. Old Testament priests were chosen by God, not self-appointed; and they were chosen for a purpose: to serve God with their lives by offering up sacrifices.
3. 1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
4. The Bible teaches us that God has granted a gift to each and every believer with which to serve Him, His church, and those who God places in our lives. As believers are calling is one that universal to all believers – to serve as priests of the Most High God.
5. Revelation 1:6 “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever”
B. They were privileged to have direct communion with God
1. Exodus 24:1, 9-11 “And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off... Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.”
2. Nadab and Abihu saw God and lived to tell of it. Nadab and Abihu were among the privileged few to actually see God!
3. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
4. Ephesians 2:14-18 “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby : and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
5. It certainly is the privilege of every child of God to walk so closely with him; and maintain so divine a communion with him as not to feel the necessity going to the world to find enjoyment and satisfaction. – adapted from Charles G Finney
6. Psalm 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple.”
II. The Prescribed Procedures and Protocol of Priesthood
A. Leviticus 10:3 “Then Moses said unto 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. (NKJV – “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.’”)
B. Those who were called by God to the Jewish priesthood were to be sanctified or set apart.
C. Leviticus 8:23-24 “And he slew it; and Moses took of the blood of it, and put it upon the tip of Aaron's right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. And he brought Aaron's sons, and Moses put of the blood upon the tip of their right ear, and upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the great toes of their right feet: and Moses sprinkled the blood upon the altar round about.”
D. Nadab and Abihu along with Aaron were sanctified or set apart for service to God. Their right ears were anointed as they were to listen to God’s word, Their right hands were anoint as they were carry out God’s work. Their right feet were anoint as they were to walk according to God’s paths.
E. God is sanctified in our hearts when we fear and give reverence to Him.
F. God in sanctified in our lives when we live lives that reflect His holiness.
G. God clearly prescribed who should serve and the exact manner as to how the priests were to worship and serve Him.
H. Exodus 30:7-10 “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lights the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. You shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering, neither shall you pour drink offering thereon. and Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.”
I. God had an appointed order for service to Him in the Old Testament and He has an appointed manner in which He expects us to serve Him today. People say that it doesn’t matter what we do as God knows our hearts. Amen! He does know our hearts. But God uses those vessels that are clean and those who are obedient to His Word.
J. 1 Peter 1:15 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation”
III. The Presumption of Nadab and Abihu
A. Leviticus 10:1-2 “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. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
B. “Strange” – foreign, adulterous, unauthorized
C. In an act of disrespect for the Word of God, taking lightly the work of God they attempted to irreverently worship God in defiance of the holiness of God.
D. God prescribed the who, what, when, where, and how. These two said that it was no big deal they were going to do church their way. God stopped them dead in their tracks.
E. They knew what God said, what the Lord wanted and required, and they went ahead doing it the way they wanted to do it.
F. It is a dangerous thing when we know what the Scriptures say, what the Lord wants and requires to presumptuously go ahead and do our own thing our own way because it’s what we want and we are not about to let anybody tell us what to do.
G. Another Old Testament example of this is seen if the life of King Uzziah.
H. 2 Chronicles 26:16-19, 21 “When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: And they withstood Uzziah the king and said unto him, It appertains not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honor from the LORD God. Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD...And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the LORD”.
I. When we rely on the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit, when we seek to have it our way, when we fail to abstain from conformity to the world, when go through the motions we offer strange fire unto the Lord.
J. Nadab and Abihu failed to listen to the Word of God. They knew what was supposed to be done, when it was to be done, and how it was to be done. But they weren’t going to do it God’s way. They would do it their own way.
K. Isaiah 29:13 “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.”
L. Leviticus 10:8-10 “And the LORD spoke unto Aaron, saying , Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die : it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And THAT YE MAY PUT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HOLY AND UNHOLY, AND BETWEEN UNCLEAN AND CLEAN; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses
M. Nadab and Abihu in their action failed to observe the difference between the sacred and the profane. They blurred the lines between holy and unholy.
N. Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Conclusion: There is only one prescribed way to come to God; that is through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus said “...I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There is no other way. It’s neither your way nor my way - only His way.
There is only one way to live a life of service that honors and glorifies God. It is only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as one yields to Christ in obedience to Him. Jesus said in John 15:4-5, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible.
