Worship Is and Can Be Dangerous Part 1
Nadab and Abihu where man of God they were anointed and blessed and
even capped with knowledge, sons of the Highest Priest, Aaron and nephews to
the deliver of Israel Moses and they had just ordained as the first order of
priests in the whole community of Israelites.
“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 fires 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”. Lev 10:1-2
Several things to note in this passage of Scripture is that
1. They didn't have orders to burn the incense because a Priest had to
wait for his turn to come for him to serve in the temple Luke 1:9. Note that
its only one priest not two who were to burn incense
2. They had just been ordained as priests, in the previous chapter
they had been ordained as priest and they must be zealous of God or thy were
curious how this would work. Let your curiosity and zeal bring you to a place
where you offer true worship that won’t get you killed but bring you into his
presence.
3. They took strange fires
Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor
burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering
thereon, Exodus 30:9. The meaning of strange could be that the sacrifice was
not called for or that the offering was offered in the wrong way. In fact the
two brothers used ordinary fire to give unto the Lord
The word rendered “strange” seems in this connection to mean no more
than “unauthorized by the Law”.
4. They must have been also
drunk and I know this because of the laws that were passed in Leviticus
10:8-10.
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: Lev 10:9
The order was that the fire of God would consume the sacrifice and
Nadab and Abihu choose to just take ordinary (common) fire. The fire which was
supposed to consume their sacrifice then consumed them to ashes. Are you
worshipping God with a common or an okay heart? Common is plain but is it what
God has asked from us that we give him, is it in the manner that he wants it to
be?
God struck them not because they weren’t anointed, set by God or were
the promise but inspite of their qualifications they administered worship in
the wrong manner and God met them at that point. Look at all these points that
caused God to strike them down and I know you will say that God has grace and
will not kill us. Think again God is also law I’m not scaring you, I want you
not to hide under grace.
How many things are we doing ignorantly and we are dead spiritually or
emotionally nomatter what we do, our worship does not have an effect. The truth
and the question are you in a place like Nadab and Abihu.
Bishop Hall said “it is a
dangerous thing in the service of God to decline from his own institutions,
just to require what he has prescribed and powerful to revenge what he has not
prescribed”.
Watch out for this series How Worship Is and Can Be Dangerous Part 2
Worship Him
In The Beauty Of His Holiness.
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