https://esv.literalword.com/?q=leviticus+10
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 24 February 2025:
Leviticus 10:1, 2 – Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
Nadab and Abihu were given tremendous responsibility to lead communal worship and maintain God’s standards of holiness. God gave strict instructions for worship and demanded obedience, and they were both eye witnesses to God’s miraculous displays of His presence and power. However, for motives about which we can only speculate, Nadab and Abihu dishonored God, and God held them accountable. If death by the unauthorized fire they brought seems to be an extreme punishment, it can only be because of a misunderstanding of the severity of treating the Almighty’s holiness with contempt.
They brought an “unauthorized” fire which consumed and destroyed them. The Hebrew word for unauthorized is “zûr,” which can also be translated as “strange,” or “profane,” or “foreign.” It has been used to describe a prostitute or an outcast. David Guzik comments, “The fire on the altar of burnt offering was sacred because it was kindled by God Himself (Leviticus 9:24). “Nadab and Abihu offered a fire of their own making. Perhaps they thought that all fire was the same, and an undiscerning person may have agreed with them. But all fire isn’t the same and there is a huge difference between the fire kindled by God and a fire conjured up by man.”
Today, we should learn the lesson from Nadab and Abihu that the “good” things we do, which God never asked us to due and which we try to do in our own strength for our own glory will consume and destroy us. Today, many people are destroying themselves in business trying to validate or secure themselves, and within churches, this is often done in the name of God, as an unauthorized fire. People might be impressed, but God is actually offended. One way you can tell if you are doing “good” things for bad reasons or pretending to worship God while actually worshipping self is if in the middle of your “sacrifice,” your “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” starts to waiver. Remember, this was Martha’s problem when she complained while serving the LORD.” (Luke 10:38-42) Complaints are almost always rooted in selfishness and directed towards God Himself, accusing God of not being fair, loving, attentive, or sovereign.
Perhaps you feel harried today, harassed by the demands of life. Perhaps you feel there just isn’t enough time in the day to do all the things you feel you need to do. Perhaps you are being consumed by things you shouldn’t be doing in the first place. As the old Pastor once said, “There is just enough time in the day to do exactly what God wants you to do.” Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:24 – Money is an example of something you treasure more than God, another motivation, a strange fire)
You might have heard the phrase “burning desire” to describe someone’s passion, zeal, or drive. What is driving you, fire from God, or a strange fire from self, which will eventually eat you alive? Human fires face inevitable burnout. God’s fire is eternal.
Leviticus 10:3 – Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.”
Our primary purpose in life is to live sanctified lives for God’s glory, not for our comfort or success. (See John 17; Romans 8:29; and 1 Corinthians 10:31)
Aaron understood the significance of the sin committed by his son’s – he did not dare challenge God’s punishment.
Listen to this message from the late Dr. R.C. Sproul on Leviticus 10:1-11, entitled Holiness and Justice: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/holiness-of-god/holiness-and-justice
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 24 February 2025: Today, prayerfully consider how you might be bringing unauthorized fire before the LORD, wearing yourself out, consuming yourself, with futile efforts to do what God never asked you to do in your own strength for self-centered reasons. Examine your life to see where you lack love, joy, and peace, and pray that God will help you gain His heart and carry the load which is light under His power.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 