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The book of Leviticus is interrupted by this tragic story
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¶ 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.
2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. |
Nadab
and Abihu They had been close to God as few others had ex2409.
They had been trained for service in the sanctuary le09
and had seen the fire from heaven le0924
and had not been consumed.
Strange fire "strange" in the sense of being foreign. They were to have made fire only by the fire from the Lord which had been kept burning le1612. |
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¶ Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, 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.
4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. 5 So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said. |
3 -
This
is it that We assume Moses remembers a statement from the past
ex1922.
3 - Sanctified God's holiness is understood by the reverence of those who represent Him — here the priests. 3 - Aaron held his peace From damam. See on ps06205. |
| 6 And Moses said unto
Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads,
neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the
people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning
which the LORD hath kindled.
7 And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. |
3 -
Aaron
He must have been saddened realizing the results of his indulgent attitude.
6 - Uncover ... neither rend There was to be no signs of mourning. All needed to sense the gravity of this rebellion. Parents may learn from this story. Firmness without harshness or anger helps build character. 7 - Not go out No time out to mourn. |
| 8 ¶ And the LORD spake
unto Aaron, saying,
9 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: .10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; .11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. |
9 -
Do
not drink This is a clue that the use of alcohol was involved
in the rebellion. What can we learn (1) That, contrary to popular practice,
alcohol must not be used by those in their sacred ministry. (2) All who
share truth – this should be all who claim the name of Christ – should
follow the same principle. Foggy minds cloud the understanding and explanation
of truth.
10 - Difference In addition to alcohol, other practices profane places for meeting God is2807. |
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¶ And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his
sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings
of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for
it is most holy:
13 And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: for so I am commanded. 14 And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons' due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. 15 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 thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the LORD hath commanded. |
13
- Ye shall eat Aaron had apparently forgotten this in his
time of stress or depression.
14 - Daughters Apparently the offering included the peace offering which was to be eaten by the whole family le0917. Often more than the verse in the link code should be read. |
| .16
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,
.17 Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? 18 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. |
Goat
of the sin offering Moses was still seeing that everything was
done as he had been shown. The goat's blood was not to have been taken
into the sanctuary but place on the horns of the altar of burnt offering
in the court. Then the flesh was to have been eaten by the priests le0626.
This had not been done thus the significance was lost. Even Aaron who would
have eaten a portion, was in trouble.
Angry Moses was considered meek but became angry more than once. In breaking the tablets of stone his regret over the apostasy of the golden calf was appropriate ex3219. It was a different kind of anger ep0426. Also see nu2010. |
| 19 And Aaron said unto 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 to day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?
20 And when Moses heard that, he was content. |
If
I had eaten With the error, Aaron and his sons would not have
correctly represented the coming Messiah in eating the flesh.
Content We have seen how God deals with people who make innocent mistakes. Moses learned something, too. |
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