And the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and presented strange fire before Jehovah, which he had not commanded them.
Leviticus 9 ended with fire from the Lord consuming the offering. In Leviticus 10, two newly appointed priests bring fire of their own — which raises the question every worshipper must answer: does God accept sincerity, or only what He has commanded?
This failure did not come after years of decline. It came right after the scene before it.
What a contrast to the scene with which our last section closed! There everything was done "as the Lord commanded," and the result was glory shown to all. Here something is done "which the Lord commanded them not," and the result is judgment. The echo of the shout of victory had hardly died away before the elements of a false worship were prepared... These priests had only just been installed, and already they failed badly in their priestly duties.
Older translations say "strange fire" where the ESV says "unauthorized fire." The verse names three things: the censer (the pan for burning incense), the incense, and the fire. Only one is condemned.
Notice here that as Aaron's sons they had the right of approach. We see too that God finds no fault with the censers or the incense, but with what came with them — "the fire." The very thing that brought out the fragrance was the defect, and this led to the rejection of it all. There was a fire that everyone serving as a priest should have known well. It was the fire that burned continually on the bronze altar (Lev. 6:12-13)... There could be no approach to God apart from the death of the victim on this bronze altar. And the fire needed to produce the fragrance of the incense had to be taken from off this altar (Lev. 16:12-13). This was not "strange fire."
The charge is worded with care, and one writer presses that wording hard.
The sin is will-worship — "strange fire which He commanded them not" — the will of man dictating in spiritual things. Few think much of that sin today... Liberty is never found in following our own wills, but in obedience to what God has given us... To take from that Word under any pretext is disobedience, and to add to it (as if it were not enough) is in fact to take from it. Yet with Nadab and Abihu, the sin is not said to be doing what God had forbidden. It was simply doing what He had not commanded.
Nothing about these men was fake. That is what makes the account so searching.
Were they false priests? Were they mere pretenders? By no means. They were genuine sons of Aaron — true members of the priestly family — properly appointed priests. Their vessels for service and their priestly garments also seem to have been fine. What, then, was their sin? Did they stain the curtains of the tabernacle with human blood? Did they pollute the holy place with some crime that shocks the conscience? We have no proof that they did... In their worship they turned away from the plain word of the Lord. He had told them clearly and fully how they were to worship.
The same fire fell in chapter 9 and here in chapter 10. What changed was what it burned.
God showed His displeasure with Nadab and Abihu at once and strongly: He sent out fire to consume them. Earlier (Lev. 9:24) He had sent fire to consume the burnt offering, as a sign that He accepted it. This fire did not consume the offering — it consumed the offerers. That showed God's refusal of their offering. He may not bring the same swift judgment today. Yet any worship that men invent is just as detestable to Him as this strange fire of Nadab and Abihu.
The account still sets the terms for how anyone may come to God.
The case of Nadab and Abihu should teach us that not every kind of worship is acceptable to God. "Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Outward worship alone will not do. It must match what God has revealed. Cut off from the sacrifice of Christ, it is only the energy of nature, and it offends God.
One writer weighs whether drink was behind it, and refuses to settle the question.
Their act may have been due to drunkenness, judging from verse 9 of this chapter. But of this we cannot be sure. What a swift and awful judgment on those in the place of greatest privilege, who dare to approach God in their own way!... But the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.
- Fire given. God sent His own fire to consume the offering. That altar fire, and no other, was what the priests were to carry.
- Fire invented. God found no fault with their censers or incense. The defect was the fire they brought with them.
- Not forbidden — uncommanded. Their sin was not breaking a rule God gave. It was doing what He had never commanded.
- Not outsiders. They were true sons of Aaron in proper priestly garments. That is what makes the judgment so solemn.
- Same fire, opposite result. The fire that showed God accepted the sacrifice came out again. This time it consumed the offerers, not the offering.
And there went out fire from before Jehovah, and devoured them, and they died before Jehovah.
Leviticus 9 ends with fire from God consuming the sacrifice on the altar. Leviticus 10 opens with fire falling again — this time on two priests who had only just begun their service. The same flame means acceptance in one chapter and judgment in the next. What changed?
The event makes sense only against the end of the previous chapter.
How deeply solemn! The Lord was dwelling in the middle of His people, to govern, to judge, and to act according to the claims of His nature. At the close of Leviticus 9 we read that fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. That was the Lord's acceptance of a true sacrifice. But in Leviticus 10 it is His judgment upon erring priests. It is a double action of the same fire. The burnt offering went up as a sweet odour; the "strange fire" was rejected as an abomination. Divine grace accepted what pictured Christ's precious sacrifice. Divine holiness rejected the fruit of man's own will — a will never more hideous than when it is busy in the things of God.
Their standing and their equipment were not in question. The fault lay somewhere far less obvious.
Were they spurious priests? Were they mere pretenders? Not at all. They were genuine sons of Aaron — true members of the priestly family — properly appointed priests. Their vessels of ministry and their priestly garments also seem to have been right. What, then, was their sin? … Their sin was this: they offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. … They departed in their worship from the plain word of the Lord. He had told them fully and plainly how they were to worship.
Not everything they brought was wrong. Many translations call what they offered strange fire; others call it unauthorized fire.
As Aaron's sons they had the right of approach. We see too that the censers and the incense are not found fault with, but that which came with them — "the fire." That which, so to speak, called forth the fragrance was the defect, and this led to the rejection of it all. All who served as priests should have known this fire. It burnt without stopping on the bronze altar… No one could come to God apart from the death of the victim on that altar. And the fire needed to bring out the fragrance of the incense had to come from that altar… The burnt offering in Leviticus 1 presents the death of Christ and His own ability to bear the judgment. It was the judgment of God testing Him fully there that brought out the sweet fragrance all the more clearly.
Moses explains the deaths to Aaron by pointing to God's holiness among those who come near.
The Lord will be sanctified in those who come near Him, and before all the people He will be glorified. So Moses told Aaron; "and Aaron held his peace." The ungodly outside were not the only ones who had to see that He is the witness and the Judge of evil. Those who approach Him cannot trifle with His holiness without paying for it.
The speed and severity can seem out of proportion, until you notice a pattern.
They used strange fire, and the fire of the Lord came out and consumed them. This may appear to us to be very drastic judgment. But at the start of any new movement it is clearly God's way to stress His holiness in a severe way. So it was with the first man who broke the sabbath. So it was with Achan, just as Israel entered the land, and with Ananias and Sapphira at the beginning of the church. Many similar wrongs may have happened in the respective histories without such a judgment.
One explanation of the state these men were in turns the account into a warning for worship today.
Nadab and Abihu were very likely under the influence of stimulants when they offered strange fire. Natural emotions and natural fervour have no part in divine worship, which is only by the Spirit of God. The effects of wine imitate those produced by the Spirit (Acts 2:13-15). Music, art, eloquence and other stimulants for the flesh stir up religious excitement. Each has helped to bring strange fire into the worship of God.
Commentators differ here. Some think drink played a part; others say only that the fire did not come from the altar.
- One fire. The same flame consumed the offering in Leviticus 9 and the priests in Leviticus 10. One source, two verdicts.
- Right men, wrong fire. Nadab and Abihu were genuine priests with the right garments and censers. Only the fire was their own, and that ruined everything.
- Altar fire only. Fragrance God accepts rises from the fire of the bronze altar, where the victim died.
- Nearness costs. Those who come closest to God are the last who may treat His holiness lightly.
- Still burning. Where feeling, art or eloquence supplies the warmth of worship, the fire is strange. That first day set a pattern.
And Moses said to Aaron, This is what Jehovah spoke, saying, I will be hallowed in them that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron was silent.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.