Two Sons Lost in Silence

 Leviticus 10:1-3 ESV

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. 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.

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Are you ready for yours? (Picture taken at University of Sheffield Student Union)

Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire that came out from the presence of the Lord. Two men died in the brand new tabernacle. Aaron's two oldest sons were chosen by God to work in a privileged position near to the very presence of God. But along with the highly exalted position came a life and death seriousness.

We all far too readily dismiss death. Nadab and his brother had witnessed God's rescue of his people from the Egyptians. They escaped the death angel in Egypt because of their obedience. They walked through the Red Sea on dry land. Nadab and Abihu drank the water of gold dust from the ground golden calf. Nadab and his brother were among the Levites who killed 3,000 Israelites at the Lord's command because of wrath at the golden calf incident. These two men had participated in the preparations of the tabernacle all according to God's plan, and they had been purified for seven days previous. We need to see that these two men would have been considered good men up until this event. In fact they were really leaders numbers three and four, right under Moses and Aaron. Also considering the age of Moses and Aaron and the number of children they had and the fact these guys were Aaron's oldest, we can guess they were mature adult men well along in life.

Are you seeing the picture? Nadab and Abihu are two respected important older men with a track record of doing serious good and seeing God's amazing acts and exacting holiness. Furthermore they were very near the presence of God. And on the surface it appears as though they are at least trying to do something to honour God.

But the passage had some clues as to why they were struck down dead.

Firstly, Leviticus outlines for us the sacrificial system that God had laid out for the people to be holy. Animals died in great numbers to remind the people that death is the result of sin.

And every time another step in the new system was revealed to Moses and carried out by Moses, Aaron, the priests and the people, it is punctuated by the phrase, 'as the Lord commanded.' God had a plan, and it was important, deathly imperative, that things were done God's way. Any other way was sin.

Nadab and Abihu did something that was not according to God's instructions. They were in the presence of God and they were presuming to somehow add to God's plan. Or they possibly had too much to drink and their judgment had been impaired.

That's possibly implied by the following verses a little later,

Leviticus 10:8-11 ESV

And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, "Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses."

All too often I'm afraid we are guilty of making it up!  We've not been very careful about keeping our desires and opinion clear from God's command.

Interestingly there is a pattern of God's severity when setting things up. Later when the spies return from Canaan and ten of them give a bad report, all ten die. During David's kingship when they are setting up the temple again by moving the ark of God's covenant, Uzzah reaches out to steady the ark while being transported on a cart, and he is struck dead. Much later as the church is just getting started and we become a living temple, Ananias and Sapphira lie about their gift and God strikes them down dead.

Every day God wants to do a new thing in you. Your Father in heaven chooses to dwell in you, and together with other Christians, you are the temple of God.

But unlike the first tabernacle, we have the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. But this is the only way to be safe in the presence of God. Oh friends, do not be lax in trusting Jesus alone.
Don't invent your own way. 

Don't come under the under the influence of any spirit but God's Holy Spirit.

We must see God as holy. He is wholly other. He is pure. Only His ways are acceptable. This is a life or death issue.