“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.”

Leviticus 10:1 (ESV)

We look at a tragic story today. At the Grand Opening of the tabernacle, two of Aaron’s sons, who had been ordained as priests, decided to offer unauthorized fire before the LORD. That presumptuous act cost them their lives. It also put a dark cloud over what should have been a joyous celebration for their family and the entire congregation of Israel.

Afterward, Moses gave a principle to Aaron that every spiritual leader should take to heart:

“This is what the LORD spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.’”

Leviticus 10:3 (NKJV)

For a spiritual leader to disregard God’s commandments or to misrepresent Him before the people can be fatal. We must remember whom we are serving, and that He must be represented as holy. The LORD made this painfully clear at the outset of His covenant with Israel. Following this tragedy, Aaron and his remaining sons were not permitted to mourn in the normal way, because the anointing oil of the LORD was upon them, and they were consecrated as priests.

I see three takeaways in this chapter:

1. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. We dare not ignore any of God’s commandments.
2. When serving the LORD we must keep a clear head, being sober-minded.
3. Spiritual leaders must sometimes deny themselves normal human activities in the line of duty.

This tragedy would have been extremely hard on Aaron and his two remaining sons. But we can all learn a valuable lesson from their loss. We must do our best to regard the LORD as holy and do what He says. The boundaries God establishes are for our protection and provision.

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