Leviticus 10

Lev. 10 1 AND Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he had 2 not commanded them. And there came forth fire from before the LORD, and devoured them, 3 and they died before the LORD. 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 4 glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Draw near, carry your brethren from before 5 the sanctuary out of the camp. So they drew near, and carried them in their coats out of the 6 camp; as Moses had said. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Let not the hair of your heads go loose, neither rend your clothes; that ye die not, and that he be not wroth with all the congregation: but let your brethren, the whole house of 7 Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tent of meeting, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And 8 they did according to the word of Moses. And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Drink no 9 wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, 10 that ye die not: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: and that ye may put difference between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the 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. 12 And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meal offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it 13 without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy: and ye shall eat it in a holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons’ due, of the offerings of the LORD made by fire: for so I am com- 14 manded. And the wave breast and the heave thigh shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they are given as thy due, and thy sons’ due, out 15 of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the children of Israel. The heave thigh 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, as a due for ever; as the LORD hath commanded. 16 And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he 17 was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, saying, Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, seeing it is most holy, and he hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before 18 the LORD? Behold, the blood of it was not brought into the sanctuary within: ye should 19 certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded. And Aaron spake unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and there have befallen me such things as these: and if I had eaten the sin offering to-day, 20 would it have been well-pleasing in the sight of the LORD? And when Moses heard that, it was well-pleasing in his sight.

This incident of personal history furnishes various points of comment and illustration respecting the ceremonial laws, and probably a reason for the special enactment that immediately follows. It occurred on the day of the consecration of Aaron and his sons, which took place in the early part of the first month of the second year. And it preceded the observance of the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, as will be seen in the next section. It is therefore placed here, as the first incident of the history, following the legislation. B.

1,2. The Death of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron. The first day of Aaron’s ministry had not yet closed. He had offered the sacrifices, and had entered into the holy place with Moses, and had returned to the court of the tabernacle, where the people had been standing in mute expectation, and God had shown his approval and his confirmation of him in his priestly acts by consuming the sacrifices, as they lay on the altar, with a miraculous fire emblematic of himself, when a presumptuous act on the part of his two eldest children changed the day from one of rejoicing to one of mourning. They lit their censers from one of the fires which had been made for boiling the sacrificial flesh, and, putting incense upon them, started forward, with the intention of carrying the burning incense to the golden altar of prayer in the holy place. They reached the door of the tabernacle, where Moses and Aaron were standing, when they were met by a blast of the same fire which had already swept to the brazen altar, and they fell dead. They had acted presumptuously. They had not, according to the Divine command, taken the fire for the altar of incense from the altar of burnt sacrifice alone. They—the newly-ordained priests—had done what God had not commanded, and in doing it had done what he had forbidden. Like Uzzah afterward (2 Sam. 6:7), they died for it, that others might fear to do the same. Will-worship received thereby an emphatic condemnation, and priests and people were taught, in a manner not to be forgotten, that “to obey is better than sacrifice.” F. M.

They had been honored with the high distinction of accompanying Moses and their father to the summit of the hallowed mount, where they were favored with a vision of God, such as had never before been accorded to mortal eyes. They had just been consecrated, along with their father, to the dignity of the priestly office. They had just been assisting him and Moses in the sacred offerings. They had been prominent actors in the solemnities of an occasion which should above all others have filled their souls with reverence and holy awe. Yet in the midst of it all they sinned a sin, the enormity of which is most effectually proclaimed by the tremendous punishment which it immediately drew after it. They were struck dead with their censers in their hands, without a moment’s warning! What a fearful exhibition of the truth, that God’s jealousy burns fiercest about his altar! Bush.

While the people with fear and joy see God lighting his own fire, fire from heaven, the two sons of Aaron in careless presumption will be serving him with a common flame; as if he might not have leave to choose the forms of his own worship. If this had been done some ages after when the memory of the original of this heavenly fire had been worn out, it might have been excused with ignorance; but now when God had newly sent his fire from above, while it still flamed to fetch profane coals to God’s altar, could savor of no less than presumption and sacrilege. When we bring zeal without knowledge, misconceits of faith, carnal affections, the devices of our will-worship, superstitious devotions, into God’s service, we bring common fire to his altar: these flames were never of his kindling; he hates both altar, fire, priest, and sacrifice. And now behold, the same fire which consumed the sacrifice before consumes the sacrificers. It was the sign of his acceptance, in consuming the beast; but while it destroyed men, the fearful sign of his displeasure. By the same means can God bewray both love and hatred. Bp. H.—The very fire at whose appearing the people had before rejoiced was fatal to them who now despised it. The same Gospel is to one a savor of life, to others a savor of death. It “devoured”—i.e., it killed them; since, according to verse 5, their clothes were not singed. They died “before the Lord”—before the tent of his dwelling, in which he had shown himself as present by means of the fire: as in the case of Uzzah (1 Ch 13:10). The history reminds us of Ananias and Sapphira. Gerl.

All those who contrive modes of prayer, or symbols of prayer, other than those which the Lord has himself prepared and revealed in his Word, will do well to study this lesson of the doom of Nadab and Abihu. All will-worship, however attractive in its forms; all worship which leaves out of view the one great sacrifice on the altar as its spring source, should find here their warning. There is no longer an earthly tabernacle and visible mercy-seat from which the fire may shoot forth to destroy, yet not less surely will God visit with his anger the priests who lead the people astray with these symbols and ritual, which pretend to kindle the incense with “strange fire.” S R.

The penalty which was inflicted upon the transgressors was indeed severe. But the case called for severity. The rank and station of the offenders was a high aggravation of their crime. It was their duty to set an example of scrupulous regard to the known will of God. They had been admitted to more intimate communion with God than others, and had seen more of the terrors of his power, more of the wonders of his grace. Moreover, the Levitical institute had been just established, and was now for the first time going into operation. It behoved, therefore, that everything should be done in exact conformity to the Divine prescription. The sanctity of the whole system would be gone at once, if the ministry of it might with impunity presume, in its setting out, to dispense with any of its fixed regulations. As, then, the deed was daring and high-handed in the extreme, so the expiation was proportionably fearful; and the whole transaction forcibly impresses the admonition of the apostle, “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire.” Bush.

3. The Lord “is sanctified” by showing mercy on those who are his (Ezek. 20:41), and likewise by punishing those who despise him (Ezek. 38:16). In both cases he shows and reveals himself as the Holy One. The Lord has “said” this actually (Ex. 19:22; 29:34), and it is also implied in the words so often appended to the commandments relating to the priests, “that they die not.” Gerl.—Nadab and Abihu, despising the Divine fire, are consumed by it. In a moment they experience how God is a “consuming fire” to all presumption. Ananias and Sapphira feel the same. They fall before the deserved vengeance of the Most High. God offers us the great alternative—either sanctification through the fire of the Holy Ghost, or destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power. God will be sanctified in some way. Elgar.—Thus it is that the same thing serves as a means of glorification or of destruction, according to the qualities of that with which it comes in contact. The discipline of daily life makes one a saint, another a more determined sinner. The discipline of suffering softens one heart, hardens another. The difficulties of religious belief make one the more submissive, another an unbeliever. F. M.

Aaron held his peace. This was not out of an amazement nor sullenness, but out of patient and humble submission; seeing God’s pleasure and their desert he is content to forget that he had sons. He submits to the will of God, and holds his peace because the Lord had done it. There is no greater proof of grace than to smart patiently, and humbly and contentedly to rest the heart in the justice and wisdom of God’s proceeding, and to be so far from chiding that we dispute not. Bp. H.—“He held his peace.” Never did that eloquent tongue utter words so cogent or so beautiful as was this silence then. This simply natural and touching circumstance raises Aaron in our esteem. We view his veiled sorrows with respect and feel more than ever disposed to extenuate the weakness which belonged to some parts of his career. Kt.

6,7. The commandments which follow were based upon the foregoing event. The command to the priests not to uncover their heads or tear their clothes (both signs of mourning) was based upon the fact that their clothes and head-dress formed part of their official costume, and therefore, by laying aside or tearing them, their priestly vocation and character would be affected. As the heads of the priests had been anointed with holy oil, the uncovering of the head, which was required by custom in times of mourning (Lev. 13:45), would have been an act of profanation. K.

8-11. It would seem that Nadab and Abihu were betrayed into this act of presumption by intemperance at the feast upon the peace-offerings; for immediately after Moses delivers the injunctions against the priests’ drinking wine and strong drink when they approached the sanctuary. Graves.—It cannot be denied that there was a connection between the prohibition to partake of strong drink before entering the sanctuary and the event which had just occurred; yet it would be going too far to infer from this that Nadab and Abihu committed the crime in a state of intoxication. “There is a connection, however,” as Baumgarten says, “between the state of mind in which Nadab and Abihu forced their way into the sanctuary and a state of intoxication, for it was an act of presumptuous audacity which was altogether at variance with calmness and moderation;” and in the juxtaposition of the prohibition to drink wine and the command to abstain from the signs of mourning, it was distinctly intimated, as O. von Gerlach says, that “while nothing from without should depress the priest, he was not to allow his senses to be taken away by unnatural excitement. His whole attention was to be fixed upon the sacred acts which he was commanded to perform.” K.

The propriety of the prohibition is obvious. The worship of God is an intelligent service, and therefore requires a clear and collected mind; it is a holy exercise, and therefore demands a pure and undivided heart. This is therefore to be a perpetual statute for all generations. M.—The spirit of the precept requires of gospel ministers that they be “sober, not given to wine” (1 Tim. 3:2, 3). “Lest they drink and forget the Law, and pervert judgment” (Prov. 31:5). Bush.

16-20. Moses takes care that the remaining part of the ritual of the day shall be carried out in spite of the terrible interruption that has occurred. But he finds that the sin-offerings, which ought to be eaten by the priests, had been burned. The rule was that, when the blood was presented in the tabernacle, the flesh was burned; when it was not, the flesh was eaten by the priests. In the present case, the blood had not been brought within the holy place, and yet the flesh had been burned instead of being eaten. Moses was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, and demanded an explanation. F. M.

19. Aaron’s apology appears to amount to this—“Behold this very day, in which we have done our part in sacrificing sin-offerings and burnt-offerings to the Lord, this great calamity has befallen me. Could it have been well-pleasing to the Lord if those who have been so humbled as I and my sons have been by the sin of our relations and the Divine judgment had feasted on the most holy flesh of the sin-offering?” He and his sons would seem to have been bowed down by a sense of self-humiliation and awe suggested by the fearful example which they had witnessed and by grief at the loss of their kindred. This working of natural feeling seems to be sufficient to account for their abstinence and for Aaron’s words. Clark.—Such things have befallen me, such sad things, which could not but go near his heart and make it very heavy. He was a high-priest taken from among men, and could not put off natural affection when he put on the holy garments. He held his peace, yet his sorrow was stirred. He makes that an excuse for his varying from the appointment about the sin-offering. He could not have eaten it but in his mourning, and with a sorrowful spirit; and would that have been accepted? Moses acquiesces in the excuse (verse 20). Our unfitness for duty, when it is natural and not sinful, will have great allowances made for it; and God will have mercy and not sacrifice. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. God by Moses showed that he considered his frame. Aaron sincerely aimed at God’s acceptance; and those that do so with an upright heart shall find he is not extreme to mark what they do amiss. Nor must we be severe in our animadversions upon every mistake, considering ourselves, lest we also be tempted. H.

There is something profoundly touching in the excuse which Aaron urged. His sons who “were left” had, spite of their bereavement, “offered their sin-offering and their burnt-offering before the Lord;” they had striven to render the service required of them. And when “such things had befallen him;” when Aaron “held his peace,” indeed, but his parental heart was bleeding—would the eating of the flesh of the goat have been an acceptable service in the sight of the Lord? Moses was content with Aaron’s plea. We may infer that he was right in accepting it. Had Aaron repined or murmured against God, he would have sinned. But this he did not. He summoned himself and his sons to continue in the service of the Lord, and only stopped at the point where overcoming sorrow laid its arresting hand upon him. God desires of us the will to serve him, the faith which uncomplainingly accepts his decisions when these are painful and perplexing, and the endeavor, to the height of our power, to continue at our post. When the spirit of obedience is thus in our hearts, he does not exact a strict measure of work to be accomplished by our hands. W. C.

THE PASSOVER (OF THE SECOND YEAR) AT SINAI. LAW OF A SUPPLEMENTARY PASSOVER. THE CLOUD, A DIVINE GUIDE. HOBAB, A HUMAN GUIDE.