Regarding the Lord as Holy
Leviticus 10:3
Introduction.
The next section of Leviticus has some verses very familiar to us in the churches of Christ.
We often talk about Nadab and Abihu and the principle of authority established here.
This principle is commonly called the regulative principle of worship.
This principle states that “the public worship of God should include those and only those elements that are instituted, commanded, or appointed by command or example in the Bible” (Theopedia).
We would include necessary inference in how things are authorized.
We might also call it the Law of Exclusion: “When you specify, you exclude everything else of the same class” (e.g. Gen. 6:14; Heb. 7:14).
While this lesson is not specifically about this principle, I would be remiss if I did not spend some time on it (later).
While this section does talk about that, there is a deeper lesson from this chapter.
It is found in vs. 3, and is the central thesis of this chapter and a main point of this book.
God must be regarded as holy and be glorified.
The priests must not defile themselves during this time.
They must be able to distinguish between holy and unholy, clean and unclean.
God was still to be regarded as holy in the eating of the sacrifices.
Body.
Unauthorized Offering (10:1-3).
What we read about here occurs hot on the heels of God’s glory being revealed to the people.
It was a momentous event that caused the people to shout and bow down.
Then Aaron’s eldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, decide to do something God had not commanded.
It is unknown where they got this fire from, but likely it was a common fire somewhere in the camp—it was strange, profane, common, unholy, unauthorized (NIV).
God had already ordered that strange incense not be offered (Exo. 30:9).
It wasn’t until Lev. 16:12-13 that the type of fire is specified.
And yet in the visible presence of the Lord, they were willing to violate this law.
The Lord had to react swiftly and severely if He were going to be taken seriously.
What happens when you tell your child not to do something, and they immediately do it? You punish them swiftly and severely.
The people had to know that what Nadab and Abihu had done was wrong and a violation of His commands.
Why? So they would be more likely to obey Him.
But most important, He must be regarded as holy and glorified among the people.
This is a principle that resonates even today.
Today, we too, must regard Him as holy and glorify Him.
Last week, we discussed being in the presence of the Lord whenever we come together to worship.
He is no less angered when we offer something up to Him that He has not commanded (authorized).
In the NT, we see something similar happen to two people in Acts 5.
Ananias and Sapphira thought they could lie to God and get away with it—but in the presence of the Apostles, God’s punishment had to be swift and severe.
We must not allow anything in our worship to be unauthorized, lest we face a similar punishment in the end.
Undefiled Priests (10:4-11).
At the end of vs. 3, it states that Aaron held his peace (10:4-7).
He just witnessed his two oldest sons burned alive, yet he and his other two sons were told not to show any signs of mourning.
Back then, and through much of the Bible, signs of mourning included tearing one’s clothes, and uncovering one’s head.
They are forbidden from doing these things, because it would ruin their holy clothes and disturb the delicate nature of their holiness.
You see, they had gone through all these rituals to make themselves holy to be in God’s presence, and if they ruin it while in God’s presence, they, too, will die.
Another way they could have been defiled would be touching the dead bodies of Nadab and Abihu (Num. 19:11-22; 9:6-10).
While there were provisions for the family of the deceased to bury them, it did not extend to the priests during worship.
Aaron’s cousins, grandsons of Kohath, are asked to come take their bodies by their tunics and bury them.
For the Christian, as priests, we ought to avoid defilements, too.
Our defilements are not ritual in nature, but moral.
Touching a dead body or tearing our clothes will not defile us under the Christian system.
Jesus states that what defiles us is what comes out of a man (Mark 7:20-23).
Ultimately it is sin that defiles us, and we should be careful to avoid this always.
Paul, after noting the presence of the Lord being with us, also notes that we should not defile the temple of God, His church (1 Cor. 3:16-17).
Another way for the priests to be defiled is to impair judgment with alcohol (10:8-11).
As a result, they would not be able to discern between that which is holy and that which is common.
It would also be difficult to teach the Israelites the Law in such a state.
It is curious that this particular provision is here when it could have been in other places regulating priestly behavior.
First, this is the first time God spoke directly to Aaron as the new hight priest.
This leads some to think that this hints that Nadab and Abihu had been drinking, not discerning holy fire from profane fire, and they died.
Others suggest that alcohol was used in moments of grief, and this warns Aaron and his other sons not to drink away their sorrows but to continue serving soberly until their task is done.
I tend to think it’s the former since the result is exactly what Nadab and Abihu were guilty of.
What should be the relationship between the Christian and alcohol?
As priests, we are to avoid it.
The reasons are similar to why a Levitical priest was to avoid it.
We would be more likely to defile ourselves through sin due to a lack of discernment.
Don’t you think you would be more likely to commit fornication and lewdness and all the other things Jesus mentioned in Mark 7 while drunk?
Timothy knew this, but was consoled that he could drink some for medicinal use, because that was a legitimate use of alcohol (1 Tim. 5:23).
Such should not abused so as to make discernment difficult.
We are also to teach others the gospel, both through study and by our example.
That is negated and undercut by the illegitimate use of alcohol.
Unhindered Worship (10:12-20).
Much had happened that was shocking and unexpected.
Despite this, true worship was to go on unhindered (10:12-15).
Moses was reminding them of their responsibilities despite all that had happened.
They were to eat of the grain, peace, and sin offerings as had been directed in earlier chapters (Lev. 2—4).
Recall, part of the reason for eating these sacrifices was to assure the people that they were accepted before God.
Perhaps the grain and peace offerings were eaten, but the sin offering was left to burn (10:16-20).
Moses was upset by his remaining nephews’ apparent negligence.
Aaron offers his explanation—since priestly sin was involved earlier in the chapter with Nadab and Abihu, it did not seem right to eat of the sin offering.
This explanation was acceptable to Moses, and Aaron, as God’s high priest, could make that call.
Even when our world is falling apart around us, let us worship.
We go through this life and suffer many ills.
Whatever happens, we should not let it keep us from worshiping in spirit and truth.
If we are to find true happiness, it can only be found in doing God’s will.
That said, if there are some minor alterations that need to be made to fit the situation, that’s fine.
While we are not to add anything unauthorized, we are to do things appropriate for the situation in which we find ourselves.
Jesus embodied this in Matt. 12:1-8 – while He and His disciples were in need and hungry, they could do enough work to get by on the Sabbath Day.
God desires mercy and not sacrifice—mercy ranks higher than sacrifice.
As Psalm 136 repeatedly states: “His mercy endures forever.”
Conclusion.
Nadab and Abihu did not regard the Lord as holy.
They offered what He did not command.
Other ways they could have done so was by defiling themselves with dead bodies and alcohol, or by tearing their holy garments.
Instead, they were to continue in their worship to Him despite tragedy.
But in all things, mercy is important and will be granted partly based on your attitude and motivations.
Nadab and Abihu were not granted mercy because they may well have been drunk, but even if not they still defied the Lord’s commands to His face.
Aaron and his other sons were granted mercy because of their sorrow and their desire to understand and apply God’s Law to their situation.
It is so important to treat God as holy, even today.
When we worship Him, let us do so in the way He has told us.
That excludes anything He hasn’t stated in His word.
We should not add incense, an altar, or the piano – none of which is stated in the NT as part of our worship in this age.
We are told what we should do, and it is up to our judgment how to obey so long as we do not add anything of the same nature to it.
We can have a song book to help us sing together, but using a piano adds to our singing (and in many ways hinders rather than helps).
He must be regarded as holy, separate from the world.
But before we can truly worship Him, we must be be right with Him first.