Obedience and Discipline · Exhortation and Repentance

Offering unauthorized fire to God?

4 min read, approximately

“Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, each took his censer, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had never commanded them to offer. Fire came out from before the Lord and burned them, and they died before the Lord.” (Leviticus 10:1-2)

In those days, Aaron and his sons were a priestly family responsible for offering burnt offerings to make atonement for the people. The Lord had been precise and detailed when giving Aaron’s family these instructions, as well as prohibitions…

“You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, nor a burnt offering or a grain offering, nor shall you pour a drink offering on it.” (Exodus 30:9)

. Today we are

“… a chosen lineage, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired by God, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

…We are a royal priesthood, but that does not mean we can presume to serve the Lord however we please, seeking to change God’s standards into human standards, when the Lord requires obedience from us…

“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not do it is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. He looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looked like. But whoever looks carefully into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and perseveres in it, being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25)

Has God called us to offer him unauthorized fire? Were we not told to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)? Obedience! And not only that… You and I have been given authority so that we understand we have a great responsibility:

“so that you may proclaim the excellencies of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9b)

“Therefore, since we too are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that besets us, and run with patience the race set before us” (Hebrews 12:1)

…All disobedience is sin! But… have we thought about how many people around us are watching us use that delegated authority to do anything except what God has commanded? Have we considered that we could end up becoming stumbling blocks for these people? We forget that abusing this delegated authority to do anything other than what God has commanded would mean becoming a stumbling block for so many people who are watching us and come hungering and thirsting for the Lord. And in case we have forgotten:

“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and he will not consider the guilty innocent.” (Nahum 1:3a)

“For we know the one who said: Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord. And again: The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” (Hebrews 10:30-31)

Let us be careful: we cannot adapt God’s standards to suit ourselves, since God has given instructions, and these cannot and must not be changed. Let us examine the way we serve the Lord… lest we find ourselves offering unauthorized fire like Nadab and Abihu. _Need a Bible? Click here_I invite you to take a look at the new songs section in the Songbook!

May God continue to bless you
and may you continue to have an excellent day in Christ Jesus!
I invite you to stop by the Songbook