Deeper Commentary
Lev 10:1 Nadab and Abihu the sons of Aaron, each took his censer,
and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire
before Yahweh, which He had not commanded them-
The
implication of :9 could be that they were drunk when they did this. Nadab
and Abihu treated the sacred as secular; and that has to be a warning for
all time. As explained on Lev. 9:24, special fire came down from God to
show His acceptance of Aaron, and remained burning. Nadab and Abihu took
"strange" fire, not this fire; and "strange" suggests Gentile or foreign,
so it was likely fire associated with paganism.
Nadab and Abihu kindled strange fire, and it was with
that fire that God burnt them up, in symbol of His destruction of all the
wicked at judgment day (Lev. 10:2). Our words are as fire, and are to be
connected with the fire of condemnation (James 3:5,6), which our words
have already kindled (Lk. 12:49). Likewise wrongly gained wealth is
the fire that will burn those who have it at the last day (James 5:3).
James is picking up a figure from Is. 33:11, again concerning the final
judgment: “Your [own] breath [i.e. words], as fire, shall devour you”.
Their breath, their words, were as fire which would in the end be the
basis of their condemnation.
Lev 10:2 And fire came forth from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and
they died before Yahweh-
Fire coming down from God has just occurred as a sign
of His acceptance of sacrifice (Lev. 9:24). We shall either be consumed by
God’s fire, or we give ourselves to Him as living sacrifices and are
accepted and consumed by Him. There’s a logic of devotion here- whether we
live to the flesh or to the Spirit, we are to be consumed anyway. So we
may as well be consumed by God’s acceptance of us rather than by His
wrath.
Lev 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying,
‘I will be declared holy in those who come near Me, and before all the
people I will be glorified’. Aaron held his peace-
If we don't burn up the flesh now, then it will be at judgment day.
When the rebels were burnt by fire, Moses commented: "This is it that the
Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me" (Lev.
10:3 AV). Either we burn ourselves up in commitment now, or we will be
burnt up. God demands us from ourselves. The glaring logic is that seeing
the flesh will be dissolved, it must have its judgment, therefore we ought
to judge it now and thereby receive acceptance at the judgment; rather
than omit to do so now and go through the same dissolution at the
judgment, with the result that we will sleep eternally.
God’s destruction of sinners is a constructive
declaration of His holiness rather than an angry deity lashing out at
people because they offended Him. Any disciplining of others which we may
have to do, e.g. of our children or within the family of God, should be
done in the same constructive spirit. This incident teaches that we cannot
approach God on our own terms, in our own way, but must do so in the way
He has defined in His word. The fact He doesn’t respond to human failure
so visibly as He did in Moses’ time doesn’t mean that this is any less
true for us today.
Lev 10:4 Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle
of Aaron, and said to them, Draw near, carry your brothers from before the
sanctuary out of the camp-
This suggests they were in the holy place, offering upon the incense
altar. It also presumably made the priests who carried them ritually
unclean. This would have required seven days of purification, and likewise
the tabernacle would have been defiled and required days to cleanse it
because of defilement with dead bodies. Yet there is no evidence that God
required this letter of the law to be fulfilled at this point. And so we
see that the inauguration of the tabernacle and priesthood began by grace;
for it was all in a ritually unclean state right at its dedication. The
lesson of acceptance by grace, by spirit and not letter, was taught from
the beginning.
There is another example of this noted on :17.
Lev 10:5 So they drew near, and carried them in their coats out of the
camp, as Moses had said-
The fact they were dressed in their coats shows that they were
attempting to do some kind of religious ritual in a "strange" or Gentile /
pagan way. They were destroyed by fire (:2), but their coats were
apparently miraculously preserved and not burnt. Perhaps this was so that
the next priests who wore those coats would remember what had happened.
Lev 10:6 Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons,
Don’t let the hair of your heads go loose, neither tear your clothes; that
you don’t die, and that He not be angry with all the congregation; but let
your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which Yahweh
has kindled-
To tear the priestly clothes meant God's wrath with all the
congregation and the ending of his priesthood. Caiaphas’ equivalent name in Hebrew could suggest ‘cast out’; his
rending of his priestly clothes at Christ’s trial declared him “cast out”
of the priesthood (see Lev. 10:6; 21:10). We note too that the sin of one
person can bring judgment upon others, in this case "all the
congregation". On one hand, God deals with us as individuals. And yet on
another, the nature of sin is that others suffer from the effects of the
sin of third parties. That is largely the nature of sin.
Lev 10:7 You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest
you die; for the anointing oil of Yahweh is on you. They did according to
the word of Moses-
This is the phrase used for not going out of the doors at Passover
night, on pain of death (Ex. 12:22). They were to again realize that
Israel's redemption from Egypt was theirs personally, and that redemption
[like ours] had been in order to serve Yahweh. And that was what they were
now doing.
Lev 10:8 Yahweh spoke to Aaron, saying-
Aaron has now been accepted as high priest in the place of Moses.
Despite all the weakness just described. And so Yahweh now addresses him
directly, rather than via Moses as earlier.
Lev 10:9 Drink no wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when
you go into the Tent of Meeting, that you don’t die: it shall be a statute
forever throughout your generations-
This suggests that the offering of strange fire may have been under
the influence of alcohol. Which means that all the ritual of dedication we
have been reading of so far in Leviticus... was done whilst under the
influence of alcohol, or at least, involving sons of Aaron who were wont
to abuse alcohol. The weakness of the priesthood is apparent. Perhaps it
was because he knew this that Aaron was reticent about accepting the
dedication of himself and his sons. The Lord Jesus as the great High
Priest alluded to this ruling, when He said that He would no longer drink
wine until He drinks it again with us (Mt. 26:29). The implication is that
after His death and until He returns, He is now on priestly duty for us.
Lev 10:10 and that you are to make a distinction between the holy and the
common, and between the unclean and the clean-
The behaviour of the rebels was therefore a failure to make this
distinction. "Distinction" or 'make a division' is the word used of how
the veil divided between the holy and most holy place (Ex. 26:33). Their
bodies were taken out from "before the sanctuary" (:4), so we wonder if
they entered the most holy with their strange fire, drunk, and mixing
clean and unclean foods. The list of unclean animals which follows in the
next chapter was to underline this point; for that list was a distinction
between the clean and unclean (Lev. 11:47). Prov. 31:4,5 associates alcohol abuse with
forgetting God's law and it seems this is one of the many historical
commentaries of Proverbs, alluding back to this incident.
Lev 10:11 and that you are to teach the children of Israel all the
statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them by Moses-
The actions of the rebels were perhaps involved with a refusal to
teach all Yahweh's statutes. And the priesthood were intended to teach
Israel.
Lev 10:12 Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons
who were left, Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings of
Yahweh made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is
most holy-
Because of the sin with the golden calf, God's intention had been to
"destroy" Aaron (Dt. 9:20). A person was 'destroyed' by having their
family cut off (Am. 2:9). Moses had interceded for Aaron and apparently
changed that outcome. But as it happened, the judgment was partially
fulfilled, because of their sin. It's rather like Moses offering not to
enter the land, so that Israel could. His offer was turned down, but in
the end, he did not in fact enter the land, because of his sin. So God
works even through human sin, in order to bring about what the sinner
really wants. We also learn that human intercession for a sinner may
indeed be heard, but if the sinner persists in their way, then they are
allowed to choose their own condemnation.
Moses repeats the commands because he is fearful Aaron will not obey them properly, and may be slain as two of his sons had been.
Lev 10:13 and you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your
portion, and your sons’ portion, of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire:
for so I am commanded-
"For so I am commanded" could suggest these were specific commands
given for the inauguration ceremony after the death of Nadab and Abihu.
"It is your portion" signifies that no
longer is Moses the priest, taking the portions for himself (Lev. 8:29).
They were now Aaron's. I discussed on Lev. 8:13 how all this was very
humbling for Moses. He had briefly been Israel's priest, and was therefore
allowed to have the portions of the sacrifices for himself. But now he was
handing over the priesthood to Aaron and his sons, when surely it had been
his natural sense that he ought to have been the priest as he was
spiritually more mature than Aaron.
Lev 10:14 The waved breast and the contributed thigh you shall eat in a
clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you; for they are
given as your portion, and your sons’ portion, out of the sacrifices of
the peace offerings of the children of Israel-
We note the inclusion of the daughters. All the family were to come
to a clean place and eat. The dedication of the male members to the Divine
service was to involve their families too, and they were to be engaged in
this dedication ceremony. Constantly we see God's care for the family
unit. This is contrast to the secular religious view, that priesthood was
for chosen men, and their families must put up with it.
Lev 10:15 The heaved thigh and the waved breast they shall bring with the
offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before
Yahweh; and it shall be yours, and your sons’ with you, as a portion
forever, as Yahweh has commanded-
The portion to be waved was placed on the priests hands (Ex. 29:25),
and then 'waved' or 'swung' towards the altar and then back- not from
right to left. The idea was that the offerings were first given to God,
recognizing they should be consumed on the altar to God; but then given
back to the priest by God. So they ate them having first recognized that
their food was really God's, all was of Him, and He had given it back to
them to eat. This should be our spirit in partaking of any food, as we are
the new priesthood. Our prayers of thanks for daily food should include
this feature. All things are God's and anything we 'offer' to Him is only
giving Him what He has given to us (1 Chron. 29:14,16).
Lev 10:16 Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering,
and, behold, it was burned; and he was angry with Eleazar and with
Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying-
Moses' faith slipped for a moment; because his spirit was provoked by
Israel, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips and was therefore
barred from entering the land (although maybe such an apparently temporary
slip was the reflection of deeper problems?). Yet it does seem
uncharacteristic, a tragic slip down the graph of ever rising
spirituality. There must have almost been tears in Heaven. Being easily
provoked was one of Moses' characteristics; consider how he turned himself
and stormed out from Pharaoh (Ex. 10:6; 11:8); how his anger waxed hot
when he returned from the mount, how he went out from Pharaoh in great
anger, how he first of all feared the wrath of Pharaoh and then stopped
fearing it; how Moses was "very wroth" at Israel's suggestion that he was
appropriating the sacrifices for himself; how he was "angry" with Eleazer
(Ex. 32:19; 11:8; Num. 16:15; Lev. 10:16,17). This temperament explains
his swings of faith. Was the Lord Jesus likewise afflicted?
Lev 10:17 Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the place of the
sanctuary, since it is most holy, and He has given it to you to carry the
iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh?-
It was true that the letter of the law had been broken. But this was
accepted, because Aaron's admission of bad conscience was in the spirit of
the law. And so we see that the inauguration of the tabernacle and
priesthood began by grace; for it was all in a ritually unclean state
right at its dedication. The lesson of acceptance by grace, by spirit and
not letter, was taught from the beginning.
There is another example of this noted on :4.
Lev 10:18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the
sanctuary: you certainly should have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I
commanded-
Aaron the sinner comes over as more righteous than Moses the
legalist. "As I commanded... you certainly should... why haven't you...?"
is met with the answer that 'I didn't do all that because I was so upset
with God and life generally for the slaying of my sons'. And that was the
more mature response.
Lev 10:19 Aaron spoke to Moses, Behold, this day they have offered their
sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh; and such things as
these have happened to me; and if I had eaten the sin offering today,
would it have been pleasing in the sight of Yahweh?-
Aaron felt unable to eat with God because of his bad
conscience about his sons’ behaviour, or maybe because he felt angry with
God for killing his sons. Moses expected Aaron to just be obedient to the
letter of the law for the sake of it, but Aaron is presented as having
done the right thing, living with sensitivity to our conscience and
feelings rather than in unthinking obedience to the letter of the law.
Lev 10:20 When Moses heard that, it was pleasing in his sight-
Moses is one of greatest types of the Lord Jesus, in whom the Father
was supremely manifested. Because of this, it is fitting that we should
see a very high level of God manifestation in Moses. Indeed it seems that
God was manifest in Moses to a greater degree than in any other Old
Testament character. Thus Aaron asks: “Would it have been well pleasing in
the sight of Yahweh?”, and then we read “And when Moses heard that, it was
well-pleasing in his sight”.
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