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FRESH FIRE --VS— STRANGE FIRE Nadab
and Abihu, the two oldest sons of Aaron, were being groomed to be the future
high priests These
men were given high level access into people’s lives and events that others
would have died for. TWO OF THE MAJOR GOD-CENTERED EVENTS OF NADAB AND ABIHU’S LIVES: ***
Exodus 24:9,10 – Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and the seventy elders of
Israel see the feet of God at Sinai (1491 B.C.) ***
Exodus 29:43,44 – Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and Eleazar are sanctified by
the manifested presence of God’s glory (1491 B.C.) Leviticus 9:23-24 –
ENDS WITH FRESH FIRE FROM HEAVEN Leviticus
10:1-2 – BEGINS WITH STRANGE FIRE FROM MAN AND JUDGEMENT FIRE FROM GOD. LAW
OF WILDERNESS REVERSION!
This law is alive in every person and every thing on the earth!
The railroad built during WW1 that is no longer visible. Leviticus
10 happened within one year of the scene at Mt. Sinai and the ordination service
of Nadab and Abihu. How
many times have people said / thought: “If I could experience God like that or
get a touch from God like that I would never be the same.”
= OR = “Oh, I wish I could have been alive when Jesus walked the
earth.” Exegesis of the passage
v.
1 – Nadab and Abihu, undoubtedly, used fire and incense as commanded. What
made this “strange fire”? In
the past, I have conjectured, proposed, and preached that these men used coals
to burn the incense that were not from the altar and, therefore, disallowed by
God. I felt it was their
“compromise” to do so. Yet,
to study this passage and to read it straight through in its context the first
mention we have of God speaking in the matter is found in verses 9-11.
Here God says, “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor
thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye
die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: (v.10) And
that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and
clean; {Nadab and Abihu must have used the wrong thing by accident –
their judgment clouded because of intoxication - TH} (v.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 {BE EXAMPLES – TEACH BY EXAMPLE -
TH}” (KJV). From
God’s comments we find the following was possible:
What
does alcohol do?
Nadab and Abihu lost their awe of God’s grace and the preciousness of His calling. They fell prey to the fickleness of the human heart as it succumbed to the LAW OF WILDERNESS REVERSION. To
Nadab and Abihu this was probably “just another day in the office” doing the
menial tasks of ministry. THE INTENTIONS OF YOUR HEART DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF YOUR SACRIFICE! The
intentions of their hearts were not holy before God. One
doesn’t have to be DRUNK to displease God.
One only has to have improper intentions of the heart Strong
drink and wine are not the only things that can intoxicate us. The word “intoxicated” is defined as “affected by, or,
as if by alcohol.” Things that can cause us to “act as if we are intoxicated” -----
How
many people have had some essence of their judgment clouded by one or more of
the above since we began this service before the Lord God Almighty? God
is not boring. The JOY of the Lord
is your strength. God wants you to
have FUN. However, when it comes to
ministry He will question your heart’s intentions. EXAMPLE: Our mission’s trip to Venezuela. We would be up until 2 or 3 AM every morning laughing our heads off. But 6:30 or 7:00 the next morning we were up and focusing on the ministry of the day. EXEGESIS
CONTINUED v.
2 – the FIRE FROM GOD “devoured” them.
In the Hebrew this means “consumed”. v.3a
– Moses says, “This is what the Lord said.” v.3b
– Aaron, the father of the deceased men, holds his peace. vv.
4-5 --
Nadab and Abihu’s bodies were consumed, but their priestly garments
remained. Their cousins carried off
what was left of their bodies with their garments. God
can and will move people out of the way without hindering the office of ministry
they were supposed to be fulfilling. vv.
6-7 --
Aaron and his family were FORBIDDEN to go through the normal signs of
mourning.
If
you do any of these you will die and wrath will come upon the people. When you are in pursuit of God’s service / ministry there are some things you just can’t STOP to GRIEVE over. ***
Nadab and Abihu died – Aaron and his sons had to go on with their duties. ***
Moses died – God told Joshua, “You’re the man now let’s get going. We’ve got stuff to do.” ***
King Saul repeatedly failed God. Samuel,
the prophet, mourned for him. God
said, “Stop the whining. I’ve
picked a king for ME. Get up and go
to Jesse’s house.” ***
Jesus died and was laid in the tomb. The
women went there to grieve on the eve of the third day.
The angel said, “What are you doing here. He is risen. Like
He said.” If
someone leaves this ministry we can’t stop progress to mourn their exit.
If God is our focus, then He has to remain that through every
circumstance. For
example, Restoration Ministries – I was looking at the numbers in ATTENDANCE
and TITHES/OFFERINGS from last year. They
have both dropped 50%. I can’t
stop to question “Who hasn’t and why haven’t they?”
I know we are doing what God said. I
can’t stop and mourn the fact that I have lost the highest tithe payers.
I have a kingdom to pursue. I
have a God to please. I have a
passion burning inside of me that burns higher than the extinguishing potential
of adversity and sorrow. FLAWS IN NADAB AND ABIHU’S LIVES
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