Chapter 23—Strange Fire
“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them
his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered
strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And
there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, 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 glorified. And Aaron held his peace.”
The sons of Aaron did not take the sacred fire from the altar, which
the Lord himself had kindled, and which he commanded the priests
to use when they offered incense before him. They took common
fire and put in their censers, and put incense thereon. This was a
transgression of God’s express command, and his judgment speedily
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followed. Aaron’s sons, who officiated in holy things, would not have
thus transgressed if they had not indulged freely in the use of wine, and
were partially intoxicated. They gratified the appetite, which debased
their faculties, and disqualified them for their sacred office. Their
intellects were beclouded, so that they did not have a realizing sense
of the difference between the sacredness of the fire which God let
fall from Heaven, and was kept burning continually upon the altar,
and the common fire, which he had said they should not use. If they
had had the full and clear use of their reasoning faculties they would
have recoiled with horror at the presumptuous transgression of God’s
positive commands. They had been especially favored of God in being
of the number of the elders who witnessed the glory of God in the
mount. They understood that the most careful self-examination and
sanctification was required on their part before presenting themselves
in the sanctuary, where God’s presence was manifested.
“And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar,
his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes, lest ye
die, and lest wrath come upon all the people; but let your brethren,
the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath
kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of
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