Chapter 31—The Sin of Nadab and Abihu
This chapter is based on
Leviticus 10:1-11
.
After the dedication of the tabernacle, the priests were consecrated
to their sacred office. These services occupied seven days, each marked
by special ceremonies. On the eight day they entered upon their
ministration. Assisted by his sons, Aaron offered the sacrifices that
God required, and he lifted up his hands and blessed the people. All
had been done as God commanded, and He accepted the sacrifice, and
revealed His glory in a remarkable manner; fire came from the Lord
and consumed the offering upon the altar. The people looked upon
this wonderful manifestation of divine power with awe and intense
interest. They saw in it a token of God’s glory and favor, and they
raised a universal shout of praise and adoration and fell on their faces
as if in the immediate presence of Jehovah.
But soon afterward a sudden and terrible calamity fell upon the
family of the high priest. At the hour of worship, as the prayers and
praise of the people were ascending to God, two of the sons of Aaron
took each his censer and burned fragrant incense thereon, to rise as a
sweet odor before the Lord. But they transgressed His command by
the use of “strange fire.” For burning the incense they took common
instead of the sacred fire which God Himself had kindled, and which
He had commanded to be used for this purpose. For this sin a fire went
out from the Lord and devoured them in the sight of the people.
Next to Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu had stood highest in
Israel. They had been especially honored by the Lord, having been
permitted with the seventy elders to behold His glory in the mount. But
their transgression was not therefore to be excused or lightly regarded.
All this rendered their sin more grievous. Because men have received
great light, because they have, like the princes of Israel, ascended to
the mount, and been privileged to have communion with God, and
to dwell in the light of His glory, let them not flatter themselves that
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they can afterward sin with impunity, that because they have been thus
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