Leviticus 10 Fire!

Leviticus 10

How quickly things go wrong – newly ordained priests Nadab and Abihu decide that they can improve on the special incense recipe that God instructed them to use, and that is only to be used in the tabernacle for the worship of God.

This "strange fire" being burned is a breaking of God's command and demonstrates a lack of respect for God.

Again fire blazes forth from God’s presence but this time both Nadab and Abihu are burned alive.

Aaron, the father of Nadab and Abihu has been set apart as Holy to God and is not allowed to touch the bodies, mourn outwardly, or leave the precints of the Tabernacle.

To my mind this is rather unfair, on Aaron the man, more than that, I am from a protestant tradition of Christianity that does not believe that we must approach God through the mediation of a priest, or rather Jesus is our "high priest" and his followers form a priesthood of all believers.

This means that I don’t believe in a human priest who has to intercede with God for me, which is really what Aaron and his sons were there to do.

The brilliant book “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett has a major character, Prior Philip, who in my mind comes across as the kind of guy I would like to know. 

Anyway Philip explains that, as monks, they are supported by the community and one of their duties is to hold services and pray for souls, and that is effectively their job.

I have to say I can understand, and appreciate, this. 

I am glad that there are communities of Monks and Nuns and priests around who do still pray for the world and the care of souls. 

The unfortunate priests bodies are carried out of the tabernacle by uncles, and cousins of the dead priests

There are other things that are expected from priests – do not drink wine before service, they are to recognise what is clean and unclean and teach the people as spiritual leaders.

On this day the regular sin offering is completely burned up, while the instruction were that part of it was to be used to sustain the priests. 

Moses was angry but Aaron explains that it simply did not feel right to eat from the people’s offering on the day that his sons died for not keeping the commandments by offering “Strange fire” to God.