fire

I've had some days I thought were hard, but this morning I read about a hard day for Aaron that put me to shame.

It should have  been one of the best days of Aaron's life. Leviticus 9 tells of the grand ceremony at which Aaron and his sons and the other priests were installed in their offices. They put on those beautiful vestments crafted by Bezalel's crew, and they went into that wonderful tabernacle. Aaron prepared the offerings there for the very first time. You can read about it in Leviticus 9:23-24:

"Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown."

What a glorious day! What a celebration of God's goodness, of the fact that their God would dwell visibly right in their midst!

But the day wasn't over yet. Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu went back into the tabernacle and offered unauthorized offerings. God responded to this affront by burning them up. It was a horrible tragedy, but Aaron couldn’t mourn; Moses told him to buck up and finish the day's festivities.

It's interesting to me that fire plays such a diverse role in this story. God's fire consumes the good offerings laid out by Aaron. Aaron's sons bring a bad offering of "unauthorized fire," and this time God's fire consumes them. It’s as if the holiness of God requires that when offerings are made, something must burn. If the offering isn't right, then he'll take the people.

In fact, that might be exactly the point. The animal brought for sacrifice was meant to bear the penalty demanded for sin under Old Testament law. Nadab and Abihu bore than punishment themselves.

It reminds me that God will not be demeaned with second or third-rate efforts at worship. This business of approaching him in his place is a serious, potentially dangerous one. If I blaspheme by misusing anything God has made holy, I do so at my own peril.

The two take-aways for me are these: first, once again I'm reminded of the great debt I owe Jesus for taking that punishment for me; and second, I'm forced to consider what it means that God's elect are set aside for his purposes. That's what holy means, to be set aside for God's special use. It seems possible to me that when I mistreat any of God's people I walk dangerously close to the line that Nadab and Abihu crossed.