Welcome to chapter by chapter, four year journey through the greatest book given to the human race, the word of God, the Bible. And we get to go through it chapter by chapter, seven minutes a day and seven days a week. Join us each day and share it with others so they can join this journey that will be life changing. We will stop at unexpected places on the journey and be challenged. Some verses will create awe and wonder. We will have chapters that will be instructive and in others we will find joy and comfort. We will occasionally be convicted and want to change, but all in all the journey will be worth it. Once in a while we'll take a detour on the journey and hear from some of God's servants on their favorite passages from a chapter of scripture. We're going to let them give you their insight. Every journey needs a small detour occasionally. The best way to get the most from this podcast is read the chapter we're discussing before or after. It's his word that transforms. You'll find more and see more than I can ever articulate. Welcome to chapter by chapter and today's chapter is special because this is episode 100. Thank you for being on the journey thus far. This is Leviticus 10, Strange Fire. Michelangelo was asked why he bothered with perfect detail on figures high up on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Reviewers from below wouldn't notice. He replied, I will notice. God wouldn't notice if his priests missteps and added their own opinions and additions to the process. The result to the natural eye would be the same. Fire, but the assessment from heaven would be completely different. God would call it Strange Fire. This is Leviticus 10 and boy, God was mad. I was not looking forward to Leviticus 10. I know this chapter and I've always read it with caution. After eight chapters of clear instructions and how God wants to be approached and worshiped in Leviticus, still the men who are called to lead this process somehow feel that they have an equal vote with God to tweak what he has been speaking from heaven. This is high treason. It's foolish and it will be fatal. This will be the choosing of Nadab and Abayu. Listen to Leviticus 10 verses 1 through 3. Now Nadab and Abayu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective fire pans and after putting fire in them placed incense on it and offered Strange Fire before the Lord which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, it is what the Lord spoke saying by those who come near me, I will be treated as holy and before all the people, I will be honored. So Aaron therefore kept silent. What could have gone wrong? What made this Strange Fire? To the onlooker, none could tell the fire was strange but to God, man's ideas got mixed in. Bible teacher Warren Wearsby was so insightful on this horrific event. He said everything that these two men did was wrong. To begin with, they were the wrong people to be handling the incense and presenting it to the Lord. It was the task of their father, the high priest, according to Exodus 30 verse 7. They also used the wrong instruments, their own censors instead of the censor of the high priest, sanctified by the special anointing oil in Exodus 40 verse 9. They acted at the wrong time for it was only the annual day of atonement that the high priest was permitted to take incense into the Holy of Holies. They acted under the wrong authority. They didn't consult with Moses or their father, nor did they seek to follow the word of God, which Moses had received. In burning the incense, they use the wrong fire, which scripture calls Strange Fire. The high priest was commanded to burn the incense on coals taken from the brazen altar. But Nadab and Abayu supplied their own fire and God rejected it. They acted from the wrong motive and didn't seek to glorify God alone. Finally, they depended on the wrong energy. Pro verses 9 through 10 imply that they were under the influence of alcohol. Everything was wrong. The great Puritan pastor, John Owen says, he that had slight thoughts of sin never had great thoughts about God. To these two boys, they had those slight thoughts of sin. They did not see it a big deal to do things their way, thus leading them to have low thoughts of God, which at the end would be their end. They would lose their life. The burial of Nadab and Abayu was swift. They were taken out of the camp with no mourners. Verse 6 is a strange command to a grieving father and two shocked brothers. Listen to Leviticus 10.6. Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, Eliezer and Ifamar, do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that he will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the Lord has brought about. They were not to mourn the loss of these two boys. Why? To mourn for their judgment was to feel sorry for them and to raise an accusation that God did something wrong. The fire of God was never intended to consume the people of God. That's why God always intended for there to be a sacrifice. There are two ways by which God punishes sin, the fires of hell and the blood of Jesus. It's not a question of whether your sin will be punished. It's a question of how your sin will be punished. Leviticus 9.24 says this, then fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering. Leviticus 10.2 says, and fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them. When you come to God, you must do it his way, the only way. He's not interested in our additions or opinions. Nay, dab and abye, you thought more highly of themselves than they should have. Whatever made that fire strange did not please God and angered God. In essence, they were offering a new way to worship. This is a trumpet blast for the church today. I believe churches are playing with strange fire. I think when you are living in rebellion and sin, but feel that a gift or a talent you have is being used in the house of God, this nullifies your disobedience. That is playing with strange fire. After fire consumed two men, something happened that I've not seen happen before or after this shocking moment in the Tabernacle. It says in Leviticus 10.8, the Lord then spoke to Aaron. God always speaks to Moses. Now God is going to talk to Aaron. What does God say to the man who just lost two of his four sons to judgment? Listen to verse 8. The Lord then spoke to Aaron saying, Do not drink wine or strong drink. Neither you nor your sons with you. When you come into the tent of meeting so that you will not die, it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane and between the unclean and the clean. God says that you will have to keep your eye on worship in my house. There will be times you will have to see that the profane is trying to sneak into the house of God. You will see the unclean proclaiming all as well. You must take this fire seriously. Residents of the state of Washington are no strangers to wildfires. However, even veterans of the fire-ridden west can become too comfortable with the blazes. Officials in Shalom County, Washington report that even as one of the most vicious wildfires of the summer bore down on homes and businesses in Shalom, hundreds of local residents refused to seek safety. They said we thought it was a little fire. What had begun three days earlier as a seemingly insignificant flame had escalated to a raging life-threatening inferno. Leviticus 10 was no little fire. Aaron's sons did not take the fire seriously as the residents of this Washington County didn't take the fire seriously. Both were fatal. Thank you for joining chapter by chapter. Every chapter from the greatest book, the Bible, the Word of God. Seven minutes a day, seven days a week. We'll see you tomorrow.
