Leviticus 10

Only the descendants of Aaron could be priests of the Old Covenant. The story of Aaron's failings was disappointing enough. Now Israel was to feel the weight of the errors of Aaron's sons.

Nadab and Abihu, two of the priests, offered unauthorized fire before the Lord. The Lord had given precise instruction concerning offering incense to Him. Whatever it was that these two sons of Aaron did, it was out of accord with the Word of the Lord. The result of their strange transgression was immediate. “Fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”

Moses spoke the Word of the Lord at this moment of great sadness, “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.” Aaron did not say anything to this.

Some of the young men who were relatives of the deceased priests carried the bodies of Nadab and Abihu out of the camp. Moses spoke to two of the other sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar. They were not to join in the expected customs of mourning. Given their consecration as priests, this would have been dangerous for them and for the entire nation of Israel.

Then the Lord spoke directly to Aaron a message that may have explained what had gone wrong with Nadab and Abihu. “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die.” The Lord spoke of this rule as a perpetual statute for the priesthood.

Drinking intoxicating drink lowered the inhibitions of the ones who imbibed. This was not good for those who would be leading the people of God in His holy worship. The Lord's worship was to be clean, not unclean. It was to be separated from all that was common in the lives of the congregation.

This life of ceremonial righteousness was subject to the commandments of God. The purest man among the people of Israel could not just act out His own preferences. God's way was the only path of goodness for Israel.

The priests of the Lord needed to know how to distinguish between the holy and the unholy. They were to understand the rules for clean and unclean according to the Law, and to communicate these to the people as the Law of God. This experience of tragedy in the deaths of Nadab and Abihu was something for all the priests to consider in the years that would follow.

As devastating as this experience had to be for Aaron and for his surviving sons, they had to keep on going with their duties with a recognition that they were guardians of a ministry that was more important than their tragedies. They needed to eat their portion of the grain offering. They needed to eat the meat that was theirs to eat, the breast and the thigh.

Moses was diligent in investigating this. What he found made him angry. The goat of the sin offering was burned up. He spoke to Eleazar and Ithamar. He said, “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord?” Aaron's omission seemed to a grave error. The blood was not handled as it should have been. His response was reflective of the weakness of this entire system of atonement: “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?” That response silenced Moses' inquiries, yet it was a reinforcement of their own weaknesses, displaying the devastation of the events that had taken place as the Old Covenant system of worship began. Before the nation had a chance to see the ceremonial law in action, the trial of death had overtaken them.

Two men were struck down by the Lord. Aaron was not able to protect his own sons. He could not carry them safely to place of eternal security. He was not that kind of high priest.

But Jesus is our eternal High Priest, the Mediator of a better covenant than the one made through Moses in the desert. He was able to say with the perfect assurance of His eternal divinity, “Here am I and the children that God has given me.” See Isaiah 8:18 and Hebrews 2:13. His excellent faithfulness has saved us from every trouble. His work satisfied the fullness of the righteous demands of His Father. No one will every be able to snatch us out of the Father's hand. If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him.