Part
Two________________The Many Sins of Nadab and Abihu_________
Chapter 9 is a Prelude to the events of chapter 10
Leviticus
9
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Aaron Offers Sacrifices
1Now it
came about on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons
and the elders of Israel;2and he said to Aaron, "Take for yourself a
calf, a bull, for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both
without defect, and offer them before the LORD.3"Then to the sons of
Israel you shall speak, saying, 'Take a male goat for a sin offering,
and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without defect, for a burnt
offering,4and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before
the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil; for today the LORD
will appear to you.' 5So they took what Moses had commanded to the
front of the tent of meeting, and the whole congregation came near and
stood before the LORD. 6Moses
said, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded you to do,
that the glory of the LORD may appear to you."7Moses then said to
Aaron, "Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and
your burnt offering, that you may make atonement for yourself and for
the people; then make the offering for the people, that you may make
atonement for them, just as the LORD has commanded."8So Aaron came near
to the altar and slaughtered the calf of the sin offering which was for
himself.9Aaron's sons presented the blood to him; and he dipped his
finger in the blood and put some on the horns of the altar, and
poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar 10The
fat and the kidneys and the lobe of the liver of the sin offering, he
then offered up in smoke on the altar just as the LORD had commanded
Moses.11The flesh and the skin, however, he burned with fire outside
the camp.12Then he slaughtered the burnt offering; and Aaron's sons
handed the blood to him and he sprinkled it around on the altar.13They
handed the burnt offering to him in pieces, with the head, and he
offered them up in smoke on the altar.14He also washed the entrails and
the legs, and offered them up in smoke with the burnt offering on the
altar.15Then he presented the people's offering, and took the goat
of the sin offering which was for the people, and slaughtered it and
offered it for sin, like the first.16He also presented the burnt
offering, and offered it according to the ordinance.17Next he
presented the grain offering, and filled his hand with some of it
and offered it up in smoke on the altar, besides the burnt
offering of the morning.18Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram,
the sacrifice of peace offerings which was for the people; and Aaron's
sons handed the blood to him and he sprinkled it around on the altar 19As
for the portions of fat from the ox and from the ram, the fat tail, and
the fat covering, and the kidneys and the lobe of the liver,20they
now placed the portions of fat on the breasts; and he offered them up
in smoke on the altar. 21But the
breasts and the right thigh Aaron presented as a wave offering before
the LORD, just as Moses had commanded. 22Then
Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and
he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering
and the peace offerings.23Moses and Aaron went into the tent of
meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of
the LORD appeared to all the people.24Then fire came out from before
the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the
altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their
faces.
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Selected
Texts
9:1___
The 8th day is not like the previous seven. The first
seven serve as the investiture of the priesthood (chap.8) and the
consecration of the sanctuary (8:10-12) whereas the 8th
day serves as the inauguration of the public worship by its newly
invested priesthood. The central theme of this chapter is the altar.
9:2___
Aaron must bring sin-offering
and a burnt offering to initiate this new worship.
9:4___
The appearance of YHWH renders this
event equivalent to God's appearance on Sinai. The people experience
God's voice at Sinai (Ex.20:18) only the elite saw God (Ex.
24:1o-11). In contrast to that,”all” the people were privileged
to see God sanction the inauguration of the regular worship.
In
Israel,
the ark which is the symbolic seat of the Godhead, is
installed__the first among all sanctums__(Ex. 40:20-21)___before
God's presence in the fire-cloud descends of the tabernacle(Ex.
40:34-35). In Solomons temple, the ark is the last of the sanctums
(1st Kings
8:3-5), it still proceeds the divine fire cloud (1st
Kings 8:10-12). In this, the people
behold their deity emerging from the tabernacle in the form of fire
(Lev.9:23-24).
The
“kabowd,”
(pronounced kavod) in the encased
fire-cloud presumably brightens in intensity as a signal to Moses
whenever God desires an audience with him (Num.17:8), or when Moses
and Aaron seeks divine counsel (Num. 20:6-7), before it condenses
between the outspread wings of the cherubim in the adytum. Otherwise
the “kabowd” encased
in cloud remains suspended above the tabernacle so that all Israel
might see at night (Ex.40:38; Num.9:15). Here at the inauguration of
the service in the tabernacle, the “kabowd” separates
itself from its nebulous
encasement in order to consume the sacrifice in the sight of all
Israel (v.23).
9:6___
The
earthly manifestation of
God is termed “ kabowd” and it takes the form
of fire.
9:7___This
is the only occasion that Aaron is commanded to come forward. Here he
officiates for the first time.
9:11__Only
the sin offering and that of the priestly consecration were burned
outside the camp. Jesus was “outside the camp” [Hebrews 13:13].
9:22___Aaron,
“came down” from where? Must have been on the top of the altar.
9:23___Why
did they enter the tent. Only conjecture but must have prayed for the
“ kabowd” to come out.
9:24___The
text is silent here. Where did the fire come from? All we know is
“before the Lord.”
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A Reminder from former lessons.
a. There are two kinds of fire under
discussion here (usually translated burn).
b.
המך There is qatar
fire. To burn up - starts
at altar and ascends up.
c.
שרך There is saraph
which starts up and comes
down, the fire of anger
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Leviticus 10
The Sins of Nadab and Abihu
1Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their
respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed
incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had
not commanded them 2And fire came out from the presence
of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
3Then 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 4Moses called also to Mishael
and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come
forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to
the outside of the camp." 5So they came forward and carried
them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses
had said. 6Then Moses said to Aaron and to his
sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "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. 7"You shall not even go out from the
doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; forthe LORD'S
anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.
8The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, 9"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- 10and so
as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between
the unclean and the clean. 11and so
as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has
spoken to them through Moses."12Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to
his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Take the grain offering
that is left over from the LORD'S offerings by fire and eat it
unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13"You
shall eat it, moreover, in a holy place, because it is your due and
your sons' due out of the LORD'S offerings by fire; for thus I have
been commanded. 14"The breast of the wave offering,
however, and the thigh of the offering you may eat in a clean place,
you and your sons and your daughters with you; for they have been given
as your due and your sons' due out of the sacrifices of the peace
offerings of the sons of Israel.
15"The thigh offered by lifting up and the breast offered by
waving they shall bring along with the offerings by fire of the
portions of fat, to present as a wave offering before the LORD; so it
shall be a thing perpetually due you and your sons with you, just as
the LORD has commanded."
16But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin
offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with
Aaron's surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, 17"Why did
you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy,
and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation,
to make atonement for them before the LORD.
18"Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside,
into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the
sanctuary, just as I commanded." 19But
Aaron spoke to Moses, "Behold, this very day they presented their
sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD. When things like
these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it
have been good in the sight of the LORD?"
20When Moses heard that, it seemed good in his sight.
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1.
The
Many Sins and Nadab and Abihu
A.
In the excitement of the moment they committed a series of
presumptuous sins Lev. 10:1-20.
-
They
offered zuwr fire, meaning unauthorized (see Exodus
30:33; Lev. 22:12; Numbers 16:46).
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2114. zuwr
to be a
stranger
Original Word: זוּר
Transliteration: zuwr
Phonetic Spelling: (zoor)
Short Definition: another
 come from another man, place, fanner, go
away, estranger, thing, woman
A primitive root; to turn aside (especially for lodging);
hence to be a foreigner, strange, profane; specifically (active
participle) to commit adultery -- (come from) another (man, place),
fanner, go away, (e-)strange(-r, thing, woman).
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A
Very likely Scenario___________________
Offering Strange Fire Before The Lord
The Traveling Tabernacle of the Lord
HOLY FIRE
Lev 9:23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the
congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of
the LORD appeared unto all the people.
Lev 9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed
upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the
people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
In the inauguration of the traveling tabernacle of the Lord,
the sacrifices placed on the alter of burnt offering were accepted by
the Lord, and consumed by a fire that came from the glory of the Lord.
This was no ordinary fire, it was sacred fire, holy fire from God
Himself. This same fire was then used to burn the incense that was
taken into the tabernacle, to the altar of incense:
Lev 16:12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of
fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet
incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil:
Lev 16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD,
that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the
testimony, that he die not:
Note
that the smoke of the incense, burning with the sacred fire from the
Lord, preserved the life of the priest while he was in the tabernacle.
This was no small or trivial matter, as we shall see.
STRANGE
FIRE
Lev 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either
of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and
offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
Lev 10:2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and
they died before the LORD.
Nadab
and Abihu disregarded the solemn and exacting instruction they had been
given, and filled their censers with a fire that did not originate from
the holy fire of the alter of burnt offering. They entered the
tabernacle with a profane fire, a common fire, that afforded them no
protection, and they instantly perished. This was such a serious
violation, that they were not even to be mourned:
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1Now Nadab
and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and
after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange
fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2And
fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they
died before the LORD.3Then
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. 4Moses
called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle
Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from
the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp." 5So they
came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside
of the camp, as Moses had said. 6Then
Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "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. 7"You
shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you
will die; forthe LORD'S anointing oil is upon you." So they did
according to the word of Moses.
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IN
A DRUNKEN STUPOR
The
reason for Nadab and Abihu's transgression is then revealed:
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9"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--
10and so
as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between
the unclean and the clean, (see also Eze 44:23)
Lev 10:11 11and so as to teach the sons of
Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them through
Moses."
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Aaron's sons had been
drunk, their reasoning was impaired, and they could see no reason to
bother with getting coals from the sacred fire of the altar of burnt
offering. They did not discern the difference between the holy and
unholy, and between the unclean and clean. Common unholy fire probably
looked no different to them, and it surely would burn the incense in
their censors too. Who cares? - they probably thought in their drunken
stupor, it won't matter to God which fire we use, He can't be that
particular. So they offered God what was common, instead of what was
holy, as God required. They paid with their lives for their drunken
disobedience.
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Question:
Does this section of text prove
that you can't play a piano in the assembly (i.e. does getting drunk
and picking up the wrong fire make that point?)
Other
Sins of Presumption_______________
2)
Before YHWH - i.e. perhaps they rashly and without God's
warrant entered within the veil - into the holy of holies! Num. 3:4
3)
Which YHWH had not commanded them. The fire or them (v.1)
a.
Maybe incense was not part of the day's ceremonies.
b.
Maybe Nadab and Abihu were not the ones assigned to the incense.
B.
It may have very well been the wrong day. (High Priest can only enter
once a year)
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“but into the second, only the high
priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers
for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.”
Hebrews 9:7
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C.
May have both went in the Holy of Holies instead of just one.
a.
Had not Nadab and Abihu just been inaugurated into the priestly
office of special nearness to YHWH?
b.
At minimum, their sin was will worship.
Additional
comments
1.
I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me Lev. 10:3.
2.
And before all the people I will be glorified.
3.
Even when all the ceremonies and rituals are respected, if the heart
is not right, the vanity of worship is manifest (Rom. 1:21).
4.
Good intentions cannot excuse disobedience - assuming they had good
intentions!
5.
Aaron must not morn his sons! Nor Eleazar and Ithamar their brothers.
A.
Lev. 21: 2-4 allows a priest to morn a relative who dies but not in
this case.
B.
Because the anointing of the Lord is upon you - Lev. 10:7
C.
As God's representatives they must not be in disagreement with God.
D.
The whole house of Israel could morn but not Aaron nor his sons.
6.
Nadab and Abihu's actions may have caused the instructions of Lev.
10: 8-9.
A.
drink no wine or strong drink....that you do not die!
B.
They may have been drunk or at least their senses dulled.
C.
That you die not, may link their death with the warning that
you die not as they did for this reason.
7.
Lev. 10:10 further states, and
you shall make a distinction between the holy and the common, between
the clean and the unclean. They
may have drank the drink-offering as though it were common.
8.
Aaron's excessive caution and Moses reaction - Lev. 10: 8-20.
by
Warren Rogers 06/24/08
11:04:41 AM