Leviticus 8 & 10 - Worship War Casualties
- Chad Werkhoven
- Mar 3
- 5 min read
God takes our worship seriously. Deadly serious.
SINCE WE LAST LEFT OFF... There's been page after page, chapter after chapter of very specific instructions for how to properly make the prescribed sacrifices and offerings to the LORD.
Leviticus 8:1-9 & 10:1-7
8 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, 3 and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” 4 Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
5 Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the LORD has commanded to be done.” 6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 7 He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also fastened the ephod with a decorative waistband, which he tied around him. 8 He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. 9 Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred emblem, on the front of it, as the LORD commanded Moses.
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9:23 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. 24 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.
10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of when he said:
“ ‘Among those who approach me
I will be proved holy;
in the sight of all the people
I will be honored.’ ”
Aaron remained silent.
4 Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.” 5 So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the Israelites, may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed by fire. 7 Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, because the LORD's anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses said.
Article 32
We reject all human innovations
and all laws imposed on us,
in our worship of God,
which bind and force our consciences
in any way.
So we accept only what is proper
to maintain harmony and unity
and to keep all in obedience
to God.
Summary
The opening verses of chapter 8 provide just a short sampling of the details God had handed down regarding how Israel was to worship Him. The short passage we read from it tells of the preparations being made for the ordination of Aaron and his sons, Nadab and Abihu - a service that would go on to last for seven days!
Chapter 9 described the service itself and all went according to plan, culminating with a grand display of fire coming out from the presence of the LORD and consuming the massive burnt offering all at once, causing the people to shout for joy as the fell face down in worship. But then we get to chapter 10, and one of the most mysterious accounts in all of scripture.
It's so mysterious because we are given so little background information regarding it. All we read is that Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu... offered unauthorized fire before the LORD. Most of the other Bible translations call it strange fire. One even uses the word illegitimate. What we don't know is whether they erred from ignorance, or if they were cleverly attempting to improve upon the instructions the LORD had given them.
What we do know is that the two sons of Aaron paid dearly and instantly for their transgression. Once again fire came out from the presence of the LORD. But this time it was different than the crowd pleasing sight that it had just been. This time the LORD's fire consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
Dig Deeper
The Protestant Reformation is often associated with doctrines of salvation such as justification by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone. But it was just as much about reforming the Church's worship. Worship in the Roman Catholic Church had been corrupted with all sorts of unauthorized, strange and illegitimate practices, many of which had been implemented with good intentions (visual aids like statues and stained glass, meant to teach the Bible to illiterate people). But it didn't take long before the aesthetic add-ons became the central focus of worship as cathedrals become more and more grand.
In response to these abuses, Reformed churches developed what has come to be known as the regulative principal of worship. It's best expressed in the Heidelberg Catechism: we will not worship God in any other way than He has commanded in His Word (QA 96). It means that we endeavor to do all that - and only that - which God has prescribed for His Church in the Bible.
Way too many modern day churches - even some 'Reformed' ones - don't really have any sort of principle of worship. If it feels right, they just do it. And it may even be really sincere and seem so powerful, filling their auditoriums with people awed by it. But so often if disintegrates into what one author calls worshiptainment.
Coming into the presence of our holy, Triune God is far simpler now than it was in Nadab and Abihu's day, since we enter into worship having been made holy by the blood of Christ. But learn from their cautionary tale, and worship God through the simple, ordinary means that He's instructed. God takes our worship seriously. Deadly serious.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the LORD, who has commanded His people to worship Him;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your worship would be holy and acceptable to the LORD;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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