Offering Unacceptable Sacrifices

Leviticus 10:1-4: "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. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Moses then said to Aaron, 'This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: 'Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of the people I will be honored.'' Aaron remained silent. 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.' So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp."


At first glance, this story of God's destruction of those who would offer a sacrifice to Him is troubling. Why would God want to take the lives of those who would want to offer a gift to Him? Yet when we start to look at the story in greater depth, we are able to see why God would enact such judgment upon these priests. In Leviticus 9, we find that Aaron, the priest, and his sons (Nadab and Abihu) began their ministries by offering divinely prescribed burnt offerings to the Lord, as a sacrifice for the sins of the people. God had promised that if they were obedient to His instructions of sacrifice, He would appear to them (9:4). God was true to His Word, for we find in 9:24, that "fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering." When the people saw this amazing theophany of God, they "shouted for joy and fell face down."


This is where the story takes a dramatic turn, for we find that the sons of Aaron collected fire in their censers and "offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command (10:1)." Although the priests were to keep the fires of the altar for burnt offerings going continuously (8:9), nowhere do we find that God prescribed that they were to offer fire back to the Lord as an offering. God had used fire in chapter 9 to consume the sacrificial animal, which had been offered as a substitute for the sins of the priests and the people (1:4f).

One can see the significance of the sacrifice of an animal "without blemish" as a foreshadowing of the coming Messiah, who would be the ultimate sacrifice once for all for our sins (Hebrews 10:10). Through the death of Jesus Christ, the Lord would lay upon Him our sins (Isaiah 53:6), so that we might receive His gift of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). No other sacrifice for sin is acceptable to the Lord.

Therefore, we see the significance of the fire coming from God in Leviticus 10 as the enactment of God's judgment upon sin, and we see how contemptible it was for the priests to attempt to offer up something other than the atonement sacrifice back to God. I guess the questions that arise for me are, "What were the priests thinking that they would offer a sacrifice which was prohibited by the Lord? . . . Were they caught up in the demonstration of God's power through fire and the people's response to it? With the people responding with such joy and submission, did the priests want to "cash in" on the moment and participate in such a demonstration of glory by God? Did Nadab and Abihu think that they had the right to challenge what God had expressly communicated concerning offerings to Him? Did they want to harness the power of God by collecting the fire that had consumed the sacrifice?



Although we don't know the motivation for these priests' offering, we do know from God's responsive judgment upon them and His verbal declaration, that He wanted the people of Israel to know something very important. Specifically, God said, "Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored." The Sovereign Lord used the episode to teach the people that He is transcendent in his holiness, and He is due honor and obedience simply for who He is.



Okay, so how should we use this passage in our lives today? First, I believe that we must respect the Lord! He is not simply the "man upstairs" who is only needed when we have a request for something. He is Holy . . . Set Apart . . . and worthy of our praise, our lives, our best, our "all." And when it comes to our salvation, we should not think that we can offer up anything other than what he has prescribed for the remission of sins. That is, we can not bypass what He has determined to be the only acceptable remedy for our trespasses, and He has declared that only Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross is worthy(Romans 5:9-11). Tragically, religions today attempt to dictate that we must present something to God so that we can prove ourselves worthy of salvation. The Bible states that only Jesus Christ's death and resurrection provide satisfaction to God for our sins. Resist the temptation to try to offer something else to God; rather, receive his gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ and submit to Him as your Worthy Lord and Savior!