Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his
censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before
the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they
died before the LORD. (Leviticus
10:1-2 )
The more you know of God, the more
for which you are accountable. The
greater the responsibility we have with men, the stricter is God’s scrutiny
with us. James warned that men must be
very careful about desiring to stand and speak for God because their judgment
will be to a greater degree than that of others (James 3:1 ). When a two year old child plays in their food
and throws it across the room, a parent sees that as behavior to correct, but
would not punish a child like they would if it were a twelve year old doing
it. The older child knows more, and is
more accountable. Those who minister the
Word of God are students of Scripture and “to
whom much is given, from him much will be required.” (Luke 12:48 ) If a
private in the army makes a poor decision, then he will be held accountable,
but not to the same degree that a captain would, whose bad decision may lead to
the death of many or turn the tide in a decisive moment from victory to
defeat. Every Christian has some measure
of influence. Should we be defiled by
sin, then we will harm ourselves—and some others. It is a serious. The severity of judgment, however, is greater
for the pastor and church leader, for their influence is wider. If I stumble—not just a few—many will stumble
over me because I am leading.
This is why God dealt so quickly
and severely with Nadab and Abihu. They
were priests, and given the responsibility to represent God to the people and
bring the people to God. They had privileges
others could not enjoy—of touching the holy things and entering the holy place
of the tabernacle. How they lived their
lives and performed their duty would be a direct reflection on the God they
served. They took a sacred duty and
kindled a strange fire. We might sum
their sin up as the sin of presumption.
They took upon themselves a duty reserved for their father, Aaron, the
high priest. They used their own
censers, instead of the ones consecrated for this purpose. They acted on their own authority instead of
obeying the Word of God. There is no
record they sought God’s will before they acted, but rather acted out of
self-will. It is also possible they were
under the influence of alcohol instead of the Spirit (Eph.5:18 ), since there is a
specific prohibition for priests concerning abstinence from alcohol given in
verses 8-11. There are many in church
life today trying to do God’s work with carnal means. They presume to accomplish sacred duties with
worldly methodologies—and what it invites is the judgment of God. It is defilement that brings death.
Our lives as Christians will
either be a stepping-stone to help people to God, or a stumbling block to
hinder them from God. Jesus said it
would be better to have a heavy millstone tied around our neck, be thrown into
the sea, and drown, than to cause others to stumble. When a pastor or church leader falls, they
defile the holy name of God (Lev.10:3 )
and harm the holy people of God. May the
Lord guard us from defilement!
No comments:
Post a Comment