Leviticus 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._ The sons of Aaron ... If this incident occurred at the solemn period of the consecrating and dedicating the altar, these young men assumed an office which had been committed to Moses; or if it were some time after, it was an encroachment on duties which devolved on their father alone as the high priest. But the offence was of a far more aggravated nature than such a mere informality would imply. It consisted not only in their venturing unauthorized to perform the incense service-the highest and most solemn of the priestly offices-not only in their engaging together in a work which was the duty only of one, but in their presuming to intrude into the holy of holies, to which access was denied to all...

1._And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron _A memorable circumstance is here recorded, from whence it appears how greatly God abominates all the sins whereby the purity of religion is corrupted. Apparently it was a light transgression to use strange fire for burning incense; and again their thoughtlessness would seem excusable, for certainly Nadab and Abihu did not wantonly or intentionally desire to pollute the sacred things, but, as is often the case in matters of novelty, when they were setting about them too eagerly, their precipitancy led them into error. The severity of the punishment, therefore, would not please those arrogant people, who do not hesitate superciliously to criticise God’s judgments; but if we reflect how holy a thing God’s worship is, the enormity of the punishment will by no means offend us. Besides, it was necessary that their religion should be sanctioned at its...

1,2 Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride, and that they were heated with wine. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they had been allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath, otherwise than as it...

CHAPTER X Nadab _and_ Abihu _offer strange fire before the Lord, and are_ _destroyed_, 1-5. _Aaron and his family forbidden to mourn for them_, 6, 7. _He and his family are forbidden the use of wine_, 8-11. _Directions to Aaron and his sons concerning the eating of the_ _meat-offerings, c._, 12-15. _Moses chides Aaron for not having eaten the sin-offering_, 16-18. _Aaron excuses himself, and Moses is satisfied_, 19, 20. NOTES ON CHAP. X Verse Leviticus 10:1. And Nadab a

NADAB AND ABIHU - The two elder sons of Aaron Exodus 6:23; Numbers 3:2, who were among those invited to accompany Moses when he was going up Mount Sinai, but who were “to worship afar off,” and not “come near the Lord.” Exodus 24:1. CENSER - See Exodus 25:38 note. STRANGE FIRE - The point of their offence is evidently expressed in this term. This may very probably mean that the incense was lighted at an unauthorized time. And we may reasonably unite with this the supposition that they were intoxicated (compare...

EXPOSITION THE DEATH OF NADAB AND ABIHU, THE SONS OF AARON (Leviticus 10:1). The first day of Aaron's ministry had not yet closed. He had offered the sacrifices, and had entered into the holy place with Moses, and had returned to the court of the tabernacle, where the people had been standing in mute expectation, and God had shown his approval and his confirmation of him in his priestly acts by consuming the sacrifices, as they lay on the altar, with a miraculous fire emblematic of himself, when a rash act on the part of his two eldest children changed the day from one of rejoicing to one of mourning. It would seem that Nadab and Abihu, being already in a slate of exaltation from the events of the day, in

AND NADAB AND ABIHU, THE SONS OF AARON,.... His two eldest sons, as seems from Exodus 6:23: TOOK EITHER OF THEM HIS CENSER; a vessel in which coals of fire were put, and incense upon them, and burnt it, and so it follows: AND PUT FIRE THEREIN, AND PUT INCENSE THEREON; which, as Aben Ezra says, was on the eighth day, that is, of their consecration, the day after their consecration was completely finished, and the same day that Aaron had offered the offerings for himself and for the people, see Leviticus 9:1: AND OFFERED STRANGE FIRE BEFORE THE LORD; upon the golden altar of incense, which stood in the holy place right against the vail, within which were the ark, mercy seat, and cherubim, the symbol and seat of the divine Majesty: this fire was not that w

STRANGE FIRE Fire "from before the Lord" had kindled upon the altar of burnt-offering the fire which the care of the priests was to keep burning (Leviticus 6:12). No commandment had yet been given (Leviticus 16:12) how the incense should be kindled. The sin of Nadab and Abihu was in acting in the things of God without seeking the mind of God. It was "will worship" (Colossians 2:23) which often has a "show of wisdom and humility." It typifies any use of carnal means to kindle the fire of devotion and praise....

3. NADAB AND ABIHU: THE FALSE WORSHIP AND ITS RESULTS CHAPTER 10 _ 1. The false worship and the judgment (Leviticus 10:1)_ 2. New instructions (Leviticus 10:8) 3. The neglect of Eleazar and Ithamar (Leviticus 10:16) The ceremonies were ended and the people, beholding the glory of the Lord, had worshipped. A terrible occurrence follows the beautiful ending to the previous chapter. Nadab and Abihu, two sons of Aaron, offered strange fire before Jehovah. The fire before Jehovah devoured them and they died before the Lord. The sin consisted in taking strange fire, which Jehovah had not commanded; most likely it was fire they produced themselves, instead of taking the fire f

LEV X contains four appendices on the priests-' duties, of which the first and the fourth are in the form of ideal narratives (a caution and a misunderstanding), like chs. 8f. LEVITICUS 10:1. THE SIN OF NADAB AND ABIHU. Nadab and Abihu, the eldest sons of Aaron (Exodus 6:23), had been privileged to go up and see the God of Israel with Moses and Aaron and seventy elders (Exodus 24:1 ff., J). Here, they offer fire which has not been taken from the altar hearth or was not in accordance with the proper receipt for the sacred incense, and are themselves at once consumed. The bodies are withdrawn from the camp by their father's cousins, and Aaron and his remaining sons are forbidden to mourn for them. The catastrophe i