The tabernacle has been completed
and the Israelites did a wonderful job. It was precisely as He had
commanded and to show that He was pleased with it, His glorious
presence entered into the Tabernacle and He resided there with
them. From the tabernacle, He continued to give Moses right
instructions on how He expected them to live and the procedures on
how the sacrifices should be made and what He expected from the
priests. His words were not even cold (so to speak) when Aaron's
sons decided that they think that they have a better way of doing
things.
'Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu put
coals of fire in their incense burner and sprinkled incense over
it. In this way, they disobeyed the Lord by burning before Him a
different kind of fire than He had commanded.' Leviticus 10:1
Now my Bible explains that there
are two possible reasons why this was an act of disobedience. The
first one is that the fire of burnt offering was never to go out,
implying that it was holy and they possibly took coals of fire to
the altar from another source, making the sacrifice unholy. Or the
other reason could be that they gave an offering at an unprescribed
time. Whatever the reason might be, they didn't obey God and they
treated His instructions with disrespect. And that had grave
consequences:
'So fire blazed forth from the
Lord's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the
Lord.' Leviticus 10:2
The Lord doesn't treat it lightly
if we treat Him and His instructions with disrespect. And to top it
off, they were His leaders and were supposed to lead the people
to Him and not away from Him. And today is no
different. We need to treat and talk about God and to God with the
proper respect. I have heard people talking about God as if He is
their 'best buddy' and as if He is 'their next door neighbor' and
that He would do whatever they prayed for. I have heard people
viewing God as a grandfather figure who is okay with all that they
do wrong and who gives them a sweetie when no one is watching. I
have even heard of people giving God instructions.
We live in an age where the proper
respect is lacking in all areas of life and also in our Christian
walk. It is time that we put God back where He belongs. On the
Throne, from where He can rule our lives and be shown the proper
respect. We shouldn't take Him casually and in our stride like
Nadab and Abihu did, but we should look up to Him with adoration
and the proper reverence He deserves.
Please forgive us Father if we tend
to forget that You are the God of the Universe, mightier than all.
We love You and want to look up to You with admiration for Who You
are. You are amazing and the King of our lives. Amen