Forgetfulness can be dangerous.
Imagine that you are passing a tall building when suddenly a body comes crashing downward and smashes into the ground. Rushing to the broken form you ask what happened.
The reply: “I stepped out the window and fell through the air.”
“Have you never heard of the law of gravity?”
“Yes, at one time I studied into that, but I forgot!” he gasps in final agony.
Friends, never let a great truth slip from your mind.
Our text tells the remarkable story of the death of Nadab and Abihu. They forgot a great truth and it cost their lives.
They forgot the holiness of God. Sooner forget the law of gravity than lose sight of that!
Nadab and Abihu were priests of Israel, sons of the high priest Aaron. They had rashly gone into the presence of God with an offering of incense, forgetting Exodus 30:9. A flash of fire from God consumed them on the spot.
Now, as we take up our text, Leviticus 10, our imagination can almost see the hushed crowd as the two charred bodies are carried unceremoniously out of the camp.
This underscores the majestic truth of the holiness of God. God stands apart in absolute purity, righteousness. Sin may not touch God at all, ever. However, we humans are sinners and as such always tend toward sin. Thus, it is imperative that we keep ever in mind the need to honor God and recognize His holiness. To forget this is native to us. Allow me to suggest from our text three occasions when we must make deliberate effort to recognize and remember God’s holiness.
I. WHEN YOU APPROACH GOD
The sons of Aaron had this privilege of coming near to God. So do we. See James 4:8. There is grave danger in getting very familiar with the holy things of God. “Among those who approach me I will be proved holy,” God reminds us in our text, verse 3.
Let everyone notice that Nadab and Abihu did not intend to defame God. The preceding chapter indicates that all this took place at a time of great religious excitement. Aaron and his sons had just been consecrated to their sacred office as God’s priests. Now, in the excitement, or as some think from 10:9 — under the influence of wine — they took their long-handled fire pans and went perhaps even into the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle. See 16:1, 2. At any rate, they were utterly out of order and disregarding the rules God had laid down to emphasize His holiness.
Instantly, the lightening-like flame of judgment fell upon them.
What a warning to us all when we read Exodus 24:9, 10 and realize that these very men were allowed to visit with God in wondrous, close-up fellowship on Mount Sinai. It is clear then that past blessings and spiritual privileges do not remove our need for careful respect for God. Rather, it becomes more urgent.
Indeed, there are certain chastisements from God which fall only on those who are true believers and yet sin. (See I Corinthians 11:32; I Peter 4:17.) It is because we do belong to the Lord that He works in us to gain a regard for His holiness.
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,” I Peter 1:15. But God does invite us to come boldly, Hebrews 4:16, unto Him. If our life and attitude are right, we truly can be at home with the Holy One!
II. WHEN YOU ARE WITH OTHERS
This is significant because we are ever with our fellows. God wants you to keep in mind that He is holy when you are there with them. “in the sight of all the people I will be honored,” God proclaims, Leviticus 10:3. How awful to hide God’s light under the bushel of our sin!
See! Here come Mishael and Elzaphan, the two men appointed to carry out the bodies of the slain. There is Nadab and here the remains of Abihu. See them come feet first, still in their priestly dress, verse 5. What a shameful testimony before the crowds! How they misrepresent the God who cries, “in the sight of all the people I will be honored!”
Next, Aaron the father and his remaining two sons are ordered not to join in outward mourning, verses 6, 7. This is a critical moment and they are required to take God’s side in the issue. They are to say by their actions “Amen” to God’s holy judgment, “because the Lord’s anointing oil” is upon His priests.
Do you, friend, honor God before men? The ones you travel with? If you are a Christian, the oil (Holy Spirit) is upon you.
III. WHEN YOU ARE MAKING PRACTICAL DECISIONS
No one remembers God’s holiness without living it out in everyday life. Thus, God’s warnings for the future include: “so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,” verse 10. If ever an age needed to hear these words, it is ours.
It is interesting to notice that God brings up the subject of strong drink here. Perhaps it was in a state of drunkenness that Nadab and Abihu transgressed. Let it be said then that anything that erases or makes dull the line between the holy and unholy is evil. Anything that stirs up passions of lust, anger, envy — making it easy to act rashly — has to be called sin.
Even if it was religious excitement that lifted the two priests in a dangerous, false exhilaration, it was still sin. Whenever the devil has his way, evil, rather than steady devotion, will come from stirred religious feelings.
It is very important that each day’s living sanctify and honor God. Do we show in each situation, each decision that there is a definite difference between the clean and the unclean? In our associations and behavior at coffee break and the noon hour? The selection of evening entertainment? “Distinguish between!” cried God, verse 10.
Now is the time to pray God to forgive the sin of carelessness in our handling of His holy name. Seek new assistance from the Holy Spirit in daily remembering and showing that God is holy.