Strange Fire

by J. Miller | Category: General | Jul 1961

Side by side in the Sacred Scriptures we have incidents of fire from before the LORD going forth, in the one case to consume sacrifices which were acceptable to Him, and in the other to devour men whose offering was not acceptable (Leviticus 9.24; 10.1, 2). In Leviticus 8 we have an account of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to be priests to minister in the priests' office on behalf of the children of Israel. And here, let me say, there is a fairly widespread erroneous notion that it was the will of God that all the sons of Israel should be priests to serve God at the altar and in the tabernacle as Aaron and his sons did, until the time that Israel committed idolatry in the matter of the golden calf, but this was never the mind of God at all. What happened after the worshipping of the golden calf was, that then the Levites were taken instead of the first-born sons of Israel. The Levites separated themselves unto Moses in the gate of the camp and from thence they returned into the camp to execute divine judgement on the idolaters. On that day the LORD bestowed upon them a blessing, even their Levitical service, which service was theirs during the history of the Israel nation and will yet be theirs during the millennium. The choice of Aaron and his sons to be priests was made prior to the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32), as we learn from Exodus

29.80.

As we have said, in Leviticus 8 we have the consecration of Aaron and his sons, and after seven days during which they departed not from the door of the tent of meeting while their days of consecration were being completed, on the eighth day certain sacrifices were offered, a bull calf as a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering were to be taken by Aaron and offered; the children of Israel were to take a he-goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, and a meal offering mingled with oil. All this was to be done in view of the fact that the LORD was going to appear to Israel that day. Thus they were all to be covered by the atonement effected by the offering of these sacrifices. This gives us some little idea of the holiness of God. At other times the people of Israel went about in the routine of their several employments, but on this day when the LORD was going to draw near and reveal His glory to them it was necessary that they be covered by the atonement effected by these atoning sacrifices. The sin offerings were to cover sin which had been committed, the burnt offerings were to be accepted for Aaron and the people of Israel, and in their acceptance they would be atoned for and accepted. The peace offerings were the sacrifices which reconciled men to God and to one another; they brought God's people together in peace and harmony, hence in unity on the ground of death. These offerings have their answer in the death of Christ. God was gracious both to Israel and to us to divide the offerings of Leviticus into burnt offerings, meal offerings, etc., to teach us both that which was effected, in the light of men's need, in the death of Christ. The few references we have to the matter of sacrifice in the book of Genesis are to offerings of the nature of burnt offering. (See Genesis 8.20, 21; 22.1-14).

When the sacrifices had been offered as the LORD commanded, Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting and came out and blessed the people,' and then we are told, that "the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people." Then "there came forth fire from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces " (Leviticus 9).

Here we have an evidence of the words of wisdom of Manoah's wife, the mother of Samson, to her husband, " If the LORD were pleased to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand" (Judges 13.28,). Manoah had just said to his wife, "We shall surely die, because we have seen God" (verse 22).

God had accepted the burnt offering and the fat on behalf of His people and they were thus covered by the atonement effected on their behalf and thus were saved from the devouring fire which consumed the sacrifices on the altar. Such is the safety of believers effected eternally by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The holy fire which consumed the sacrifice of Calvary will never consume us. But not only are we eternally saved by the sacrificial work of Christ, but we should remember that the God we serve is a consuming fire, even as He was at Sinai (Hebrews 12.28, 29), and here we need the sacrificial work of Christ as to our service. Even now the Lord as a Priest is making propitiation for the sins of God's people in the matter of their service. He is the propitiati6n for sinners in the, matter of salvation, as in Romans 3.25; He is the propitiation for the sins of the children of God in the matter of fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 2.1, 2), and He is making propitiation now as a Priest before God in the heavenly sanctuary on behalf of the people of God in the matter of service (Hebrews 2.17). Let us carefully divide the word of God and see the excellencies of the Lord in the matter of sacrifice and that we too may see somewhat of His glory.

In Leviticus 10 we have a very different scene from that of chapter 9, for here we have two of the sons of Aaron, who had just been consecrated as priests, slain by similar fire to that of Leviticus 9.24. The fire which consumed the burnt offering devoured Nadab and Abihu the priests. What had they done which brought upon themselves the severity of divine judgement? It says that they" took each of them his censer, and put fire, therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded." The word for strange in the Hebrew, Zawr, has various applications; it is used in the sense of, "to turn aside, to turn out of the way, to be a stranger in another person's house, to be an alien, to be profane or loathsome, to be a strange woman, a harlot," and so forth. I would judge that the fire was fire alien to the fire of the altar of burnt offering, and possibly it was strange incense, as referred to in Exodus 30.9. It may be too, from the reference to the evil of drunkenness in Leviticus 10.9, that Nadab and Abihu were intoxicated with wine. These things may all add up to what is briefly stated that each of these men did what God had not commanded to be done in offering strange fire. This is the vital matter. The priests had to be careful, and we too have to be careful, not to do what God has not commanded to be done. Where you have men going on with their own ideas or the ideas of others, however ancient these ideas may be, they are certainly preparing themselves for eternal fire, or, if they themselves are sheltered by the sacrifice of Calvary, their works, for the fiery trial of the judgement-seat of Christ. At that judgement seat there will be the consuming of all that has been done which the Lord has not commanded. See 1 Corinthians 3.5-17, especially verses 18-15. But those who go on in a ritual religion which has no foundation in the Scriptures, and they themselves are not sheltered by the blood of Christ, shed for sinners on the cross, are in tremendous peril. If their sins are not repented of they will meet in due time with the fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels, for on the devil's side and in the devil's work they have spent their lives.

Let the incident of Leviticus 10 have its due weight on all those who would draw near to God as we have instructions given to us in Hebrews 10.19-22. Let us also be careful that none sins the sin of self-will against the truth as we have it in Hebrews 10.26-81, for which sin there is no forgiveness and restoration. Here we are faced with the fierce fire of divine judgement, even in this the day of God's grace.

J. Miller | Jul 1961
General