CHAPTER 10

(1490 B.C.)

STRANGE FIRE

¹And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron (they were Priests), 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. (This was fire which came from something other than the Brazen Altar. As such, it was not a type of Christ and Him Crucified and, therefore, could not be recognized by God. It was the sin of Cain. They attempted to put the strange fire on the Altar of Incense, situated immediately in front of the Veil. All false doctrine falls into this same category and, thereby, presents a fearful spectacle.)

²And there went out fire from the LORD (from the Ark of the Covenant, which passed through the Veil without burning it), and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. (A short time earlier, fire had come out from this same place and consumed the Sacrifice on the Altar [9:24]. Inasmuch as the Cross of Christ was ignored here, that same fire came upon the sinner instead of the Sacrifice.)

³Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them who come near Me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. (The Lord is saying by this statement that if men place on His Altar the workings of their own corrupt will, what must be the result? Judgment!)

⁴And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the Sanctuary out of the camp.

⁵So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said. (It seems that the bolt of lightning which killed the both of them didnt even burn their coats. That they were the sons of Aaron did not stop the judgment, meaning that all must understand that it is the Cross or death.)

⁶And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons (the only two left to Aaron), Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest you die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled. (While normally it would have been proper for the people of Israel to have mourned the deaths of these Priests, the High Priest and his remaining sons must prove their submission to the Divine chastisement by crushing their individual feeling of sorrow. In fact, a murmur on their part would have brought Gods Wrath on themselves, and possibly even on Israel as a whole, whom they represented.)

⁷And you shall not go out from the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. (For the remaining Priests to have mourned would, in essence, have been saying that the Cross was of little significance; regrettably, thats what many modern Preachers are now saying.)

REGULATIONS

⁸And the LORD spoke unto Aaron, saying,

⁹Do not drink wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die: it shall be a Statute for ever throughout your generations (the Law given here by the Lord has led to the thought that Nadab and Abihu had acted under the excitement of intoxicating drink; in other words, they were drunk; so we have here in this Verse a prohibition forever against any type of strong drink):

¹⁰And that you may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean (without a proper understanding of the Cross, it is very difficult to properly discern the difference as demanded here [Gal. 2:20-21]);

¹¹And that you may teach the Children of Israel all the Statutes which the LORD has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (The Priests, which number would grow extensively very shortly, were to teach the people the Law of Moses. It is the same now with God-called Preachers [Eph. 4:11-12].)

¹²And Moses spoke unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons who were left, Take the Meat Offering that remains of the Offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the Altar: for it is most holy (the Meat Offering was the only Offering of the five Sacrifices which was an unbloody Sacrifice; in other words, even though it was referred to as a Meat Offering, in fact, it had no meat, as we think of such, but rather grain, which was ground into a fine flour; this Offering signified Christ in His Perfection and, as well, it signified thanksgiving to God for giving humanity such a Gift [Jn. 3:16]; it was to be eaten beside the Altar, typifying the Cross, which tells us that everything comes to us through the Cross):

¹³And you shall eat it in the Holy Place, because it is your due, and your sons due, of the Sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: for so I am commanded (this was a part of their duties, because it symbolized the partaking of Christ).

¹⁴And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall you eat in a clean place; you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they be your due, and your sons due, which are given out of the Sacrifices of Peace Offerings of the Children of Israel (the Peace Offerings were to be eaten by the family, thereby celebrating Peace which had been restored).

¹⁵The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the Offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a Wave Offering before the LORD; and it shall be yours, and your sons with you, by a Statute for ever; as the LORD has commanded (the heave-up signified that this God-man would come from Heaven; the heave-down signified that He would come down to this Earth; the Wave Offering signified Thanksgiving).

¹⁶And Moses diligently sought the goat of the Sin Offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying (Aaron and his two remaining sons should have eaten the goat of the Sin Offering, so making the sins of the people their own; but his personal grief unfitted him for bearing their sorrows; how different the True Aaron in John 16:22; He laid His Own immeasurable griefs aside and His loving Heart engaged itself with those of His Disciples),

¹⁷Wherefore have you not eaten the Sin Offering in the Holy Place, seeing it is most holy, and God has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make Atonement for them before the LORD? (Priests in the Sanctuary were not to bewail, but to worship they were not to weep, as in the presence of death, but to bow their anointed heads in the Presence of the Divine visitation.)

¹⁸Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the Holy Place: you should indeed have eaten it in the Holy Place, as I commanded. (When Moses began to inquire into this particular rite, he found that no blood had been brought into the Holy Place, and that the carcass of the Sin Offering had been mistakenly burned, when it should have been eaten. Moses was angry! He was concerned that if any part of the ritual was mishandled, misinterpreted, or ignored, the Judgment of God might now fall on the remaining Priests.)

¹⁹And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their Sin Offering and their Burnt Offering before the LORD; and such things have befallen me; and if I had eaten the Sin Offering today, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD? (Concerning this, Ellicott says, But while he, Eleazar, and Ithamar were thus duly performing the Sacrificial rites, Nadab and Abihu, the other two sons, transgressed, and were suddenly struck down dead, thus overwhelming the survivors with sorrow, and rendering them unfit to partake of the Sacrifices. Unfitted as they thus were by mourning and the sense of their own sinfulness, that if they had partaken of this solemn meal it would not have been acceptable to the Lord. They were right!)

²⁰And when Moses heard that, he was content. (Moses acknowledged Aarons plea to be just, and that he had himself spoken hastily. Hence, Jewish tradition ascribed the mistake to Moses, not to Aaron. Jewish tradition further says, when Moses heard it, he approved of the explanation. Whereupon he sent a herald through the whole camp of Israel, saying, It is I from whom the Law had been hid, and my brother Aaron brought it to my remembrance.)