- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Oct 27, 2018 14:50:45 GMT -8
Leviticus 10:1-3 (NASB) Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying,
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
That sounds pretty harsh to kill two young priests just because they added a little incense to their fire pans.
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־אַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִיךָ֒ וְאַל־יָבֹ֤א בְכָל־עֵת֙ אֶל־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ מִבֵּ֖ית לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת אֶל־פְּנֵ֨י הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶת אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַל־הָאָרֹן֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמ֔וּת כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל־הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃
Leviticus 16:1-2 (NASB) Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy [propitiatory] seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy [propitiatory] seat.
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אַחֲרֵ֣י מ֔וֹת שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן v’yidaber Adonai al’Moshe, achare mot, shne benei Aharon, the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron.
They have just finished building the Mishkan, known in Christian circles as the Tabernacle in the Wilderness; a difficult, demanding and exacting task. It was now time for the priests to come close to God. This is what sacrifice is in Jewish thought, something that brings us closer to the Almighty. We have to put away our western ideas of a sacrifice being giving up something we cherish if we are to understand the biblical sacrificial system.
בְּקָרְבָתָ֥ם bekarbatom, as they sacrificed; l’phanei Adonai, before HaShem; וַיָּמֻֽתוּ va’yamutu, and they died.
Sounds like kind of the hard way to get closer to HaShem right there.
The key to this incident is in 10:3 “‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’”
Recall that Israel mourned for the two brothers, however Aharon and his family were forbidden to mourn. This was because of the holiness, the set apartness of the priesthood.
Leviticus 18:1-3 (NASB) Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done [according to the deed of] in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done [according to the deed of] in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.
אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם Ani YHVH Elohechem, I am HaShem your God. This phrase, repeated throughout scripture uses the most holy name of God- the Tetragramaton- I Am Who I Am, I will Be Who I Will Be, The Self Existing One. It is used whenever the Lord is calling the Israelites (and us) to a specific behavior. The call to holiness is based on who God is. Not on הארץ ha’eretz (the land, Israel)- they have no land yet. Not on where they came from, אֶֽרֶץ־מִצְרַ֛יִם eretz mitzrayim (the land of Egypt) as they were no longer there, or where they were going, אֶֽרֶץ־כְּנַ֡עַן eretz chanan (the land of Canaan). It is not based on who they are either. They are barely a people, and would not be a nation until the conquest of Canaan is completed. It is based entirely on who God is. The One who leads them is also the one who instructs them.
Too many of us think that because God is leading us everything will be easy. When the difficulties come we give up, saying “God wasn’t in it after all.” But this is not how it usually works. God brought the Hebrews from a place where evil was done in the name of their gods, taking them to another place where evil was practiced for their gods sake. They would have to take the land by force, then resist the ways of the people of that land for centuries.
There is a popular saying with pastors, “It didn’t take long to get the Israelites out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites.” Cute, but I disagree. It has taken, and still is taking all of biblical history to remove paganism from them and us! And it is an ongoing process. It’s what it means in Revelation, the letters to the congregations, when it says over and over “To he who overcomes …”
In paganism, especially in the near-east, when you came to a new land you followed the gods of that land. Often in practice the old gods ways were mixed with those of the new gods. But the God of Israel does not share His glory with any other gods, so they must resist mixing the ways of the gods of either Egypt or Canaan with what their God tells them to do.
“AND BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE I WILL BE HONORED!”
Nadab and Abihu had mixed a pagan custom, adding incense to their fire pans, instead of following God’s specific instructions on how He was to be worshiped. They brought strange fire before the Lord, dishonoring Him by simultaneously honoring a pagan god. They probably did not intend this. My guess is they thought they were doing some extra honor to their God by adding incense as the Egyptians used to do. But their intentions aside, they paid the ultimate price for dishonoring their God with the practices of the old gods of Egypt.
Fast forward @3500 years, and look at how you worship El Elohe Yisroel, the Lord God of Israel. That is who you worship, right? But do you do it as He says? Do you keep His commanded holidays, or do you keep those not even found in scripture? Do you keep Shabbat, or do you worship on the day of the Sun? Have you brought strange fire unto the Lord? Just something to think about.
Dan C
‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy,
And before all the people I will be honored.’”
So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
That sounds pretty harsh to kill two young priests just because they added a little incense to their fire pans.
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־אַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִיךָ֒ וְאַל־יָבֹ֤א בְכָל־עֵת֙ אֶל־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ מִבֵּ֖ית לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת אֶל־פְּנֵ֨י הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶת אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַל־הָאָרֹן֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמ֔וּת כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל־הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃
Leviticus 16:1-2 (NASB) Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died. The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the mercy [propitiatory] seat which is on the ark, or he will die; for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy [propitiatory] seat.
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אַחֲרֵ֣י מ֔וֹת שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן v’yidaber Adonai al’Moshe, achare mot, shne benei Aharon, the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron.
They have just finished building the Mishkan, known in Christian circles as the Tabernacle in the Wilderness; a difficult, demanding and exacting task. It was now time for the priests to come close to God. This is what sacrifice is in Jewish thought, something that brings us closer to the Almighty. We have to put away our western ideas of a sacrifice being giving up something we cherish if we are to understand the biblical sacrificial system.
בְּקָרְבָתָ֥ם bekarbatom, as they sacrificed; l’phanei Adonai, before HaShem; וַיָּמֻֽתוּ va’yamutu, and they died.
Sounds like kind of the hard way to get closer to HaShem right there.
The key to this incident is in 10:3 “‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’”
Recall that Israel mourned for the two brothers, however Aharon and his family were forbidden to mourn. This was because of the holiness, the set apartness of the priesthood.
Leviticus 18:1-3 (NASB) Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. You shall not do what is done [according to the deed of] in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done [according to the deed of] in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.
אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם Ani YHVH Elohechem, I am HaShem your God. This phrase, repeated throughout scripture uses the most holy name of God- the Tetragramaton- I Am Who I Am, I will Be Who I Will Be, The Self Existing One. It is used whenever the Lord is calling the Israelites (and us) to a specific behavior. The call to holiness is based on who God is. Not on הארץ ha’eretz (the land, Israel)- they have no land yet. Not on where they came from, אֶֽרֶץ־מִצְרַ֛יִם eretz mitzrayim (the land of Egypt) as they were no longer there, or where they were going, אֶֽרֶץ־כְּנַ֡עַן eretz chanan (the land of Canaan). It is not based on who they are either. They are barely a people, and would not be a nation until the conquest of Canaan is completed. It is based entirely on who God is. The One who leads them is also the one who instructs them.
Too many of us think that because God is leading us everything will be easy. When the difficulties come we give up, saying “God wasn’t in it after all.” But this is not how it usually works. God brought the Hebrews from a place where evil was done in the name of their gods, taking them to another place where evil was practiced for their gods sake. They would have to take the land by force, then resist the ways of the people of that land for centuries.
There is a popular saying with pastors, “It didn’t take long to get the Israelites out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites.” Cute, but I disagree. It has taken, and still is taking all of biblical history to remove paganism from them and us! And it is an ongoing process. It’s what it means in Revelation, the letters to the congregations, when it says over and over “To he who overcomes …”
In paganism, especially in the near-east, when you came to a new land you followed the gods of that land. Often in practice the old gods ways were mixed with those of the new gods. But the God of Israel does not share His glory with any other gods, so they must resist mixing the ways of the gods of either Egypt or Canaan with what their God tells them to do.
“AND BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE I WILL BE HONORED!”
Nadab and Abihu had mixed a pagan custom, adding incense to their fire pans, instead of following God’s specific instructions on how He was to be worshiped. They brought strange fire before the Lord, dishonoring Him by simultaneously honoring a pagan god. They probably did not intend this. My guess is they thought they were doing some extra honor to their God by adding incense as the Egyptians used to do. But their intentions aside, they paid the ultimate price for dishonoring their God with the practices of the old gods of Egypt.
Fast forward @3500 years, and look at how you worship El Elohe Yisroel, the Lord God of Israel. That is who you worship, right? But do you do it as He says? Do you keep His commanded holidays, or do you keep those not even found in scripture? Do you keep Shabbat, or do you worship on the day of the Sun? Have you brought strange fire unto the Lord? Just something to think about.
Dan C
