Strange Worship
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning.
This morning I want to begin with a funny story that I think I’ve shared with you a time or two, but it plays into our sermon topic this morning pretty well.
(Tell story about “strangers, REAL strange.”)
Anyways! This morning we are not going to talk about “strangers, real strange,” but we ARE going to talk about the topic “Strange Worship.”
Turn with me if you will to Leviticus chapter 10.
Let’s begin reading this chapter, and then I want to say a few things about what happens here and a few other places in the Bible where people are immediately struck dead.
And then we will make some application at the end!
Leviticus 10:
Leviticus 10:
Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.
So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Let me just pause right here and say this — Aaron’s sons here were in direct violation of Exo. 30:9 which says:
You shall not offer strange incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering; nor shall you pour a drink offering on it.
Was this serious business? Absolutely it was!
And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’ ” So Aaron held his peace.
Pay close attention to that last part - “Aaron held his peace!”
“But God, don’t you know, these were my BOYS!”
Doesn’t matter - They directly violated God’s express instructions!
So Aaron doesn’t say that — He holds his peace!
Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.”
So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled.
You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
(In other words, this worship of our almighty and holy God was SO serious, that God tells Aaron and his other two sons - You don’t get to mourn the death’s of Nadab and Abihu! YOU’VE GOT WORK TO DO in ministering to the sacrifices you’re in charge of!)
Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations,
that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”
a. Here we are clued into another big problem with Nadab and Abihu.
b. Not only were they presumptuous in altering the Lord’s commandment!
c. But the text seems to indicate that they did it because they were under the influence of alcohol!
d. … One of the Bible’s many reminders of the importance of SOBRIETY so that we “may distinguish between holy and unholy!”
Next, let’s look at …
Why People Are Immediately Struck Dead in the Scriptures?
Why People Are Immediately Struck Dead in the Scriptures?
This is an important question, because we know that the Bible does condone the death penalty in both Old and New Testaments (Gen.9:6; Romans 13).
That said, even though people are SOMETIMES immediately struck dead in the Bible, they aren’t ALWAYS.
For instance, take a look at the end of our main chapter for today.
And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: “Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy.
You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord; for so I have been commanded.
The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel.
The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the Lord has commanded.”
Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying,
“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord?
See! Its blood was not brought inside the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, as I commanded.”
And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?”
So when Moses heard that, he was content.
So what is going on?
Eleazar and Ithamar seem to have violated God’s instruction AGAIN — so why weren’t THEY immediately killed as well?
We know that God is not a respecter of persons; in other words, He doesn’t play favorites (Acts 10:34-35).
So why does He kill certain people immediately in the Scriptures, and not others?
I believe the reason has to be two-fold:
Severity of the crime,
And to make an example out of people, whereas to prevent repeat offenders!
Someone says, “I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s because the God of the O.T. is a harsh God of punishment, while the God of the N.T. is a God of grace and mercy!”
What are the problems with that logic?
First, we have the case of immediate death penalty and also NOT death penalty in the very same chapter of the O.T. here!
Also, grace and mercy DO appear in the O.T.! (Gen. 6:8 - Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord!)
(And the word “mercy” appears some 150 to 200 times in the O.T. (depending on variations of the word), comparatively LESS than the number of times it appears in the NEW TESTAMENT!)
So that’s not it!
Furthermore, people received the immediate death penalty in the NEW Testament as WELL as the Old!
Ananias and Sapphira (Acts chapter 5),
Herod Agrippa was struck down, eaten with worms because he did not give glory to God (Acts 12:23).
So why did God immediately strike down Nadab and Abihu, but not Eleazar and Ithamar?
That’s a tough question! I’m not sure.
It may be that Aaron was right in his explanation he gives Moses.
Or perhaps it is because differences in SEVERITY of the crime?
I don’t know that we can be perfectly sure here, but we DO know not every penalty in the Word of God is the death penalty.
And we do know that God is a Perfect Judge and always makes the right call!
Application:
Application:
So back to the original line of thought for this sermon from Leviticus 10:1-2 — Is interfering with God’s instructions for worship serious?
Yes.
DEAD serious, right?!
So the application is simply this:
In the Lord’s Church, we worship God in accordance with the instructions of the New Testament:
Praying,
Singing (without instrumental accompaniment),
Partaking of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week,
Preaching (or listening to the preaching),
And giving.
We can give book, chapter, and verse for each one of those things.
Praying - Acts 2:42; 1 Thes. 5:17; 1 Tim. 2:8; etc.
Singing - Col. 3:16; Eph. 5:19; Heb. 13:15.
The Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; Acts 2:42; Luke chapter 22; 1 Cor. chapter 11).
Preaching (Acts 2:42; Acts 20:7; 2 Tim. 4:2).
Giving on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 2 Corinthians chapters 8-9).
Anything else added to that is an INNOVATION, an ADDITION.
The reminder not to add to (or take away) from God’s instructions are found throughout the Bible):
You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
So adding to God’s instructions for worship is prohibited (that’s called innovation).
And taking away from God’s instructions is also prohibited (we might call that deletion or omission).
Both are grave errors, and is God serious about how He is to be worshipped?
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Yes, He’s DEAD serious about it!
I hope this lesson will help us carefully heed precisely what God has asked us to do in worship to Him.
