LEviticus 8-10

Introduction

Years ago a friend of mine Bob went to the races at Royal Ascott in England. Queen Elizabeth was even going to be there. To be in the presence of the queen Bob had to meet the protocols and perform the right rituals. He had to dress in the right attire, a suit that met the requirements. He was to arrive before the queen he was to stand up and take his hat off when she arrived and leave only after she had left. There was a long list of do’s and don’ts. He had to sign a “contract” about obeying the protocols. He even had to pass a security screening involving background checks. As well as that he had to go through a security screening on the day.

All of this and he wasn’t even going to be in the same grandstand as the Queen.

Even heads of state who meet the queen must meet the requirements in approaching her. Some of you may recall the horror of Paul Keating putting his arm around the Queen while at a formal gathering. Newspapers branded him the Lizard of OZ. A severe breach of Royal protocol! He broke the rules, no doubt there was a sever reprimand involved too.

WE have rituals and protocols in our daily lives too, somethings are changing but it used to be ladies before Gentlemen. Saying please and thank you, taking your hat off inside. Now we also have the protocol of using hand sanitiser everywhere we go. Protocols help guide us. They help us know the right ways to behave in certain situations, sometimes to be polite or save embarrassment or worse….

For Nadab and Abihu they broke the protocols in approaching a Holy God and there was a severe consequence for not following the ritual set out.

The Story of Nadab and Abiu may cause you to ask some questions

How can God be so harsh? Isn’t he supposed to me merciful? [1]

What did they do that was wrong?

Or even it happened so long ago is it even relevant to me. some of you may be thinking that Jesus has dealt with the Old Testament

CONTEXT

lets put this passage into its place in Israels History.

God has rescued them, The plagues in Egypt and crossing the Red Sea are recent events. Leviticus happens during the time of the Exodus when the people of Israel are at Mount Sinai.

There is a beautiful phrase that recurs throughout the Old testament that came from this time

Exodus 6:7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. [2] often shortened to I am the LORD your God

He is their God, and they are His people, there is a deep love God has for them. This is not some nasty controlling God.

At the end of Exodus there are 15 chapters on building the Tabernacle. The place where would once more live among his people.

Leviticus is often seen as a book of strange rules and outdated rituals and sacrifices. It is however a book essential for Israel, It answers a problem. At the beginning of Leviticus not even Moses can enter the tent of meeting. Israel could not be close to God. it was telling them how to live with a Holy God in their dwelling among them and how they could approach a Holy God. It’s the same problem for us how do we approach a holy God?

Leviticus begins with a explaining a series of sacrifices. Which are then used in Chapters 8-10 in the commencement of the Priestly ministry. All Israel gathered to see Aaron and his sons set apart to become priests.

For their ordination there was a sin offering of a bull a burnt offering and a wave offering from a ram and an ordination offering of another ram. Some of the blood from the sacrifices was put on earlobes thumbs and toes some sprinkled on that alter or on the robes of Aaron and his some and the flesh burned up or eaten, carefully following the protocols set out. They had been warned failure to follow the protocols the rituals and sacrifices will result in death.

This was followed by the Commencement of Aaron and his son’s ministry to the people of Israel. More sacrifices more blood some shed for Aaron and some for Israel. The meat placed upon the Alter. All of these sacrifices making atonement for Aaron his sons and eventually Israel. At the close of Chapter 9 Moses and Aaron bless the people and enter the tent of meeting. They followed the rituals and protocols and were able to enter God’s presence. Even more amazing they survived. When they came out of the tabernacle the presence of the LORD was seen by the people, who were again blessed by Moses and Aaron. Fire also came out from the LORD burning up the offering. And all the people shouted for Joy!

Then like many great moments sin the Old Testament there is the tragedy[3].

Nadab and Abihu bring the censers with incense and fire and offered it up before the LORD. But there was something wrong, their actions were contrary to God’s command. Fire came out from the Lord and killed Nadab and Abihu. The same fire that came from the LORD consuming the burnt offering bringing shouts of joy comes out again bringing death. The joy experienced just a few verses earlier at the end of chapter 9 abruptly ends.

We are told at the end of V3 That their father Aaron remained silent.

The bodies are quickly carried away by Aaron’s nephews taken outside the camp. Dead bodies were seen as unclean and unclean things could not remain in the tabernacle.

Aaron and his remaining sons maintain obedience to God. They put him before their own family. They receive further instructions through Moses. They are warned that they must not drink while on duty, so they can be clear headed not mixing the clean with the unclean that which is Holy, set apart with that which is common. So they can teach the people the decrees of the LORD.

At the end of Chapter 10 there is another problem. Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar were supposed to eat the remain of the sin offering but instead they did the wrong think they got the protocols wrong and burnt it.

Aaron explains that it’s been a big day and confusing they had seen Nadab and Abiu struck down and they got a bit mixed up with which offering was which. There was a simple mistake, one that breached the protocols but accidentally and they were forgiven.

So this brings us to our first question

How can God be so harsh? Isn’t he supposed to me merciful?

I want to ask you a question if you are speaking to someone and warn them about a dangerous live electrical wire over the other side of the fence. If you let them know it’s dangerous and could kill them. What do you say when they jump the fence and touch the wire?.... You did warn them didn’t you? You told them what the danger was and the consequences.

I know that asking how God is so harsh and shouldn’t he be merciful are the questions that people would naturally ask but I want to say that it’s the wrong questions to ask.

This is the God who rescued them from slavery in Egypt. The same God who forgave them for worshiping the idol of the Golden calf. This is the God who is giving them a way to be in his Holy presence.

God is merciful and loving he gave fair warning to the people and Nadab and Abihu ignored the warnings and tried to approach God in their own way. I want to say that the question we should ask is what did they do that was so wrong?

Which is our second question What did they do that was wrong?

For the most part everyone agrees[4]that Nadab and Abihu have done something wrong. But What did they do that was wrong? Trying to pin down exactly what they did wrong is a little unclear. We read that they brought forward unauthorised fire, but we don’t know why it was unauthorised. Rabbis around Jesus time had a list of 12 possible alternatives, including they got the fire from the wrong place or perhaps they were drunk or maybe even the wrong incense. But Moses intentionally remains vague, Nadab and Abihu approached God in an unworthy manner. Even the Israelites gathered around the tabernacle at the time probably didn’t know exactly what these two sons of Aaron did that was so wrong.

Whatever it is we can be certain that their breach of protocols was deliberate, not accidental. We do see that mistakes are forgiven. Like the mistakes by the remaining sons that same day are overlooked.

Nadab and Abihu approached a holy God in an unworthy manner and suffered the consequences. God had previously given them protocols so that They Would not Die. God told them the safe way to approach him. Nadab and Abihu ignored this. They thought they could approach God on their terms, and suffered the consequences.

Then in V3 God’s Speaks through Moses

“ ‘Among those who approach me

I will be proved holy;

in the sight of all the people

I will be honored.’

Nadab and Abihu tried to approach God in a manner that was not Holy and not honouring but nobody is sure exactly what that was. The warning to Isarael is to be obedient to the rituals and protocols that The Loving God has Given you he is a Holy God and must be treated as such. What did Nadab and Abihu do wrong, they didn’t respect God and approach him following the rituals and protocols that had been set out for their own safety

Which Brings us to the third question Can these Old Testament rituals still be relevant they happened so long? [5]And Didn’t Jesus deal with them anyway?

If you think that this is Old Testament and Jesus has done away with all of this. In part I would agree with you, no longer do we meet at the tabernacle and have priests offer sacrifices for us.

Hebrews 7 tells us

That Jesus is just better than the Priests and the rituals in the Old Testament

27 [JESUS] Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

28 For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. [6]

Jesus meets and fulfils all the requirements of the Law he becomes the perfect priest and Perfect sacrifice. Rather than abolishing the law he as perfectly completed the requirements.

There are still requirements about how we approach God, we cannot approach God as we please. Lots of people have a lot of different ideas around how to do this, how to see God face to face.

IN Australia you will hear it often that death is how we get to see God. Entry into heaven automatically happened when someone dies. If you saw any of the Shane Warne Funeral, people talked about him being in heaven. I’m not too sure where he is But I never heard anything about him having faith in Jesus. You will hear people talk about relatives in heaven, they died that’s where they go, no faith in Jesus required. Johns Gospel tells us this Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. [7]

Or that you get to God by being a good person like the idea that dying gets you to heaven. Just how good is good enough to get to heaven? Well if you are relaying on the being good clause to get into heaven you must be perfectly good, never do anything wrong. Not a moment of anger or a single small lie, perfect obedience to God’s law. Jesus Said that unless your righteousness or goodness surpasses that of the strictest law keepers the Pharisees you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.[8]

Other people will tell us that you can get to God through other religions. But Jesus tells us that he is the Way the Truth and the Life no one comes to the father but through him. [9]There is only one way to God Through the right sacrifice through believing and trusting in Jesus.

I want to make it clear Leviticus is still relevant for us. The question back then is how can the Israelites approach a holy God… that’s the question we must ask ourselves too.

If you are not a Christian yet then consider what has been said this morning to approach a Holy God you need to follow the right protocols. Just like my friend Bob having to go through all those protocols and rituals to get into A Day at The Races with Queen. You cannot meet the required protocols yourself, you need someone to get you through them. That someone is Jesus the perfect Priest and perfect sacrifice.

For those of us who are Christians this verse today is a warning for us. We have heard the truth we know the only way we can approach a Holy God is through Jesus. Don’t start to think that you can do this yourself. Don’t think that you are good enough to approach God on your own. God has rescued you. From Before Time began he chose you and adopted you he has brought you to himself through Jesus and his blood shed upon the cross. Keep going the way you began

[1] Change the thinking it should be more like how can we possibly approach a holy God [2] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ex 6:7–16:12. [3] Just after creation there was the rebellion by Adam and Eve quickly followed by another Cain killing Abel Just after God rescued Noah and his family from the flood there is the sin of Ham. Moses was given the 10 commandments only to be confronted with Israel worshiping a Golden calf The tragedy here is our reading the morning Nadab and Abihi. [4] Philo thought that God was pleased with them and their offering / initiative and that their being burnt up is a way of God showing his approval (like burning the offering in Ch9) [5] When we try to work out if or how this passage is relevant in the New Testament, we could jump to look at the reactions of Aaron and the surviving sons and say that the New Testament tells us to be obedient towards Jesus even before our family.[5] Matthew 29:29 Or follow the instruction not to drink too much wine.[5] Ephesians 5:18But that’s not what these verses in Leviticus are trying to teach us. [6] Heb 7:24–28. [7] John 3:36 [8] Matthew 5:20 [9] John 14:6