This week’s Parashat Aaron and his sons make the 1st sacrifices and the Presence of the Lord falls on the Tabernacle. Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu get so excited they take strange fire before the Lord and are killed. Then we have Moses upset with Aaron and his 2 other sons for not eating the sacrifice. Then we move into the dietary law.

I would like to focus on Nadab and Abihu. This is not the 1st time we hear about these 2 men. The 1st time we hear about them is in Exodus 24:9. They were called up the mountain with Moses, Aaron, and the 70 elders. They were there when God had a covenant meal with the elders of the nation. They were on the mountain in the presence of the Lord for 7 days then Moses was called up higher on the mountain. They got closer to God then 99.9% of the nation, but it was not enough for them.

Now it is almost Passover the next year. The people have been in the wilderness for almost 1 year. Moses preformed the ceremony getting Aaron and his sons ready for the work of God. He made the sacrifices and sprinkles the blood. Now it is the eighth day and it is Aaron’s time to make sacrifices. After he makes the sacrifices the Glory of God comes down. The people are excite that God approved everything they created for Him. Two men were excited more than everyone else. Nadab and Abihu were so excited they got ahead of God. They took fire God did not ask for and went into the Holy of Holies and the Lord killed them. Only the High Priest could go in once a year. These 2 men knew this as Moses had already instructed them about this.

Nadab means volunteer, to present spontaneously, to offer freely, to give, to offer freely.

Abihu means Father, worshiper of Him

These two men did what there names mean. They were created to worship and offer praise voluntarily. They were created to freely give themselves to the Lord. They became a Holy sacrifice to the Lord. Their zeal was so great. They had such a desire for God that they tried to recreate the moment they were in the presence of the Lord on the mountain. They tried to go higher. In the end they gave their lives to be closer to God.

They brought strange fire into the Holy place. Churches and Christians still do this today. Thank God we have grace and God now sees us through His Son’s Blood. We bring things into church and allow things in church that God calls abominations. We allow things into our homes that dishonor God. We have all done it at some point in time. God is calling us higher. It is time we stop bringing strange fire and time we become holy.