God Must Be Holy and Glorified
God's punishment for some sins is much more severe than for others. It seems to me that He quickly and decisively punishes those believers who fail to lift Him up as being holy, and who fail to glorify Him.(Leviticus 10:3) The reason for this severity could be that when these types of sins occur it leads those who do not believe away from the Lord. It gives them reason to doubt Him.
Nadab and Abihu were the sons of Aaron, so they were priests in the tabernacle. They we killed by God on the spot when the offered fire in the tabernacle that was not according to God's directions. It could have been that they were drunk, because the Lord speaks about that later in the chapter. They did not think that disobeying God's instructions was important so they proceeded to do things their own way. This attitude treated God with disrespect, and it led people to not give Him all of the glory.
We, too, must be careful not to commit such sins. Think of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts. They lied to God and to the people. They were struck dead. The believers at Corinth who got drunk and did not wait for their fellow believers to have the Lord's supper were killed by the Lord.(I Corinthians 11) God does not take these things lightly, because He wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, we must not do anything that does not lift Him up as holy and glorify Him before others.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-15.
Nadab and Abihu were the sons of Aaron, so they were priests in the tabernacle. They we killed by God on the spot when the offered fire in the tabernacle that was not according to God's directions. It could have been that they were drunk, because the Lord speaks about that later in the chapter. They did not think that disobeying God's instructions was important so they proceeded to do things their own way. This attitude treated God with disrespect, and it led people to not give Him all of the glory.
We, too, must be careful not to commit such sins. Think of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts. They lied to God and to the people. They were struck dead. The believers at Corinth who got drunk and did not wait for their fellow believers to have the Lord's supper were killed by the Lord.(I Corinthians 11) God does not take these things lightly, because He wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, we must not do anything that does not lift Him up as holy and glorify Him before others.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-15.