Treating God as Holy
Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, broke God's laws concerning offering fire with incense before Him in the tabernacle. God's reaction was swift. Fire came down and killed them on the spot. I am sure it was a great shock to Aaron and the rest of the people. However, Moses explained that the Lord had told them what was expected of the priests who came near to Him. (Leviticus 10:3) That explanation caused Aaron to keep silent, instead of complaining to God. We need to understand this principle.
God had explained to the priests that they were required to treat God as holy and to honor Him before all of the people. This is so important, because if the people closest to the Lord, who represent Him to others, do not treat Him as holy, the rest of the people will treat Him with even less honor. We treat God as holy when we obey Him fully, especially when He has given plain instructions about holy things and holy actions. If we depart from His will in any of those things, He will be very angry with us, like He was toward Nadab and Abihu.
Therefore, considering that all believers are priests now, we should be very careful with everything that the Lord says is holy, like the Sabbath and the tithe. We should be very reverent in all of our speech about Him and the things of the Lord, so that we never give others the wrong impression of God. However, the most important thing is that we never depart from His commands by doing what we think seems best. That is an insult to a holy God, and it is not treating Him as holy or honoring Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-14.
God had explained to the priests that they were required to treat God as holy and to honor Him before all of the people. This is so important, because if the people closest to the Lord, who represent Him to others, do not treat Him as holy, the rest of the people will treat Him with even less honor. We treat God as holy when we obey Him fully, especially when He has given plain instructions about holy things and holy actions. If we depart from His will in any of those things, He will be very angry with us, like He was toward Nadab and Abihu.
Therefore, considering that all believers are priests now, we should be very careful with everything that the Lord says is holy, like the Sabbath and the tithe. We should be very reverent in all of our speech about Him and the things of the Lord, so that we never give others the wrong impression of God. However, the most important thing is that we never depart from His commands by doing what we think seems best. That is an insult to a holy God, and it is not treating Him as holy or honoring Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-14.