Coming Near the Lord

Under the Old Covenant the priests had an awesome responsibility. They were to approach the Lord for the people to make sacrifices which would atone for their sins and  for other reasons to keep them right with the Lord. They were God's representatives. They were the intercessors. Therefore, they had to make sure they were clean, and they did everything just the way the Lord had commanded. Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, failed to do this, so God consumed them with fire. Moses quickly intervened to remind Aaron that this was according to what God had told them. (Leviticus 10:3) God required those who came near Him to treat Him as holy, and He was to be honored before all of the people. Once Moses reminded Aaron of this, he was silent and did not protest the death of his sons. This solemn moment should be instructive for all believers today.

Please, remember that all believers are priests before God in the New Covenant. Therefore, when we draw near to the Lord, He must be treated as holy. He is our Lord. He is the Sovereign God over all of His Creation. We must never act in any way that would make others think He is not totally holy. If we do, we will not be able to come near to Him, and we might be punished for our words or actions. Also, for those who stand before others or act as leaders of God's people or the church, we must honor the Lord in all we do. The worst thing we can do is to break His commands. This dishonors Him and keeps people from coming to know the Lord. There is no arguing these points. God is very clear how He will be approached and viewed in the eyes of others, if we want to be in His presence and represent Him before others. I pray we will all take these things very seriously.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 11-13.