A Display of Holiness and Glory
There are times when God acts swiftly and decisively to show His holiness and to display His glory. Some of these times are wonderful and some are tragic. The display depends on whether God is pleased with the people or angry with them for their sin. Either way, God makes these displays so we will never forget that He is holy and all powerful. We read about a lot of these times in the Bible. I am convinced that He is still making these displays today, as well.
Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu were priests in the Tabernacle. They knew God's commands, but they offered the wrong kind of fire. When God saw that, fire blazed forth from His presence and burned them up, so they died. (Leviticus 10:3) Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord meant when He said, I will display My holiness through those who come near me. I will display My glory before all the people." And Aaron was silent. There is nothing we can say against the Lord when He makes these displays of holiness and glory.
In the Bible we see other people who were burned up by the fire of the Lord for their sin. One time was when God consumed Korah because he led a major rebellion against Moses. The people saw the fire, and they realized God had struck him. This showed them the justice of God in a radical way, so they would respect God's holiness. Then, in the Book of Acts God struck Ananias and his wife Saphira for lying to the Holy Spirit. That was a display to keep the church from departing from God. In Corinth God caused members of the church to die for not keeping the Lord's Supper in the right way. He showed His holiness and glory by removing them.
In my life I have seen times when I believe God reached down and took individual believers because they were causing disunity in the church. They were hurting the work of God, and God acted to preserve His church. He was showing His holy justice, and He was showing His glory. We need to be aware of God, so we do not break His commands in such a way that we would harm His work. He is love, but He will act in holiness against sin when He deems it necessary.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Leviticus 12-16.