10. Nadab and Abihu

Lesson ten will present the tragic events surrounding the death of Nadab and Abihu, the oldest two sons of Aaron, the High Priest. They committed several grievous sins that more than justified God’s severe judgment against them that day. The event is recorded in Leviticus 10:1-20, and mention is made of it again in Numbers 3:4-5. It involves considerable historical background that needs to be studied in order to understand the total context. Let us look at the background just for a moment.

Historical Background to the Day
The Day of Leviticus 10 Was No Ordinary Day In Hebrew History

The circumstances relating to the events of that day make it a very special day. The day of Leviticus 10 was no ordinary day in Hebrew history. Chronologically it ties in with Exodus 40:34-38. There had been extensive preparation of the materials that went into the building of the Tabernacle. On that day all of the materials had been accumulated, and the Tabernacle had been erected and had been inspected by Moses. He had received detailed instructions on the pattern of the Tabernacle when he was on the mountain receiving the Law. God had warned him that everything had to be built according to the pattern given. When the Tabernacle was finished, inspected, and approved by Moses as fitting the pattern, it was ready for inauguration into use.

Suddenly, there came a cloud from heaven that descended upon the Tabernacle (cf Exodus 40:34). That indicated that God had taken up His symbolic residence in the presence of Israel. That was the specific moment in Leviticus 10 that ties in to the events of this particular day. It was inauguration day. It was the day that Moses would inaugurate the use of the Tabernacle as the place where atonement and worship sacrifices were to be conducted.

Inauguration Day for Hebrew Worship

The priests, Aaronic and Levitical, had just been ordained, and they were ready to begin their functions. The sacrifices had been explained, and the whole series of offerings had been prepared. They were ready for the celebrations of that day. The whole nation was present for the inauguration of the Tabernacle, the priest and the sacrifices.

Aaron and his sons were dressed in the garments that had been specifically prepared for them. According to Exodus 28:2-3, the “. . . sacred garments . . . to give him dignity and honor” had been prepared by men and women especially endowed by God with the skills to make their special clothing for the consecration ceremonies.

They were to function as representatives of heaven to earth. Therefore, their garments reflected their sacred roles. Moses was ready to finish the ceremonies of consecration of Aaron and his sons into their priestly office.

Aaron and Sons Consecrated

Officially installing Aaron and his sons into their priestly office required considerable ceremony. The first part of the ceremonial, described in Leviticus 8 and 9, found Moses pouring the oils of consecration on the head of Aaron and on his sons. The anointing oils were also placed on their right ear lobes, then on the thumbs of their right hands and finally on the big toes of their right feet. The purpose of such apparent extensive use of the oils of consecration was to sanctify their head, ears, hands and feet. The head represented their thinking toward God, the ears to hear revelations of God, the hands to serve before God and the feet to walk in God’s holy presence.

The Sin Offering Slain

Then Moses prepared the ram of the sin offering for Aaron and his sons. He took the blood of the ram and did with the blood exactly what he had done with the oil. He placed it on the ear, the thumb, and the big toe of the right foot. The purpose was not to consecrate but to purify. Their entire bodies were cleansed of sin so as to qualify for service before Jehovah. Hebrews 7:27 affirms that the priests first had to offer atonement sacrifices for themselves and then for the people.

All of Israel Is Present and The Sacrifices and Celebration Begins

As mentioned, the whole congregation of Israel was assembled outside the courtyard of the Tabernacle. Aaron and his sons began offering the complete repertoire, the total series of Levitical sacrifices. They took the burnt offering and laid it on the altar in the courtyard of the Tabernacle. They offered the sacrifice of the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. They removed the fat from those animals and placed them in appropriate fashion on the altar.

God had symbolically taken up residence in the Tabernacle, more specifically in the Holy of Holies. The external signs of His presence were the pillar of fire by night and the column of smoke by day, both ascending into heaven. Those signs were always visible to all the tribes of Israel. Then immediately, tying in with the context of Exodus 40:36ff, fires came from the presence of God and consumed the sacrifices and fat that were on the altar of burnt offerings. This event is described in Leviticus 9:24: “And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.” That was the very moment that Nadab and Abihu began their ill-fated actions.

When God took up His residence in the Tabernacle, it was an evident sign that He accepted its structure as faithfully adhering to the pattern He had given Moses. When God Himself lit the fires of the altar, it was an evident sign that He had accepted the Aaronic priesthood and the sacrifices they offered. All the people fell facedown in evident reverence and praise for God’s presence with them.

Nadab and Abihu Offer Strange Fire
The Consequences of Ignoring God’s Commands

This was the specific moment in which Nadab and Abihu took their censers, placed fire in them, added the incense and then offered it “before Jehovah.” Just as the fires had come out from the presence of the Lord and had consumed the sacrifice of the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar, fire came from before Jehovah and consumed the two sons of Aaron. They died before the Lord.

The Fire Did Not Consume Their Clothing

The fires did not consume their clothing, for a little bit later their kinsmen came into the Tabernacle and carried them outside the camp, the text says, “. . . still in their tunics . . .” (Leviticus 10:5).

The Sin of Nadab and Abihu Was Not Trivial

The sins of Nadab and Abihu may appear to us to have been trivial, maybe a mistake in judgment. The actions of God may appear to have been harsh, arbitrary and even excessively heavy. Could He not have used a little bit of tolerance, shown a little more mercy on this day?

The Sins of Nadab and Abihu
That Was “Inauguration Day"

The sins of Nadab and Abihu were much more grievous than they appear on the surface. Their sins were many, and therefore God had to intervene. This was the day the Tabernacle, the priests and their sacrifices were all inaugurated. No abuse of the orders regulating those three aspects of Hebrew worship and atonement could be tolerated. No change in ceremonials could be allowed. No one could justify personalized and totally unauthorized revisions in God’s ordinances. If God had allowed such arbitrary innovations on that most significant day, then it would have been difficult for Him to govern the proceedings of the people from that generation forward.

A Day of Reverence and Awe

While the whole congregation was bowed in reverence before God, Nadab and Abihu, it appears, glibly, without any caution whatsoever, rushed into the Holy of Holies. They rushed into a place where angels fear to tread. There was a precedent in Exodus19:24 that should have taught proper respect for God. In that context, God was ready to appear on Mount Sinai to give the Law to Moses; He instructed Moses to put boundaries around the mountain and to charge the people that they not come up to the mountain. God told Moses, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the LORD and many of them perish. Even the priests, who approach the LORD, must consecrate themselves, or the LORD will break out against them” (Exodus 19:21-22).

God’s appearance on the mountain was not an occasion for curiosity nor for gawking at the presence of Jehovah. Exodus 19:12-13 even insists that if an animal were to touch the mountain he was to be stoned to death. The all Holy God was coming down into the presence of the children of Israel, a sinful nation. God instructed Moses to go down and tell the people not to come up. Moses replied, “We have already done that,” and God said, “Go and do it again.” He did not want any sinful man to walk brazenly into His presence for purposes of curiosity or for any giddy reason. It appears that such “forced” presence before God by Nadab and Abihu well defines the reasons God “broke out against them.”

The Unacceptable Offering

Let us look at some of the sins Nadab and Abihu committed. Not only were they unauthorized in their actions, but they also engaged in ceremonials “contrary to his command” (Leviticus 10:1), by offering “strange fire before the LORD,” (Leviticus 10:1, NASU) and that in a place where they should not have been. “Strange fire” was simply fire that was not authorized. That word “strange” comes from the Hebrew word zar, which is consistently used in their language to indicate anything that was unauthorized.

Normally, the fires that were to be placed in the censers for the offering of incense—a symbol of prayer—were to be taken from the altar of burnt offerings in the courtyard. Remember, those were the fires that Jehovah had lit. Those were the only fires that were to be used. Nadab and Abihu had obviously gotten fire from some other source. In Leviticus 16:12, it is clear that on the Day of Atonement Aaron was to take the fires from the altar of burnt offerings for the purpose of burning incense to God.

In Numbers16:46, during the uprising or the rebellion of Korah and his company, God opened the earth and swallowed them alive, and they went down to death because they had dared to rise up against Aaron, God’s anointed priest. There were a number of people who began to die around the Tabernacle. God instructed Moses on that occasion to separate himself from Korah lest he die. Moses commanded Aaron to take fires from the altar of burnt offerings with which to burn incense before Jehovah so that His wrath may be abated.

Exodus 30:9 insists that the altar of incense and the fires God demanded be respected. “Do not offer on this altar any other incense . . .” (zar or “strange incense,” in Hebrew). Exodus 30:33 is quite clear: “Whoever makes perfume (incense) like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.” No strange incense, no strange priest, and no strange fires were to be allowed by God. None of those had any part of God’s patterns contained in the Law of Moses. In Numbers 16:40, “. . . no one except a descendent of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD . . .” “No one” meant no authorized person.

God had lit those fires, and it was those fires that He intended as the source of the coals used for burning incense. Remember, from Leviticus 6:10, 11 and 13, that those were the fires that were never to go out.

“Before Jehovah” –
Evidently in the Holy of Holies!

Nadab and Abihu were wrong to offer incense with fires that God had not authorized. But that was just the beginning of their sins. They offered the incense in the wrong place. It is said: “. . . they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord . . .” “ . . . before the Lord . . .” is terminology that had already been used in the historical context of that day. Leviticus 9:24 used the same language to define the origin of the fires that consumed the sacrifices on the altar. Such language seems to imply that the words “before the Lord” refer to His residence in the Holy of Holies.

Nadab and Abihu must have walked into the Holy of Holies, the immediate, symbolic presence of God. Numbers 3:4 indicates that they had gone into the Holy of Holies and that they died “. . . before the Lord . . .” Leviticus 16:1-2 is very clear in its description of what Moses meant when he used the term “before the Lord.” The warnings given in chapter 16 seem to be based on the tragedy surrounding the case of Nadab and Abihu. “The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. The LORD said to Moses: ‘Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover of the ark, or else he will die . . .” His two sons had died for having done that very thing.

Wrong fire, wrong place, wrong priests—everything surrounding the actions of Nadab and Abihu was wrong! According to the arrangement of the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the normal place for offering incense was in the Holy Place. The only exception was on the Day of Atonement. However, the events of Leviticus 10 were not on the Day of Atonement. There was a veil of separation between the outer court and the Holy Place and another veil of separation between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Those veils were there to keep unauthorized personnel from drawing near to God—those veils were not to be ignored! The veils were not to be penetrated by anyone who had not been chosen and strictly informed by God about the services they were to render.

Both from Leviticus and Hebrews, it is clear that those veils of separation represented the sin problem. Until the sin had been removed at the cross of Calvary those veils stood to interdict the entrance of sinful man into the presence of the sinless God. When Christ paid the penalty for sin in His death, the veil of separation between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the Hebrew temple was rent in two by Christ. The rending of the veil at Jesus’ death signaled that He had fully solved the sin problem.

However, sin problem had not yet been solved in the days of Nadab and Abihu, and their actions seemed to completely ignore the reason for which God had designed those veils in the structure of the Tabernacle. There were two cherubim woven into the fabric of each curtain of the Tabernacle. They were the heavenly avengers of God, those who were the appointed guardians of God’s holiness. Cherubim were also placed at the east of Eden to prohibit Adam and Eve from re-entering the Garden of Eden after their fall and partaking of the Tree of Life, thus living forever in their rebellion to God (Genesis 3:24).

“Contrary to His Command"

The Hebrew version simply states that the two priests had offered incense “which God commanded them not.” Quite evidently God had given specific instruction about the rituals to be carried out on that day. There were no instructions related to the burning of incense by them. Nadab and Abihu ignored the instructions of God. They made up their own patterns and began to do as they wanted. Therefore, God intervened and punished their rash, presumptuous actions with death.

In religious matters, particularly those that relate to the worship of God, it is as abusive in the sight of God to act without command as it is to act against command. The most evident thing Nadab and Abihu could have concluded was that if God had wanted them to offer incense, He would have commanded that it be done. It is not easy to determine just where the prohibition of the Hebrew text of Leviticus 10:1 should be placed. The passage says: “which he commanded them not.” The absence of command may have related to the offering of incense in the first place. It may have related to the unauthorized fires that were not commanded, or it may have related to the two priests themselves who were not assigned to the functions of the incense, if such had been commanded on that day. There was an entire series of unauthorized activity by the two.

Quite evidently, God had given commands, and they had ignored them. God had not given other commands, and they made up their own programs. Both of those actions were presumptuous sins that could not be ignored on the part of God. Hebrews 9:1 affirms this, “Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary.” The word for “regulations” in Greek suggests that God’s Word carried the force of law, an ordinance relating to legal and judicial decisions. Such terminology simply affirms that it was God who established the norms and rituals of worship under the Old Testament system. From this episode in Leviticus 10, it is clear that He does not well countenance His servants trifling with His ordinances.

On the Day of Atonement the High Priest Alone Will Enter the Holy of Holies

On the Day of Atonement the High Priest alone entered into the Holy of Holies. In Leviticus 16:2, Moses instructed Aaron: “Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover (the mercy seat) on the ark, or else he will die . . .” The sins of Nadab and Abihu caused God to warn Aaron. He could not think that he could jump up and run into the Holy of Holies anytime he chose to. If he were to enter other than at the specified time, he would die, as in fact Nadab and Abihu did.

Leviticus 16:17 demanded: “No one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out . . .” God was to appear in the cloud on the mercy seat. That was the place that the Hebrews referred to as the “Shikenah Glory, ”the place of the glory of Divine presence. The warning quite obviously grew out of the death of Nadab and Abihu. Aaron was not to enter the Most Holy Place “. . . whenever he chooses . . .” (verse 2).

These restrictions were built into the strong redemptive typology that will later be understood in the book of Hebrews and amply explained. The functions of the High Priest alone on the Day of Atonement (described in Leviticus 16) were quite symbolic of the fact that Jesus Christ Himself will later accomplish the redemptive processes alone. Jesus did not have a twin or a brother like Nadab and Abihu to assist him in the redemptive accomplishment. He accomplished it by Himself. Tragically, Nadab and Abihu had gone into the Holy of Holies as a committee. Jesus did not have a committee to help Him when He accomplished the fulfillment of the typology that was inaugurated for the Day of Atonement. Not only was Jesus seen in the sacrifices of that day, but also in the ceremonial activity conducted by Aaron on that day.

Nadab and Abihu Were
Quite Possibly Drunk

There is another possible sin of Nadab and Abihu. They might have been drunk. In Leviticus 10:8-9, after they had been burned, Aaron is told by God: “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die.” There is strong indication that seems to explain why the two sons died. God did not want Aaron to commit the same sin that Nadab and Abihu had committed. Why would God interrupt the ceremonies of the day of inauguration just to give warnings about drinking wine—unless it had some relationship to the sins of Nadab and Abihu? There must have been some connection.

They Perhaps Drank
the “Drink Offering"

Then there was another fact that needs to be brought into the picture. In Leviticus 10:10, God said to Aaron: “You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean.” The “holy” belonged to God; the “common” could be used for common purposes. When the Hebrews brought their nasik (the drink offerings of their first-fruits), it was never intended for priestly consumption. The Hebrew word nasik simply means that which is poured out at the altar or burnt offerings to God. It was always a sin for anyone to consume any of the first-fruits that belonged to God. That was studied under the discussions relative to the trespass offering.

God told Aaron in verse 10 that he must distinguish between the holy and the common—a fact that obviously Nadab and Abihu did not do. Nadab and Abihu seemed to have drunk the drink offering on that day. They made no distinction between wines that belonged to God and the common wine that could have been consumed elsewhere.

It is clear that Nadab and Abihu were the wrong people, doing the wrong thing, in the wrong place, on the wrong day, with the wrong condition of inebriation and for the wrong purpose—and all that against the right commands that the Lord had given. Their sins were not trivial. They violently perverted Biblical typology. All that which was being inaugurated that day belonged to the shadows of future realities that would be accomplished in and by Jesus Christ. Any change in that which foreshadowed the coming of Christ in His sacrifices would naturally impose changes in that which was the reality. There could be allowed no change in the blueprint without changing the future structure. The Holy Spirit was revealing all those rituals; He wanted the blueprint to be respected for it foreshadowed everything that was to be accomplished by Christ in fulfillment of all typology.

God Explains His Motives
God’s Reasons Cannot Be Challenged

Certainly, God wanted everyone to understand why He intervened in such a dramatic, definitive way against the two priests. In Leviticus 10:3, God imperatively insisted: “Among those who approach me I will show myself holy.” In other words, those who serve God as priests must treat Him with the respect He deserves. After all, He is God! He seems to be saying: “I am the Holy God, and I will be treated with utmost reverence by those who come near to serve me.” Man does not have the right to change the patterns that God has inaugurated.

Everyone Must Be Informed

Then God said one other thing: “. . . in the sight of all the people I will be honored” (verse 3). He demands that His Holy Person be glorified by His worshipers. This statement and the one just above are presented in the imperative mood in the Hebrew language. All of the people were assembled before the Tabernacle that day, and if God had allowed the two priests, His representatives, to trample His laws in such a public way with impunity, it would have been impossible for Him ever to govern His people’s worship in later generations.

Aaron Not Allowed
to Mourn the Death of His Sons

Aaron was not allowed to mourn the death of his sons. God told him: “Do not let your hair become unkempt, and do not tear your clothes, or you will die . . .” (verse 6). Letting the hair go loose and rending the clothing was an external sign of mourning for the dear or for disaster of any kind. The reason for that prohibition was that Aaron could show absolutely no disagreement with what God did that day. God’s representatives must stand in perfect and total agreement with the actions of God. Aaron could not take off his turban and cast it down in disgust over God’s punishment of his two sons. No temper tantrums were allowed on Aaron’s part.

One Other Ritual Perversion Performed That Day by Aaron
The Sin Offering Was Burned – Not Eaten

There was one other ritual violation that took place that day. In Leviticus 10:16, Moses began looking for the body of the sin offering. The blood of that sacrifice had not been taken into the Holy Place for atonement. Its body, therefore, was to be eaten by the priests in the courtyard of the Tabernacle as a festive celebration hosted by God. However, the sacrificial body of the animal could not be found. It had been taken out of the camp and burned in violation of the ritual demands governing the sacrifice. That was against the instructions that God had given.

Moses Demands an Explanation

Moses was angry and perhaps afraid. He came to Aaron and said: “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? . . . Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded” (verses 17-18).

Aaron’s Explanation

Aaron explained with these words: “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” (verse 19). Aaron felt personally responsible for the sins of his sons, and he felt that God had punished him for his oversight. He should have been more attentive to the actions of his sons that day. He asked the question in verse 19, ‘Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” He seemed to feel that God had so recently poured out against Aaron’s house, and it might have been presumptuous for Aaron to assume that God would so readily host a celebration meal in Aaron’s honor in the Tabernacle. Aaron seems to be saying: “Maybe tomorrow, yes. Maybe next week, yes.”

Aaron’s Logical Reasoning

Remember that the eating of the sacrificial body in the courtyard of the tabernacle was a festive celebration between God and His priests, a banquet that He hosted at His house, at His Tabernacle. “‘Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?’ When Moses heard this, he was satisfied” (verses 19- 20). The reasons for Aaron’s actions were totally different from those of Nadab and Abihu. Nadab and Abihu had thrown caution to the wind. It is easy to understand why Aaron would have been excessively cautious at this point. It just seemed to Aaron that had he presumed to ignore the events surrounding the death of his sons, to expect God to celebrate in festive fashion the work of Aaron would have been out of place that day.

The sins of Nadab and Abihu were many, and they were serious perversions of God’s ordinations. God was more than justified in intervening in such a sober and serious manner. There are many important lessons to be learned from this tragic episode.