Nadab and Abihu

The following post is part of a "blast from the past" series, a series of Torah-portion teachings that I began to write in 2005. I hope to contribute current posts for the most part, but I will work some of these older writings in as well.

“So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.”
-Leviticus 10:2

God’s judgment of Nadab and Abihu should serve as a reminder of God’s holiness. He will cause his servants to be either great examples or terrible warnings. No servant is excluded from the demands of holiness and the certainty of judgment. Believers, as a kingdom of priests, compose the house of God where judgment must begin according to Peter. God’s word to Aaron in Leviticus 10:3 explains his concern for his own holiness: “By those who come near me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.” Nadab and Abihu acted presumptuously with respect to God’s commands by offering strange fire. The fire of judgment that consumed them must burn as a testimony to God’s holiness to illuminate the danger of presumption and lead men in the way of reverence and truth.

A working definition of presumption will help in understanding the nature of Nadab and Abihu’s sin. According to a dictionary definition, presumption is overweening self-assertion. The literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated “presumptuously” in Numbers 15:30 is to act “with a high hand.” Presumption is characterized by defiance and a willful disregard for known consequences. It implies autonomy of action.

An example of presumption with similar consequences is the death of Uzzah found in the Haftorah portion. Uzzah died for extending his hand to steady the Ark of the Covenant. He presumed upon God’s holiness and disregarded the instructions concerning the ark and God vindicated his holiness at the expense of Uzzah’s life. Clearly, it was not simply God’s displeasure with Uzzah’s sin but zeal for his own holiness and glory that prompted this judgment. His servants must regard him as holy or his holiness will be further obscured and even ridiculed.

Paul develops the nature and consequences of presumption at several points in the book of Hebrews. In chapter 6, he warns that believers who fall away presuming a renewal to repentance actually crucify again the Messiah and subject him to open shame. They are soil that bears thorns whose end is the same fire that went forth against Nadab and Abihu. The clearest warning to believers against willful sin is found in Hebrews 10. Paul teaches that willful sin, or presumption, invites a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation. Through this judgment God’s character is upheld. Finally, in Hebrews 12, Paul underscores his plea that the believers serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear with a reminder that God is a consuming fire. Failure to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear places one at peril with a consuming fire. Since presumption is the opposite of reverence, it is fair say that only fire awaits those who presume to worship God according to their own designs (Deut. 12:8) while neglecting the pattern given by God through Moses, the Prophets, and in these last days by his Son.