In my devotional times recently, I finished Exodus and now am in Leviticus. I pieced together two passages that have me confused and stunned. The first is in Exodus 24:9-11, an incredible epiphany given to Israel’s leaders, including Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu:

⁹ Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, ¹⁰ and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. ¹¹ And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

These blessed men were allowed to see Almighty God, YHWH, in His glory. This is one of the few times in all of Scripture that Lord shows Himself to fallen men. Remarkable. You’d think that is an experience that would stick with them, and transform them, for the rest of their lives. Yet in Leviticus 10:1-3 we read these shocking words:

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. ² And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” And Aaron held his peace.

What happened to Nadab and Abihu? They had an amazing vision of the God of heaven, and some time later, they committed a horrendous, sacrilegious act that defamed God’s glory, and paid the ultimate price. I don’t know all the background behind what they did, but clearly they knew better, and it was an offense worth capital punishment.

So what are my take-aways?

1. God is serious about His glory. He revealed at least part of His glory in Exodus 24, and then when a couple of Israel’s leaders did not uphold God’s glory, He consumed them with fire. He is not messing around. “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.” Am I so serious about God’s glory? Do my actions, my attitudes, my choices demonstrate that I will do anything to sanctify, to glorify God before His people?
2. Whatever was going on with Nadab and Abihu, I really can’t judge them. It is only by the grace of God that I don’t “offer unauthorized fire before the Lord” and receive the just consequences for my sin. Every day of my life, may I humbly thank God for the grace shown to me to know Him, to love Him, to serve and obey Him. And may I recognize that I’m only a step away from forgetting or ignoring the incredible vision of God I have received (through His Word) and doing that which God has not commanded, leading to His righteous wrath consuming me.

Let us walk in humble gratitude for God’s grace, sanctifying and glorifying God for all our days and in all our ways.