The page of human history has ever been a sadly blotted one. It is a
record of failure from first to last. Amid all the delights of Eden,
man hearkened to the tempter's lie (Gen. iii.); when preserved from
judgment by the hand of electing love, and introduced into a restored
earth, he was guilty of the sin of intemperance (Gen. ix.); when
conducted, by Jehovah's outstretched arm, into the land of Canaan, he
"forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth" (Judges ii. 13.);
when placed at the very summit of earthly power and glory, with
untold wealth at his feet, and all the resources of the world at his
command, he gave his heart to the uncircumcised stranger. (1 Kings
xi.) No sooner had the blessings of the gospel been promulgated than
it became needful for the Holy Ghost to prophesy concerning "grievous
wolves," "apostacy," and all manner of failure. (Acts xx. 29; 1 Tim.
iv. 1-3; 2 Tim. iii. 1-5; 2 Pet. ii.; Jude.) And, to crown all, we
have the prophetic record of human apostacy from amid all the
splendors of millennial glory. (Rev. xx. 7-10.)
Thus, man spoils every thing. Place him in a position of highest
dignity, and he will degrade himself; endow him with the most ample
privileges, and he will abuse them; scatter blessings around him in
richest profusion, and he will prove ungrateful, place him in the
midst of the most impressive institutions, and he will corrupt them.
Such is man! Such is nature in its fairest forms and under the most
favorable circumstances!
Hence, therefore, we are in a measure prepared for the words with
which our chapter opens--"And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took
either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense
thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded
them not." What a contrast to the scene with which our last section
closed! There, all was done "as the Lord commanded," and the result
was, manifested glory; here, something is done "which the Lord
commanded them not," and the result is, judgment. Hardly had the echo
of the shout of victory died away ere the elements of a spurious
worship were prepared,--hardly had the divine position been assumed
ere it was deliberately abandoned, through neglect of the divine
commandment. No sooner were those priests inaugurated than they
grievously failed in the discharge of their priestly functions.
And in what did their failure consist? Were they spurious priests?
were they mere pretenders? By no means. They were genuine sons of
Aaron--true members of the priestly family--duly appointed priests.
Their vessels of ministry, and their priestly garments too, would seem
to have been all right. What, then, was their sin? Did they stain the
curtains of the tabernacle with human blood? or pollute the sacred
precincts with some crime which shocks the moral sense? We have no
proof of their having done so. Their sin was this: "They offered
strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not." Here was
their sin. They departed in their worship from the plain word of
Jehovah, who had fully and plainly instructed them as to the mode of
their worship. We have already alluded to the divine fullness and
sufficiency of the word of the Lord, in reference to every branch of
priestly service. There was no room left for man to introduce what he
might deem desirable or expedient. "This is the thing which the Lord
hath commanded" was quite sufficient. It made all very plain and very
simple. Nothing was needed on man's part save a spirit of implicit
obedience to the divine command. But herein they failed. Man has
always proved himself ill-disposed to walk in the narrow path of
strict adherence to the plain word of God. The bypath has ever seemed
to present resistless charms to the poor human heart. "Stolen waters
are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." (Prov. ix. 17.)
Such is the enemy's language; but the lowly, obedient heart knows full
well that the path of subjection to the Word of God is the only one
that leads to "waters" that are really "sweet," or to "bread" that can
be rightly called "pleasant." Nadab and Abihu might have deemed one
kind of "fire" as good as another, but it was not their province to
decide as to that. They should have acted according to the word of the
Lord; but instead of this, they took their own way and reaped the
awful fruits thereof. "He knoweth not that the dead are there; and
that her guests are in the depths of hell."
"And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they
died before the Lord." How deeply solemn! Jehovah was dwelling in the
midst of His people, to govern, to judge, and to act, according to the
claims of His nature. At the close of chapter ix, we read, "And there
came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the
burnt-offering and the fat." This was Jehovah's acceptance of a true
sacrifice; but in chapter x, it is His judgment upon erring priests.
It is a double action of the same fire. The burnt-offering went up as
a sweet odor: the "strange fire" was rejected as an abomination. The
Lord was glorified in the former; but it would have been a dishonor
to accept the latter. Divine grace accepted and delighted in that
which was a type of Christ's most precious sacrifice: divine holiness
rejected that which was the fruit of man's corrupt will--a will never
more hideous and abominable than when active in the things of God.
"Then Moses said unto Aaron, 'This is it that the Lord spake, saying,
I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the
people I will be glorified.'" The dignity and glory of the entire
economy depended upon the strict maintenance of Jehovah's righteous
claims. If these were to be trifled with, all was forfeited. If man
were permitted to defile the sanctuary of the divine presence by
"strange fire," there was an end to every thing. Nothing could be
permitted to ascend from the priestly censer but the pure fire,
kindled from off the altar of God, and fed by the "pure incense beaten
small." Beauteous type of true saintly worship, of which the Father is
the object, Christ the material, and the Holy Ghost the power. Man
must not be allowed to introduce his devices into the worship of God.
All his efforts can only issue in the presentation of "strange
fire"--unhallowed incense--false worship. His very best attempts are
an absolute abomination in the sight of God.
I speak not here of the honest struggles of earnest spirits searching
after peace with God,--of the sincere efforts of upright, though
unenlightened, consciences to attain to a knowledge of the
forgiveness of sins by works of law or the ordinances of symtematic
religion; all such will doubtless issue, through the exceeding
goodness of God, in the clear light of a known and an enjoyed
salvation. They prove very clearly that peace is earnestly sought;
though, at the same time, they prove just as clearly that peace has
not yet been found. There never yet was one who honestly followed the
faintest glimmerings of light which fell upon his understanding who
did not, in due time, receive more. "To him that hath shall more be
given." And again, "The path of the just is as the shining light,
which shineth more and more unto the perfect day."
All this is as plain as it is encouraging; but it leaves wholly
untouched the question of the human will, and its impious workings in
connection with the service and worship of God. All such workings must
inevitably call down, sooner or later, the solemn judgment of a
righteous God, who cannot suffer His claims to be trifled with. "I
will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me, and before all the
people I will be glorified." Men will be dealt with according to their
profession. If men are honestly seeking, they will assuredly find; but
when men approach as worshipers, they are no longer to be regarded as
seekers, but as those who profess to have found; and then, if their
priestly censer smokes with unhallowed fire--if they offer unto God
the elements of a spurious worship--if they profess to tread His
courts, unwashed, unsanctified, unsubdued--if they place on His altar
the workings of their own corrupt will, what must be the result?
Judgment! Yes, sooner or later, judgment must come. It may linger, but
it will come. It could not be otherwise. And not only must judgment
come at last, but there is, in every case, the immediate rejection on
the part of Heaven of all worship which has not the Father for its
object, Christ for its material, and the Holy Ghost for its power.
God's holiness is as quick to reject all "strange fire" as His grace
is ready to accept the faintest, feeblest breathings of a true heart.
He must pour out His righteous judgment upon all false worship, though
He will never "quench the smoking flax nor break the bruised reed."
The thought of this is most solemnizing, when one calls to mind the
thousands of censers smoking with strange fire throughout the wide
domain of christendom. May the Lord, in His rich grace, add to the
number of true worshipers, who worship the Father in spirit and in
truth. (John iv.) It is infinitely happier to think of the true
worship ascending from honest hearts to the throne of God, than to
contemplate, even for a moment, the spurious worship on which the
divine judgments must ere long be poured out. Every one who knows,
through grace, the pardon of his sins through the atoning blood of
Jesus, can worship the Father in spirit and in truth. He knows the
proper ground, the proper object, the proper title, the proper
capacity of worship. These things can only be known in a divine way.
They do not belong to nature or to earth. They are spiritual and
heavenly. Very much of that which passes among men for the worship of
God is but "strange fire" after all. There is neither the pure fire
nor the pure incense, and therefore Heaven accepts it not; and albeit
the divine judgment is not seen to fall upon those who present such
worship as it fell upon Nadab and Abihu of old, this is only because
"God is in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them." It is not because the worship is
acceptable to God, but because God is gracious. The time, however, is
rapidly approaching when the strange fire will be quenched
forever--when the throne of God shall no longer be insulted by clouds
of impure incense ascending from unpurged worshipers--when all that is
spurious shall be abolished, and the whole universe shall be as one
vast and magnificent temple, in which the one true God--Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost--shall be worshiped throughout the everlasting ages.
"Grateful incense this, ascending
Ever to the Father's throne;
Every knee to Jesus bending,
All the mind in heaven is one.
All the Father's counsels claiming
Equal honors to the Son,
All the Son's effulgence beaming
Makes the Father's glory known.
By the Spirit all pervading,
Hosts unnumbered round the Lamb,
Crowned with light and joy unfading,
Hail Him as the great 'I AM.'"
For this the redeemed are waiting; and, blessed be God, it is but a
little while when all their longing desires shall be fully met, and
met forever--yea, met after such a fashion as to elicit from each and
all the touching confession of Sheba's queen that "the half was not
told me." May the Lord hasten the happy time!
We must now return to our solemn chapter, and, lingering a little
longer over it, endeavor to gather up and bear away with us some of
its salutary teaching; for truly salutary it is, in an age like the
present, when there is so much "strange fire" abroad.
There is something unusually arresting and impressive in the way in
which Aaron received the heavy stroke of divine judgment.--"_Aaron
held his peace._" It was a solemn scene. His two sons struck dead at
his side--smitten down by the fire of divine judgment.[20] He had but
just seen them clothed in their garments of glory and beauty--washed,
robed, and anointed. They had stood with him before the Lord to be
inaugurated into the priestly office; they had offered, in company
with him, the appointed sacrifices; they had seen the beams of the
divine glory darting from the shekinah; they had seen the fire of
Jehovah fall upon the sacrifice and consume it; they had heard the
shout of triumph issuing from an assembly of adoring worshipers;--all
this had but recently passed before him; and now, alas! his two sons
lie at his side in the grasp of death. The fire of the Lord, which so
recently fed upon an acceptable sacrifice, had now fallen in judgment
upon them, and what could he say? Nothing. "Aaron held his peace." "I
was dumb and opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it." It was the
hand of God; and although it might, in the judgment of flesh and
blood, seem to be a very heavy hand, yet he had only to bow his head
in silent awe and reverent acquiescence. "_I_ was dumb ... because
_Thou_ didst it." This was the suited attitude in the presence of the
divine visitation. Aaron doubtless felt that the very pillars of his
house were shaken by the thunder of divine judgment, and he could only
stand in silent amazement in the midst of the soul-subduing scene. A
father bereaved of his two sons, and in such a manner, and under such
circumstances, was no ordinary case. It furnished a deeply impressive
commentary upon the words of the Psalmist, "God is greatly to be
feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of
all them that are about Him." (Psalm lxxxix.) "Who would not fear
Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name?" May we learn to walk softly in
the divine presence--to tread Jehovah's courts with unshod foot and
reverent spirit. May our priestly censer ever bear upon it the one
material--the beaten incense of Christ's manifold perfections, and may
the power of the Spirit kindle up the hallowed flame. All else is not
only worthless, but vile. Every thing that springs from nature's
energy, every thing produced by the actings of the human will--the
most fragrant incense of man's devising--the most intense ardor of
natural devotion, will all issue in "strange fire," and evoke the
solemn judgment of the Lord God Almighty. Oh for a thoroughly truthful
heart and worshiping spirit, in the presence of our God and Father,
continually!
[20] Lest any reader should be troubled with a difficulty in reference
to the souls of Nadab and Abihu, I would say that no such question
ought ever to be raised. In such cases as Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus
x, Korah and his company in Numbers xvi, the whole congregation,
Joshua and Caleb excepted, whose carcases fell in the wilderness
(Numb. xiv. and Heb. iii.), Achan and his family (Josh. vii.), Ananias
and Sapphira (Acts v.), those who were judged for abuses at the Lord's
table (1 Cor. xi.),--in all such cases, the question of the soul's
salvation is never raised. We are simply called to see in them the
solemn actings of God in government in the midst of His people. This
relieves the mind from all difficulty. Jehovah dwelt, of old, between
the cherubim, to judge His people in every thing; and God the Holy
Ghost dwells now in the Church, to order and govern according to the
perfection of His presence. He was so really and personally present
that Ananias and Sapphira could lie to Him, and He could execute
judgment upon them. It was as positive and as immediate an exhibition
of His actings in government as we have in the matter of Nadab and
Abihu, or Achan, or any other.
This is a great truth to get hold of. God is not only _for_ His
people, but _with_ them, and _in_ them. He is to be counted upon for
every thing, whether it be great or small. He is present to comfort
and help. He is there to chasten and judge; He is there "for exigence
of every hour." He is sufficient. Let faith count upon Him. "Where two
or three are gathered together in My name, there am I." (Matt. xviii.
20.) And, assuredly, where He is, we want no more.
But let not any upright, though timid, heart be discouraged or
alarmed. It is too often the case that those who really ought to be
alarmed take no heed, while those for whom the Spirit of grace would
only design a word of comfort and encouragement apply to themselves
in a wrong way the startling warnings of holy Scripture. No doubt, the
meek and contrite heart that trembles at the word of the Lord is in a
safe condition; but then we should remember that a father warns his
child, not because he does not regard him as his child, but because he
does, and one of the happiest proofs of the relationship is the
disposition to receive and profit by the warning. The parental voice,
even though its tone be that of solemn admonition, will reach the
child's heart, but certainly not to raise in that heart a question as
to its relationship with the one who speaks. If a son were to question
his sonship whenever his father warns, it would be a poor affair
indeed. The judgment which had just fallen upon Aaron's house did not
make him doubt that he was really a priest; it merely had the effect
of teaching him how to conduct himself in that high and holy position.
"And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his
sons, 'Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die,
and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the
whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.
And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, lest ye die; for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon
you.' And they did according to the word of Moses."
Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar were to remain unmoved in their elevated
place--their holy dignity--their position of priestly sanctity.
Neither the failure nor yet the judgment consequent thereon was to be
allowed to interfere with those who wore the priestly robes and were
anointed with "the oil of the Lord." That holy oil had placed them in
a sacred inclosure, where the influences of sin, of death, and of
judgment could not reach them. Those who were outside, who were at a
distance from the sanctuary, who were not in the position of priests,
they might "bewail the burning;" but as for Aaron and his sons, they
were to go on in the discharge of their hallowed functions as though
nothing had happened. Priests in the sanctuary were not to bewail, but
to worship--they were not to weep, as in the presence of death, but to
bow their anointed heads in the presence of the divine visitation.
"The fire of the Lord" might act, and do its solemn work of judgment;
but to a priest it mattered not what that "fire" had come to
do--whether to express the divine approval by consuming a sacrifice,
or the divine displeasure by consuming the offerers of "strange
fire"--he had but to worship. That "fire" was a well-known
manifestation of the divine presence in Israel of old, and whether it
acted in "mercy or in judgment," the business of all true priests was
to worship. "I will sing of mercy and of judgment; unto Thee, O Lord,
will I sing."
There is a deep and holy lesson for the soul in all this. Those who
are brought nigh to God, in the power of the blood, and by the
anointing of the Holy Ghost, must move in a sphere beyond the range
of nature's influences. Priestly nearness to God gives the soul such
an insight into all His ways, such a sense of the rightness of all His
dispensations, that one is enabled to worship in His presence, even
though the stroke of His hand has removed from us the object of tender
affection. It may be asked, Are we to be Stoics? I ask, Were Aaron and
his sons Stoics? Nay, they were priests. Did they not feel as men?
Yes; but they worshiped as priests. This is profound. It opens up a
region of thought, feeling, and experience in which nature can never
move--a region of which, with all its boasted refinement and
sentimentality, nature knows absolutely nothing. We must tread the
sanctuary of God in true priestly energy, in order to enter into the
depth, meaning, and power of such holy mysteries.
The prophet Ezekiel was called, in his day, to sit down to this
difficult lesson. "Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
'Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes
with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall
thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead,
bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy
feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of _men_.'... And
I did in the morning as I was commanded." (Ez. xxiv. 16-18.) It will
be said that all this was as "a sign" to Israel. True; but it proves
that in prophetic testimony, as well as in priestly worship, we must
rise superior to all the claims and influences of nature and of earth.
Aaron's sons and Ezekiel's wife were cut down with a stroke, and yet
neither the priest nor the prophet was to uncover his head or shed a
tear.
Oh, my reader, how far have you and I progressed in this profound
lesson? No doubt both reader and writer have to make the same
humiliating confession. Too often, alas! we "walk as men" and "eat the
bread of men"--too often are we robbed of our high priestly privileges
by the workings of nature and the influences of earth. These things
must be watched against. Nothing save realized priestly nearness to
God can ever preserve the heart from the power of evil or maintain its
spiritual tone. All believers are priests unto God, and nothing can
possibly deprive them of their position as such; but though they
cannot lose their position, they may grievously fail in the discharge
of their functions. These things are not sufficiently distinguished.
Some there are who, while looking at the precious truth of the
believer's security, forget the possibility of his failing in the
discharge of his priestly functions: others, on the contrary, looking
at the failure, venture to call in question the security.
Now, I desire that my reader should keep clear of both the above
errors. He should be fully established in the divine doctrine of the
eternal security of every member of the true priestly house; but he
should also bear in mind the possibility of failure, and the constant
need of watchfulness and prayer, lest he should fail. May all those
who have been brought to know the hallowed elevation of priests unto
God be preserved, by His heavenly grace, from every species of
failure, whether it be personal defilement or the presentation of any
of the varied forms of "strange fire," which abound so in the
professing church.
"And the Lord spake unto Aaron, saying, 'Do not drink wine nor strong
drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of
the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute forever
throughout your generations: and that ye may put difference between
holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach
the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken
unto them by the hand of Moses.'" (Ver. 8-11.)
The effect of wine is to excite nature, and all natural excitement
hinders that calm, well-balanced condition of soul which is essential
to the proper discharge of the priestly office. So far from using any
means to excite nature, we should treat it as a thing having no
existence. Thus only shall we be in a moral condition to serve in the
sanctuary, to form a dispassionate judgment between clean and unclean,
and to expound and communicate the mind of God. It devolves upon each
one to judge for himself what, in his special case, would act as "wine
or strong drink."[21] The things which excite mere nature are
manifold indeed--wealth, ambition, politics, the varied objects of
emulation around us in the world. All these things act with exciting
power upon nature, and entirely unfit us for every department of
priestly service. If the heart be swollen with feelings of pride,
covetousness, or emulation, it is utterly impossible that the pure air
of the sanctuary can be enjoyed, or the sacred functions of priestly
ministry discharged. Men speak of the versatility of genius, or a
capacity to turn quickly from one thing to another; but the most
versatile genius that was ever possessed could not enable a man to
pass from an unhallowed arena of literary, commercial, or political
competition, into the holy retirement of the sanctuary of the divine
presence; nor could it ever adjust the eye that had become dimmed by
the influence of such scenes, so as to enable it to discern, with
priestly accuracy, the difference "between holy and unholy, and
between unclean and clean." No, my reader, God's priests must keep
themselves apart from "wine and strong drink." Theirs is a path of
holy separation and abstraction. They are to be raised far above the
influence of earthly joy as well as earthly sorrow. If they have aught
to do with "strong wine," it is only that it may "be poured unto the
Lord for a drink-offering, in the holy place." (Numb. xxviii. 7.) In
other words, the joy of God's priests is not the joy of earth, but the
joy of heaven--the joy of the sanctuary. "The joy of the Lord is their
strength."
[21] Some have thought that, owing to the special place which this
direction about wine occupies, Nadab and Abihu must have been under
the influence of strong drink when they offered the "strange fire."
But be this as it may, we have to be thankful for a most valuable
principle in reference to our conduct as spiritual priests. We are to
refrain from every thing which would produce the same effect upon our
spiritual man as strong drink produces upon the physical man.
It needs hardly to be remarked that the Christian should be _most
jealous_ over himself as to the use of wine or strong drink. Timothy,
as we know, needed an apostolic recommendation to induce him even to
touch it for his health's sake. (1 Tim. v.) A beauteous proof of
Timothy's habitual self-denial, and of the thoughtful love of the
Spirit in the apostle. I must confess that one's moral sense is
offended by seeing Christians making use of strong drink in cases
where it is very manifestly not medicinal. I rarely, if ever, see a
spiritual person indulge in such a thing. One trembles to see a
Christian the mere slave of a habit, whatever that habit may be. It
proves that he is not keeping his body in subjection.
Would that all this holy instruction were more deeply pondered by us!
We surely stand much in need of it. If our priestly responsibilities
are not duly attended to, all must be deranged. When we contemplate
the camp of Israel, we may observe three circles, and the innermost of
these circles had its centre in the sanctuary. There was first the
circle of men of war (Numb. i, ii.); then the circle of Levites round
about the tabernacle (Numb. iii, iv.); and lastly, the innermost
circle of priests, ministering in the holy place. Now, let it be
remembered that the believer is called to move in all those circles.
He enters into conflict, as a man of war (Eph. vi. 11-17; 1 Tim. i.
18; vi. 12; 2 Tim. iv. 7.); he serves, as a Levite, in the midst of
his brethren, according to his measure and sphere (Matt. xv. 14, 15;
Luke xix. 12, 13.); finally, he sacrifices and worships, as a priest,
in the holy place (Heb. xiii. 15, 16; 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.). The last of
these shall endure forever. And, moreover, it is as we are enabled
now to move aright in that holy circle that all other relations and
responsibilities are rightly discharged. Hence, every thing that
incapacitates us for our priestly functions--every thing that draws us
off from the centre of that innermost circle, in which it is our
privilege to move--every thing, in short, that tends to derange our
priestly relation, or dim our priestly vision, must, of necessity,
unfit us for the service which we are called to render, and for the
warfare which we are called to wage.
These are weighty considerations. Let us dwell upon them. The heart
must be kept right, the conscience pure, the eye single, the spiritual
vision undimmed. The soul's business in the holy place must be
faithfully and diligently attended to, else we shall go all wrong.
Private communion with God must be kept up, else we shall be fruitless
as servants, and defeated as men of war. It is vain for us to bustle
about, and run hither and thither in what we call service, or indulge
in vapid words about Christian armor and Christian warfare. If we are
not keeping our priestly garments unspotted, and if we are not keeping
ourselves free from all that would excite nature, we shall assuredly
break down. The _priest_ must keep his heart with all diligence, else
the _Levite_ will fail, and the _warrior_ will be defeated.
It is, let me repeat it, the business of each one to be fully aware of
what it is that to him proves to be "wine and strong drink"--what it
is that produces excitement--that blunts his spiritual perception, or
dims his priestly vision. It may be an auction-mart, a cattle-show, a
newspaper,--it may be the merest trifle. But no matter what it is, if
it tends to excite, it will disqualify us for priestly ministry; and
if we are disqualified as priests, we are unfit for every thing,
inasmuch as our success in every department and in every sphere must
ever depend upon our cultivating a spirit of worship.
Let us, then, exercise a spirit of self-judgment--a spirit of
watchfulness over our habits, our ways, and our associations; and when
we, by grace, discover aught that tends, in the smallest, degree to
unfit us for the elevated exercises of the sanctuary, let us put it
away from us, cost what it may. Let us not suffer ourselves to be the
slaves of a habit. Communion with God should be dearer to our hearts
than all beside; and just in proportion as we prize that communion,
shall we watch and pray against any thing that would rob us of
it--every thing that would excite, ruffle, or unhinge.[22]
[22] Some, perhaps, may think that the wording of Leviticus x. 9
affords a warrant for _occasional_ indulgence in those things which
tend to excite the natural mind, inasmuch as it is said, "Do not drink
wine nor strong drink ... _when_ ye go into the tabernacle of the
congregation." To this we may reply that the sanctuary is not a place
which the Christian is _occasionally_ to visit, but a place in which
he is _habitually_ to serve and worship. It is the sphere in which he
should "live, and move, and have his being." The more we live in the
presence of God, the less can we bear to be out of it; and no one who
knows the deep joy of being there could lightly indulge in aught that
would take or keep him thence. There is not that object within the
compass of earth which would, in the judgment of a spiritual mind, be
an equivalent for one hour's fellowship with God.
"And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his
sons that were left, 'Take the meat-offering that remaineth of the
offerings of the Lord made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside
the altar; for it is most holy: and ye shall eat it in the holy place,
because it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the
Lord made by fire; for so I am commanded.'" (Ver. 12, 13.)
There are few things in which we are more prone to fail than in the
maintenance of the divine standard when human failure has set in. Like
David, when the Lord made a breach upon Uzzah because of his failure
in putting his hand to the ark, "he was afraid of God that day,
saying, 'How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?'" (1 Chron.
xiii. 12.) It is exceedingly difficult to bow to the divine judgment
and, at the same time, to hold fast the divine ground. The temptation
is to lower the standard--to come down from the lofty elevation--to
take human ground. We must ever carefully guard against this evil,
which is all the more dangerous as wearing the garb of modesty,
self-distrust, and humility. Aaron and his sons, notwithstanding all
that had occurred, were to eat the meat-offering in the holy place.
They were to do so, not because all had gone on in perfect order, but
"because it is thy due," and "so I am commanded." Though there had
been failure, yet their place was in the tabernacle; and those who
were there had certain "dues" founded upon the divine commandment.
Though man had failed ten thousand times over, the word of the Lord
could not fail; and that word had secured certain privileges for all
true priests, which it was their place to enjoy. Were God's priests to
have nothing to eat--no priestly food, because failure had set in?
Were those that were left to be allowed to starve, because Nadab and
Abihu had offered "strange fire"? This would never do. God is
faithful, and He can never allow any one to be empty in His blessed
presence. The prodigal may wander and squander and come to poverty,
but it must ever hold good that "in my Father's house is bread enough
and to spare."
"And the wave breast and the heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean
place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be
thy due, and thy sons' due, which are _given_ out of the sacrifices of
peace-offerings of the children of Israel ... by _a statute forever,
as the Lord hath commanded_." (Ver. 14, 15.) What strength and
stability we have here! All the members of the priestly family,
"daughters" as well as "sons"--all, whatever be the measure of energy
or capacity, are to feed upon "the breast" and "the shoulder"--the
affections and the strength of the true Peace-offering, as raised from
the dead, and presented, in resurrection, before God. This precious
privilege is theirs as "given by a statute forever, as the Lord hath
commanded." This makes all "sure and steadfast," come what may. Men
may fail and come short, strange fire may be offered, but God's
priestly family must never be deprived of the rich and gracious
portion which divine love has provided and divine faithfulness
secured "by a statute forever."
However, we must distinguish between those privileges which belonged
to all the members of Aaron's family, "daughters" as well as "sons,"
and those which could only be enjoyed by the male portion of the
family. This point has already been referred to in the notes on the
offerings. There are certain blessings which are the common portion of
all believers, simply as such; and there are those which demand a
higher measure of spiritual attainment and priestly energy to
apprehend and enjoy. Now, it is worse than vain, yea, it is impious,
to set up for the enjoyment of this higher measure when we really have
it not. It is one thing to hold fast the privileges which are "given"
of God, and can never be taken away, and quite another to assume a
measure of spiritual capacity to which we have never attained. No
doubt, we ought to desire earnestly the very highest measure of
priestly communion--the most elevated order of priestly privilege; but
then desiring a thing, and assuming to have it, are very different.
This thought will throw light upon the closing paragraph of our
chapter. "And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin-offering,
and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar,
the sons of Aaron which were left, saying, 'Wherefore have ye not
eaten the sin-offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and
God hath given it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to
make atonement for them before the Lord? Behold, the blood of it was
not brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it
in the holy place, as I commanded.' And Aaron said unto Moses,
'Behold, this day have they offered their sin-offering and their
burnt-offering before the Lord; and such things have befallen me: and
if I had eaten the sin-offering to-day, should it have been accepted
in the sight of the Lord?' And when Moses heard that, he was content."
The "daughters" of Aaron were not permitted to eat of "the
sin-offering." This high privilege belonged only to the "sons," and it
was a type of the most elevated form of priestly service. To eat of
the sin-offering was the expression of full identification with the
offerer, and this demanded an amount of priestly capacity and energy
which found its type in "the sons of Aaron." On the occasion before
us, however, it is very evident that Aaron and his sons were not in a
condition to rise to this high and holy ground. They ought to have
been, but they were not. "Such things have befallen me," said Aaron.
This, no doubt, was to be deplored; but yet, "when Moses heard that,
he was content." It is far better to be real in the confession of our
failure and shortcoming, than to put forth pretensions to spiritual
power which are wholly without foundation.
Thus, then, the tenth chapter of the book of Leviticus opens with
positive sin and closes with negative failure. Nadab and Abihu offered
"strange fire," and Eleazar and Ithamar were unable to eat the
sin-offering. The former was met by divine judgment; the latter, by
divine forbearance. There could be no allowance for "strange fire." It
was positively flying in the face of God's plain commandment. There is
obviously a wide difference between a deliberate rejection of a plain
command and mere inability to rise to the height of a divine
privilege. The former is open dishonor done to God; the latter is a
forfeiture of one's own blessing. There should be neither the one nor
the other, but the difference between the two is easily traced.
May the Lord, in His infinite grace, ever keep us abiding in the
secret retirement of His holy presence, abiding in His love, and
feeding upon His truth. Thus shall we be preserved from "strange fire"
and "strong drink"--from false worship of every kind and fleshly
excitement in all its forms. Thus, too, shall we be enabled to carry
ourselves aright in every department of priestly ministration, and to
enjoy all the privileges of our priestly position. The communion of a
Christian is like a sensitive plant. It is easily hurt by the rude
influences of an evil world. It will expand beneath the genial action
of the air of heaven, but must firmly shut itself up from the chilling
breath of time and sense. Let us remember these things, and ever seek
to keep close within the sacred precincts of the divine presence.
There, all is pure, safe, and happy.
Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in.