I am in the thick of the Book of Leviticus.
Boy, it was tough to be a priest for God.
Leviticus 10:
1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command.
2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will show myself holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt, and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the house of Israel, may mourn for those the LORD has destroyed by fire.
7 Do not leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting or you will die, because the LORD’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses said.
I found myself kind of mad at God this morning. I read this and I hurt for Aaron. His two oldest sons killed and he has to have his younger brother tell him “Hey God was serious here. He will be honored, your kids broke the rules.”
If that is not hard enough, he is not allowed to mourn for them because he still has to be the priest. He still has to perform the sacrifices. He has to stay put because he has the anointing oil on him.
As I was wrestling through this I wondered what Aaron was thinking as he sat at the entrance of the tent of meeting. I wondered how sad he must have been. Then it was this little nudging…almost difficult to detect…it was a question…
“How do you think I felt?”
I can’t imagine how God felt or feels because I realize I still relate more to human emotion than to God’s emotions. Once again, I am reminded how far God’s thoughts are from my thoughts.
There is a great deal of pressure to remain true to God when you are devastated by hard things and are commissioned to remain in his service.
God went on to tell Aaron
9 “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. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.
10 You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,
11 and you must teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses.”
Priests had to set apart the holy from the unholy and then teach others to obey. Talk about pressure…
