Why did Nadab and Abihu die?

We read Leviticus 10 this morning in our two-year Bible-reading plan.

One phrase in verse 2 stands out like a blazing neon sign: ‘…which [the LORD] had not commanded them.’

This phrase stands out, because all through Leviticus 8-9, we have read of how the LORD commanded such-and-such. The phrase ‘the LORD commanded’ appears fourteen times in these two chapters, in 8.4, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36; 9.6, 7, 10.

So, when we come to 10.2 and read ‘…which [the LORD] had not commanded them,’ we should stop in our tracks. Up to this point, Israel has acted in obedience to the Lord. But now, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, have acted in defiance of God. They have chosen to do things their own way.

The consequence of their disastrous decision is that they die — or, more accurately, the Lord puts them to death.

Why does God react this way? He explains in 10.3: ‘Among those who are near to me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’

God means this: the priests, whom God has called near to him to serve in the tabernacle, must approach God the way God has demanded to be approached. By obeying God this way, they will ‘sanctify’ him — that is, they will recognize that God is holy and approachable only on his own terms. This deference and respect on the part of the priests will underline the holy, awesome character of God to all the people. It will communicate that God, not any human, is the one calling the shots. God commands, and humans respond. That is what God means when he says: ‘…before all the people I will be glorified.’

This passage has application for us. It reminds us that God is God. He is holy, he is set apart. And yet he has opened up a way of access so that humans can come to him. That way of access is no longer the tabernacle or the temple — it is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way people may come to God.

What hasn’t changed is that God still sets the terms for how people may come to him. People don’t decide. All roads do not lead to God.

God has declared that there is one way, and one way only, into his presence forever. It is through Jesus, who said: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14.6).

So, as we read the sobering account in Leviticus 10 this morning, may we thank God for Jesus, and recommit ourselves to come to God through Jesus, and no other way.

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Mar 4, 09:30 AM