There's another big subject to touch on when you reflect on Leviticus 10.... The fear of the LORD.
So fire blazed forth from the LORD's presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD.
Wow! This was the consequence for the two sons of Aaron. They took the word of the LORD too lightly. God had commanded specific and precise steps for approaching him and bringing offerings and sacrifices to him. Nadab and Abihu either didn't listen to these directions or didn't care about them or thought they knew better or some combination of these missteps. No matter what their motivation, they didn't follow what God had commanded them to do. The reckoning was immediate, dramatic, and final.
It is hard not to sit back and thank God for how patient he has been and is with me. It would be chilling to count all of the times I've chosen to sin and go my own way in life... But over and over God has shown me so much grace and mercy and love, it is mind-boggling! The awe-inspiring fact is I have never deserved any of his great and beautiful gifts. But he has indeed lavished them upon me time after time.
The danger comes in taking these gifts for granted and treading lightly in the midst of God's amazing grace. God is love... God is full of mercy... God is full of grace... Yes! All these attributes of our awesome God are still true today. They are still operating fully in the lives of men and women-- girls and boys; right at this very moment.
But this same God is absolutely holy-- completely pure-- the all-powerful ruler of the universe-- and the sustainer of all things! (Including my very next breath... It's all in his hands.)
How do we operate in this reality?
We must learn to rightly fear God.
Proverbs 9:10 says, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy one is understanding.
--People try to qualify this verse's simple meaning all the time. They say, "Oh, fear just means-- respect, honor, or awe... God doesn't really want us to fear him..."
That word-- fear, means all those things... But it also means-- FEAR.
If we know who God really is... How powerful and holy he is... How he is sovereign over every single thing in this universe... How can we not rightly fear him?
--People do not fear God when they make him into something less than he really is. That's what Nadab and Abihu did. They did not rightly fear God for who he really was. They did not believe in what he said they must do. They showed it by their actions and flippant approach to the things of God. They shrank God down to their own size or smaller. They put Hod in a box and hoped to hold down the lid with their own feeble strength. But these actions had deadly consequences.
Simple trust in God-- Trust that he meant what he said...
Simple obedience to God's commands...
These two actions and attitudes would have totally transformed Nadab and Abihu's lives!
The longer I walk with the LORD, the more I learn who he really is and this always leads me to a place of awe and worship... And, yes... Fear.
I think of the way I related to my earthly father as a kid and relate to him even now... I love my father. He is a wonderful caring man. But I knew who my father was (and I still do). I knew what he stood for. I also knew what pleased and displeased him. I knew if I took him too lightly there would be consequences. And fear was a healthy part of that equation. But along with that real fear was an overwhelming desire to please and honor my father with right choices and loving obedience.
That's how we need to relate to our heavenly father too. He loves us and wants us to trust in him and follow him. He wants us to honor him by trusting in his word and worshiping him daily in our words, thoughts, and actions. When we humble our hearts and trust that God means what he says it transforms every single thing in our lives. Today is the day o begin the walk toward wisdom by learning who he is... Rightly esteeming and fearing him... Then trusting and following him from here on.
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