Daily Devotion | Leviticus 10:1-7 | 2026 January 30

Scripture: Leviticus 10:1–7

Date: 2026 January 30

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Joseph Wang (Yufan)

God called Abraham, right? God called Abraham, and everything seemed to go very smoothly. He went out, then he went down to Egypt, and then his wife was taken by Pharaoh, and then he lied.

So do you see it? This pattern appears: after a great victory, suddenly there is a fall. After a great victory, suddenly there is a fall.

And then in the book of Exodus we see this even more clearly, right? Earlier, God gave the law to Moses, from chapters 20 to 24. After chapter 24, when the law was given, they began to build the tabernacle and the sanctuary. God was on the mountain instructing Moses, and the people were doing well. They had already entered into covenant.

Then suddenly, in chapter 32, the Israelites worshiped the golden calf. Aaron led them in worshiping the golden calf. And this event is the same kind of thing, right?

Just after the Spirit of God filled the tabernacle, just after God descended, suddenly Nadab and Abihu were struck down.

And then after they entered the land of Canaan, the same thing happened again, right? They defeated Jericho—what a great victory—and then suddenly they were defeated at Ai. And when they investigated the reason, what was it? Achan and his family had sinned, and once again a whole family was put to death.

So brothers and sisters, you should notice this: this pattern appears again and again throughout the Pentateuch.

Then does this appear in the New Testament? Yes, it does. When the New Testament church was first established, how glorious it was. The Spirit of God filled them, and everyone was offering generously.

Then suddenly something happened. What happened? In Acts chapter 5, the incident of Ananias and Sapphira. Because they lied to God, they were struck down in the congregation.

So brothers and sisters, notice this: this pattern appears repeatedly throughout the Bible. When something appears repeatedly, what does it show? What does it mean? Obviously, this is intentional on God’s part. Otherwise, how could this pattern appear so many times?

So let us analyze this.

The reason is that when God’s people experience victory, that is often the moment when they are most vulnerable.

This is also a reminder to us. When you see that you are about to experience victory, when it looks like God is with us, when God seems to be with you, suddenly you may fall into weakness.

This is the time when people are especially prone to make mistakes.

I think this is a very important reminder for us. At every high point, every moment of glory, we must be especially careful about falling.

This pattern appears repeatedly in Scripture to tell us that we have this possibility. It is a direct warning to us.

There is another direction this points to, and it points to Christ even more clearly.

In fact, God is telling us that every moment of glory belongs to God Himself. People will always be weak and will always fall. Everyone has hidden sin within them.

In reality, no one can truly come to Jesus, no one can come before God, except through Jesus Christ.

So what do we do? What can we do? Only by clinging tightly to Christ can we come before the Father in Him.

People are imperfect. People are weak. So let us not be arrogant. Let us not think that we can come before God by our own ability.

So these repeated falls tell us that humanity is utterly incapable.

If humanity is utterly incapable, then we need the blood of Jesus Christ.

This once again shows that only the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ, the God-man with two natures in one person, only the sacrifice offered by the eternal Lord as He entered the heavenly sanctuary, is effective for us.

All earthly sacrifices are merely shadows and types.

This also reveals, secondly and thirdly, the extent of God’s holiness.

God’s holiness is to such a degree that He allows no error at all.

Noah sinned, and his son was cursed.

In Exodus chapter 32, the Israelites worshiped the golden calf, and many of them were struck down by God.

Here, Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire, and they were struck down.

In the case of Achan, Achan and his family were struck down.

In the case of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter used the word of God, and they were struck down.

So here we must truly have a heart of reverence for God’s holiness.

The Holy God is infinitely holy. We must not think about God using human reasoning.

God is a consuming fire. If we are not in Christ, our only outcome would be to be struck down.

So let us have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of God’s holiness.

In such a holy place, two priests were struck down.

And you must know that Nadab and Abihu were people who had followed Aaron and Moses through all these events.

They were in the sanctuary. When they were cleansed, when they washed their hands, they saw the glory of God descend.

They had seen God’s glory before, and now they saw God’s glory again.

Yet such people were struck down.

This tells us how holy God is.

God will never spare someone because of their status or position. That is impossible.

God’s holiness is absolute. No matter who you are, He will call sin to account.

Of course, there are many more examples of this pattern in Scripture. You can look for them slowly.

For example, David’s fall can also be placed into this pattern.

You will find that this pattern truly runs throughout Scripture.

At the very least, we can draw the three reminders I mentioned earlier.

So now let us come to the text itself.

Specifically, what exactly did Nadab and Abihu do?

You will notice that in each case, the specific sin is not the same.

Among all these patterns, each person sinned differently.

Noah drank wine. David committed adultery. Ananias and Sapphira lied to God.

So what did Nadab and Abihu do?

The text says that they took their own censers, put fire in them, added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded.

That is all the text says. Just one verse tells us what they did.

Actually, it is not very detailed. It is not entirely clear.

Some people think they may have been drunk, because verse 8 later says that they were not to drink wine when entering the tent of meeting.

I think that interpretation is not quite right.

I think the focus is on the offering of unauthorized fire.

So what is unauthorized fire?

Unauthorized fire is foreign fire. It is fire from outside.

What corresponds to unauthorized fire is holy fire.

The holy fire is the fire on the altar.

They lit their own fire.

So I think verse 1 of chapter 10 tells us their sin.

I think their greatest sin was that they wanted to control God.

This is the core problem.

When they saw the glory of God descend, they desired to share in that glory.

They wanted to say, “Look, when I offer fire, God’s glory comes down.”

So they wanted, before God, to prove how accepted they were, how capable they were of glorifying God.

So they offered unauthorized fire.

They wanted to make God display His glory.

This is my inference.

Another possibility is that they wanted to elevate themselves.

They wanted to place themselves above their father Aaron, and above their brothers Eleazar and Ithamar.

These two acted together and said, “We will offer unauthorized fire.”

Why did they do this?

God had not commanded it.

God had commanded so many things. The sacrificial system was already extremely complex and demanding.

Why would they add something extra?

I think, first, they wanted to control God.

They wanted to use unauthorized fire to make the Spirit of God descend again.

They wanted to prove that they were special.

That they were different.

So because of this, God struck them down.

This tells us, brothers and sisters, that God can never be controlled.

This is the difference between our God and idols.

What are idols?

Idols are things you can manipulate.

For example, people say that if you burn the first incense, even burn 8.88 million worth of incense, then the idol will bless you for the year.

Why do people fight to burn the first incense? That is the logic.

This is a lie.

No one asks where that money goes. Corruption? Organized crime? Fraud?

They do not care.

As long as you offer it, the idol will bless you.

Pagan religion has no moral framework.

Pagan gods are controllable.

In all pagan worship, you will see some kind of technique, some kind of manipulation.

Like Daoist rituals, chanting incantations, attempting to control the spiritual realm.

This is how humans interact with idols.

All pagan religions operate this way.

They believe they can manipulate the spirit world through certain methods.

Even in Canaanite religion, it became so evil that they offered human sacrifices, even infants, to gain favor.

This is what God hates.

Nadab and Abihu were using pagan methods to worship the LORD.

This is why the LORD was especially angry.

This violates the second commandment.

When we discussed the second commandment, we emphasized that worship must be done in Christ.

Our manner of worship must follow the way revealed by Christ.

So the first verse speaks of the correctness of the object of worship.

The second commandment speaks of the correctness of the manner of worship.

You cannot control God.

You must follow Him.

You must submit to Him.

The LORD God can never be controlled.

He is the Lord of all, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

He speaks and it is done. He commands and it stands.

No one can change His decree.

This is why Reformed theology emphasizes God’s decree so strongly.

People worry that this doctrine causes practical problems.

They ask, “Do I still need to strive? Do I still need to pray earnestly?”

But why emphasize it?

Because it tells the world that God is not controllable.

He leads His people. His people do not control Him.

This concept is extremely important.

Nadab and Abihu wanted to control God.

That is why God’s wrath was kindled.

They treated God like a toy, like a tool.

God will never accept that.

They did this to display their own greatness.

To say they were better than their father, better than their brothers.

“When we offer fire, God’s glory will come down.”

Where is that rule from?

God fills when He wills.

This is not something humans can control.

That is why God struck them down.

Especially at such a glorious and celebratory moment for Israel.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has spoken.”

The LORD said, “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.”

This means two things.

First, God is holy.

It is God who sanctifies you, not you who sanctify God.

Second, God will have His glory.

His glory cannot be taken.

No one may control Him or share His glory.

Those who attempt to do so will be judged.

Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel.

He told them to carry their relatives outside the camp.

They carried them out in their tunics.

This detail is important.

If these men had been burned by ordinary fire, their clothes would have burned as well.

But their clothes were not burned.

They were burned to death while their garments remained intact.

This shows that this was a miracle.

This was divine fire from heaven.

God struck them down, but their clothing remained.

This also preserved the sanctity of the sanctuary.

This was another way God displayed His glory.

Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Do not let your hair hang loose, and do not tear your garments, lest you die and wrath come upon the congregation.”

They were not allowed to mourn.

Think about this.

A father, sons, brothers.

What immense grief this must have been.

They had been together for seven days of ordination.

This was supposed to be a glorious moment.

They must have been terrified and deeply sorrowful.

Yet Moses commanded them not to mourn.

They were not to leave the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest they die.

Because the anointing oil of the LORD was upon them.

This shows us that the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility.

Aaron and his four sons—what glory this was.

They alone could draw near to God.

They alone could serve in the sanctuary.

Among all Israel, God chose the tribe of Levi.

Within Levi, He chose the family of the high priest.

What immense honor.

Yet they failed.

But God preserved a remnant.

Aaron was preserved.

The two remaining sons were preserved.

The priestly service continued.

I believe that from that point on, Aaron’s family would teach this incident to future generations.

Serving God requires great caution.

The two most likely successors were struck down.

So they must serve God with utmost care.

Only do what the LORD commands.

This produced reverence in the priestly family.

They learned that serving a holy God requires fear and obedience.

This is also a reminder to us.

We must obey God’s law seriously.

According to the first four commandments, we fear God.

According to the last six, we love others.

We examine how we relate to elders, to peers, to material things, to life, to greed.

Because the God we serve is a consuming fire.

This is why Hebrews says that our God is a consuming fire.

Where does that come from?

It comes from Leviticus chapter 10.

Because heavenly fire killed two priests.

May God have mercy on us.

May we be more obedient and more reverent before His holiness.

That is all for today. Thank you, everyone.