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Nadab and Abihu Died while Burning Incense

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(Leviticus 10:1-2)

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. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

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Aaron, the brother of Moses, had sons named Nadab and Abihu.
They received a very great honor from God.

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When God appeared at Mount Sinai and had the Covenant with the Israelites, these two people were invited specially to worship God in the place of God's presence.

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And God appointed Aaron and his sons as priests, who had the special privilege of offering the sacrifices to God. After they were appointed as priests, they had their first sacrifice in the desert.

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Aaron and his sons followed the rules set by God and prepared the burnt offering. And they put the burnt offering on the altar.
Only the priests were allowed to do this work.

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That day, God accepted the offering of the Israelites. God sent fire on the altar and received the burnt offering. Seeing that, the Israelites shouted and fell face down on the ground. They felt once more that God was alive.

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Offering the sacrifices to God was a very holy work. The Tabernacle was a place where God, Himself came down so the priests working in that place should always have a clean heart and they should be careful of their attitudes.

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Inside the Tabernacle, there was an altar of incense which was made in gold. God ordered that they must use the fire in the altar when they were burning the incense in that altar of incense.

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But Nadab and Abihu took the orders of God very lightly.
And they just wanted to burn the incense on the altar. So the two of them brought the censer.

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And as if they were competing against each other, they wanted themselves to be the first one to burn the incense. They were in a hurry so they just put any fire into the censer. Then, they added incense in their censers.

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But a very scary thing happened. God sent fire and killed them in that place.
Right in that place, they died by the fire sent by God.

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The people who saw this scary happening became frozen in their places. All the gathered people in that place felt how scary it is to burn the incense without following God's words.

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Nadab and Abihu were punished by God because they had unclean hearts and yet they tried to offer the sacrifices in front of a Holy God. They took God's words very lightly and they tried to serve God in their own ways. That was why they were punished.

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Now a days, we don't offer sacrifices like the Old Testament times. Jesus died on the cross for us and Jesus forgave our sins so now, we can meet God through our worship service.

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But God in the Old Testament times and God in this time is the same God that we meet. God is Holy and God doesn't have any sin.
And God hates those people who don't worship God properly.

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Jesus told us the proper heart and attitude of God's worshipers.
Jesus said, "God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
God is not looking at our outer looks. God is looking at our hearts when we worship. I hope dear friends that we can worship God like how Jesus told us and receive huge grace from God.