I will share something the Holy Spirit inspired during my reading.
Leviticus 10:1-3
Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, took censers and filled them with embers; then they put incense on top of the fire and presented it to the Eternal One. This was a strange and unauthorized fire that the Eternal did not command them. 2 Flames erupted from before the Eternal and burned up Nadab and Abihu. They both died in the presence of the Eternal One.
Priest Aaron’s boys, Nadab and Abihu, were anointed as priests and had roles to carry out in the temple of God.
But for some reason, these boys decided to offer God unauthorized fire that God did not command them to do. So basically, they did not offer it as God instructed them to do, but decided to disobey the instructions already given to them.
Nadab and Abihu burnt the incense with fire of their own making rather than taking fire from the Altar. They came up with their idea and presented fire created through their disobedience.
But this one act of disobedience had cost their life.
Tonight, this message was given to me more for leaders who execute and perform all types of tasks in the church.
God allows leaders to make mistakes, and He understands our shortcomings. God grants many, many chances to make things right. But there are church tasks, roles, and presentations that you must not and can not deviate from, especially if the instructions were given to you very clearly.
Why would someone deviate? There may be a few reasons. Offense, unforgiveness, jealousy, self-centeredness, pride/wanting to show off, and greed.
If you deviate/disobey from your worldly job, you will get fired, or your time will be cut. If you mess up and do not follow the instructions of a major or a critical project for your company, you will likely be fired immediately.
Although God killed Aaron’s boys for not following the important job that was given to them, in today’s time, even if we intentionally deviate or disobey, He won’t kill us. Still, He will kill our anointing, kill our title, and kill our tasks/roles in the church for a long time.
There are specific tasks in the church that you must not and cannot disobey or deviate from as a leader. Aaron’s boys knew exactly where to get fire from, which should have been from the Altar.
Instructions are coming to us from the church Altar. It could come from Bishop, Sr pastors, or Elders. Some instructions may not be so important and, therefore, may not cost you much even if you disobey or deviate, but some instructions/tasks will cost you heavily if you disobey or deviate.
Also, fixed instructions from God have been given to us, such as tithing and keeping the Lord’s Day Holy. If you break these commandments, you will heavily pay the price.
Let us get rid of our problems within us. Otherwise, you will still make wrong choices even if you know the correct answer. Nadab and Abihu knew the instructions; they knew exactly what to do, yet they devised their own idea. God not only rejected but also killed them.
If you know God has taken away (killed) anything from your life, please reflect, pray, and repent sincerely. Restoration and healing are up to you.
Senior Pastor Yoojin Kim
Senior Pastor Steve Kim Comments:
Of course, the final judgement will be a person’s life. There will be measures of warning. Just like two nations, before nuclear escalation, they start with conventional warning and warfare before escalating to final annihilation. There is a buildup.
But also in our case, many of you know too well to make deep mistakes, yet the danger is to perceive what is deep and make it trivial.
But as the Presence of God gets stronger, there may not be warnings because all the warnings were given at pre-season.
In the New Testament, we can compare Aaron’s boys’ death and disobedience in Acts chapter 5. With Aaron’s boys, disobedience to God’s command brought death. In the NT, Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit.
Aaron’s boys disobeyed God as they neglected Moses’ instructions, which are from God. Anaias and Sapphira lied to God, the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle Peter was the mediator to God for that event.
In the OT, disobedience shows us that it brings death, and in the NT, lying brings death. Therefore, let’s not have a problem with disobedience and lying.