6/08/2006

Nadab and Abihu

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.

You might wonder what Nadab and Abihu were thinking. I wonder why there was no one around to stop them. Did they have to sneak into a storage area to get their censers and incense? From the context, it seems this was going on at the Tent of Meeting. Was there no one else around at the time? Were they around but occupied with other duties? Were they sleeping? Did Nadab and Abihu have to sneak past any guards, or past Moses and Aaron?

I wonder if the fire that consumed them was lightning. The term lightning is used elsewhere in connection with thunderstorms, so maybe this was something different. Then again, maybe it was lightning, but Moses didn't call it that because it didn't strike as part of a storm. If it was lightning, I wonder if there was the normal accompanying thunderclap.

I wonder how many people saw them die. It's hard to tell if this happened immediately after the events at the end of Leviticus 9 where many, if not all 2.5 million people saw fire from the LORD consume an authorized burnt offering. If it did happen right after, then I wonder even more why no one tried to stop them.

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