Vayiqra/Leviticus
CHAPTER 9
1. Then it came about [that] on the eighth [sh’mini] day, Moshe called for Aharon, his sons, and the elders of Israel.
There is no eighth day in a week, yet the concept continues to show up over and over in Scripture, so it exists somewhere. It is outside our normal count, so we must look carefully at these instances, for the Kingdom is in them. The picture here shows that the Kingdom will be made up of responsible servants who live very well but are always at YHWH’s beck and call.
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18. And he killed the bull and the ram [by slitting their throats as] a slaughter of peace [offerings] which are for the nation, and Aharon's sons presented the blood to him, and he dashed it against the altar all around.
19. And [they brought him] the fat of the bull and ram--the fat tail, that which covers [the inward parts], the kidneys, and the lobe that hangs over the liver,
20. and they set the fat [portions] on top of the breasts, and caused the fat to go up in smoke on the altar.
21. But Aharon swung the breasts and the right foreleg back and forth before YHWH as a wave offering, as Moshe had commanded.
22. Then Aharon lifted up his hand toward the people and blessed them, then descended from carrying out the sin offering, the ascending [offering], and the peace offerings.
23. Then Moshe and Aharon came into the Tent of Appointment, then they went out and blessed the people, and the authority of YHWH appeared to the whole nation,
24. and fire came out from the face of YHWH and consumed the ascending [offering] and the fat [that was] upon the altar. When all of the people saw [it], they shouted for joy, and fell on their faces.
It would be hard for these people, who were not jaded by television, to take their eyes off these men in fancy costumes full of exotic materials. Their hearts would be beating quickly after watching the synchronized movements, the blood, and now the fire. It was not necessarily as spectacular as Hollywood special effects, but was significant enough to be seen as a sign of YHWH’s acceptance of the offerings, as if He Himself were eating them, for “consumed” also means “ate” in Hebrew. The fact that the Tent of Appointment, to which they had contributed, was now finally going to be put to use would in itself be a very emotional thing. There was a similar event when Shlomoh dedicated the Temple. (1 Kings 8:10-11) Shouted for joy: the word also includes the sense of being a shrill gasp of awe. The response was the same when the Temple was restored after the exile. (Ezra 3:11) Israel was in a state of ecstasy that YHWH had “shown His face” again so strongly after being angry at us. He was back, and had accepted their repentance! The crowd went wild, excited to do whatever they could to keep Him there. After our 2,700 years of exile imposed by YHWH, we, too, want a central place where all Israel can gather—a place where YHWH is glad to be, so the fullness of the Kingdom can come about.
CHAPTER 10
1. But Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, each took his [own] censer, and they provided fire in them, and they [each] put incense on it, and brought near strange fire into YHWH’s presence—that which he had not commanded them.
2. So fire went out from before [the face of] YHWH and consumed them, and they died in YHWH’s presence.
Suddenly things are not so exciting anymore. The mood must have changed to one of extreme terror instantly. Aharon’s eldest sons, the first two regular priests in the history of Israel, who have lived in the Tent of YHWH for seven days, one of whom was in line to be the next high priest—the hope for the next generation--have just died! Something had gone terribly wrong. What just occurred? Where do we begin to sort this out? Who is the “he” who had “not commanded”? Moshe? Aharon? YHWH? There are a variety of ways to interpret the Hebrew words, so we must examine all the possibilities so we will be sure we do not end up as they did. Verse 1 says they brought “strange fire”. The Hebrew term, zur, means foreign, even "adulterous" fire "from another place", or “that which turns aside”. It is not from something close to YHWH. They had gotten on the wrong side of the fire that had just provided great blessing to Israel (9:24), and it destroyed them. A key is in the word “provided”. The fire was of their own making, not taken from the altar fire that YHWH Himself had kindled (6:2-8), and the incense was burned not on the altar of incense as prescribed, but in firepans of their own. They had never been commanded to do this, and some rabbis interpret the last phrase as saying He had actually commanded them not to. Most of YHWH’s “top ten” commands are “negative” (“Thou shalt not”). We need to put more focus on the positive commands, and the three big ones are “I am YHWH Your Elohim”, “Remember the Sabbath”, and “Honor your father and mother”. We do not wish to define ourselves by what we do not do, or the commands will seem to lose their luster. The commands are about how to really live. But still, “do not” means “do not”. By disobeying, they took responsibility for the trouble that would certainly come their way. But the only command similar to this which had already been given was to not bring a different type of incense. (Ex. 30:9) Later, probably because of this incident, YHWH clarified that any fire for the incense in His house was to be taken from the bronze altar. (Lev. 16:12-13) But they had certainly not been trained by Moshe or Aharon to do this, so at the very least they were unauthorized. Could they be blamed for simply doing something they were not specifically commanded to do? Did anyone command them to get out of bed that morning? Is that fair? They had probably seen this done by priests in Egypt. Burning incense near temples was common in most pagan religions, and continues to this day through Catholicism. Not that incense itself is pagan, but it was foreign to YHWH in this context. He might even have had no problem if they had done this at home, but here they were an example to all Israel, and they turned out to be a negative rather than a positive one. In order to seem "generous" (which is what Nadav means), Christians have allowed rituals from other (pagan) sources to continue, and tried to fit them into the categories YHWH has prescribed. But if we try to keep the Sabbath on a different day than He prescribed, He will not accept it. Sometimes there is room for spontaneity and creativity, but still it must be within His boundaries. We are trying to remove foreign influences from our worship; this, like then, is no time to introduce new elements into the worship of YHWH that come from our own hearts, even if they seem harmless. It might have made perfect sense to do it this way, but did they “read the instructions” first? There might have been no selfishness involved, but many in the Church are genuinely seeking the Creator, yet they approach Him in ways He did not ask for. The psalms even tell us how to worship Him—and some of the ways may not be what we are most comfortable with. Here there may have been no direct precedent, but fire represents what we “burn” for. The incense they used may have even been correct; no one said it stank. It was the source of the fire that was wrong. Incense ascends from the earth to the heavens, so it represents prayer (see Luke 1:10), but the fire represents the motive that carries it upward. Even if everything was done just the way He said, if the motive is wrong, it is “strange fire”. Whether for power and self-will or just being caught up in the emotion of the moment, either was a foreign motivation for people whose calling was to serve the people of Israel and YHWH. It may have seemed like the Holy Spirit, but since Moshe had not commanded them to do this, it was a different spirit. It does not matter how great your idea or if everyone around you agrees; it must line up with YHWH’s instruction. Avihu’s name means “he is my father”. Their pedigree did not exempt them from responsibility. Each brought his own fire-holder; each acted as an individual, doing the same thing, but separately rather than in unity. When we act for our own benefit or from our own motives, we act alone. In a gathering of Israel, that in itself is “strange fire”. Since Moshe and Aharon had their reunion in the wilderness, they had been acting as a team, with each knowing his job and doing it in dependence on the other (9:23), never envying the other’s job, but working together beautifully. A man of understanding will seek wise counsel so he can become even wiser. (Prov. 1:5; 9:9; 11:14; 15:22) Paul’s finest words (Philippians 2:1ff) came when they were written together with Timothy. They were about looking out for one another’s interests even ahead of our own, to restore balance where we have not even loved one another as ourselves. Moshe and Aharon had been seeking only YHWH’s fire, and when they were together in every way, it did come. So quickly this unity, which was demonstrated minutes before, was now lost. As one of the first sacrifices in the new Tabernacle, this set the tone for all later ones, just as the immediate punishment for Hananyah and S'firah's deceitful "gift" did when the covenant was renewed. (Acts 5) From the very start, "Judgment must begin with the household of YHWH." (1 Kefa/Peter 4:17) These priests had in some sense seen YHWH and yet were spared at that time (Ex. 24:1-11); they were held so much more responsible to carry out their instructions precisely, so when they became careless about what they were teaching the whole congregation, judgment was swift and harsh. They died without any sons, so their house perished, even while the tent of the righteous was flourishing, because they followed the way that seemed right—that of their own hearts—and it led to death. (Proverbs 14:10-12)
3. And Moshe told Aharon, "This is what YHWH meant when He said, ‘I will be treated as holy by those who draw near to Me, and I will be taken seriously in the faces of all the people.'" So Aharon was silent.
Moshe seems to be saying, “That’s what He was talking about!” It is difficult to find a previous statement like this, but it does tell us that whatever the young priests did, they had not been taking YHWH or His authority seriously enough. Aharon alone was authorized to bring incense inside the Tent. (Ex. 30:8) In Egypt, priests were counted more powerful even than Pharaoh. The rest of the people had just fallen on their faces in awe of YHWH; why were these two priests still standing up? Even Moshe and Aharon seem to be on their bellies. Are they just not impressed, or do they see themselves as part of the “show”? In that case, it was no longer about YHWH in their minds. Did they not see themselves as part of the people since they were more highly ranked? Their position may have gone to their head, making them think they were now the most important people in Israel, and could therefore act on their own. This became a constant pattern in Israel, to the point of Efrayim eventually saying the Torah was fully done away with. Some have added to the Word of YHWH; others have taken away from it. Either way, it makes our offering something foreign to Him. There is nothing as special as knowing YHWH as our Father, but we cannot do so at the expense of recognizing that He is also King. Those who approach the King must do so on His terms. (See Esther 4:11) We must bring him the fragrance He wants, not a different one. Even a king’s children must bow down when he walks into the room. They learned quickly that this was not a responsibility anyone could play with; when doing this job, one must be about YHWH, or there will be tragedy. As Yahshua said, "To whom much is given, of him much will be required." (Luk. 12:48) Those who lead others in the knowledge of YHWH are held to a much higher standard. (Yaaqov/James 3:1) Our lives need to demonstrate that YHWH has all authority, so that no one can tell the difference between what we are doing and what He is doing. (Yoch. 14) Since they ignored His fire for their own, this fire destroyed them.
Commentary on
Parashat Sh'mini
What in the World
Just Occurred?
