And this is Leslie Curran saying hello and welcome in the Saviour's name to our Gospel Broadcast. I'm glad you're joining us today and here to let the Bible speak is the Reverend John Greer. Today I want to turn your attention to some most solemn words which are found in the book of Leviticus chapter 10 and the verse number 2. The verse reads, And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

Aaron the first high priest of Israel and his wife Elisheba had four sons, the oldest two being Nadab and Abihu, the ones whose deaths are recorded in this particular verse of the scriptures. These two men were of course born in Egypt and would have been grown men before the exodus ever occurred. When they died their two younger brothers Eleazar and Ithamar assumed their places.

And as the scriptural record reveals, Eleazar and his descendants became the successors to the office of high priest within the tribe of Levi and the nation of Israel. Therefore careful thought tells us that the deaths of Nadab and Abihu were the deaths of two very privileged men, privileged with regard to the things of God and exposed to great spiritual favours and experiences as all the references to them prior to their deaths would indicate. After the record of their birth in Exodus 6, the next time we read of Nadab and Abihu is in Exodus 24 in a setting that is truly amazing.

In that chapter and in verses 9 and 10 it is recorded that Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu went up into the Mount of God and then we have these solemn and striking words, and they saw the God of Israel. Now while we cannot fully comprehend the exact meaning of these words, yet they denote spiritual experience and privilege of the highest degree. They tell us that these two men, Nadab and Abihu, were men who had a background filled with lofty honour and privilege of a spiritual nature.

The next reference to them is in Exodus 28, a chapter that describes further honour bestowed on them because we have here a detailed revelation of the making of the priestly garments for Aaron and his sons. In verse 40 of that chapter we have the words, and for Aaron and for his sons thou shalt make coats and girdles and bonnets, shalt thou make for them for glory and for beauty. And again it's underlined that Nadab and Abihu were men who partook of the highest honours within the religious hierarchy of Israel.

They were men who by virtue of the glorious and beautiful garments provided for them were set apart from the rest of their tribe, the tribe of Levi, never mind been set apart from the entire nation of Israel. In tracing their history we come then to Leviticus 8, which gives a full record of the great event of their dedication to the priesthood. And in that chapter we find that there is a description given of the elaborate ritual that was followed when Aaron and his sons donned their priestly garments for the first time and were solemnly set apart to discharge the roles that were allotted to them.

The consecration ceremony lasted for seven days and on the eighth day, recorded in Leviticus 9, Aaron and his sons came forth from the tabernacle and immediately entered into an entire day of presenting a series of sin offerings and burnt offerings onto the Lord. And yet the tragically solemn matter is that in that very day when they were consecrated to the priesthood and in the midst of offering the holy sacrifices to the Lord, the deaths of Nadab and Abihu took place. They died as it were when they had come to the very peak of religious and spiritual experience.

And therefore it's little wonder that virtually every further reference to Nadab and Abihu in scripture includes mention of their tragic and solemn deaths. In Numbers 3, 2 and 4 we are told that Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord. In Numbers 26, 60 and 61 it is said that Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the Lord.

And the final reference to them is in First Chronicles 24, 1 and 2 where it states Nadab and Abihu died before their father. That does not only mean that they died prior to Aaron's death, but it means that they died in his very presence. They died before him in that sense.

So in these references to these two men after Leviticus 10, the Holy Spirit has seen fit to bear witness to these facts and to the solemnity of the deaths that they experienced. They were taken to the heights of spiritual experience and yet they were cut down in death. This was their awful end.

And surely the Holy Spirit has recorded these details that we might have our hearts solemnized and that we might receive spiritual instruction for our souls. To you who listen to the program today who are yet unsaved, God has recorded the details of the deaths of these men in order to your warning, in order to have you flee to Christ for the saving of your soul. I wanted to look here at a number of facts beginning today and we'll come back to this next week concerning

“This message, delivered by Reverend John Greer and introduced by Leslie Curran, centers on the solemn story of Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, found in Leviticus 10:2. Despite being highly privileged spiritually—witnessing God's presence and being consecrated as priests—they died tragically for offering unauthorized or "strange" fire before the Lord. Their sin was rooted in pride, approaching God without His command and outside the divinely ordained way of worship. The message emphasizes that God must be approached on His terms, through the appointed means—specifically, through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice. Reverend Greer urges listeners, especially those unsaved, to heed this warning, humble themselves, and seek salvation through Christ alone, highlighting the gravity and eternal consequence of worshiping God with a proud heart.”

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the deaths of Nadab and Abihu.

Notice first the sin that brought their death. In verse one, we're told that their sin was that of offering strange fire before the Lord. On the surface, this may not seem much, but closer thought and more careful examination will show otherwise.

It was great sin because it had to do with approach to God. In verse three, the Lord goes on to say this, this is that that the Lord spake saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified. Notice those words, sanctified in them that come nigh me.

Coming nigh to God pertains to approaching him to worship him. But the Lord stipulates that men should approach him in a fashion that sanctifies him, in a manner that is honoring to him, that is according to who he is, especially with regard to his holiness and his righteousness. But Nadab and Abihu's approach to God was out of order.

It was marked by various features that underline the sin of which they were guilty, sin that led to their deaths. For example, in their approach to God, there was pride. They did not have the divine directive or command to offer this incense.

It says, which he commanded them not. It would seem that on this occasion or at this time, Aaron was the one who was to conduct all of the ministry of the priesthood with his sons merely attending him. But the point is, they had no distinct command from the Lord to offer this incense.

But having become a priest, having been appointed priests themselves, they were filled with pride and arrogance, and they took to themselves this task. Because of their pride, they wanted a position that did not belong to them. And it all had to do, as I say, with approaching God.

So in their approach here to the Lord, their hearts were filled with pride and haughtiness, and they felt that they could come before the Lord as they pleased. Here is sin that is great in the sight of God. Those who draw near to the Lord professedly in worship and who approach him, but their hearts are filled with pride, and it's demonstrated in the sense that they will not submit themselves to the mind of God concerning how he is to be approached, how he is to be worshipped.

I tell you, my friend, that the only way in which a sinner can come before the Lord and be accepted by him is through the means that he has appointed and through the way that he has actually revealed to his people and to the hearts of sinners. You see, toward the end of chapter 9, just a few verses prior to our text, we read of the people of Israel before the Lord. We read of offerings being presented to the Lord, and then it says in verse 24 of chapter 9, there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat.

Listen, which when all the people saw, they shouted and fell on their faces. Now, did that happen about who were there? They saw what happened. They saw the fire of the Lord burning up those sacrifices, and they saw the rest of the people fall on their faces in reverence and in humility, but they didn't do that.

No, their hearts are so filled with pride that they then take up their censers and they go before the Lord to offer up their incense to do something that he had not commanded them to do. Now, what was seen that day when the fire came out and burned up the sacrifice was a picture of Calvary, a picture of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, there was being presented a view, a revelation of the only way in which men are able to come before God and not be consumed, and that is approaching God upon the merits of Jesus Christ, upon the basis of his precious blood and his atoning sacrifice.

And did that happen about you in seeing that word picture before their very eyes, that demonstration of the only way to come to God, did not submit to it. Rather in pride, they came before the Lord as if they of themselves were entitled to be accepted by the Lord. I ask you today, is this your attitude toward the Lord and toward approaching him? You are aware from scripture or from hearing the word of God been preached to your mind that you should approach the Lord, that you must come before him and worship him, but do you realize, my friend, that there's only one way to do so, and that is through the blood of Christ, through the merits of Jesus Christ, through the one who suffered on behalf of the ungodly.

And unless you humble yourself and come to the Lord on his terms, then you will be ruined, you will be eternally damned. This is how solemn the matter is, this is how serious the issue is. You must realize today that it was this sin of coming before the Lord in pride and with their own arrogant attitude that brought about the deaths of Nadab and Abihu.

And so you will be eternally lost unless you humble yourself before God. May you do so today and may you seek the Lord on his terms. May you find Christ as your savior for his name's sake.