And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
Lev. 10:1
Nadab and Abihu were priests. They thought offering incense would be a good thing to do. “God likes incense,” they thought. So they loaded up their censers and offered some incense to God.
God didn’t like their incense, however.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Lev. 10:2
God killed Nadab and Abihu for their incense offering.
He never told them to offer this incense. They just did it because they thought it would be nice. They made up their own way to worship.
Their worship looked good. It seemed reasonable.
But it wasn’t based on God’s word.
God called it strange fire.
Offering strange fire to God means coming up with our own ideas and ways to worship God. This is vain. It’s what the Pharisees did.
And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Matt. 15:9
Vain worship kills people.
When Aaron found out his boys were dead for worshiping God, he was upset. He didn’t understand why all this happened. His sons were just offering a little incense, and now they were dead!
Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
Lev. 10:3
The problem was this: Nadab and Abihu didn’t sanctify God with their worship.
Vain Worship Doesn’t Sanctify God
Sanctify is the Hebrew word qodesh which means to be made holy, set apart, or consecrated.
Nadab and Abihu didn’t sanctify God because they didn’t honor his word. They thought they could worship God in a way that they made up out of their own minds. By applying their own ways to God instead of applying God’s word to themselves, they tried to bring God down to their level. They didn’t keep God holy, exalted, and separate from themselves.
Their worship was a celebration of themselves rather than submission to God.
God is defined by his word. When we submit to his word, we sanctify him. We keep him separate from our own ways, and we enter into his holiness. We acknowledge that God is higher than we are. We bow down to him so he can raise us up, transforming us into his image.
But when we disregard God’s word and do our own religious thing instead, we try to bring God down to our own level. It is like saying God must submit to us. We try to force God into our own image.
When we worship God according to his word, he is glorified. When we worship him according to our own ways, we defile him.
Man-made religion pollutes God.
This is why God hates vain worship. It incurs his wrath, and it will trigger his judgment.
Bethel Cornerstone 