Light from the Sidra 29
Shemini: Leviticus 9-11
How quickly our joys can turn to sorrows! How soon after heights of elation can we find ourselves in depths of grief. This was the experience of Aaron on what should have been the greatest day of his life. It was the day he first began to act as the High Priest for his people.
The LORD had made it plain that He was willing to forgive and to accept His people; but we sense Aaron's hesitation about entering into his solemn duties, because Moses needed to encourage him to proceed. Aaron went forward and entered into the privilege of offering the sacrifices for himself and the people. You can sense his joy as, at the end of the ritual, he lifts his hand toward the people and blesses them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared and fire came from Him to consume the offerings. They were accepted! What an immense sense of relief must have swept over Aaron, and a sense of peace and joy. The people too were in awe.
But what of the two of the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu? They too must have been caught up in the excitement and, in a moment of elation; they decided to offer incense to the LORD. But what a disaster! In a moment they were struck dead by that same fire from the LORD. Aaron was cast into the depths of sorrow and could not eat the sin offering.
Strange fire
What went wrong? The focus of the words in Leviticus 10:1,2 is on the "strange fire". The term seems to indicate that the fire was not from the altar. Whatever the motives of Nadab and Abihu, though they may have though their offering of incense was appropriate, they had departed from the command of God. This was a terrible sin for priests of the LORD to commit. It was committed at a major public occasion and thus they set an evil example which, if the people had followed, would have corrupted the pure worship of the Most High. Nadab and Abihu failed to sanctify the LORD. The penalty was death.
How easily this happens in religion, both then and now. We might call such actions "will-worship", according to which Man decides what is appropriate in the worship of God rather than following the way specified by God. As you probably know, this Sidra contains the middle words of the Torah. The halfway point is in the middle of the phrase darosh darash - "enquire diligently". That is what we must do. Where and how does "will-worship" occur in religion today?
Is it good that heathen temples and even churches should house images and idols? No, because God has forbidden it. Is it right that Islam should make the stone in Mecca an object of special veneration? Surely not. Is it proper that Judaism should call Tishri the first month when, in fact, it is the seventh month?
After the temple
Errors can come in moments of sorrow as much as in times of joy. After the Temple was destroyed, at a time when many Jewish people were confused and despondent, it was decided that the sacrifices were no longer necessary and that prayer, alms and repentance were sufficient to make atonement. Was that a decision of God? If not, what man has the right to propose such a momentous change in the way the Almighty is to be served?
You might think the modification was inconsequential in view of the fact that fire did not fall from heaven to consume the men who made the change in God's law. In the case of Nadab and Abihu God acted in an extraordinary manner to make it clear to the people what such sin deserved. But in the rest of the Scriptures, though kings, priests and the people often broke His laws God rarely punished them in such a dramatic manner because He is patient. We see throughout the history of ancient Israel that God does not always judge immediately as, for example, when the people worshipped other gods but God's punishment fell centuries later.
A New Covenant
Only one person can change Israel's worship; the LORD Himself. He revealed to the prophet Jeremiah that He would one day initiate a New Covenant to replace the covenant made with Israel at Sinai.
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke My covenant, although I was a lord over them, saith the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: 'Know the LORD'; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, TANAKH, Jewish Publication Society)
Jesus the Messiah inaugurated this New Covenant at His last Seder when he took the third cup, the Cup of Redemption, and spoke symbolically of his death saying, "This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins". In the New Covenant the principle of blood sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin remains but it is no longer the blood of lambs, goats and bulls that atones for sin. Forgiveness is received through faith in Messiah's sacrificial death for sinners.
By contrast, Judaism has rejected the necessity of blood sacrifice for atonement and has followed the ideas of men. By whose authority? The consequences of this disobedience for the Jewish people have been awful. But there is a way back to God through faith in the sacrifice of Messiah. In Him I can wish you "Shalom Aleichem".
