So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.
The verse records that men went near and carried the bodies out of the camp in their coats, just as Moses had commanded or instructed. Those carried out were Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, whose bodies were borne out in their priestly coats after fire from the Lord killed them as judgment for offering strange fire. Their consecration to the priesthood did not excuse their disobedience or self-indulgence.
Their deaths involved the use of wine, which benumbed, clouded, and confused their senses and minds. With senses thus confused by wine they could not distinguish sacred and holy things from common and unholy things, even failing to distinguish sacred from common fire. Their story therefore warns that drunkenness confuses the senses and impairs discernment between the sacred and the common.
Their downfall was caused by appetite and by self-indulgence expressed in disobedience. God therefore prohibited wine and strong drink for those ministering in holy things, so that they could discern between holy and unholy and teach His statutes. The account shows that God requires those who approach Him in sacred service to honor His holiness, and that those entrusted with sacred responsibilities need clear minds, strict temperance, and strict control of appetite and habits in order to judge rightly and act with principle.
The verse records that men went near and carried the bodies out of the camp in their coats, just as Moses had commanded or instructed. Those carried out were Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, whose bodies were borne out in their priestly coats after fire from the Lord killed them as judgment for offering strange fire. Their consecration to the priesthood did not excuse their disobedience or self-indulgence.
Their deaths involved the use of wine, which benumbed, clouded, and confused their senses and minds. With senses thus confused by wine they could not distinguish sacred and holy things from common and unholy things, even failing to distinguish sacred from common fire. Their story therefore warns that drunkenness confuses the senses and impairs discernment between the sacred and the common.
Their downfall was caused by appetite and by self-indulgence expressed in disobedience. God therefore prohibited wine and strong drink for those ministering in holy things, so that they could discern between holy and unholy and teach His statutes. The account shows that God requires those who approach Him in sacred service to honor His holiness, and that those entrusted with sacred responsibilities need clear minds, strict temperance, and strict control of appetite and habits in order to judge rightly and act with principle.