After Nadab and Abihu were consumed for offering unauthorized worship, the Lord spoke directly to Aaron to give instruction for priestly service. Priests were to take no wine or strong drink when entering the tabernacle of meeting for sacred service, as a perpetual statute on pain of death. The purpose was to keep reason clear and unclouded so they could distinguish between holy and unholy and between clean and unclean, and could teach Israel all the statutes spoken through Moses. Nadab and Abihu had indulged freely until partly intoxicated, so their senses were benumbed and their perception confused, and they offered common fire with incense instead of the sacred fire the Lord Himself had kindled and commanded to be used and kept burning continually. The command still binds those who minister in holy things to total abstinence and strictly temperate habits to preserve all physical, mental, and moral powers in full force, for drink benumbs the sensibilities and puts eternal things on a level with common things so right and wrong are no longer discerned.
Context and Command
The Lord spoke directly to Aaron in the aftermath of the deaths of Nadab and Abihu to give instruction for priestly service. They had been consumed by divine fire for offering unauthorized worship, presenting common or strange fire before God contrary to His commandment. Their death by fire from His presence followed their disregard of His express directions about the sacred fire from the altar which He Himself had kindled from heaven and commanded to be used for incense and kept burning continually. They had indulged freely in wine according to custom and were partially intoxicated when they ministered, so gratifying appetite debased their faculties, beclouded their intellects, and left them without a realizing sense of the difference between the sacred fire and the common fire He had forbidden them to use.
The instruction this address introduces is a perpetual statute throughout their generations, a positive command like that about the tree of knowledge, forbidding wine and strong drink when entering the tabernacle of the congregation, tent of meeting, or sanctuary for sacred service, lest they die. It was given to Aaron and his sons for all going in to minister in holy office, requiring total abstinence from intoxicating drink while on duty because intoxication could cloud judgment needed for sacred service. Impaired discernment did not remove responsibility for what was done afterward, for accountability begins when the cup is put to the lips, and God marks iniquity exactly even in thoughtlessness, negligence, forgetfulness, and ignorance, visiting disobedience with terrible punishment even when men mean no harm or think they are doing Him service. Approach to Him must therefore be with reverence and awe in His own appointed manner, and partial obedience is not enough even in a solemn season of worship when nearly everything else was done as commanded.
The stated reasons are that with clear and unconfused power of discrimination and discernment, correct judgment, and full use of unclouded reason the priests could put difference between holy and unholy or common and between clean and unclean. With those powers preserved in full force for constant action they could teach Israel, the children of Israel, all the statutes spoken through Moses, being at all times examples to the people and in condition to properly instruct them and carry out their responsibilities. Intemperance weakens physical powers, debases morals, benumbs sensibilities, and puts eternal things on a level with common things so right and wrong is not discerned, and with the full and clear use of their reasoning powers they would have recoiled with horror from this presumptuous transgression, especially as elders who had witnessed the glory of God in the mount and understood that the most careful self-examination and sanctification were required before presenting themselves where His presence was manifested.
Nadab and Abihu's Failure
Nadab and Abihu had indulged freely in wine according to custom and entered to minister while partially intoxicated, so that wine benumbed their senses, beclouded their intellects, debased their faculties, and confused their perception so they could not discern sacred things. In that clouded and disqualified state for sacred office they lost the realizing sense of difference between sacred and common, between truth and error, leaving them vulnerable to deception and to positive disregard of express directions. In that condition they offered common fire with incense instead of the sacred fire from the altar which the Lord Himself had kindled from heaven, had commanded to be used for incense and kept burning continually, and had expressly charged them alone to use. They thus dishonored God by putting common fire upon their censers when they had been expressly charged to use only the sacred fire of the Lord's own kindling that never goes out, and by offering what He had forbidden them to use.
With the full and clear use of their reasoning powers they would have recoiled with horror from this presumptuous transgression of God's positive command. This was especially true since as elders who had witnessed the glory of God in the mount they understood that the most careful self-examination and sanctification were required before presenting themselves in the sanctuary where God's presence was manifested. God had honored them by placing them in important positions in His sacred work to test their character and bring into exercise the highest powers of the mind, giving them the highest incentive to develop firmness and principle and strictly temperate habits that they might have a continual sense of the sacredness of the work given them. Through self-gratification and indulgence of appetite they instead put the intoxicating draught to their lips again and again until force of habit controlled them, leaving them weak where they should have been strong and without self-control to resist vicious habit.
Their disregard also reflected lack of education to respect and reverence commands, obedience, self-denial, and parental authority, dishonoring God while under wine and bringing His wrath and destruction by fire from His presence. Misplaced indulgence and failure to mold character with high reverence for eternal things and to exercise firm parental restraint prepares children for the certain displeasure of God and for His justice to break forth upon them. Yet choosing to drink does not remove accountability, for responsibility begins when the cup is put to the lips for all acts committed under the influence of wine, and impaired discernment did not excuse what they did afterward. Their indulgence of appetite cost them their lives, and those who disregard God's directions to indulge appetite must bear the consequences.
Their judgment shows disobedience brings death by divine fire that must be borne, connecting intemperance in drinking wine with visitation of judgment. God marks iniquity exactly, even sins of thoughtlessness, negligence, forgetfulness, and ignorance, and visits disobedience with terrible punishment even when men mean no harm or think they are doing God service. Therefore approach to God must be with reverence and awe and in His own appointed manner, and partial obedience is not enough even in a solemn season of worship when nearly everything else was done as commanded.
Temperate Service Today
The Lord's word to Aaron lays a perpetual requirement of strictly temperate habits, to keep all physical, mental, and moral powers in full force for constant action, demanding total abstinence from intoxicating drink for those ministering in holy office, a command that still binds in this dispensation especially for those who minister in holy things. It was a positive command like the command about the tree of knowledge given to Adam and Eve. Intemperance weakens physical powers, injures physical and mental powers, debases morals, and benumbs sensibilities, putting eternal things on a level with common things so that right and wrong and truth and error are not discerned. In that clouded state reasoning is weakened and the ability to distinguish truth from error fails, leaving people more vulnerable to deception, confusing sacred and common things and treating what is holy as ordinary.
Anything in eating and drinking that disqualifies the mental powers for healthful and active exercise is an aggravating sin in God's sight, especially for those serving in holy things. Those entrusted with sacred duties need clear minds and strict self-control to judge rightly, to judge clearly between holy and common and clean and unclean, to carry out their responsibilities, and to keep their minds fit for sound instruction. Ministers must at all times be examples to the people and be in condition to properly instruct them, teaching Israel all the statutes spoken through Moses with full use of unclouded reason and with power of discrimination and discernment clear and unconfused.
Appetite and habits of life must be kept under strict control by all who serve God. Wine impaired the senses of Aaron's sons and can benumb the senses, so the same lesson applies to physicians as they care for patients under God's watch, whose appetite and habits must be kept under strict control. Wine of itself is a snare, becoming pleasant and preferred before water, confusing the senses and benumbing the brain so that physical and mental powers are weakened and the difference between the sacred and the common cannot be distinguished. Nadab and Abihu had drunk wine before sacred service and their senses were confused so that they could not distinguish sacred from common fire, showing that wine can become a snare and impair judgment in religious duties by confusing the mind and leading to disregard of God's commands. They were responsible for their actions under alcohol's influence, and by contrast sobriety enabled just administration to the widow and the fatherless.
The same command teaches youth like Daniel and his fellows to refuse wine even at the king's table and at the king's command, after diligent study and counsel together, lest love for wine be encouraged and lead to disobedience. Satan has worked perseveringly for the ruin of the world by appetite since causing the fall of the first parents in Eden. He leads heads of families through appetite to secure a harvest in their children to the third and fourth generation, with appetite and passions transmitted as an intensified legacy while children grow weaker in physical and moral power.
After Nadab and Abihu were consumed for offering unauthorized worship, the Lord spoke directly to Aaron to give instruction for priestly service. Priests were to take no wine or strong drink when entering the tabernacle of meeting for sacred service, as a perpetual statute on pain of death. The purpose was to keep reason clear and unclouded so they could distinguish between holy and unholy and between clean and unclean, and could teach Israel all the statutes spoken through Moses. Nadab and Abihu had indulged freely until partly intoxicated, so their senses were benumbed and their perception confused, and they offered common fire with incense instead of the sacred fire the Lord Himself had kindled and commanded to be used and kept burning continually. The command still binds those who minister in holy things to total abstinence and strictly temperate habits to preserve all physical, mental, and moral powers in full force, for drink benumbs the sensibilities and puts eternal things on a level with common things so right and wrong are no longer discerned.
Context and Command
The Lord spoke directly to Aaron in the aftermath of the deaths of Nadab and Abihu to give instruction for priestly service. They had been consumed by divine fire for offering unauthorized worship, presenting common or strange fire before God contrary to His commandment. Their death by fire from His presence followed their disregard of His express directions about the sacred fire from the altar which He Himself had kindled from heaven and commanded to be used for incense and kept burning continually. They had indulged freely in wine according to custom and were partially intoxicated when they ministered, so gratifying appetite debased their faculties, beclouded their intellects, and left them without a realizing sense of the difference between the sacred fire and the common fire He had forbidden them to use.
The instruction this address introduces is a perpetual statute throughout their generations, a positive command like that about the tree of knowledge, forbidding wine and strong drink when entering the tabernacle of the congregation, tent of meeting, or sanctuary for sacred service, lest they die. It was given to Aaron and his sons for all going in to minister in holy office, requiring total abstinence from intoxicating drink while on duty because intoxication could cloud judgment needed for sacred service. Impaired discernment did not remove responsibility for what was done afterward, for accountability begins when the cup is put to the lips, and God marks iniquity exactly even in thoughtlessness, negligence, forgetfulness, and ignorance, visiting disobedience with terrible punishment even when men mean no harm or think they are doing Him service. Approach to Him must therefore be with reverence and awe in His own appointed manner, and partial obedience is not enough even in a solemn season of worship when nearly everything else was done as commanded.
The stated reasons are that with clear and unconfused power of discrimination and discernment, correct judgment, and full use of unclouded reason the priests could put difference between holy and unholy or common and between clean and unclean. With those powers preserved in full force for constant action they could teach Israel, the children of Israel, all the statutes spoken through Moses, being at all times examples to the people and in condition to properly instruct them and carry out their responsibilities. Intemperance weakens physical powers, debases morals, benumbs sensibilities, and puts eternal things on a level with common things so right and wrong is not discerned, and with the full and clear use of their reasoning powers they would have recoiled with horror from this presumptuous transgression, especially as elders who had witnessed the glory of God in the mount and understood that the most careful self-examination and sanctification were required before presenting themselves where His presence was manifested.
Nadab and Abihu's Failure
Nadab and Abihu had indulged freely in wine according to custom and entered to minister while partially intoxicated, so that wine benumbed their senses, beclouded their intellects, debased their faculties, and confused their perception so they could not discern sacred things. In that clouded and disqualified state for sacred office they lost the realizing sense of difference between sacred and common, between truth and error, leaving them vulnerable to deception and to positive disregard of express directions. In that condition they offered common fire with incense instead of the sacred fire from the altar which the Lord Himself had kindled from heaven, had commanded to be used for incense and kept burning continually, and had expressly charged them alone to use. They thus dishonored God by putting common fire upon their censers when they had been expressly charged to use only the sacred fire of the Lord's own kindling that never goes out, and by offering what He had forbidden them to use.
With the full and clear use of their reasoning powers they would have recoiled with horror from this presumptuous transgression of God's positive command. This was especially true since as elders who had witnessed the glory of God in the mount they understood that the most careful self-examination and sanctification were required before presenting themselves in the sanctuary where God's presence was manifested. God had honored them by placing them in important positions in His sacred work to test their character and bring into exercise the highest powers of the mind, giving them the highest incentive to develop firmness and principle and strictly temperate habits that they might have a continual sense of the sacredness of the work given them. Through self-gratification and indulgence of appetite they instead put the intoxicating draught to their lips again and again until force of habit controlled them, leaving them weak where they should have been strong and without self-control to resist vicious habit.
Their disregard also reflected lack of education to respect and reverence commands, obedience, self-denial, and parental authority, dishonoring God while under wine and bringing His wrath and destruction by fire from His presence. Misplaced indulgence and failure to mold character with high reverence for eternal things and to exercise firm parental restraint prepares children for the certain displeasure of God and for His justice to break forth upon them. Yet choosing to drink does not remove accountability, for responsibility begins when the cup is put to the lips for all acts committed under the influence of wine, and impaired discernment did not excuse what they did afterward. Their indulgence of appetite cost them their lives, and those who disregard God's directions to indulge appetite must bear the consequences.
Their judgment shows disobedience brings death by divine fire that must be borne, connecting intemperance in drinking wine with visitation of judgment. God marks iniquity exactly, even sins of thoughtlessness, negligence, forgetfulness, and ignorance, and visits disobedience with terrible punishment even when men mean no harm or think they are doing God service. Therefore approach to God must be with reverence and awe and in His own appointed manner, and partial obedience is not enough even in a solemn season of worship when nearly everything else was done as commanded.
Temperate Service Today
The Lord's word to Aaron lays a perpetual requirement of strictly temperate habits, to keep all physical, mental, and moral powers in full force for constant action, demanding total abstinence from intoxicating drink for those ministering in holy office, a command that still binds in this dispensation especially for those who minister in holy things. It was a positive command like the command about the tree of knowledge given to Adam and Eve. Intemperance weakens physical powers, injures physical and mental powers, debases morals, and benumbs sensibilities, putting eternal things on a level with common things so that right and wrong and truth and error are not discerned. In that clouded state reasoning is weakened and the ability to distinguish truth from error fails, leaving people more vulnerable to deception, confusing sacred and common things and treating what is holy as ordinary.
Anything in eating and drinking that disqualifies the mental powers for healthful and active exercise is an aggravating sin in God's sight, especially for those serving in holy things. Those entrusted with sacred duties need clear minds and strict self-control to judge rightly, to judge clearly between holy and common and clean and unclean, to carry out their responsibilities, and to keep their minds fit for sound instruction. Ministers must at all times be examples to the people and be in condition to properly instruct them, teaching Israel all the statutes spoken through Moses with full use of unclouded reason and with power of discrimination and discernment clear and unconfused.
Appetite and habits of life must be kept under strict control by all who serve God. Wine impaired the senses of Aaron's sons and can benumb the senses, so the same lesson applies to physicians as they care for patients under God's watch, whose appetite and habits must be kept under strict control. Wine of itself is a snare, becoming pleasant and preferred before water, confusing the senses and benumbing the brain so that physical and mental powers are weakened and the difference between the sacred and the common cannot be distinguished. Nadab and Abihu had drunk wine before sacred service and their senses were confused so that they could not distinguish sacred from common fire, showing that wine can become a snare and impair judgment in religious duties by confusing the mind and leading to disregard of God's commands. They were responsible for their actions under alcohol's influence, and by contrast sobriety enabled just administration to the widow and the fatherless.
The same command teaches youth like Daniel and his fellows to refuse wine even at the king's table and at the king's command, after diligent study and counsel together, lest love for wine be encouraged and lead to disobedience. Satan has worked perseveringly for the ruin of the world by appetite since causing the fall of the first parents in Eden. He leads heads of families through appetite to secure a harvest in their children to the third and fourth generation, with appetite and passions transmitted as an intensified legacy while children grow weaker in physical and moral power.