A Strange Fire
by Brad Scott
Nearly 3500 years ago, YHVH gave commandments to Moshe as to how to approach Him. Moshe, after all, knew Yah's ways, as opposed to the rest of the congregation who were primarily interested in his acts (Mizemor (Psalm) 103:7). In Vayiqera (Leviticus) chapters 1-9, YHVH expresses in detail His kind of sacrifice. He concludes by stating that fire would come down from Him and consume the sacrifice. YHVH has never desired to consume His people, but rather, the sacrifice. An obedient and contrite heart will produce a fire from YHVH that will always swallow up the burnt offering.
Through Moshe, YHVH presented this way to the people. He was saying that if you love Me, you will keep My commandments. The people probably responded the same way they did at the beginning of their wilderness experience.
Shemot (Exodus)All that YHVH has spoken we will do.
They saw the result of worshiping Yah's way, shouted and fell on their faces. Nadab and Abihu were anointed priests of 'Aaron. They were both trained and educated in their priestly offices. They were both knowledgeable of Yah's ways. Nadav and Avihu were not ignorant of how to worship and approach their God. However, in spite of their learning and responsibility to teach the people as well, they both made a conscious decision to change His way and offer strange fire to Him. Many commentators have speculated as to what the strange fire was. Some believe that the fire was not taken from the altar, but from another source. Some believe it was an improper mix of the incense. Others believe that because of the following instruction concerning intoxicating drink, they entered the sanctuary drunk. I believe that YHVH is deliberately vague as to what they did. He knows His creation. He knows our very nature. He knows that had He made known what Nadav and Avihu did, that we would fall all over ourselves to avoid that particular sin. We would have set up that iniquity to be the unpardonable sin. A consecrated life, given to our 'Elohiym, would have taken second place to the eschewing of Nadav and Avihu's sin. According to Vayiqera 6:12-13, the fire on the offering was to be perpetual. Nadav and Avihu chose to change His way. YHVH purposely chose not to reveal specifically what that was. The point was that Nadab and Abihu knew that way and chose their own way of doing it. What that way was we are not told. It was foreign to YHVH. An unrecognizable stench to Him. And so the fire comes down from Him and consumes Nadav and Avihu, rather than the offering. How that must have tortured the heart of Him. This incident is the definitive example of obedience being better than sacrifice.
As you peruse the book of Acts it is easy to see how Hebraic the early church was. Not only does the theology maintain its roots, but the worship and practices were Hebraic, as well. The early church clung to her roots. The Apostles and first disciples were educated in Yah's ways, and even though Gentile converts were by nature causing some division, they remained steadfastly Jewish. Thousands of Jewish people were accepting and believing on their Messiah. The fire of YHVH was falling everywhere. As more and more gentiles were added to the church, however, the Jewish believers soon became the remnant and minority. In spite of the early Apostles warning to the gentiles to leave their pagan practices behind, those very ways crept back into the church. With the Hebraic influence slowly dissipating, it was easy to see why. Greek philosophy and Hellenic thinking never left the church, and soon dominated the church's perspective. Greek theology produces Greek worship practices. It is one of the first principles of scripture, ie., like kind produces like kind. Scriptural theology teaches that the person is spirit, soul, and body. Greek theology has taught us that the person is really a spirit being, and so to worship God in spirit is to do so without the expression of the soul or the body. The Scriptures teach that to pray is to lift up the eyes toward God. Greek thinking has taught us to fold our hands, close our eyes and focus downward. The Scriptures have taught us to pray. Western thinking teaches the pastor to pray for us, which generally opens the door for another sermon. Many worship services today are dominated with healing lines. Hellenic thinking has taught us to forsake the physical and feed the spiritual, and so the constant need for healing. The ways of YHVH teach us to obey Him and we will not need to stand in a healing line. The list could go on and on. I ask you, have we changed the ways of YHVH? Are we offering a strange fire to YHVH? The church is inundated with healing lines, desperately needed social programs, homosexuality, child abuse, alcoholism, divorce, and a host of other problems the rest of the earth's inhabitants share as well. Could it be that the fire of YHVH is still coming down today, and it is consuming us rather than our offering?
Shalom Alecheim! ◊