Nadab cheered his brother on as he held the leather pouch above his head and poured wine down his throat. Abihu just continued to swallow, he barely even tasted the wine and kept up pretty well because of it. All at once though, it seemed to overflow and the dark fluid spilled over onto his chin and down his garment. He pulled the wineskin away from his face, placed his thumb over the spout, and handed it to his brother to finish. Abihu stood there in silence and caught his breath while his brother drank.
The two of them waited for a while after Nadab finished the wine, then began the trek over to the tent of meeting. They had work to do. Both of them were slightly more than buzzed by the time they had arrived, as the alcohol had plenty of time to make it through their bloodstreams as they walked. Upon arrival, Nadab grabbed his censer as well as his brother’s. Abihu grabbed some incense from a chest outside the tent. They walked the extra ten yards to a nearby fire to light the incense. It was their job to prepare the place for the sin offering; the incense was to represent the peoples’ prayers of repentance. (Psalm 141:2)
Nadab managed to scoop a couple of coals from the fire, which he placed on top of the incense in his censor. His brother struggled a little more as he almost fell into the fire face first. Once they had their coals, the two brothers half-skipped, half- stumbled back to the tent of meeting.
The handle on Abihu’s censer became hot as he drew near to the tent. So hot that he actually dropped the burner. A flash of fire shot out of it as it hit the ground. The fire grew to a blaze that consumed both men. They ran around frantically for just a few seconds before they fell to the ground, dead.
God was there. He did it to them. All He had to say was, “Don’t drink before you come here. You have to know the difference between what’s holy and what’s common.” Nadab and Abihu apparently didn’t make that distinction, and it cost them their lives.
Aaron continued on with his work. He didn’t mourn because his sons made a big mistake, and Moses said not to cry at all. His other sons, Eleazar and Ithamar continued on in their work as well. They prepared a goat for the sin offering and set aside the portion to be burnt and the part to be eaten. They began to cook their part, but were sick to their stomachs with grief. How could they eat bar-b-que after their brothers’ actions and untimely demise? They couldn’t justify eating after such an event, so moved their meals over to the fire to be burned with the rest of the offering.
Moses, after making his rounds, talking to and praying with the people, came back to the tent of meeting. He too felt a little weary after the day’s events. “You guys should probably eat, especially while it’s still warm. Where’s your part?”
Without looking up from his work, Ithamar said, “We threw it in the fire. How could we eat after what’s happened?”
Moses was furious. It was law that the priests keep part of the burnt offering to eat. He began to yell about commandments and what they were supposed to do, and why- especially after seeing what had happened earlier in the day. Hearing this, Aaron walked over and simply said, “Would the LORD have been pleased if they had eaten the sin offering today?”
Moses understood the intention and felt good about it. Apparently, God did too, because Aaron’s other sons weren’t burnt alive. You see, God knew that their intention was to placate Him, even though they broke the law. God understood that their hearts were sensitive toward His will. He understood their willingness to please Him.
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