Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Leviticus 8-10

Again let me point out that when I read, it is like watching a movie in my head. And today I had to take some pretty strong pain killers to dull an insane headache, therefore the movie was just that much better.

I just keep wondering how these people are getting anything done. It seems like they are constantly having to find a flawless animal to mutilate.

I suppose the big story for today is Aaron's two sons that offer a false fire to God, so he kills them. I picture them looking sorta like Bill and Ted, and they sneak over to the fire to burn some incense, laughing about it the entire time...

My questions for today include:
A. what is a false fire?

B. what is a strange and unholy fire?

C. Is this just a constant test of faithfulness? I guess I'm just wondering, if these people had not heard from God himself, would they still be hanging around? It just seems like one false move and you are being burned alive. I know you can't say what these people would have done, but what do you think?

2 comments:

Jamie said...

I would read the "fine print" at the bottom of the page that has his sons dying for the best answer to that. I couldn't explain it better. In short, it's because they wanted to worship God in the way they wanted to instead of the way He told them to. That is what they meant by a false fire...not being correct (or correctly presented). I don't think this is so much faithfulness as it is obedience. You have to understand this a group of people who have made a covenant with God. He's not just striking random people. They swore to obey Him and worship Him. It's a contract of sorts, and they are being held accountable, as severe as it may seem. It's not a matter of one false move in an innocent..."oops"..sense. It is knowingly going against the covenant they made with disregard for His holy Presence, which God warned them cannot be tolerated (almost beyond his conscious control because it is His very nature (holiness, that is)). So it's not as though these are just innocent people who accidentally made a mistake and God is thundering down His unrelenting anger upon them. What I think is that if I believed in God, saw all of these miracles and signs, heard Him speak, and made a covenant with Him, I would NOT break that covenant. And like I said before, I am so glad that Jesus came so that we don't have to do any of this stuff. The mistake people make is thinking that we are born good and that God condemns us to Hell, when in fact, the Bible says just the opposite. We are born sinners/"bad" and He offers us salvation. So actually He (through the sacrifice of His Son) give us a gift. He didn't have to do that, and Jesus didn't have to allow Himself to do it either. So the starting point is sinners already going to Hell, and God offers to save us. It's like we're in a car that is our sin and it is headed off a cliff which would be Hell, and God says I will save you if you want....we can say yes or no, but it's wrong to blame Him for the impending doom of the crash which was our doing because of the sin Adam and Eve perpetrated by their impatience and disobedience. They made a choice too.

Jamie said...

Lev. 11-13 tomorrow