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This week’s Torah portion is titled Shemini, or in English, Eighth. It covers Leviticus 9:1-11:47. This parasha continues from the previous parasha, Tzav, where Aaron and his sons were installed into the priesthood with a highly structured seven-day installment ceremony.
This parasha begins on the eighth day after this ceremony. It starts with Moses instructing Aaron and his sons in the ceremonial offerings to the Great I Am. Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.
In the same fashion, the newly installed priesthood led by Aaron, gave instruction to the nation of Israel: Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.
The Almighty God had purposes for the complex execution of each and every offering. One of the Lord’s purpose was to function as a built-in safeguard against mindless ritual, in which one went through the motions of making an offering without really thinking about what they were doing or why.
These precise sets of instruction directed the priests and people to be fully engaged in their worship. The Chosen people’s worship was to occupy their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength – like our worship and service to the Lord should be for us today.
Upon completion of the offerings, the glory of God appeared before the nation, and consumed the sacrifice with His all-consuming fire.
Chapter 10 starts with a tragedy. Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, each took a censer and burned unauthorized incense. The end result was, fire came down from the heavens and consumed them both. After this occurred, Moses conveyed to Aaron these words that came from Lord: Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.
To whom much is given, much is required. Those who are closer to the Lord in positions of leadership will be held to a higher standard, and they will experience a more severe judgment for failure. Knowing this, do you still want to be a spiritual leader?
In chapter 11 we learn about the requirements regarding the consumption of clean and unclean foods, better known as the Kosher Laws. A holy people needed a holy diet. God gave very specific instructions as to what was considered clean and unclean.
This was given to safeguard the nation against diseases as well as to create a distinction between what was kosher and what was traif, or unkosher and unacceptable. The nation of Israel was to be distinct and unique, set apart from the other nations in every way.
To reinforce this, God makes some powerful statements at the end of chapter 11: I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. And, I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
In closing, I would like to encourage us all to not go the way of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron who offered strange fire before the Lord. Both had been given the opportunity to serve the Lord and the nation of Israel as priests. Both gave way to the flesh, a self-willed determination and confused privilege with power.
I believe their act was the result of chasing a spiritual high. In a sense, turning the table on God, almost as if to say, they have the power to command God’s presence at will. Sound familiar?
From the time of the Sinai Covenant to now, the New Covenant, we are experiencing a multitude of false religions and man-made processes that profess the ability to manifest God’s presence.
These false religions incorporate man-made teachings and revelations allegedly received from God, but are not genuine revelations. They operate under the guise of a new revelation and new prophets, which consist of types like Mohammed and Islam or Joseph Smith and Mormonism as well as several others. My friends, that’s strange fire.
Then there are those that on the surface look Christian or Messianic, but like Nadav and Avihu, operate in the flesh. They try to fill their pew and their pockets to show there legitimacy through sheer numbers and money. Brothers and sisters, that’s strange fire.
Those who say that we are all seeking the same God but, through different paths – that’s strange fire.
Those who only talk about “God is love” and we must respect everyone’s beliefs, but never talk about coming to God on His terms and Yeshua “Jesus” being the only way – that’s strange fire.
Love is one of God’s attributes, but so is holiness, justice, righteous, and God’s sovereignty.
When we assemble to worship, it’s reasonable to anticipate a close encounter with God however, we must remember that God is sovereign and that it’s His will and purpose that is to be done, not ours.
Conversely, the adversary would like nothing more than to have you give up or become disillusioned and start chasing some strange fire.
A.W. Tozer once said: “Among the gifts of the Spirit scarcely one is of greater practical usefulness than the gift of discernment. This gift should be highly valued and frankly sought as being almost indispensable in these critical times. This gift will enable us to distinguish the chaff from the wheat and to divide the manifestations of the flesh from the operations of the Spirit.” In other words, we need wisdom and discernment to keep us away from strange fire.
Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Yeshua “Jesus,” the author and the finisher of our faith. Let’s come to Him with out-stretched hands, hiding nothing, and showing that we are open to receive instruction as well as blessings.
STAY CLEAR OF STRANGE FIRE!
Shabbat Shalom