101 Now Nadab and Abihu , the sons of Aaron , took their respective firepans , and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the Lord , which He had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord .
3 Then Moses said to Aaron , "It is what the Lord spoke , saying , 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy , And before e all the people I will be honored .' " So Aaron , therefore, kept silent . 4 Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan , the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel , and said to them, "Come forward , carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside e of the camp ." 5 So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside e of the camp , as Moses had said . 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar , " Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes , so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation . But your kinsmen , the whole house of Israel , shall bewail the burning which the Lord has brought about. 7 "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting , or you will die ; for the Lord'S anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses .
8 The Lord then spoke to Aaron , saying , 9 " Do not drink wine or strong drink , neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting , so that you will not die -it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations - 10 and so as to make a distinction between the holy and the profane , and between the unclean and the clean , 11 and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Leviticus 10:1-11
Commentary on Leviticus 10:1-2
(Read Leviticus 10:1-2)
Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride, and that they were heated with wine. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they had been allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath, otherwise than as it was typical of Christ's priesthood.
Commentary on Leviticus 10:3-7
(Read Leviticus 10:3-7)
The most quieting considerations under affliction are fetched from the word of God. What was it that God spake? Though Aaron's heart must have been filled with anguish and dismay, yet with silent submission he revered the justice of the stroke. When God corrects us or ours for sin, it is our duty to accept the punishment, and say, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Whenever we worship God, we come nigh unto him, as spiritual priests. This ought to make us very serious in all acts of devotion. It concerns us all, when we come nigh to God, to do every religious exercise, as those who believe that the God with whom we have to do, is a holy God. He will take vengeance on those that profane his sacred name by trifling with him.
Commentary on Leviticus 10:8-11
(Read Leviticus 10:8-11)
Do not drink wine or strong drink. During the time they ministered, the priests were forbidden it. It is required of gospel ministers, that they be not given to wine, 1 Timothy 3:3. It is, Lest ye die; die when ye are in drink. The danger of death, to which we are continually exposed, should engage all to be sober.