False Fire: Making Godly Decisions
Leviticus 10
May 26, 2002

Introduction:

A.     Leviticus: a place where many have becoming lost in the wilderness.

B.     Key verse: “You are to be holy to me^£ because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” Lev. 20:26

C.     This book was written in one location: Mt. Sinai

D.     Major themes: Offerings/Sacrifices which point to Jesus; Worship of God; Holiness; Health; the Priesthood

E.      Holy: a word that has caused emotions from fear to laughter

1.      “Wholeness” is another to understand this word/not weird but “complete”

2.      aware of our own brokenness we long for wholeness

3.      Holy is mentioned 152 times in this book

I. The Setting

A. The worship of God

1.      that God was still speaking to them was a testimony to His forgiveness

2.      that God was allowing His presence to be with them in the form of the cloud and pillar of fire was a miracle of His Grace

3.      we puzzle at how these people could so easily drift from God and don’t stop to assess how we also deal with that same problem. God was craving out a people for Himself from slaves and cattlemen. He didn’t choose a ruling class but a humble people. This group of slaves had a hard time leaving their old life behind and extracting themselves from ungodly thinking.

4.      Being in the wilderness had more than one benefit.

B. The preparation for worship

1.      The first preparation to meet God was a three day affair

2.      This preparation took weeks. Everything they were doing had symbolic meaning to it… they were following a pattern given by God to Moses. It was the focus of the entire nation… what else were they to do…?

3.      This preparation had taken a lot of sacrifice… they were highly invested in their tabernacle

4.      Ps. 50:5 “Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

C. The presence of God

1.      Imagine God revealing his presence in a visible way

2.      How would you respond? What emotions would you experience?

3.      It would be exciting!!!

II. The Sin

A.     Sin of presumption

1.      They knew better than take unapproved fire and try to offer it. (Ex. 30:7-9) Fire in the censors had to come from the altar of sacrifice… nothing else was accepted by God. God had lit the original fire, Himself. Only His fire was acceptable.

2.      God understands good effort “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench” (Isa. 42:3).

3.      We don’t know the detail of their motives or where they got that fire, but we do know that it was against God’s instructions, and didn’t come from the great altar.

B.     Sin of false fire

1.      The works of the flesh no matter how flashy is false fire…

2.      False fire can be showy, exciting, burn the incense and even shine brightly but it is false fire and not accepted by God.

3.      There are practices which some people do that look great are just false fire.

4.      Sometimes we can be deceived by the fiery commitment someone has and think that it has to be holy. Sincere commitment is not the test of what God accepts.

5.      Luke 18: 9- 14 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”

C.     Sin of false message

1.      Moses had that problem and was judged for it. Listen to this and maybe we’ll get another clue to what God accepts… “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

2.      God wants to be set apart by the people, not have Moses or any other leader or pastor, etc. be the one set apart.

3.      It is easy to get caught in the stories people spin for why they are not able to “bless those who curse” them and “do good to them who despitefully” used them. BUT that is the fire God wants to see. People can get all fired up about a lot of things but when it comes down to it, what God accepts is going to be the character of Christ.

III. The Judgment         

A.     Judgment of the offenders

1.      This is not the only time God was establishing a principle at the beginning of something where people died. We’ll get to a three other priests in Num. 16: Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” In the NT we read about Ananias and Sapphire.

B.     Judgment of the observers

1.      Aaron is stopped from complaining by Moses who told him that he had to carry on and not grieve or show sympathy for his sons who died. Other relatives could but Aaron represented God.

2.      If there had been a sympathetic demonstration, there would have been trouble. People today sometimes feel sorry for the wrong person and rather than speak to a person about holiness, they complain against God for not blessing the ungodly.

VI. Some Observations

A.     God’s desire for holiness in us remains

1.      2 Cor. 16:17 “come out from among them and be separate”

2.      Eph. 1:4 we chosen in Christ to “be holy”

3.      1 Peter 1:15-16 “Be holy…”

4.      Jesus has provided the way

B.     God desires for us to make clear decisions

1.      Immediately after this, God institutes a new law. The priest shall not drink wine so that they could

a.       make good decisions between right and wrong

b.      teach others God’s statutes

C.     Not everything that smells good is good

1.      the incense burnt with false fire smelled the same of that burnt with true fire…

Pastor Bob Fromm, North Valley Calvary Chapel, 613 Bogue Road, Yuba City, CA 95991