"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, you people, from far; The Lord has called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother has He made mention of my name. And He has made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand has He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver has He hid me; And said unto me, You are my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." (Isaiah 49:1-3) "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." (Isaiah 40:3-5) "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)
The practical application of the truth stated in these passages of Scripture is illustrated in the scripture referred to at the head of the study, which begins thus: "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace." (Leviticus 10:1-3)
The tabernacle had been pitched, and service had begun in it, according to the directions given. The glory of the Lord had filled the place when it was consecrated to His service; and the people without saw the glory upon the house, shining forth from it. This we learned last week.--See Present Truth, July 17, 1902--"The Tabernacle of Witness--Based on Exodus 11:1-8--It is article 41 in the section on "Exodus" in this collection. Then when the first offering was made on the altar, "the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces." (Leviticus 9:23-24)
No doubt nearly everybody who reads the account of the sin of Nadab and Abihu, and their death, thinks that the punishment was out of proportion to the offense. To offer strange fire seems so small a thing. A little closer study of the situation will show us how serious the matter was. Of course, even without any study, we ought to know that it was no light offense; for God is not arbitrary or unjust; the fact that the sin merited death shows that it was a grievous one; and this we should keep in mind.
An Example For Us
When we read the experiences of the children of Israel in the wilderness, we must remember that: "All these things happened unto them for examples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." (1 Corinthians 10:11)
Now let us enquire what we are to learn from the account of the sin and death of these two men. Here, in short, is the answer: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are." (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men." (Psalm 11:4)
There is a temple of God in heaven; (Revelation 11:19; And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.) but it is evident that the figure must be kept in the utmost sacredness, to correspond as closely as possible to the purity and holiness of things in the heavens. Hence the jealous care with which the sacredness of the tabernacle in the ark was guarded.
But we must not forget that the tabernacle was built only because the people would not allow Him to dwell in them, and fully to reveal His glory in them. Therefore we know that the human body is just as sacred in the eyes of God as the temple in heaven, and ought to be preserved from defilement as carefully as we can think would be fitting a place where the King of the universe is to dwell. Only God's life--the pure river of water of life that proceeds from the throne of God in heaven--should be allowed in it; whatever is foreign to that pure life of God, defiles His temple, and tends to destruction.
The meaning of the earthly sanctuary built by Moses has not been sufficiently considered. If all appreciated the truth that our bodies are God's temples, and, moreover, that when fully and constantly dedicated to Him the glory of the Lord is to be seen in and upon them as really as it was ever seen in and upon the house made with hands, what a transformation there would be in man. The very earth itself would be a new place. Life would be simple; the complex problems that vex statesmen and political and social economists, would solve themselves, or be removed; and health would take the place of disease. These things are not fancies, but sober reality. They are as true as God's Word.
Intemperance and Irreverence
But let us study our lesson a little further. What was it that led to the careless disregard of holy things, on the part of Nadab and Abihu? The thing is indicated in: "And the Lord spoke unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest you die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that you may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken unto them by the hand of Moses." (Leviticus 10:8-11)
It was intemperance that led to the awful results recorded in our lesson. The minds of Nadab and Abihu were clouded by the spirit of wine, instead of enlightened by the Spirit of God, and they could not discern the difference between the sacred and profane. And thus, strictly speaking, intemperance was the sin for which they were destroyed. By intemperance they clouded the glory of God in the true temple of God,--their bodies,--and that led to the error in relation to the figurative sanctuary. They defiled the living temple, and that naturally resulted in debased service in the temporary structure.
And so we may bring our short study to a close with the text which points the lesson and suggests the way in which the glory is to be revealed: "Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:3)
It is by strict temperance in eating and drinking, above all things else, that the true temple of God is to be kept holy, so that He may be glorified in us. Let no one say, then, that it is a matter of no importance what or how we eat and drink. It is of vital importance.
How many there are whose brains are stupefied, and whose minds are clouded, solely through wrong habits of eating. And they think that they are temperate, because they never drink intoxicating liquor; but they are mistaken; and their error is not a slight one. How important to keep the stream of life always running clear, so that the mind will be bright and active!
God's glory will be revealed, and it will consume and destroy everything that defiles. Shall it be revealed in our glorification, or in our destruction? Which shall it be?--Present Truth, July 24, 1902--Leviticus 10:1-11
E.J. Waggoner