BOOK 3 OF 66 · LAW · KING JAMES BIBLE

Leviticus 10

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Leviticus 10 Overview

Leviticus 10 records the death of Nadab and Abihu after they offer strange fire which the LORD had not commanded. Moses explains that God will be sanctified in those who come near him. Aaron and his remaining sons are given strict mourning restrictions while priestly service continues. The LORD then directly commands Aaron that priests must not drink wine or strong drink when entering the tabernacle and must distinguish holy from unholy and clean from unclean. The chapter closes with Moses and Aaron discussing why the remaining sin offering was not eaten.

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Before you read Leviticus 10

Coming from

Leviticus 9 ended with divine fire consuming the accepted sacrifice and the people worshipping.

In this chapter

Unauthorized fire brings immediate judgment, and priestly holiness, sobriety, teaching, and discernment are reinforced.

Leads into

Leviticus 11 begins the detailed clean-and-unclean laws by distinguishing animals Israel may and may not eat.

Key understanding

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

God’s holiness governs worship; sincerity does not authorize what God has not commanded.

Truth 2

Priests bear heightened responsibility because they draw near to God in representative service.

Truth 3

Priestly sobriety is tied directly to discerning holy from unholy and teaching Israel.

Truth 4

Personal grief does not cancel the obligations of holy office in this unique inaugural setting.

Truth 5

Aaron’s final explanation shows that priestly obedience includes thoughtful concern for what is acceptable before the LORD.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Exodus 30 warned that incense was to be offered according to God’s command.

Connection 2

Leviticus 9 provides the immediate contrast between fire God sends and strange fire the priests bring.

Connection 3

Ezekiel 22 condemns priests who fail to distinguish holy from profane and clean from unclean.

Connection 4

1 Peter 5 and 1 Timothy 3 later stress sober-mindedness for Christian leaders, though without reproducing Levitical priesthood.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

The text calls the offering “strange fire” and says God had not commanded it; readers should not invent details the chapter does not supply.

Keep this clear 2

The command about wine is specifically tied to priests entering the tabernacle; broader applications should be distinguished from the direct command.

Keep this clear 3

The deaths of Nadab and Abihu are divine judgment in a unique priestly context and do not authorize human violence for worship errors.

Keep this clear 4

Aaron’s silence should not be turned into a universal rule that grieving people must suppress emotion.

Read Leviticus 10 watching for…

The contrast with the accepted fire of chapter 9.

The phrase “which he commanded them not.”

God being sanctified by those who draw near.

The command concerning wine and strong drink.

The priestly duty to distinguish and teach.

Chapter outline5 sections

1-3Nadab and Abihu offer strange fire and die 4-7Their bodies are removed and mourning is restricted 8-11Priests are warned about wine and charged to teach 12-15Aaron's sons are told to eat their holy portions 16-20Moses asks about the sin offering and accepts Aaron's answer

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 spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.

So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said.

And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.

And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.

And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying,

Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

And Moses spake unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons that were left, Take the meat offering that remaineth of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without leaven beside the altar: for it is most holy:

And ye shall eat it in the holy place, because it is thy due, and thy sons' due, of the sacrifices of the LORD made by fire: for so I am commanded.

And the wave breast and heave shoulder shall ye eat in a clean place; thou, and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee: for they be thy due, and thy sons' due, which are given out of the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel.

The heave shoulder and the wave breast shall they bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the LORD; and it shall be thine, and thy sons' with thee, by a statute for ever; as the LORD hath commanded.

And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burnt: and he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron which were left alive, saying,

Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin offering in the holy place, seeing it is most holy, and God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?

Behold, the blood of it was not brought in within the holy place: ye should indeed have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded.

And Aaron said unto Moses, Behold, this day have they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and such things have befallen me: and if I had eaten the sin offering to day, should it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?

And when Moses heard that, he was content.

STUDY THIS VERSE

Leviticus 10:3

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