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Leviticus 10:1–3
“Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the LORD has said: “Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.” ’ And Aaron held his peace” (v. 3).
In our last study, we spoke of the reality that many people view the Lord as demanding nothing from His creatures, that unconditional love for sinners means that He overlooks transgression. Sometimes it can be hard to believe that people who have read the Bible actually hold this position. By the time one finishes reading the first three chapters of Scripture, it is evident that God does not take sin lightly (see Gen. 3). The Old Testament, in particular, bears strong witness to the holy wrath of the Lord, recording many occasions on which God intervened in history to bring judgment against transgression (e.g., 2 Kings 17:7–23).
But, some have said, that was the Old Testament, and in the New Testament the Lord is no longer a God of wrath. Some people in history have even gone so far as to argue that the God in the New Testament is so much more loving than the Lord in the Old Testament that the two testaments are not describing the same deity. The early church heretic Marcion held such a view, and it has been the unspoken assumption of many people since his day.
Even if one does not go so far as to say that the Old and New Testaments speak of two different beings, many people find it hard to understand how God could show both love and wrath. Yet if our Creator is perfectly righteous (Ps. 7:11), then wrath is a necessary consequence of His encounter with sin. It is even a necessary consequence of His love, for the perfectly righteous God must love righteousness. If God is who He says He is, He must punish unrepentant sinners.
Today’s passage illustrates this truth. Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, attempted to perform their priestly duties in an unauthorized manner. As a result, the Lord struck them dead (Lev. 10:1–2). Aaron likely realized the justice of this action and thus kept silent when they were killed (v. 3).
We can multiply other examples of the holy God’s bringing His justice to bear against the impenitent. Ultimately, however, there is no mystery in the Lord’s punishing sinners; rather, what is inconceivable apart from divine revelation is that the most holy Creator tolerates transgressors at all. His long-suffering mercy is what is hard to understand given His promise to Adam that He would kill sinners (Gen. 2:16–17). But even in showing mercy, the Lord does not merely set sin aside. Instead, He shows mercy to believers because He has satisfied His demand for justice through Christ (Rom. 3:21–26).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Often we take the Lord’s holy patience for granted and do not marvel at the fact that He does not always immediately act to judge sin. Yet judge sin He must, and His holy patience toward the impenitent will not last forever. Today, let us pray for someone we know who has not turned from his sins, asking the Lord to give that person repentance and faith before God’s patience comes to an end.
For Further Study
- Numbers 12
- 1 Kings 18:1–40
- Acts 5:1–11
- Acts 12
- 2 Peter 3:9