Leviticus 10 Summary: A Short Breakdown in 5 Minutes

Leviticus 10 Summary - A Quick Overview

WHEN:

• Leviticus picks up where Exodus left off. The children of Israel are on their way through the wilderness to the Canaan land.

• According to Leviticus 8, the Tabernacle had already been erected, which would place the year at approximately 1490 B.C. (one year after the Israelites left Egypt).

TABERNACLE DIAGRAM

OUTLINE:

• THE LORD KILLS NADAB AND ABIHU (10:1-7):

  • Nadab and Abihu entered the Tabernacle and offered an incense sacrifice to the Lord.

  • But God was displeased with their actions because they “offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.”

  • Fire came out from the Lord and killed Aaron’s two sons.

  • Moses asked two of his cousins, Mishael and Elzaphan, to carry Nadab and Abihu’s bodies outside of the camp.

  • Aaron and the other priests were forbidden from publicly mourning the dead and they were told to remain in the Tabernacle.

• GOD SPEAKS TO AARON (10:8-11):

  • The Lord spoke to Aaron and forbid him and his sons from drinking alcohol before entering the Tabernacle.

  • The priests were to set the example of holiness and teach the people all the laws of God.

• MOSES SPEAKS TO AARON (10:12-20):

  • Moses reminded Aaron and his sons to complete their daily offerings in the manner God prescribed.

  • He was angry at Aaron’s other sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, because they had not eaten the meat of the goat used for a sin offering.

  • Aaron told Moses he had not thought it appropriate to eat the meat of the sin offering considering the events of the day.

  • After hearing his explanation, Moses agreed.

APPLICATION:

• Do you think God overreacted in killing Nadab and Abihu?

• I’ve heard a lot of people accuse God of overreacting for killing Nadab and Abihu for doing something as small as using “unauthorized fire.”

• But maybe the problem is that we tend to underreact to unholiness.

• In my experience, people tend to downplay the holiness of God by downplaying the seriousness of their sins, or by assuming sin isn’t as serious now that Jesus died for them.  

• We don’t take God’s holiness seriously enough. Yes, He is our Father, and yes, we have a relationship with Him, but our closeness to Him doesn’t mean He hates sin less than He did in Leviticus 10.

• It’s not as if God is more comfortable with our sinning now that Jesus died for us.

• If we aren’t careful, we can fall into the trap of assuming our sins aren’t serious because we, in our failings, give Jesus’ grace a chance to abound (Romans 6:1-2).