| What a contrast there is in the verses of our reading today! In chapters 8 and 9 everything was done as the Lord commanded and the result was a scene of blessing. Fire even came from the presence of the Lord and burned up the sacrifices on the altar. Now suddenly we are in the presence of judgment and death. What did these two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, really do? The first day of Aaron's work as high priest seems to have almost ended, then his two oldest sons took their fire-pots and filled them with live coals from a camp fire somewhere. Only the fire that God had given could be used. This was their sin-notice the words of verse 1-'which the Lord had not commanded them'. The very fire of God which had shown his acceptance of all that Moses had done, now became a fire of judgment. In the same way in the early days of the Christian church, two people acted out of the will of God and the same Holy Spirit (whose symbol is fire)-the one who gave such wonderful power to the apostles and believers-came on Ananias and Sapphira in judgment. The lesson behind these two incidents is the same. It is expressed in the words of Moses in verse 3. 'By those who come near me, I will be treated as holy'. What did Aaron do on the sudden death of his two sons? In verse 6 God told him not to mourn for their death but to continue in God's service. This must have been hard on Aaron but the lesson for us is that sin in the life of someone else is no excuse for us to stop serving God. The failure of others is no excuse for us. This is a sad section. May it impress again on our hearts the holiness of God and the holiness and obedience which God desires to see in the lives of his children. This is especially true of those who are in a place of leadership or special service. | 
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